1771 to 1775 in sports

Events in world sport through the years 1771 to 1775.

Boxing

Events

• 18 May 1771 — British champion Bill Darts is defeated by the Irishman Peter Corcoran at Epsom Downs Racecourse after seven minutes of the first round. Darts is accused of accepting a bribe to lose the fight and is obliged to retire in disgrace from boxing.^[1][2]
• June 1774 — Corcoran is believed to have successfully defended the title on a number of occasions during the early 1770s but the only opponent who had any credibility was Sam Peters in June 1774 at Waltham Abbey. Corcoran won the fight in fifteen minutes after three rounds.^[2]

Cricket

Events

• 1771 — The Nottingham v Sheffield match is the first known mention of cricket in Nottinghamshire, even though the Nottingham club is already well-established.
• 1771 — The Chertsey v Hambledon match at Laleham Burway is enlivened by a furious dispute when Thomas "Daddy" White uses an extra wide bat to completely obscure his wicket. The Hambledon players object and a formal protest is written by Thomas Brett and signed by himself, Richard Nyren and John Small. It brings about a change in the Laws of Cricket, as confirmed in 1774, whereby the maximum width of the bat is set at four and one quarter inches.
• 1772 — Detailed scorecards become commonplace and this marks the beginning of first-class cricket as a statistical concept.
• 1773 — A grandstand is erected on two occasions at Bishopsbourne Paddock, possibly the first time these structures are known to have been used.
• 1774 — The Laws of Cricket are revised by a committee meeting at the Star and Garter on Pall Mall in London. This version of the Laws includes leg before wicket (lbw) and the maximum width of the bat.
• May 1775 — demands for a third stump are voiced after a single wicket match at the Artillery Ground in which Lumpy Stevens beats John Small at least three times only for the ball to pass through the wicket, which at the time still consists of two uprights and a crosspiece, without disturbing it. Although the petition is granted soon afterwards, research has discovered that the introduction of the third stump in practice is gradual and the two-stump wicket does continue for a number of years yet.
• 13 July 1775 — John Small scores 136 not out for Hampshire versus Surrey at Broadhalfpenny Down, the earliest definitely known century in first-class cricket.^[3]

Horse racing

Events

References

Sources

• Haygarth, Arthur (1862). Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Lillywhite.