1740 English cricket season

1740 English cricket season

1740 was the 44th English cricket season since the earliest known important match was played. Details have survived of eight important matches. London Cricket Club features in all of the surviving reports. Rain was a problem in July.

Important matches

The following matches are classified as important:[note 1]

date match title venue result source
27 June (F) Chislehurst v London Chislehurst Common London won [1][2]
notes

The report only states the venue and the winners.

2 July (W) London v Chislehurst Artillery Ground result unknown [1]
notes

The return match to the one above. The announcement advises: "All persons are desir'd to come in by the Iron Gates at the Pyed Horse-yard". The Pyed Horse was a pub adjoining the ground and its landlord (George Smith at the time) was usually the groundkeeper.

8 July (Tu) Moulsey & Richmond v London Moulsey Hurst drawn (rain) [1][2]
notes

Scores are known: London 100 & 70-8; Moulsey & Richmond 86. Rain delayed the start till between three and four o’clock. It was decided to try again next week at the Artillery Ground.

16 July (W) London v Moulsey & Richmond Artillery Ground London won by 73 runs [3][4][2]
notes

Reported by the London & Country Journal dated Tuesday, 22 July.

28 July (M) Kent v London Sevenoaks Vine drawn (rain) [3][2]
notes

Kent scored 71 & 130; London scored 98 and 30-3. Rain halted play "for some time". The report mentions the return match below.

4 August (M) London v Kent Artillery Ground result unknown [5]
notes

Referenced by the report of the match on Monday, 28 July.

8 September (M) Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Hertfordshire v London Uxbridge Moor London won [5]
notes

London won "with great difficulty". The report in the London Evening Post mentions arrangements for the return fixture below. This is the earliest mention of Uxbridge as a venue and the first time that Berkshire and Buckinghamshire are mentioned in county team terms, albeit parts of a combined team here. The first mention of Hertfordshire as a team is in 1732, though combined with Essex.

15 September (M) London v Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Hertfordshire Artillery Ground result unknown [5]
notes

Announced in the report of the previous match on Monday, 8 September.

Other events

Thomas Waymark, who had been employed by the 2nd Duke of Richmond as a groom, relocated to Bray, Berkshire where he was employed by the cricket enthusiast Mr Darville, and took part in matches organised by him.[6]

Wednesday, 30 July. In a letter from Goodwood House to his friend Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, the 2nd Duke of Richmond mentioned several local people including "John Newland, that you must remember".[3] This is the first mention in the sources of the Newland brothers who became famous as members of Slindon Cricket Club.

First mentions

Counties

    Clubs and teams

    Players

    Venues

    Notes

    1. ↑ First-class cricket was officially defined in May 1894 by a meeting at Lord's 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. Pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective and the important matches designation, as applied to a given match, is based on the views of one or more substantial historical sources. For further information, see First-class cricket, Forms of cricket and History of cricket.

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 Maun, p. 98.
    2. 1 2 3 4 ACS, Important Matches, p. 20.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 Maun, p. 99.
    4. ↑ Buckley, p. 16.
    5. 1 2 3 4 5 Maun, p. 100.
    6. 1 2 Maun, pp. 100–101.

    Bibliography

    • ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS.
    • Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell.
    • Maun, Ian (2009). From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750. Roger Heavens. ISBN 978 1 900592 52 9.

    Further reading

    • Altham, H. S. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914). George Allen & Unwin.
    • Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (1880). Kent Cricket Matches 1719–1796. Gibbs & Sons.
    • Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. Aurum.
    • Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
    • Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Cotterell.
    • McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society.
    • Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.
    • Marshall, John (1961). The Duke who was Cricket. Muller.
    • Underdown, David (2000). Start of Play. Allen Lane.
    • Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730–1773). Blackwood.
    • Waghorn, H. T. (1906). The Dawn of Cricket. Electric Press.
    • Wilson, Martin (2005). An Index to Waghorn. Bodyline.
    • Leach, John (2008). "Classification of cricket matches from 1697 to 1825". Stumpsite. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
    • Leach, John (2007). "From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787". Stumpsite. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
    • Collins, A. R. (2016). "Historical Calendar". Dr A. R. Collins.
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