The 1772 English cricket season was the 29th season following the earliest known codification of the Laws of Cricket and the first in which matches have been awarded retrospective first-class cricket status. Details have survived of three first-class matches, all featuring Hampshire sides playing England XIs.
Sussex county cricket teams have been traced back to the early 18th century but the county's involvement in cricket dates from much earlier times as it is widely believed, jointly with Kent and Surrey, to be the sport's birthplace. The most widely accepted theory about the origin of cricket is that it first developed in early medieval times, as a children's game, in the geographical areas of the North Downs, the South Downs and the Weald.
Francis Booker was an English first-class cricketer who was born in the village of Eynsford, which is about eight miles north of Sevenoaks, in Kent. He lived his whole life there and kept the Soho Inn. His known career was from 1773 to 1790 and he is mentioned by sources in connection with a total of 53 top-class matches.
Kent county cricket teams have been traced back to the 17th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. Kent, jointly with Sussex, is generally accepted as the birthplace of the sport. It is widely believed that cricket was first played by children living on the Weald in Saxon or Norman times. The world's earliest known organised match was held in Kent c.1611 and the county has always been at the forefront of cricket's development through the growth of village cricket in the 17th century to representative matches in the 18th. A Kent team took part in the earliest known inter-county match, which was played on Dartford Brent in 1709. Several famous players and patrons were involved in Kent cricket from then until the creation of the first county club in 1842. Among them were William Bedle, Robert Colchin and the 3rd Duke of Dorset. Kent were generally regarded as the strongest county team in the first half of the 18th century and were always one of the main challengers to the dominance of Hambledon in the second half. County cricket ceased through the Napoleonic War and was resurrected in 1826 when Kent played Sussex. By the 1830s, Kent had again become the strongest county and remained so until mid-century.
Berkshire county cricket teams have been traced back to the 18th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that.
Essex county cricket teams have been traced back to the 18th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. It is almost certain that cricket reached Essex by the 16th century and that it developed during the 17th century with inter-parish matches being played.
1785 was the 89th English cricket season since the earliest known important match was played. Scores & Biographies bemoans the lack of fixtures but there is a historical significance in that state of affairs because it reflected the decline of the Hambledon Club’s influence while the emergence of the White Conduit Club foreshadowed a shift in focus by the cricket authorities from rural to metropolitan.
1790 was the fourth season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It was a successful one for Hampshire who won all three of their known matches, two against All-England and one against Kent. Samuel Britcher, the MCC scorer, began his annual publication of A list of all the principal Matches of Cricket that have been played, a compilation of match scorecards. His 1790 edition features fourteen scorecards, including six from matches played at Lord's Old Ground, the MCC venue.
1792 was the sixth season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Kent played Hampshire at Cobham Park, which was Lord Darnley’s estate and the home of the Bligh family. Ninety years later it became the home of the Ashes in the shape of the urn brought back from Australia by the Hon. Ivo Bligh.
1798 was the twelfth season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It was by now commonplace for important matches to involve town clubs rather than county teams.
1800 was the 14th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It is one of the more difficult seasons to analyse because of several matches involving prominent town clubs like Rochester, Woolwich, Homerton, Richmond, Storrington, Montpelier and Thames Ditton.
Henry Crozoer was an English cricketer of the late 18th century who played for Kent. His name was sometimes given as Crosoer.
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.
John Hammond was an English cricketer of the late 18th and early 19th century. He was one of the greatest early Sussex players.
The Park was a cricket ground situated in the grounds of the mansion of George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea at Burley-on-the-Hill in Rutland.
Norfolk county cricket teams were the teams that represented the historic county of Norfolk before the first official formation of Norfolk County Cricket Club in 1876.
The Reverend George Dupuis was an English minister who was active as a cricketer in the 1780s and 1790s, making five known appearances in first-class matches. His batting and bowling styles are unknown.
