1737 English cricket season
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In the 1737 English cricket season, the London club continued to pre-dominate at club level but Kent and Essex were the strongest teams at county level.
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[edit] Matches
| Date | Match Title | Venue | Source | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 June (W) | London & Surrey v Kent | Kennington Common | WCS | Kent won by 40 runs |
|
Scores are known: Kent 99 & 70-7 declared; Surrey 31 & 98. A woman in the crowd suffered a broken leg. The Prince of Wales, sponsoring London & Surrey, gave her a ten guinea compensation. Kent was sponsored by Lord John Philip Sackville. |
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| 6 July (W) | Kent v London & Surrey | Bromley Common | KCM | Kent won by innings |
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Kent "maintained their honour, and beat their adversaries at one hands". The match was completed in a day. WCS reports the same fixture but has a non-specific date in June. |
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| 25 July (M) | London v Essex | Artillery Ground | FL18 | London won by 45 runs |
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Reported by the General Evening Post on Tues 26 July. |
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| 27 July (W) | Surrey v London | Moulsey Hurst | FL18 | result unknown |
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The match was organised by the Prince of Wales (Surrey) and the Duke of Marlborough (London) for £500 a side. It was pre-announced by the General Evening Post on Thu 21 July but no report of the game has been found. |
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| 1 August (M) | Essex v London | Ilford | FL18 | Essex won by 7 runs |
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This is the earliest known organised match definitely being played in Essex (though see 1724 re Chingford v Stead’s XI). The report is in Read’s Weekly Journal dated Sat 6 August. |
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| 6 September (Tu) | London v Chertsey | Moulsey Hurst | FL18 | London won by 5 wkts |
|
Scores are known: Chertsey 45 & 66; London 81 & 31-5. WCS has two reports of the same game, one of them having a date in June, but the FL18 date is correct as the report was taken from the Grub Street Journal dated Thu 8 September. WCS reports that a Chertsey player broke a finger and this had a bearing on the result. |
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| 27 September (Tu) | London v Kent | Kennington Common | KCM | result unknown |
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The match was "betwixt the Gentlemen of Kent and the Gentlemen of London, within the Bills of Mortality". |
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[edit] Other Events
May. There was a tragic incident in a match at Newick in Sussex when a player called John Boots was killed after he collided with his partner whilst going for a run. Both men were knocked down but got up again, only for Mr Boots to drop down dead as he was running to his wicket. This was recorded in a number of sources. Mr McCann found a reference in the West Sussex Records Office which named Mr Boots and said he was buried on Tues 31 May at Chailey. Chailey and Newick are neighbouring parishes just to the north of Lewes in East Sussex. (TJM)
June. Frederick, Prince of Wales and Sir William Gage wagered a considerable sum on a match in Hyde Park, London. This seems to have involved noblemen only. (TJM)
The General Evening Post on Tues 2 August announced a game at Kew Green on Thu 4 August. The Prince of Wales was due to play and lead a team of noblemen against the London Cricket Club, but it was probably members of the London Club rather than its professional players. Mr Buckley says it is doubtful if the match was ever played as Princess Augusta (1737 – 1813) was born on the Wednesday and this occasioned great celebrations. The Prince provided beer for the populace but "one lot of it was too bad to drink". However, Mr Buckley seems to be mistaken here as Princess Augusta was born on Wed 31 August. She was the elder sister of George III and became Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttell. She was the mother of Princess Caroline of Brunswick who made the famously ill-fated marriage with the future George IV in 1795.
WCS mentions another "aristocrats only" game that apparently took place at Kew in June. The captains were the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Marlborough.
| English cricket teams in the 18th century |
|
Berkshire | Essex | Hampshire | Kent | Leicestershire | Middlesex | Mitcham | Nottingham | Sheffield | Surrey | Sussex |
| English cricket venues in the 18th century |
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Artillery Ground | Bishopsbourne Paddock | Broadhalfpenny Down | Bromley Common | Dartford Brent | Duppas Hill |
| English cricket seasons to 1815 |
|
1300 - 1696 | 1697 - 1725 |
|
to 1815 • 1816-1863 • 1864-1889 • 1890-1918 • 1919-1945 • 1946-1968 • 1969-2000 • from 2001 |
[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)
[edit] Additional References
- A Social History of English Cricket by Derek Birley
- Cricket: History of its Growth and Development by Rowland Bowen
- Chertsey Cricket Club website
- Dartford Cricket Club website (DCC)
- From the Weald to the World by Peter Wynne-Thomas (PWT)
- Hambledon Cricket Chronicle by F S Ashley-Cooper (HCC)
- Hambledon: Men and Myths by John Goulstone (HMM)
- Kent Cricket Matches by F S Ashley-Cooper (KCM)
- Pre-Victorian Sussex Cricket by HF & AP Squire (PVSC)
- Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 by Arthur Haygarth (SBnnn)
- Start of Play by David Underdown
- The Cricketer magazine (Cktr)
- The Glory Days of Cricket by Ashley Mote
- John Nyren's The Cricketers of my Time by Ashley Mote
- Wisden Cricketers Almanack (annual): various issues
