1763 English cricket season

1763 English cricket season

1763 was the 67th English cricket season since the earliest known important match was played. Details have survived of two important eleven-a-side matches.

1763 was an important year for England and for the future of cricket as it marked the end of the Seven Years' War. French influence in India was reduced to a handful of trading posts and its hopes of an eastern Empire were no more, though Bonaparte certainly tried to revive those hopes. Great Britain expanded its interests in India and the era of the British Raj and the consequent hegemony of cricket in Indian sport began.[1]

In the short term, economic hardship at home meant little for investment in cricket and there were only a couple of historically significant matches in 1763.[1]

Wednesday, 30 July. The death of Mr Edmund Chapman of Chertsey in his 69th year, which means he was born in either 1694 or 1695. Chapman was an eminent master bricklayer and "accounted one of the most dexterous cricket players in England". There are no earlier references to Edmund Chapman who must have been active c.1715 to c.1740, presumably playing for Chertsey Cricket Club, or perhaps Croydon Cricket Club, and for Surrey as a county.[2]

Important matches

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

date match title venue result source
3 August (W) Surrey v Middlesex Ripley Green Middlesex won "with great ease" [3][2]
notes

This was played for £200 and Middlesex won "with great ease"

22 & 23 August (M-Tu) Middlesex v Surrey Artillery Ground Middlesex won [4][5][3]
notes

This was a return match announced in the report of the first. The report says Middlesex won "by a great majority".

Another source records that, during play on the Monday, a spectator lost over £20 to a pickpocket. The Artillery Ground had by this time fallen into disrepute and it would not last much longer as a major venue.

Other events

    First mentions

    Countries

    Counties

    • none

    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 From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787
          2. 1 2 H. T. Waghorn, The Dawn of Cricket, Electric Press, 1906
          3. 1 2 ACS, Important Matches, p. 23.
          4. ↑ Buckley, FLPVC, p. 4.
          5. ↑ H. T. Waghorn, Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730-1773), Blackwood, 1899

          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. (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.

          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.
          • 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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