The 1765 English cricket season gave an indication of increased cricket activity in the north of England as Leeds played Sheffield.
Few major cricket matches were reported in 1765 but events at the Artillery Ground in August may have been almost the last straw where this infamous old venue was concerned.
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| Date | Match Title | Venue | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 & 20 August (M-Tu) | Surrey v Dartford [1] | Artillery Ground | Surrey won | |
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Played for 100 guineas a side with a crowd estimated at 12,000. The source records re the close of play situation on the Monday: the mob (many of whom had laid large bets), imagining foul play, several of whom were dangerously wounded and bruised. There is a report in the St James Chronicle of Thurs 22 August about this match [2] which states that: a young fellow, a butcher, being entrusted with about £40 by his mistress to buy cattle in Smithfield market, instead went into the Artillery Ground and sported away the whole sum in betting upon the Cricket players. These reports give a clue to the disrepute that the Artillery Ground had acquired by this time and few matches of importance were played there after 1765. After 1778, it ceases to appear in the records [3]. |
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| 26 August (M) | Leeds v Sheffield [4] | Chapeltown Moor, near Leeds | Sheffield won | |
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This was reported by the London Chronicle on Thurs 5 September. Sheffield won "with great difficulty". As it was rated a "great match" and reported by a London newspaper, this shows that cricket was already well-established in Yorkshire only 14 years after it was first reported there. |
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| c.9 September (Tu) | Chertsey v Richmond [1] | Laleham Burway | result unknown | |
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All that is known is that this game took place a week before the next one. |
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| c.16 September (Tu) | Richmond v Chertsey [1] | Richmond Green | Chertsey won by 106 runs | |
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The scores were: Chertsey 130 & 116; Richmond 48 & 92. The source says: "Chertsey headed 94" which is incorrect according to team totals. Stephen Harding, Chertsey bowler, scored 24 in four balls with a five, two sixes and a seven. The Edmeads brothers, Richard and John, scored 108 between them in the whole match. |
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There was a "threes" game on Friday 30 August at Moulsey Hurst in which Surrey beat Kent "after a smart contest". The source is the Gazetteer & London Daily Advertiser on Wed 4 September [2].
A notice in the Salisbury Journal on Monday 16 September might have interested the members of the Hambledon Club: The Cricket players of the parish of Portsea (in Hampshire) will play the game of Cricket with any parish in the said County for 20 guineas each match, home and home (sic). It is not known if the challenge was taken up [2].
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