1731 English cricket season

1731 English cricket season
Cricket formats major, including single wicket

By the 1731 English cricket season, match reports in the newspapers were much more common and tended to contain more detail, sometimes including the names of patrons and players. There is consequently much more available information about the 1730s than previously with seventeen known major matches in 1731.[fc 1][fc 2]

The most dramatic match of the season was the one at Richmond Green on 23 August. It ended in a riot and it is believed the Duke of Richmond conceded defeat after the match was originally declared a draw. But most significant of all is that it is the earliest match for which the team totals were recorded and have been preserved, rather than simply who won the wager.

List of matches

date match title venue result source
31 May (M) London v Sevenoaks Kennington Common result unknown [1]
notes

Advance notice was given of this game and the one below, both at the same venue.

1 June (Tu) London v Chelsfield Kennington Common London won [1]
notes

Played in the evening for 30 guineas and won by the London team "by great odds".

5 June (S) London v Dartford Artillery Ground London won by 15 runs [1]
notes

Played for 50 guineas a side in the "old" (sic) Artillery Ground. Play went on for several hours and bets of between £400 and £500 were laid; those amounts were a fortune at the time.

8 June (Tu) London v Kent Kennington Common London won [1]
notes

An evening match played for 30 guineas.

16 June (W) Dartford v London Dartford Brent drawn [2]
notes

A return match was immediately arranged, to be played on Thursday, 24 June at the Artillery Ground.

18 June (F) London v Enfield Lamb's Conduit Fields London won by 14 runs [1]
notes

Played for 200 guineas. The report mentions "a great deal of good play on both sides".

24 June (Th) London v Dartford Artillery Ground result unknown [2]
notes

This was arranged immediately after the game at Dartford Brent on Wednesday, 16 June (according to the St James Evening Post).

26 June (S) Sudbury v Kent Sudbury Common, Middlesex Sudbury won by "several notches" [1]
notes

Played for 30 guineas a side. The Kent side was organised by Edwin Stead of Maidstone.

30 June (W) Dartford v London Dartford Brent drawn [1]
notes

The match ran out of time but "it was thought (London) would have won had there been time to play it out". They arranged to play again on Monday, 5 July (see below).

5 July (M) London v Dartford Artillery Ground result unknown [2]
notes

H. T. Waghorn recorded that play did not finish at Dartford Brent on Wednesday, 30 June (see above) and the match was to be replayed at the Artillery Ground on the following Monday, 5 July. There was an advert dated Saturday, 3 July for the re-match.[2] Stumps were "to be pitched exactly at two o'clock". Time in those days was determined by the local church clock.

12 July (M) Surrey v East Grinstead Smitham Bottom, Croydon East Grinstead won by 5 wkts [1]
notes

This was played for forty guineas a side and "won very considerably by (East Grinstead), they having four men to go in when the umpire gave up the game".

12 July (M) London v Sevenoaks Kennington Common result unknown [3]
notes

This game is the first known to have been played in an enclosed ground, though with only a rope around the field. The newspaper report says: "the ground will be roped round and all persons are desired to keep without side of the same". The stakes were "a guinea a man"; wickets to be pitched "by one o'clock".

13 July (Tu) Chelsea v Fulham Chelsea Common Fulham won [4]
notes

This was played for 50 guineas and "a person that stood by had the misfortune to receive a blow from the ball which beat out three of his teeth".

14 July (W) Hampton v Brentford Moulsey Hurst result unknown [2]
notes

Reported in advance only: we hear that above £500 is already laid on their heads, neither party having yet been beat.

19 July (M) Kent v Middlesex Kennington Common result unknown [2]
notes

Reported in advance only: for £50 a side. The report stresses that the contestants are the County of Kent and the County of Middlesex.

20 July (Tu) Croydon v London Duppas Hill Croydon won [2]
notes

The original report in Fog's Weekly Journal calls the winning team "Surrey" but a report of the return match on Monday, 26 July refers to "Croydon". As the names seem to be interchangeable, it must be assumed that the Croydon club was effectively representative of Surrey as a county at this time. This match was played at Duppas Hill, home venue of the Croydon club.

26 July (M) London v Croydon Artillery Ground Croydon won [2]
notes

Buckley's source was the Daily Advertiser on Tues 27 July. Another source (Read's Weekly Journal, quoted in Dawn of Cricket) reports that London were playing Dartford, but this match was almost certainly a return of the one at Duppas Hill on Tuesday, 20 July. "Wickets to be pitched at 1 pm under forfeiture of £10 on either side".

9 August (M) "A Great Cricket Match" Richmond Green result unknown [5][6]
notes

The St James's Evening Post on 27–29 July announced "a great Cricket match" to be held "on Monday se'nnight" (i.e., Monday, 9 August, as the term means "a week on Monday") at Richmond Green for 100 guineas "by several persons of Distinction". The Prince of Wales was expected to be present.

10 August (Tu) Chelsea v Fulham Parsons Green Fulham won by 3 runs [4]
notes

".....for 30 guineas; the game being play'd with great judgment on both sides. Chelsea was beat by only 3 notches".

16 August (M) Duke of Richmond's XI v Mr Chambers' XI Chichester Mr Chambers' XI won [7]
notes

The stake in this game was 100 guineas. No details are reported other than that Mr Chambers' XI won. It seems that Chambers and his team all came from Middlesex so the match could perhaps be titled Sussex v Middlesex.

23 August (M) Mr Chambers' XI v Duke of Richmond's XI Richmond Green Duke of Richmond conceded? [7]
notes

This return match was played for 200 guineas but it is notable as the earliest match from which team scores are known: Duke of Richmond 79, Mr Chambers 119; Duke of Richmond 72, Mr Chambers 23-5 (approx.). The game ended promptly at a pre-agreed time although Mr Chambers with "four or five more to have come in" and needing "about 8 to 10 notches" clearly had the upper hand. The end result caused a fracas among the crowd at Richmond Green who were incensed by the prompt finish because the Duke of Richmond had arrived late and delayed the start of the game. The riot resulted in some of the Sussex players "having the shirts torn off their backs; and it was said a law suit would commence about the play". The source (Buckley) includes a further note which suggests the Duke of Richmond may have later conceded the result to Mr Chambers (see match on Monday, 6 September below).

? September Surrey v Kingston Moulsey Hurst Surrey won [8]
notes

Played for 25 guineas a side and "some thousands of persons of both sexes were present on this occasion".

2 September (Th) Croydon v London Duppas Hill, Croydon Surrey won [7]
notes

Played for 11 guineas. It is reported that "a dispute arose and it was agreed to play it again on Monday, 13 September".

4 September (S) Surrey v Kent Dulwich Common drawn (rain) [9]
notes

This game was drawn due to heavy rain. Kent led by 17 on first innings but Surrey, with 3 wickets standing, needed just 12 to win when rain ended it. The report says the participants originally intended to continue another time but it seems they settled for the draw.

6 September (M) Surrey v Mr Chambers' XI Sanderstead Common Surrey won [7]
notes

The Daily Post Boy reported on Wednesday, 8 September that "11 of Surrey beat the 11 who about a fortnight ago beat the Duke of Richmond's men". See the game on Monday, 23 August above. The report suggests that the Duke of Richmond conceded his controversial game against Mr Chambers.

15 September (W) London v Croydon Artillery Ground Croydon won [9][2]
notes

Again the confusion between Croydon and Surrey: one report says Croydon, another says Surrey. Croydon is the more likely. This was probably the replay of the game on Thursday, 2 September (see above), but postponed by two days from the originally agreed date.

28 September (Tu) Surrey v London Kennington Common result unknown [9]
notes

No post-match report was found for this match despite its being promoted as "likely to be the best performance of this kind that has been seen for some time, there being great wagers depending". It is interesting that "for the convenience of the gamesters, the ground is to be staked and roped out" so it seems that enclosure quickly became common practice in 1731. In addition, the advertisement refers to "the whole county of Surrey" as London's opponents. The Prince of Wales was expected to attend.

County cricket

Based on the known results, it would seem that the strongest county team[fc 3] in 1731 was Surrey, though its name may be interchangeable with that of the Croydon club, with at least four victories over London, who had previously defeated Kent.[10]

Other events

July. A single wicket match was played at Maidstone between two officers of the Royal Horse Guards, Captain Beak and Lieutenant Coke. It was for a "considerable sum of money" and won by Captain Beak after three hours "very hard played". Waghorn stated that it was the first military match he found during his researches.[11]

July. An unusual match at Duppas Hill, Croydon, between a Kent team and a Surrey team who were all called Wood. The Woods won. This is interesting given the well documented confusion over different players called Wood or Woods in the 1770s.[11]

Saturday, 2 October: "a great cricket match will be play'd in the Artillery Ground; it will be the last plaid (sic) this season; 11 of a side, stumps to be pitch'd exactly at 12 o'clock".[9]

Saturday, 2 October: at Mitcham Cricket Green in Surrey. The local club played against Ewell, also in Surrey, for a small stake. This is interesting because it mentions "the famous Tim Coleman" who usually played for London and was in the Ewell team on this occasion. It is rarely that a player is mentioned by name in these early reports and even more rarely that he is given praise. Mr Coleman was on the losing side in this game as the home team won by several notches.[9]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The term "major cricket" deserves some qualification. It is not limited to "first-class cricket" which is a misleading concept that is essentially statistical and may typically ignore the more important historical aspect of a match if statistical information is missing, as is invariably the case re matches played prior to 1772. From that season, scorecards began to be created habitually and there is a continuous and adequate, though incomplete, statistical record commencing in 1772. Major cricket in the Stuart and Hanoverian periods includes both single wicket and eleven-a-side games. Features of these matches include high stakes, large crowds and evidence that the teams are representative of several parishes, perhaps of whole counties. Except in rare instances, village cricket in the shape of a match played between two parish teams, would be classified as minor.
  2. ↑ Note that surviving match records to 1825 are incomplete and any statistical compilation of a player's career in that period is based on known data. Match scorecards were not always created, or have been lost, and the matches themselves were not always recorded in the press or other media. Scorecard data was not comprehensive: e.g., bowling analyses lacked balls bowled and runs conceded; bowlers were not credited with wickets when the batsman was caught or stumped; in many matches, the means of dismissal were omitted.
  3. ↑ "Champion County" is an unofficial seasonal title proclaimed by media or historians prior to December 1889 when the official County Championship was constituted.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Waghorn (DC), p. 8.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Buckley (FL18), p. 5.
  3. ↑ Waghorn (DC), pp. 8–9.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Waghorn (DC), p. 9.
  5. ↑ Leach, John (2007). "From Lads to Lord's – 1731". Stumpsite.
  6. ↑ Leach, John (2008). "Classification of cricket matches from 1697 to 1825". Stumpsite.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Buckley (FL18), p. 6.
  8. ↑ Waghorn (CS), p. 4.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Waghorn (DC), p. 10.
  10. ↑ Leach, John (2008). "Champion cricket teams since 1728". Stumpsite. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Waghorn (CS), p. 3.

Bibliography

Additional reading

External links