1749 English cricket season

1749 English cricket season

1749 was the 53rd English cricket season since the earliest known important match was played. Details have survived of five important eleven-a-side and three single wicket matches. The popularity of single wicket may have waned as there is a greater proportion of eleven-a-side games in the season's surviving reports.

Important matches

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

date match title venue result source
26 May (F) Bromley & Chislehurst v Addington Bromley Common result unknown [1]
notes

The exact venue was the "White Hart Field" on Bromley Common. They played for "a large sum of money".

29 May (M) Bromley & London v Addington Artillery Ground result unknown [2][3]
notes

No details reported.

2–3 June (F-S) England XI v Surrey Dartford Brent Surrey won by 2 wickets [2][3]
notes

England scored 89 and 42; Surrey replied with 73 and 59-8. No individual performances are known. England had Durling of Addington, which is in Surrey, as a given man; Surrey had John and James Bryant as given men. The Bryants were natives of Bromley in Kent. John Frame was associated with Dartford but was actually born in Surrey, at Warlingham in 1733.

England: Robert Colchin, William Hodsoll, Robert Eures, Val Romney, John Larkin, Jones, John Bell, John Mansfield, Richard Newland, Joseph Rudd, Durling.

Surrey: Stephen Dingate, Tom Faulkner, Joe Harris, John Harris, George Jackson, Maynard, ? Bennett, John Bryant, James Bryant, Humphreys, John Frame. It is not known which of Little Bennett or Tall Bennett played for Surrey.

5 June (M) England XI v Surrey Artillery Ground drawn [2][3]
notes

England scored 71 and 47. Surrey scored 89 in their first innings but bad light prevented them chasing their target of 30. Presumably the match had to be finished (or left unfinished) on the one day. No individual performances are known. The two teams were unchanged from the match on 2 and 3 June.

21 June (W) London v Richmond & Ripley Artillery Ground result unknown [2][3]
notes

No details reported.

26 June (M) Long Robin's XI v Stephen Dingate's XI Artillery Ground result unknown [2][3]
notes

The game was arranged by the members of the London Cricket Club and played for a hundred guineas a side. William Hodsoll was due to play for one side or the other but had to withdraw. It is not known who replaced him.

Long Robin's XI: Robert Colchin, John Bryant, James Bryant, John Bell, John Mansfield, Robert Eures, Val Romney, Durling, John Colchin, John Bowra, John Larkin.

Stephen Dingate's XI: Stephen Dingate, Tom Faulkner, Joe Harris, John Harris, George Jackson, John Frame, Humphreys, Little Bennett, Tom Peake, John Capon, Thomas Jure.

19 July (W) Middlesex v Hertfordshire Barnet Common result unknown [4]
notes

To be played for 50 guineas a side. The source says: "Bye balls and overthrows allowed".

14 August (M) London v Bearsted Artillery Ground London won "with great ease" [2][5][4]
notes

London won "with great ease". It was stated that Bearsted was the best team in Kent, having beaten all other parishes in their neighbourhood.

28 August (M) Long Robin's XI v Tom Faulkner's XI Artillery Ground result unknown [2][5]
notes

The game was arranged by the members of the London Cricket Club and played for sixty guineas a side, the wickets being pitched at one o'clock.

Long Robin's XI: Robert Colchin, John Bryant, James Bryant, John Colchin, Joseph Hitches, George Carter, Thomas Southam, Tall Bennett and "three gentlemen".

Tom Faulkner's XI: Tom Faulkner, John Mansfield, Robert Eures, William Anderson, John Capon, Perry, Little Bennett, Robinson and "three gentlemen".

Ashley-Cooper stated that the Perry who played in this match was the same man who played in the earliest known single wicket match against Piper of Hampton in August 1726. Given the gap of 23 years, it is unlikely to have been the same man but could have been a relative.

Single wicket

Monday, 10 July. Five of England defeated Five of Addington at the Artillery Ground. The match was played for fifty guineas a side and was the result of a challenge by the Addington players to meet any other five in England. Betting was 8-1 in favour of Addington.[3]

Addington: Tom Faulkner, Joe Harris, John Harris, George Jackson, Durling.

England: Robert Colchin, John Bryant, Robert Eures, John Bell, Thomas Waymark.

Monday, 17 July. In a return match, the same Addington five beat the same England five for fifty guineas.[3]

Wednesday, 26 July. In a deciding match, England won by 2 runs. They scored 11 and 12; Addington replied with 16 and 5. The prize this time was 100 guineas. England made two changes to their team with James Bryant and Val Romney replacing John Bell and Thomas Waymark. Addington's five were unchanged.[3]

Friday, 18 August. Tom Faulkner's Six defeated Long Robin's Six at the Artillery Ground. Played for fifty guineas a side. Faulkner's Six: Tom Faulkner, Thomas Southam, Joseph Hitches, George Carter and "two gentlemen". Colchin's Six: Robert Colchin, George Smith, William Anderson, Robinson and "two gentlemen".[5]

Monday, 21 August. Tom Faulkner's Six defeated Long Robin's Six at the Artillery Ground. The teams were the same as for the match above; the stake was unrecorded.[5]

Other events

A match in Sussex on Monday, 5 June between teams from Hastings and Pevensey was apparently played for a hundred guineas.[6]

A game at White Conduit Fields on Wednesday, 2 August involving 22 "gentlemen of the City of London". The report states that the venue was in use before 1720 but that the White Conduit Club was not established until c.1780. On the site was the White Conduit Tavern, erected in about 1648, and this was a "favourite halting-place for those who had walked out a short distance from London". In 1749, the Tavern was owned by William Curnock and shortly afterwards by Robert Bartholomew, the Surrey cricketer.[5]

Tuesday, 29 August. Portsmouth versus Fareham & Titchfield on Portsmouth Common. The Portsmouth team, which was described as "those living on the Common", won by great odds.[4]

First mentions

Counties

    Clubs and teams

    • Bromley & London[3]
    • Richmond & Ripley[3]

    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. ↑ Maun, pp. 191–192.
      2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ACS, Important Matches, p. 22.
      3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ashley-Cooper, At the Sign of the Wicket, 12 April 1900, p. 53.
      4. 1 2 3 Buckley, FL18C, p. 23.
      5. 1 2 3 4 5 Ashley-Cooper, At the Sign of the Wicket, 19 April 1900, p. 67.
      6. ↑ McCann, p. 44.

      Bibliography

      • ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS.
      • Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (1900). At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742–1751. Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. London: Cricket Magazine. OCLC 28863559.
      • Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell.
      • McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society.
      • 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.
      • 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.
      • 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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