Laleham Burway

Laleham Burway is a tract of meadow land on the River Thames near Chertsey in Surrey. Part of it was a famous major cricket venue in the 18th century and the home of Chertsey Cricket Club.

Earliest known matches

A notable feature of the 1736 English cricket season was the rise to prominence of the famous Chertsey Club, playing games against both Croydon and London. We know of two games that were played before July that season. One is Croydon v Chertsey at Duppas Hill in Croydon; the other is Chertsey v Croydon at the Laleham Burway ground in Chertsey. Our knowledge of the games is via an announcement in Read’s Weekly Journal dated Saturday 3 July about a deciding game on Richmond Green to be played on Monday 5 July. In each of the two matches, the home team won "by a great number of runs". The match at Laleham Burway is the first important one that we know to have been played at this famous venue in Chertsey.

History

Numerous first-class games were played at Laleham Burway during the 18th century. Perhaps the most famous (or infamous) was the one in which Thomas White's huge bat caused a furore that led to a change in the Laws of Cricket. This was the Chertsey v Hambledon game on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 September 1771.

Last known major cricket match

The last major game at the ground may have been Chertsey v Coulsdon in June 1784, but there are doubts about its status. The last definitely known first-class match was therefore Chertsey v Berkshire in September 1783.

Laleham Burway continued to be used for club cricket into the 19th century but records of it have been lost. Chertsey CC had "ceased to exist" by 1856 ^[1] and its revival was centred on the Recreation Ground in Chertsey. The club relocated to its present ground at Grove Road just after the First World War.^[2]

References

External links

• Chertsey Cricket Club website
• From Lads to Lord's – profile
• CricketArchive – Laleham Burway

Further reading

• Ashley Mote, The Glory Days of Cricket, Robson, 1997
• David Underdown, Start of Play, Allen Lane, 2000

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Coordinates: 51°23′34.09″N 0°30′34.31″W / 51.3928028°N 0.5095306°W / 51.3928028; -0.5095306