1728 English cricket season

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The overriding impression of the 1728 English cricket season is that teams of county strength were formed as the patrons sought stronger XIs to help them in the serious business of winning wagers. Easily the most successful this year was Mr Edward Stead whose "Kent" teams were "too expert" for those of "Sussex".

Swiss traveller César de Saussure noted in his journal the frequency with which he saw cricket being played while he was making his journeys across southern England in June 1728. He referred to "county matches" as a commonplace.

[edit] Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Source	Result
25 June (Tu)	Mr Edward Stead’s XI v Duke of Richmond’s XI	Coxheath	PVSC	Mr Edward Stead’s XI won?
? July	Duke of Richmond’s XI v Mr Edward Stead’s XI	Penshurst Park	PVSC	Mr Edward Stead’s XI won?
5 Aug (M)	London v Middlesex	Islington	WDC	result unknown
? August	Mr Edward Stead’s XI v Sir William Gage’s XI	Penshurst Park	WDC	Mr Edward Stead’s XI won
date unknown	Duke of Richmond’s XI v Sir William Gage’s XI	Lewes	PVSC	result unknown

The venue of the game on 5 August was very precisely reported as in the fields behind the Woolpack, in Islington, near Sadlers Wells, for £50 a side. This match is also the earliest known to have involved a team called Middlesex.

The results of the first two games are surmised from the report of the game at Penshurst in August, which states that the victory of Mr Stead’s XI over Sir William Gage’s XI was the third time this summer that the Kent men have been too expert for those of Sussex. In the Stead v Gage game, it seems that Kent won the game although Sussex needed just 7 in their second innings. The report clearly infers that the teams selected by Richmond, Gage and Stead were representative of the respective counties and so must have been of first-class standard.