1739 English cricket season
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In the 1739 English cricket season, there were again very few match reports. The first Kent versus All-England games are a sign of very important matches to come.
The earliest known cricket picture was first displayed this year. It is an engraving called The Game of Cricket by Hubert-François Gravelot (1699 – 1773) and shows two groups of cherubic lads gathered around a batsman and a bowler. The wicket shown is the "low stool" shape, probably 2 foot wide by 1 foot tall, naturally with two stumps and a single bail. Gravelot helped to establish the French Rococo style in English publishing and was one of the most celebrated illustrators of the time. He worked in England 1732 – 1745, opening a drawing school on the Strand which had Thomas Gainsborough (1727 – 1788) among its pupils.
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[edit] Honours
[edit] Matches
| Date | Match Title | Venue | Result | |
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| 18 June (M) | London v Lingfield [3] | venue unknown | Lingfield won by 2 wkts | |
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The report does not state the venue of this match but does say the rematch will be at the Artillery Ground on the 27th. |
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| 27 June (W) | London v Lingfield [3] | Artillery Ground | result unknown | |
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No report was found of the rematch. |
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| 9 July (M) | Kent v All-England [3] | Bromley Common | Kent won | |
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This is the first known instance of a team representing All-England. The match was billed as between "eleven gentlemen of that county (i.e., Kent) and eleven gentlemen from any part of England, exclusive of Kent". Kent, described as the Unconquerable County won by "a very few notches". |
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| c.12 July (Th) | Kingston & Moulsey v London [4] | Moulsey Hurst | K&M won | |
| 19 July (Th) | London v Kingston & Moulsey [4] | Kennington Common | K&M won by 3 runs | |
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The London & Country Journal dated Tuesday 24 July reported on the second of these two matches but made references to the previous one which might have been played a week or so earlier. It seems that Kingston & Moulsey won the first game because of the Londoners turning out three bad men who played on Moulsey Hurst. K&M won the second game by three runs despite losing "five of their best hands" from the earlier match. London replaced the "three bad men" with Lord John Philip Sackville, Mr Dunn and "Mr Boarer" (sic) who were described as "three very good gamesters". |
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| 23 July (M) | All-England v Kent [5] | Artillery Ground | drawn | |
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A report of this game includes the phrase "eleven picked out of all (sic) England". Kent led by over 50 on the first innings, and betting was then 2 to 1 in their favour. The Kentish Men were likely to have won, but a Dispute arose whether one of the Londoners was fairly out, which put an End to the Game. There were upwards of 10,000 People to see this Match. One account stated that Kent’s opponents were London, but the match was the return of that played earlier in the month at Bromley. |
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| 5 September (W) | London v Chiselhurst [4] | Artillery Ground | result unknown | |
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Pre-announced by the London Evening Post on Saturday 1 September. |
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[edit] First mentions
[edit] References
- ^ An unofficial seasonal title proclaimed by media or historians prior to December 1889 when the official County Championship was constituted
- ^ Champion counties from 1728
- ^ a b c H T Waghorn, Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730-1773), Blackwood, 1899
- ^ a b c G B Buckley, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, Cotterell, 1935
- ^ F S Ashley-Cooper, Kent Cricket Matches 1719-1880, Gibbs & Sons, 1929
[edit] External sources
[edit] Further reading
- H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962
- Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999
- Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
- David Underdown, Start of Play, Allen Lane, 2000
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