1768 English cricket season

1768 English cricket season

← 1767 1769 →

The third scorecard of an important match dates from the 1768 English cricket season. There was a brief return by Sussex to the sport's highest level, in which John Small may have scored the earliest known century. Details of nine matches are known. ^{[note 1]}

Bourne v Caterham

Bourne and Caterham played each other four times in 1768. The first match was 10 June on Westerham Common, and Caterham won by 14 runs. The Kentish Weekly Post of Saturday, 11 June recorded the teams and individual scores. ^[5]

10 June 1768 Scorecard

Caterham	v	Bourne
63 Smailes 25, Carpenter 8 no bowling data recorded		60 Muddle 15, Will Palmer 12 no bowling data recorded
150 Foule 33, Henry Rowett 30 no bowling data recorded		139 Richard Simmons 45, Will Palmer 23 no bowling data recorded

Caterham won by 14 runs Westerham Common, Surrey Umpires: not known

• Toss not known
• The primary source refers to the Caterham club as "Westerham & Caterham", probably because of the venue. ^[5]

This is the third time (and the first since 1744) that the individual scores in a significant match have survived. No details of dismissal were recorded. ^[5]

The next two matches, both played in the Caterham area, were announced by the St James Chronicle on Saturday, 23 July. The newspaper referred to the teams as Mr Horatio Mann's Club (Bourne) and Mr Henry Rowett's Club (Caterham). Neither result has been found. ^[6]

There was a fourth match on 12 August which was billed as Bourne v Surrey, though Surrey's team was probably Caterham again. The venue was Bishopsbourne Paddock, but the result is again unknown. ^[6]

Hampshire v Sussex

On 5 August, there was Hampshire v Sussex match on Broadhalfpenny Down. The result is unknown. Referred to in a letter dated Wednesday, 27 July from Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh of Uppark to Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle: "I hear there is to be a great Cricket match play’d next Friday s'ennight upon Broad-halfpenny, about 7 miles West of this place in Hampshire & at wch. The Duke of Richmond & many from the Chichester Div. Of the County will be present, for it is a match made by the Duke (Sussex against Hampshire) with a Mr. Ridge near Warnford; at wch. Mr. Sackville is to play (for) Sussex". ^{[7] [note 2]}

The teams met again 10 September, also on Broadhalfpenny, and Hampshire won by 7 wickets. ^[8] A report states: "Last Monday another great match at cricket was played on Broad Halfpenny between eleven gentlemen of the county of Sussex, against eleven of the Hambledon Club, for a large sum, which was won by the latter, who had seven wickets to go down. Mr Small got above four score notches in this match, and was not out when the game was finished". It is not known if John Small scored his 80-plus in one innings, or if it was his match total. ^[8]

Hambledon v Kent

29 & 30 August : Hambledon v Kent on Broadhalfpenny Down. Hambledon won by 144 runs. ^[9]

Reported in the Reading Mercury on Saturday, 3 September. The report stated: "Last Tuesday the second great match at cricket was played on Broad-Halfpenny between eleven gentlemen of the Hambledon Club against eleven gentlemen of the county of Kent for a considerable sum, which was won by the former by upwards of 100 notches; but what is very remarkable, one Mr Small, of Petersfield, fetched above seven score notches off his own bat". ^[10]

The team scores were: Hambledon – 131 + 194 = 325; Kent – 141 + 40 = 181.

One of early cricket’s most tantalising questions is: did John Small score the earliest known century in this game? The Mercury is ambiguous as it cannot be said for certain if his 140-plus was his match total or his score in the second innings. Even if it was his match total, it remains possible that his second innings was a century if he scored less than 40 in the first innings. ^[11]

Other events

Saturday, 28 May. The Kentish Weekly Post reported that "last week in the Artillery Ground", a "fives" game between Hon. J. F. Sackville's team and Mr Horace Mann's team lasted two days. Sackville (soon to become 3rd Duke of Dorset) won by 4 wickets. The players and their individual scores are known. Mann's team of Bellchambers, John Boorman, James Fuggles, Thomas May, and Muddle scored 26 and 29; Sackville's team of Brobham, John Bayton, John Small, Birchett, and Mandy scored 20 and 36/1. May scored 10 and 12 for Mann, and Bayton of Hambledon scored 8 and 36* for Sackville, so Bayton's second innings decided the match. The more notable John Small scored only 3 and 0. ^[12]

Friday, 3 June. William Bedle died at his house near Dartford. He was "near 90" and was "formerly accounted the most expert cricket player in England". He must have been in his prime during the first quarter of the 18th century. His death was reported by the Lloyd's Evening Post on Friday, 10 June. ^[5]

Essex v London was arranged for Wednesday, 8 June on Epping Common but the London team did not appear, and forfeited their deposit. ^[5]

The secondary sources have recorded three ladies' matches that took place in June between teams from Harting and Rogate in Sussex. These games attracted crowds of two to three thousand. ^{[13] [14]}

A match between Middlesex and Surrey, to be played 29 July in Stamford Hill, ^[9] was pre-announced in Lloyd's Evening Post on Wednesday, 27 July. The stake was to be 100 guineas a side. No post-match report has been found. ^[15]

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 important or, at least, historically significant. ^[4] For further information, see First-class cricket.
2. The now archaic word s'ennight often occurs in 18th century writing. It is an abbreviation of "seven nights" and means "seven nights hence". In this instance, Sir Matthew refers to a game taking place "a week on Friday", as we would say.

References

1. "FC 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. Buckley 1935, p. 48.
6. Buckley 1935, p. 49.
7. McCann 2004, pp. 72–73.
8. McCann 2004, p. 73.
9. ACS 1981, p. 23.
10. Waghorn 1899, p. 66.
11. Maun 2011, p. 188.
12. Buckley 1935, p. 47.
13. Waghorn 1899, pp. 64–65.
14. McCann 2004, pp. 71–72.
15. 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 FC 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.
• Maun, Ian (2011). From Commons to Lord's, Volume Two: 1751 to 1770. Leicester: Martin Wilson. ISBN   978-09-56906-60-1.
• McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century (PDF). Vol. 88. Lewes: West Sussex Record Office. ISBN   978-08-54450-55-8.
• Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, &c. From 1730–1773. Edinburgh: Blackwood. OCLC   1086375331.

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).