1726 to 1750 in sports

During this period, few sporting references are found in the infant newspaper industry but there are enough to confirm the establishment of professionalism in English sports like bare-knuckle boxing, cricket and horse racing. The earliest known rules codifications occur in boxing and cricket while an Act of Parliament is enacted to regulate horse racing.

Boxing

Events

• 6 June 1727 — James Figg defeats Ned Sutton in a rematch for the English bare-knuckle boxing championship.^[1]
• 1730 — Figg retains the title until his retirement in 1730.^[1]
• 1730 — Tom Pipes, one of Figg's students, claims the vacant Championship of England title and is generally recognised as such.^[2][3]
• 1730–1733 — Pipes fights against Bill Gretting five times, winning three and losing two, but it is unclear if these were championship fights.^[3]
• 1734 — Pipes is defeated twice by Jack Broughton (the "Father of Boxing"), but it is unclear if these were championship fights. Apparently, Broughton does not claim the title at this time.^[3][4]
• 1734 — George Taylor, another of Figg's students, defeats Bill Gretting in London.^[5]
• 7 December 1734 — Death of James Figg.^[1]
• 10 December 1734 — Taylor claims the Championship of England title.^[5][2]
• 1736 — Broughton defeats Taylor after 20 minutes of a fight in London. Broughton claims the English title and holds it until 1750.^[4][2]
• 24 April 1741 — Broughton defeats George Stevenson in a 35 minute fight in London. Stevenson's injuries are serious and he dies a few days later.^[4]
• May 1741 — Upset by Stevenson's death, Broughton retires from the ring. He returns in March 1743; no one else claims the title in the meantime.^[4]
• 1741–1743 — Together with the aristocratic patrons of his boxing academy, Broughton proposes and drafts a set of rules to improve ring safety.^[4]
• 10 March 1743 — Broughton opens his amphitheatre on Oxford Street.^[4]
• 13 March 1743 — Broughton announces his comeback and reclaims the Championship of England, which has been vacant since May 1741.^[4]
• 16 Aug 1743 — Broughton publishes his Rules of the Ring (aka Broughton's Rules), in which Rule VII reads: "That no person is to hit his Adversary when he is down, or seize him by the ham, the breeches, or any part below the waist: a man on his knees to be reckoned down".^[4][6]
• 1744–1746 — Broughton successfully defends his title three times in these years against Chicken Harris, Jack James and Tom Smallwood.^[4]
• February 1747 — Broughton introduces mufflers (early boxing gloves), based on the ancient cestus, for use in sparring contests only; matches remain bare-knuckle.^[4]
• 11 April 1750 — Broughton is challenged for his title by Jack Slack (the "Norfolk Butcher"). After 14 minutes and in the fourth round, Broughton is blinded by swelling around his eyes and cannot continue.^[7] Slack becomes the new English champion until 1760.^[8][2]

Chess

Events

• 1749 — François-André Danican Philidor publishes Analyse du jeu des Échecs, one of the most famous books on chess theory, which becomes a standard manual. Philidor himself is regarded as the strongest European player by 1775.^[9]

Cricket

Events

• 1727 — Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond is involved in the creation of Articles of Agreement to establish the rules under which a match is played, the first time that a set of rules is known to have been put in writing.^[10]
• 1728 — the earliest known instance of a county team (i.e., Kent) being acclaimed for its superiority over its rivals suggests the origin of the Champion County title.^[11]

The oldest surviving bat from 1729. Note its "hockey stick" shape, which is very different from modern-day bats.

• 1729 — the earliest known innings victory is achieved and 1729 is the date of the oldest known cricket bat still in existence.^[12]
• Cricket is the first sport to enclose its venues and charge for admission. Ground enclosure is first reported in 1731 when the playing area on Kennington Common is staked out and roped off. The same practice is in use at the Artillery Ground in 1732. Spectators at the Artillery Ground are being charged admission of two pence by the early 1740s but it remains unclear when charges are first introduced (probably in the 1730s).^[13]
• London Cricket Club, which plays most of its home matches at the Artillery Ground, is the dominant club in 1730s cricket, especially in 1732.^[14]
• Frederick, Prince of Wales, becomes a major patron of cricket from 1733.^[15]
• 1741 — emergence of Slindon Cricket Club with important match status; its most outstanding player is Richard Newland.^[16]
• 1743 — first mention in the sources of the great Kent batsman Robert Colchin.^[17]
• 1744 — first codification of the Laws of Cricket, by the Star and Garter club of Pall Mall in London; interestingly, the Laws do not say the bowler must roll the ball and there is no mention of prescribed arm action so, in theory, a pitched delivery would have been legal, although not in use until the 1760s.^[18]
• 1744 — earliest known scorecards are created for two matches this season but they do not come into regular use until 1772.^[19]
• 1745 to 1748 — single wicket cricket becomes increasingly popular and is the main form of cricket in England during this decade with lucrative contests taking place at the Artillery Ground in particular.^[20]

Horse racing

Events

• 1740 — Parliament introduces an Act "to restrain and to prevent the excessive increase in horse racing", though it is largely ignored.
• c.1750 — Formation of the Jockey Club to establish rules for British racing.

References

Sources

• Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (1900). At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742–1751. Cricket magazine. 
• Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. Eyre & Spottiswoode. 
• Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell. 
• Maun, Ian (2009). From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750. Roger Heavens. ISBN 978 1 900592 52 9. 
• McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society. 
• Waghorn, H. T. (1906). The Dawn of Cricket. Electric Press.