1764 English cricket season

1764 English cricket season

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The 1764 English cricket season marks the beginning of the "Hambledon Era" in earnest, and it is believed to be about this time that the Hambledon Club was founded. Chertsey and Hambledon, by now the leading teams in cricket, played each other three times. Details of these and five other matches are known. ^{[note 1]} A number of notable players are mentioned in sources for the first time, including three of the greatest 18th century players: Richard Nyren, John Small, and Lumpy Stevens.

Chertsey v Hambledon

Chertsey hosted Hambledon 10 and 11 September on Laleham Burway. Hambledon won by 4 wickets. The team scores were: Chertsey 48 and 127; Hambledon 76 and 100-6. The stakes were £20 a side. ^{[5] [6]}

The Hambledon team is believed to have been: Richard Nyren (captain), John Small, Peter Stewart, William Hogsflesh, William Barber, John Bayton, Osmond, John Woolgar, Edward Woolgar, Thomas Ridge, and Squire Thomas Land. Hambledon at this time was sometimes referred to as "Squire Land's Club". Chertsey is believed to have had three given men from Dartford, perhaps including John Frame. Thomas "Daddy" White and Edward "Lumpy" Stevens may have played for Chertsey. John Edmeads and Thomas Baldwin certainly did, for they shared a partnership of 40. ^[7]

At the end of Monday’s play, Chertsey had scored 115 in their second innings (wickets unknown) and so led by 87. They added 12 in the morning and Hambledon needed exactly 100 to win. They reached their target with four wickets in hand after losing their first three for only four runs. ^[6]

Ashley Mote remarked that Richard Nyren travelled to this match leaving a six-months pregnant wife at home (at least, it is assumed she stayed at home!) for the author of The Cricketers of My Time, John Nyren, was born in December. ^[7]

On 17 and 18 September, Hambledon played Chertsey on (probably) Broadhalfpenny Down, and Chertsey won by 2 wickets. This was the return match to the above, but the venue is not certain. There are references in the Whitehall Evening Post and the St James Chronicle both before and after the game. ^{[5] [8]}

The two clubs apparently agreed to stage a decider on 24 September, but it is not known if it ever took place. ^{[5] [8]}

Other events

There were three matches between the county teams of Norfolk and Suffolk. The first was played 23 August on the Bury St Edmunds racecourse. It was reported in the Gazetteer & London Daily Advertiser on Tuesday, 28 August. Norfolk won by an unknown margin. ^[8] The other two matches were played 10 and 12 September on Scole Common in Suffolk. ^[5] Suffolk won both, the second one "with the greatest of ease". ^[9]

A Romford v Dartford match was announced in the Chelmsford Chronicle on Friday, 24 August. It was due to be played 28 August on the Romford racecourse. ^[8]

The Sussex Weekly Advertiser reported on Monday, 24 September, that a match between Arundel and East Sussex was played 21 September on Henfield Common. Arundel won by 2 wickets. ^[10]

Notes

1. Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources. ^[1] However, the term only came into common use around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised. It was formally defined as a standard by a meeting at Lord's, in May 1894, of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective. ^[2] Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status. ^[3] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as top-class or, at least, historically significant. ^[4] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

1. "First-Class matches in England in 1772" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
2. Wisden (1948). Preston, Hubert (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (85th ed.). London: Sporting Handbooks Ltd. p. 813. OCLC   851705816.
3. ACS 1982, pp. 4–5.
4. ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.
5. ACS 1981, p. 23.
6. Waghorn 1899, pp. 56–57.
7. Mote 1997, pp. 164–165.
8. Buckley 1935, pp. 42–43.
9. Waghorn 2005, p. 31.
10. Buckley 1937, p. 4.

Bibliography

• ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC   85045528.
• ACS (1982). A Guide to First-class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC   10586869.
• Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. OCLC   23450280.
• Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. OCLC   23469107.
• Mote, Ashley (1997). The Glory Days of Cricket. Robson. ISBN   978-1-8610-5111-0.
• Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, &c. From 1730–1773. Edinburgh: Blackwood. OCLC   1086375331.
• Waghorn, H. T. (2005) [1906]. The Dawn of Cricket. London: J. W. McKenzie. ISBN   978-09-47821-17-3.

Further reading

• Altham, H. S.; Swanton, E. W. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) (5th ed.). London: George Allen & Unwin. OCLC   894274808.
• Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. London: Aurum Press. ISBN   978-18-54107-10-7 – via Internet Archive.
• Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN   978-04-13278-60-9.
• Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. London: HarperCollins. ISBN   978-00-07183-64-7 – via Internet Archive.
• Wilson, Martin (2005). An Index to Waghorn. London: Bodyline Books (limited edition, by subscription only).