1761 English cricket season

1761 English cricket season

1761 was the 65th English cricket season since the earliest known important match was played. Details have survived of four important eleven-a-side and no single wicket matches. The famous Chertsey Cricket Club was active but overall there was again a scarcity of games, possibly because of the war situation.

Important matches

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

date match title venue result source
27 June (S) Essex v Kent[1] Billericay result unknown [2]
notes

This was announced in the Ipswich Journal of the previous Saturday, 20 June, as: 11 men of Kent v. the best 11 of Essex. The precise venue was The Crown in Billericay.

1 July (W) Chertsey v Dartford[1] Laleham Burway result unknown [2]
notes

Played for 20 guineas a side. Chertsey had three given men: William Piper, Charles Sears and Thomas Woods. The latter is interesting given the confusion over players called Wood or Woods in the 1770s; there was a Surrey player at that time who was variously called John Wood or Thomas Wood. The Whitehall Evening Post on Saturday 27 June said: Great sport is expected as they are accounted as good 22 men as any in England.

31 August (M) Richmond v Chertsey[3] Richmond Green result unknown [2]
notes

Played for £20 a side.

28 September (M) Chertsey v Hampton[1] Laleham Burway result unknown [2]
notes

Announced in the Whitehall Evening Post on Sat 26 September. Hampton had Charles Sears, John Haynes and Shock White as given men.[1] The enigmatic Shock White, who was a Brentford man, is not to be confused with Thomas White of Reigate.

Other events

Thursday, 2 July. The Whitehall Evening Post reported the death of Mr George Smith on Monday, 29 June at The Castle in Marlborough.[1] He was formerly the keeper of the Artillery Ground and the landlord of the adjoining Pyed Horse in Chiswell Street.

Tuesday, 7 July. The Leeds Intelligencer (now the Yorkshire Post) announced a game to be played at Chapeltown the following Thursday (9 July) and this is the first game known of in the Leeds area. Sheffield had been a known centre of Yorkshire cricket since 1751.

Saturday, 18 July. The General Evening Post reported that part of the walls of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground and the Artillery Ground will shortly be taken down to widen that part of the City Road.[1] See also 28 August 1776.

Thursday, 3 September. The General Evening Post announced an odds game in Essex with 22 of the county to play the Dartford XI. This is the first known instance of 22 playing against 11. Dartford were to have Tom Faulkner and Durling as given men.[4]

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 6 G B Buckley, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, Cotterell, 1935
        2. 1 2 3 4 ACS, Important Matches, p. 23.
        3. ↑ H T Waghorn, The Dawn of Cricket, Electric Press, 1906
        4. ↑ Buckley, FLPVC, p. 3.

        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.
        • Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Cotterell.
        • Waghorn, H. T. (1906). The Dawn of Cricket. Electric Press.
        • Wilson, Martin (2005). An Index to Waghorn. Bodyline.

        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.
        • Haygarth, Arthur (1862). Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Lillywhite.
        • McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society.
        • Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.
        • Maun, Ian (2011). From Commons to Lord's, Volume Two: 1751 to 1770. Martin Wilson. ISBN 978-0-9569066-0-1.
        • Mote, Ashley (1997). The Glory Days of Cricket. Robson.
        • Underdown, David (2000). Start of Play. Allen Lane.
        • Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730–1773). Blackwood.
        • 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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