1738 English cricket season

Cricket season review November 2025 November 2025 1737 1737 English cricket season 1739 1739 English cricket season As in 1737, Kent was the strongest county team in the 1738 English cricket season. London Cricket Club is featured in most of the surviving match reports. Chislehurst Cricket Club and Horsmonden Cricket Club became prominent. The earliest reference to cricket in the county of Dorset has been found. Details of eight historically important matches are known.note status Any match listed in the ACS' Important Match Guide (1981) is historically important, and therefore of the highest standard, whether or not a scorecard might exist. The same applies to numerous matches discovered by researchers since 1981.ACS 1981 1–40 For further information, see First-class cricket. Kent v London & Surrey In July, Kent played two matches against a London & Surrey combine. One match was played on Kennington Common, and Kent "won easily" to repeat their successes in two 1737 matches against the same opponents. A return was planned at another venue, but no details have been found.Waghorn 1899 20Maun 2009 91ACS 1981 20 Chislehurst v Horsmonden A Chislehurst v Horsmonden match was played 11 July on Chislehurst Common for "a considerable sum of money". It is the first known reference to each of these teams who were prominent for a few seasons before and after 1740. Chislehurst won, and a return match took place 21 July in Horsmonden. This was won by Horsmonden "in one Hands (sic), all but 4 notches". The use of "hands" in this context means "innings", so Horsmonden achieved an innings victory, one of the earliest on record.Waghorn 1899 20-21 Chislehurst v London The teams met 12 July on Chislehurst Common in a game that "turned several times" until finally being won by London. A rematch was arranged a week hence at the Artillery Ground.Waghorn 1899 20-21 In that one, London scored less than 100 in their combined innings. Chislehurst had scored 73 in the first innings, and won "without much difficulty" by 5 wickets.Waghorn 1899 21ACS 1981 20 A third match was played in September at the Artillery Ground, and London won by an unknown margin. The newspaper report said nothing else about the game, but did say betting on London at the start of the second innings was "a guinea to a shilling".Waghorn 1899 20-21ACS 1981 20 London v Mitcham Played 11 August at the Artillery Ground, Mitcham totalled 117/20 in their two innings, and London made 118/19 to win by one wicket. Strangely, given the distance involved, the only report of this match was in the Warwickshire & Staffordshire Journal dated Thursday, 17 August.Buckley 1935 15ACS 1981 20 Other events An advertisement in the Sherborne Mercury dated Tuesday, 9 May, is the earliest reference to cricket in Dorset. Twelve Dorchester men at Ridgway (sic) Races challenged twelve men from elsewhere to play them at cricket for the prize of twelve pairs of gloves valued at a shilling a pair.Major 2007 116 In September, there was an inter-parish match in Sussex between teams from Eastbourne and Battle. Lord John Sackville captained Eastbourne, who won by 4 wickets.Waghorn 1899 21 First mentions Counties DorsetMajor 2007 116 Clubs and teams ChislehurstWaghorn 1899 20 HorsmondenWaghorn 1899 20 Venues Chislehurst CommonWaghorn 1899 20 Dorchester (unspecified)Major 2007 116 Horsmonden (unspecified)Waghorn 1899 20 Notes note References Bibliography ACS Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863 1981 ACS Nottingham https://archive.acscricket.com/online_library/match_guides/bi_imp_match_guide/index.html 85045528 Buckley G. B. G. B. Buckley Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket 1935 Cotterell & Co. Birmingham 23450280 Major John John Major More Than A Game 2007 HarperCollins London 978-00-07183-64-7 https://archive.org/details/morethangamestor0000majo_b8t0 Internet Archive Maun Ian Ian Maun From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750 2009 Roger Heavens Cambridge 978-19-00592-52-9 Waghorn H. T. H. T. Waghorn Cricket Scores, Notes, &c. From 1730–1773 Blackwood Edinburgh 1899 1086375331 Further reading Altham H. S. Harry Altham E. W. Swanton E. W. Swanton A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) 5th 1962 George Allen & Unwin London 894274808 Birley Derek Derek Birley A Social History of English Cricket 1999 Aurum Press London 978-18-54107-10-7 https://archive.org/details/socialhistoryofe0000birl_d1n5 Internet Archive Bowen Rowland Rowland Bowen Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development 1970 Eyre & Spottiswoode London 978-04-13278-60-9 Wilson Martin An Index to Waghorn Bodyline Books (limited edition, by subscription only) London 2005 Category:1730s in cricket Category:English cricket seasons in the 18th century Category:1738 in England