Cricket in 1730

The most noticeable aspect of English cricket in the summer of 1730 is the largest number of matches on record to date, with much more coverage in the newspapers than in all previous seasons. Significantly, the surviving reports show the growing importance of the sport in metropolitan London and its surrounding areas. The Artillery Ground entered the historical record for the first time while London Cricket Club established its prominence. The club's rivals tended to be county teams with Kent, Middlesex, Surrey, and Sussex all active.

Eleven-a-side matches

Fifteen matches are known to have been arranged in 1730, as many as in all of the three previous seasons collectively. Twelve of the matches were between historically recognised teams and so may have been top-class; the other three involved parish or village teams which may not have been of the same standard.^[1]^{[note 1]}

Richmond v Gage

In Sussex, the cricketing rivalry between Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and Sir William Gage was set to continue and at least two matches were arranged.^[1] However, it is not certain if either were played and one was certainly "put off". In a letter written by one Henry Forster on 10 June, he says (sic): "Ye say in Chichester his grace [Richmond] is to play a cricket mach friday [12 June] with Sr Willm Gaige on Bery Hill". No other details have been found.^[4]^[5] Richmond and Gage were due to play again 5 August at The Dripping Pan in Lewes, but the match "was put off on account of (Thomas) Waymark, the Duke's man, being ill". It is not clear if it was cancelled or postponed. A prize of 100 guineas was at stake. The Dripping Pan is a grassy banked natural amphitheatre off Mountfield Road in Lewes and is today the home of Lewes F.C.^[6]^[7]^[4]^[8]

County cricket

In the sense of both teams being labelled with the names of counties, there were four "inter-county" matches, but 18th century nomenclature should never be taken literally as a team called, say, Sussex might mean nothing more than the fact that its patron lived in that county.^[9] Surrey defeated Middlesex 2–4 July on Richmond Green, and Sussex 9 July on Merrow Down, Guildford—in both matches, the margin of victory is unknown.^[6]^[7]^[10]^[5] Surrey played Middlesex again on 10 August and this time Middlesex won. That match is the earliest known to have been played on the Artillery Ground, in Finsbury.^[8]^{[note 2]} A third match was proposed as "the Surrey gentlemen are very desirous of saving their credit if possible".^[12] A provisional date of 17 August was set but there was no mention of a venue.^[12]

Kent, under its patron Edwin Stead, seems to have been the strongest county team. The St James Evening Post on 8 August reported: "'Twas thought that the Kentish champions would have lost their honours by being beat at one innings if time had permitted". This is the first time that a team was called the "champions" while "losing their honours" suggests the loss of a title, though no titles of any kind were officially recognised at the time. The match in question was played 5 August in Blackheath against London, whose team often opposed counties, and the wording of the report suggests that the result was cricket's earliest known draw.^[10]^[8]

In all, Kent played three matches against London.^[1] The first was on 2 July at a venue in the Gray's Inn area, and Kent won that by an unknown margin. The precise location was "a field near the lower end of Gray's Inn Lane, London". The newspaper reported "a cricket-match between the Kentish men and the Londoners for £50, and won by the former".^[6]^[7]^[13] The second match was the probable draw on 5 August and they played a third match 12 August at Frog Lane in Islington but, as the newspaper reported: "being obliged by their articles to leave off at seven o’clock, they could not finish it". London had a lead of 30 when play ended and it was agreed to resume 18 August on Kennington Common, but the final result is unknown.^[14]

Surrey also played three matches against London.^[1] The first was played 17 August on Kennington Common, the others 31 August and 4 September on the Artillery Ground. London won the first two by margins of one run and six runs respectively; the result of the third match is unknown. A brief report of the match on Kennington Common says it was "thought to be one of the completest matches that ever was played". The stake on 31 August was 20 guineas.^[14]^[10]

Other matches

The other three known matches involved parish teams that are rarely mentioned in the sources.^[1] One of them was Greenwich who played London in Blackheath on 31 July, but the stake was relatively low at 20 guineas and London may not have sent their strongest team.^[10] Earlier, on 23 July, Epsom played Sunbury on Epsom Down, but no details are known.^[10] On 9 September, there was a match on Putney Heath between teams from Putney and Fulham for a stake of 50 guineas. Putney won by an unknown margin. It is the only known instance of a team called Putney and of a match at this venue, which is now part of Wimbledon Common.^[15]^[16]

Single wicket

Reports of four single wicket matches have been found. Three of these appear to have been a series between Four of Kent and Four of Brentford. The first two were played for a stake of £50 and the third, perhaps a decider, "for a considerable wager". Edwin Stead captained the Kent teams.^[10]^[17]^[7] The first match was played 28 May on Westerham Common, "articles being drawn to play or pay", and this was followed by a return on 4 June at Kew Green—neither result is known.^[10] The third match did not take place until 26 August on Walworth Common and Four of Brentford won it.^[17]^[7]

On 29 June, there was a "two threes" single wicket match for £50 at Mickleham Downs between Three of Surrey and Three of Sussex. A report in the London Evening Post says the players were "esteemed the best in the respective counties", but does not name them. The Sussex trio won.^[10]^[4]

Other events

During April, there were reports in a number of journals about the 2nd Duke of Richmond and other members of the nobility playing cricket in Hyde Park. One such report on 7 April stated: "His Grace the Duke of Richmond, and several other young Noblemen and gentlemen, have begun to divert themselves each Morning at the Play of Cricket in Hide (sic) Park, and design to pursue that wholesome Exercise every fair Morning during the Spring".^[18] A report on 25 April anticipated a match for 100 guineas, but no further details have been found.^[19]

Evidence of how cricket was gaining media coverage is apparent in reports of local matches on 9 and 13 July. The first, "for a guinea a man" was a single wicket match won by three players from Hawkhurst. The second was between a "gentlemen only" team and the so-called "Lumbar Troop"—the result is unknown.^[8]

A twelve-a-side game was played 17 August at Tonbridge and "backed by a great many of the noblemen and gentry of that place". It seems to have been a tight contest which was unfinished on the day, so another date was chosen for the conclusion, but nothing further is known.^[10]

A match played 2 October on Datchet Heath, near Windsor, is the first reference to cricket in the county of Buckinghamshire. (Datchet is now in Berkshire).^[15]^[20]

Notes

^ Some eleven-a-side matches played before 1864 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources, but there was no such standard at the time. The term came into common use from around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised, and was formally defined as a standard by a meeting at Lord's, in May 1894, of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective. However, matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status.^[2] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as top-class or, at least, historically significant.^[3] For further information, see First-class cricket.
^ Several 18th century reports mention the location of the Artillery Ground between Chiswell Street and Bunhill Fields, then in Finsbury. Owned by the Honourable Artillery Company, it was often referenced in contemporary reports as the "old" Artillery Ground, perhaps because it had long been used frequently for other forms of sport or entertainment. It was the feature venue for London cricket from 1730 until the 1760s, and was last used for a top-class match in 1777.^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ACS 1981, p. 19.
^ ACS 1982, pp. 4–5.
^ ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.
^ ^a ^b ^c McCann 2004, p. 10.
^ ^a ^b Maun 2009, p. 42.
^ ^a ^b ^c Waghorn 1899, p. 1.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Wilson 2005, p. 44.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Maun 2009, p. 43.
^ ACS 1981, p. 17.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Buckley 1935, p. 4.
^ Webber 1960, p. 14.
^ ^a ^b Maun 2009, p. 44.
^ Ashley-Cooper 1929, p. 96.
^ ^a ^b Waghorn 1899, p. 2.
^ ^a ^b Waghorn 1899, p. 3.
^ Maun 2009, pp. 44–45.
^ ^a ^b Waghorn 1899, pp. 3–4.
^ Maun 2009, p. 41.
^ Buckley 1937, p. 1.
^ Maun 2009, p. 46.

Bibliography

ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS.
ACS (1982). A Guide to First-class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS.
Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (1929). Kent Cricket Matches, 1719–1880. Gibbs & Sons.
Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. ISBN 978-19-00592-48-2.
Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. ISBN 978-19-00592-49-9.
Maun, Ian (2009). From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750. Cambridge: Roger Heavens. ISBN 978-19-00592-52-9.
McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Lewes: Sussex Record Society. ISBN 978-08-54450-55-8.
Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, &c. – From 1730–1773. Edinburgh: Blackwood. ISBN 978-09-47821-17-3.
Webber, Roy (1960). The Phoenix History of Cricket. Charing Cross, London: Phoenix House Ltd. ISBN 978-04-60078-04-7.
Wilson, Martin (2005). An Index to Waghorn. Bodyline Books.