1747 English cricket season

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In the 1747 English cricket season, the single wicket form of the game was very popular among the gamblers of London and for the first time we read of matches being disrupted because of a General Election!

1 Matches
2 Other events
3 Main Sources
4 Additional References

[edit] Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Source	Result
13 May (W)	Croydon & Addington v Greenwich & Deptford	Duppas Hill, Croydon	FLPV	result unknown
Pre-announced in the London Evening Post on Sat 9 May but no report of the game was found.
29 May (F) & 9 June (Tu)	Croydon & Addington v London	Duppas Hill, Croydon	ASW	C&A won
Also recorded in WDC. Apparently it was unfinished on 29 May and the players agreed to play it out more than a week later.
1 & 2 June (M-Tu)	London v Croydon & Addington	Artillery Ground	WDC	London won
Also recorded in WDC where it says the previous match being incomplete would be played out on Tuesday next at Duppas Hill.
12 June (F)	Dartford v London	Dartford Brent	ASW	result unknown
No details reported.
15 June (M)	London v Croydon & Addington	Artillery Ground	ASW	result unknown
Also recorded in WDC which reports that they have played two matches this season, and each won one with great difficulty, being two days playing each match.
29 June (M)	London v Dartford	Artillery Ground	WDC	result unknown
No details known other than that wickets were to be pitched at two o’clock. WDC refers to two intended games between Kent and All-England due to be played at Bromley Common on Mon 29 June and at the Artillery Ground on Wed 1 July. But both matches are deferred on account of the gentlemen subscribers being engaged at several Elections. The General Election of 1747 resulted in a Whig government under Henry Pelham (1694-1754). In those days, voting was limited to landed gentry (i.e., to fully paid up members of the Hanoverian aristocracy) so to call it a General Election is beyond a joke!
2 July (Th)	Dartford v Hadlow	Dartford Brent	FLPV	result unknown
This was pre-announced in the Penny London Post of Wed 1 July as the deciding match but there is no report of the game and no references to the earlier fixture(s).
9 July (Th)	Long Robin’s XI v W Hodsoll’s XI	Artillery Ground	ASW	result unknown
A scratch match arranged by members of the London Cricket Club. Most players’ names are known but no scores. The exact title is unknown but one team consisted mainly of players from London, Bromley and Slindon, the other mainly of players from Dartford and Hadlow. Teams were: Long Robin’s XI: Robert Colchin, John Bryant, James Bryant, John Bowra, "Little" Bennett, Thomas Jure, Richard Newland, Adam Newland, John Newland and two others W Hodsoll’s XI: William Hodsoll, Broad, John Bell, Thomas Bell, Allen, J Harris, Thomas Faulkner, John Larkin and others from the parish of Hadlow in Kent. We do not know which of John or Joseph Harris was involved.
28 July (Tu)	T Faulkner’s XI v J Bowra’s XI	Kennington Common	FL18	result unknown
This was billed as Long Tom versus the Kentish Shepherd, those being the nicknames of Tom Faulkner, who was also a prizefighter, and John Bowra.
17 August (M)	London v Ripley & Bromley	Artillery Ground	ASW	result unknown
A statement by Mr George Smith, the Keeper of the Artillery Ground: These matches being attended with great Charge the Door, for the Future, will be Six-pence; Two-pence not being sufficient to defray the Expence. The match was to be played for fifty guineas per side.
20 August (Th)	Ripley & Bromley v London	Ripley Green	ASW	result unknown
No details reported.
24 August (M)	London v Hadlow	Artillery Ground	ASW	result unknown
Hadlow, near Tonbridge in Kent, was stated to be a famous parish for cricket.
31 August (M)	All-England v Kent	Artillery Ground	ASW	result unknown
This game and the next one were the two postponed earlier in the season because of the Parliamentary Election. Another statement from George Smith: The Town may be certain that the taking Six-pence Admittance is out of no avaricious Temper. Two-pence being greatly insufficient to the Charge that attends the Matches, which Mr Smith is ready and willing to make appear to any Gentleman. The advertised teams (in the Daily Advertiser on Mon 31 August) were: Kent: Robert Colchin, John Bryant, James Bryant (all Bromley), Val Romney, — Kipps, J Mansfield (all Sevenoaks), John Bell, Thomas Bell (both Dartford), — Jones, John Larkin (both Hadlow), Robert Eures (Bexley). All-England: Richard Newland (Slindon), — Green (Amberley, Sussex), Stephen Dingate, "Little" Bennett, Thomas Jure (all London), Thomas Faulkner, Joseph Harris, — Broad, G Jackson (all Addington), William Sawyer (Richmond), — Maynard (Surrey).
2 September (W)	Kent v All-England	Bromley Common	ASW	result unknown
No details reported. This match was advertised at the same time as the first one and not subsequently.

[edit] Other events

Mon 6 July. Five of Slindon versus Five of Dartford at the Artillery Ground (ASW). This was the result of a challenge by Slindon, published in the Daily Advertiser on Mon 29 June, to play five of any parish in England, for their own Sum. The announcement advised interested parties: If it is accepted of by any, they are desir’d to go to Mr Smith, who has Orders to make Stakes for them. The three Newland brothers all played. On Sat 4 July (TJM), Mr Smith announced in the same paper that five of Dartford in Kent, have made Stakes with him, and will play with the above Gentlemen at the Time and Place above mentioned for twenty Pounds.

Wed 8 July. Five of Slindon versus Five of Bromley at the Artillery Ground (FL18). Another game resulting from Slindon’s challenge. The Newland brothers played for Slindon again.

Fri 10 July. Five of Slindon versus Five of Hadlow at the Artillery Ground (TJM). Another game resulting from Slindon’s five-a-side challenge. Details unknown.

Wed 15 July. Five of Slindon versus Five of Hadlow at the Artillery Ground (TJM). A return game which suggests Hadlow might have won the first as Slindon, having issued the initial challenge, might wish to try for honours even. Details unknown.

In early August, there were two single wicket matches (TJM) at the Artillery Ground which were organised by the Duke of Richmond. In the first, three of his employees Stephen Dingate, Joseph Budd and Pye defeated the two Bennetts and William Anderson. In the second, the same threes were to play again but in a "fives" match with the two Bryants added to the Duke’s team and with Tom Faulkner and one of the Harrises to their opponents. The result of the second game is unknown.

Sat 5 September. Three-a-side game at the Artillery Ground: Long Robin’s Side versus Stephen Dingate’s Side. The teams were Robert Colchin, John Harris and Val Romney against Stephen Dingate, Richard Newland and Thomas Jure. It was played for sixty guineas per side and the players were specially chosen from those who had played in the Kent v All-England games above, so presumably they must have been the best performers in those matches. It was ruled that all Strokes behind as well as before Wickets counted and in this respect the contest differs from any Three Match ever play’d.

English cricket teams in the 18th century

English cricket venues in the 18th century

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[edit] Main Sources

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians - various publications
At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742 - 1751 by F S Ashley-Cooper in Cricket Magazine (1900) (ASW)
Cricket Scores 1730 - 1773 by H T Waghorn (WCS)
Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket by G B Buckley (FL18)
Fresh Light on Pre-Victorian Cricket by G B Buckley (FLPV)
Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century by Timothy J McCann (TJM)
The Dawn of Cricket by H T Waghorn (WDC)