Hambledon is a small village and civil parish in the county of Hampshire in England, situated about 10 miles (16 km) north of Portsmouth within the South Downs National Park.
John Small was an English professional cricketer who played during the 18th century and had one of the longest careers on record. Born at Empshott, Hampshire, he is generally regarded as the greatest batsman of the 18th century and acknowledged as having been the first to master the use of the modern straight bat which was introduced in the 1760s. He probably scored the earliest known century in important cricket. He died at Petersfield, where he was in residence for most of his life and where he established businesses.
Broadhalfpenny Down is a historic cricket ground in Hambledon, Hampshire. It is known as the "Cradle of Cricket" because it was the home venue in the 18th century of the Hambledon Club, but cricket predated the club and ground by at least two centuries. The club is in the parish of Hambledon close to the neighbouring parish of Clanfield. The club took the name of the neighbouring rural village of Hambledon, about 2.7 miles away by road.
Thomas Brett was one of cricket's earliest well-known fast bowlers and a leading player for Hampshire when its team was organised by the Hambledon Club in the 1770s. Noted for his pace and his accuracy, Brett was a leading wicket-taker in the 1770s and was lauded by John Nyren in The Cricketers of my Time. Writing half a century later, Nyren described Brett as "beyond all comparison, the fastest as well as straitest bowler that ever was known".
Richard Nyren was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the heyday of the Hambledon Club. A genuine all-rounder and the earliest known left-hander of note, Nyren was the captain of Hampshire when its team included players like John Small, Thomas Brett and Tom Sueter. Although the records of many matches in which he almost certainly played have been lost, he made 51 known appearances between 1764 and 1784. He was known as the team's "general" on the field and, for a time, acted as the club secretary as well as taking care of matchday catering for many years.
In the 1772 English cricket season, it became normal practice to complete match scorecards and there are surviving examples from every subsequent season. Scorecards from 1772 have been found for three eleven-a-side matches in which the Hampshire county team played against an England team, and for one top-class single wicket match between Kent and Hampshire. The three Hampshire v England matches have been unofficially recognised by certain sources as first-class, although no such standard existed at the time. Prior to 1772, only four scorecards have survived, the last from a minor match in 1769.
The Bat & Ball Inn is a historic eighteenth-century pub near Clanfield, Hampshire, England. The earliest widely accepted written rules for the game of cricket were drafted at the pub.
John Nyren was an English cricketer and author. Nyren made 16 known appearances in first-class cricket from 1787 to 1817. He achieved lasting fame as the author of The Cricketers of My Time, which was first published in 1832 as a serial in a periodical called The Town and was then included in The Young Cricketer's Tutor, published in 1833 by Effingham Wilson of London. Nyren's collaborator in the work was Charles Cowden Clarke.
Joseph Miller was a noted English cricketer who is generally considered to have been one of the greatest batsmen of the 18th century. He is mostly associated with Kent but also made appearances for All-England and Surrey. First recorded in the 1769 season, Miller made 65 known appearances from then to 1783. He was unquestionably an outstanding batsman and perhaps second only to John Small in the 18th century.
William Yalden was an English cricketer and, with Tom Sueter, one of the earliest known wicket-keeper/batsmen. Yalden played mainly for Chertsey and Surrey though he was also a regular, sometimes as captain, in England teams, particularly in matches against Hampshire. His career began in the 1760s and he is known to have played until 1785.
John Bayton was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the 1760s and 1770s.
William Barber (1734–1805) was an English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club in its great days during the 1760s and 1770s. Originally from Walberton, near Chichester, he came to Hambledon to play after being "spotted".
William Palmer was an English cricketer who played in the 1760s and 1770s. He was born and died in Coulsdon, Surrey. A top-order batsman, he was a member of the local Coulsdon Cricket Club and played county cricket for Surrey. Most of Palmer's career was before cricket's statistical record began in the 1772 season so relatively little is known of him but he regularly played in noted matches until 1776. He has been recorded in 24 eleven-a-side matches and in one top-class single wicket match. He was last recorded playing for Coulsdon against Chertsey in 1784 when he was 47 years old.
In the 1773 English cricket season, there was a downturn in the fortunes of the Hambledon Club as their Hampshire team lost every match they are known to have played, and some of their defeats were heavy. Their poor results owed much to star bowler Thomas Brett having been injured. Three other county teams were active: Kent, Middlesex and Surrey. Teams called England took part in five matches, all against Hampshire, and won all five.
Alresford Cricket Club was one of the strongest cricket teams in England during the late 18th century. It represented the adjacent small towns of New Alresford and Old Alresford in Hampshire. According to John Arlott, between about 1770 and 1795 Alresford "stood higher in cricket than any town its size has done in the history of the game".
Windmill Down is a rural location near the town of Hambledon in Hampshire. From 1782 to 1795, it was the home of the Hambledon Club as a noted cricket venue.
Edward Whalley-Tooker was an English first-class cricketer and farmer.
The Cricketers of My Time is a memoir of cricket, nominally written by the former Hambledon cricketer John Nyren about the players of the late 18th century, most of whom he knew personally. Nyren, who had no recognised literary skill, collaborated with the eminent Shakespearean scholar Charles Cowden Clarke to produce his work. It is believed that Cowden Clarke recorded Nyren's verbal reminiscences and so "ghosted" the text.
In English cricket, the years from 1751 to 1775 are notable for the rise of the Hambledon Club and the continuing spread of the sport across England. The Laws of Cricket underwent a re-codification in 1775, including the introduction of the leg before wicket rule and the addition of the third stump to the wicket.
