1751 English cricket season

Cricket season review March 2026 March 2026 1750 1750 English cricket season 1752 1752 English cricket season In the 1751 English cricket season, the earliest known references to the sport are found in each of Durham, Somerset, Warwickshire, and Yorkshire. The season's two biggest matches were between England and Kent, both on the Artillery Ground in May. Details of 17 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. England v Kent England played Kent in two matches across 20–22 May, both on the Artillery Ground.ACS 1981 22 The first match was played over two days, the 21st and 22nd. Play on the 21st started at one o'clock, and on the second day at ten o'clock. England scored 26 and 122; Kent replied with 76 and 63. At the end of the first day, Kent in their second innings were 23/2, still needing 73 to win. Kent were reduced to 43/9 before the last pair came together, so the final wicket added 20. England won by 9 9 runs. The teams were:https://archive.acscricket.com/cricket/1900/73/ Ashley-Cooper F. S. F. S. Ashley-Cooper At the Sign of the Wicket Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game Merritt & Hatcher Ltd London XIX 534 67–69 19 April 1900 ACS England—Stephens, Richard Newland, Edward Aburrow Sr, John Harris, Joe Harris, John Frame, Mathews, Perry, Stephen Harding, Stephen Dingate, and "A. N. Other". Kent—William Hodsoll, Tom Faulkner, Stone, Wilden, Garrett, Rawlings, John Bell, Thomas Bell, Howard, James Bryant, and Val Romney. Kent had Tom Faulkner (Addington and Surrey) as a given man. "A. N. Other" played for the Thursley club, as did Stephen Harding (later of Chertsey), who was a noted bowler. In England's second innings, these two went in first and scored 51 for the first wicket. Harding apparently made 50 of these himself, and had one hit out of the ground against a house on Bunhill Row opposite. He was given four runs for that effort. You could only score six if you were actually able to run that many, and to do that you would need the help of overthrows. For the first time ever, the fall of wickets in an innings is known. This is England's second innings: 1/51, 2/72, 3/77, 4/77, 5/78, 6/84, 7/87, 8/119, 9/119, 10/122. The second match was completed in a single day, the 22nd, and England won by an innings and 9 runs. Kent scored 88 and 67; England scored 164. The teams were the same as on the two previous days, and the name of the second Thursley player is again unrecorded. Single wicket matches Only four single wicket matches are in this season's sources, two in June and two on the same day in August. In June, there were two "fives" match on the Artillery Ground between Kent and Surrey. The first was played Monday, 3 June, and the return on Wednesday, 5 June. Both were won by Kent, although the betting was in favour of Surrey. The margin of victory on 3 June is unknown. On 5 June, Kent won by 14 runs after scoring 4 and 57 (a huge improvement in the second innings), and Surrey replied with 26 and 21. Kent's players in the two matches were Tom Faulkner (given man), John Bell, Thomas Bell, Stone, and Val Romney. Surrey's players were Stephen Dingate, John Harris, Joe Harris, Stephen Harding, and Perry. On Monday, 26 August, there were two matches on the Artillery Ground between Five of London and Five "Country" Players. Neither result is known. Other eleven-a-side matches Another seven matches were recorded, but only one has a known result. Surrey v London was arranged Monday, 13 May on the Artillery Ground. The actual title of the match, as advertised beforehand, was "Addington, Warlingham, Croydon & Cheam versus Ripley, Thursley & London". It was arranged "by the noblemen and gentlemen of the London Club". No details were reported afterwards. On Saturday, 1 June, Addington met Hadlow on Hayes Common, Bromley. This was pre-announced in the Daily Advertiser on Thursday, 30 May. The result is unknown.Buckley 1935 25 The Daily Advertiser announced on Monday, 24 June that Surrey would play Middlesex that day on Kennington Common, with a one o'clock start. The result is unknown.Buckley 1935 25ACS 1981 22 There were two matches between Dartford and Bromley. The first was played Tuesday, 23 July on Dartford Brent, the second Thursday, 1 August on Bromley Common. Neither result is known. The first match was played for 100 guineas. Apparently, there was a challenge from players in Newmarket to take on 22 of the players in this game for any sum, but nothing further is known about it.ACS 1981 22Buckley 1935 25 On Monday, 19 August, London played a team called A Country XI on the Artillery Ground. London scored 30 and 5; the Country XI replied with 24 and 6. London won by 5 runs.ACS 1981 22https://archive.acscricket.com/cricket/1900/89/ Ashley-Cooper F. S. F. S. Ashley-Cooper At the Sign of the Wicket Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game Merritt & Hatcher Ltd London XIX 535 83–85 26 April 1900 ACS The last of these matches was on Wednesday, 4 September, when Richmond met Hampton & Kingston on Moulsey Hurst. This was pre-announced in the Daily Advertiser on Monday, 2 September as "for two guineas a man; 11 a side, and to play home & home". The result is unknown.Buckley 1937 2 Other events Having lost Robert Colchin and the 2nd Duke of Richmond in 1750, cricket was hit by the death of another significant patron Frederick, Prince of Wales, on Sunday, 31 March. The loss of these patrons had an adverse impact on the game's finances and the number of important matches reduced for some years to come, although economic difficulties arising from the wars of the period certainly inhibited many potential investors. It was said that the Prince of Wales died as a result of being struck on the head by a cricket ball. He may well have been hit on the head but that did not kill him; the cause of death was a burst abscess in a lung. The early death of Prince Frederick meant that his son Prince George became heir to the throne and he succeeded in 1760 as George III.9042 23 March 1750 1 Deborah Fisher, Princes of Wales (University of Wales Press, 2006); Van der Kiste, pp. 190–191Frederick Prince of Wales https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/41xVBDYmZgbmgwPNc9XlNY8/frederick-prince-of-wales BBC; Livingstone Natalie https://books.google.com/books?id=D64CDAAAQBAJ&q=%22Frederick%22+%22blood+clot+in+his+lungs%22&pg=PA239 The Mistresses of Cliveden: Three Centuries of Scandal, Power and Intrigue in an English Stately Home 7 April 2016 Arrow Books 978-0-09-959472-7 en The earliest reference to cricket in Durham is a game at Raby Castle on or soon after Monday, 5 August between the 1st Earl of Northumberland's XI and the 3rd Duke of Cleveland's XI. The game was commemorated by a ballad which starts: Durham City has been dull so long, No bustle at all to show; But now the rage of all the throng Is at cricketing to go. The earliest reference to cricket in Somerset is a match at Saltford Meadow, near Bath, on Saturday, 13 July that was played in memory of the late Prince of Wales.Buckley 1935 25 A match announcement in Aris' Gazette on Monday, 15 July is the earliest known reference to cricket in Warwickshire.Maun 2009 13 The earliest known references to cricket in Yorkshire were re local matches in Sheffield and a game on or soon after Monday, 5 August at Stanwick St John, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, between the 3rd Duke of Cleveland's XI and the 1st Earl of Northumberland's XI (the same teams that played in Durham, as noted above). Four matches were played at Newmarket Heath and Woburn Abbey between the Gentlemen of England and an Eton College "Past & Present" team. The four games were played during June and July. The second game has a surviving scorecard but the teams in all four matches are decidedly minor.ACS 1981 22 F. S. Ashley-Cooper In 1900, Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game presented a series of 18th century cricket notices, collated by F. S. Ashley-Cooper, as part of his regular At the Sign of the Wicket feature. The series ran through six issues (nos 530–535) from 25 January to 26 April 1900.https://archive.acscricket.com/cricket/1900/10/ Ashley-Cooper F. S. F. S. Ashley-Cooper At the Sign of the Wicket Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game Merritt & Hatcher Ltd London XIX 530 4–6 25 January 1900 ACS It began with the tied match, between London and Bromley, which took place 14 June 1742 on the Artillery Ground. The final matches (two for one) in the series were the single wicket games between Five of London and Five "Country" Players at the Artillery Ground on 26 August 1751 (see above). To conclude the series, Ashley-Cooper added brief profiles of many 1840s players, including such luminaries as Long Robin and Richard Newland. First mentions Counties Durham SomersetBuckley 1935 25 WarwickshireMaun 2009 13 Yorkshire Clubs and teams 1st Earl of Northumberland's XI 3rd Duke of Cleveland's XI Country XIACS 1981 22 Gentlemen of EnglandACS 1981 22 Hampton & KingstonBuckley 1937 2 Thursley Players Stephen Harding (Thursley/Chertsey) Mathews (England) Stephens (Dartford) Stone (Kent) Wilden (Kent) Venues Hayes Common, BromleyBuckley 1935 25 Raby Castle, County Durham Somerset (unspecified)Buckley 1935 25 Stanwick, Richmond Warwickshire (unspecified)Maun 2009 13 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 Buckley G. B. G. B. Buckley Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket 1937 Cotterell & Co. Birmingham 23469107 Maun Ian Ian Maun From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750 2009 Roger Heavens Cambridge 978-19-00592-52-9 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 Major John John Major More Than A Game 2007 HarperCollins London 978-00-07183-64-7 https://archive.org/details/morethangamestor0000majo_b8t0 Internet Archive Category:1750s in cricket Category:English cricket seasons in the 18th century Category:1751 in England