1747 English cricket season

In the 1747 English cricket season, the single wicket form of the game was very popular among the gamblers of London and matches were disrupted because of a General Election.

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Result
13 May (W)	Croydon & Addington v Greenwich & Deptford^[1]	Duppas Hill, Croydon	result unknown
Pre-announced in the London Evening Post on Sat 9 May but no report of the game was found.
29 May (F) & 9 June (Tu)	Croydon & Addington v London^[2]	Duppas Hill, Croydon	C&A won
Apparently it was unfinished on 29 May and the players agreed to play it out more than a week later.
1 & 2 June (M-Tu)	London v Croydon & Addington^[3]	Artillery Ground	London won
The previous match being incomplete would be played out on Tuesday next at Duppas Hill.
12 June (F)	Dartford v London^[2]	Dartford Brent	result unknown
No details reported.
15 June (M)	London v Croydon & Addington^[2]	Artillery Ground	result unknown
They have played two matches this season, and each won one with great difficulty, being two days playing each match.
29 June (M)	London v Dartford^[3]	Artillery Ground	result unknown
No details known other than that wickets were to be pitched at two o’clock. Two games between Kent and All-England were due to be played at Bromley Common on Mon 29 June and at the Artillery Ground on Wed 1 July, but both matches are deferred on account of the gentlemen subscribers being engaged at several Elections.^[3] The Parliamentary Election of 1747 resulted in a Whig government under Henry Pelham (1694-1754). In those days, voting was limited to landed gentry (i.e., to fully paid up members of the Hanoverian aristocracy).
2 July (Th)	Dartford v Hadlow^[1]	Dartford Brent	result unknown
This was pre-announced in the Penny London Post of Wed 1 July as the deciding match but there is no report of the game and no references to the earlier fixture(s).
9 July (Th)	Long Robin’s XI v W Hodsoll’s XI^[2]	Artillery Ground	result unknown
A scratch match arranged by members of the London Cricket Club. Most players’ names are known but no scores. The exact title is unknown but one team consisted mainly of players from London, Bromley and Slindon, the other mainly of players from Dartford and Hadlow. The teams were: Long Robin’s XI: Robert Colchin, John Bryant, James Bryant, John Bowra, Little Bennett, Thomas Jure, Richard Newland, Adam Newland, John Newland and two others W Hodsoll’s XI: William Hodsoll, Broad, John Bell, Thomas Bell, Allen, J Harris, Tom Faulkner, John Larkin and others from the parish of Hadlow in Kent. It is not known which of John or Joseph Harris was involved.
28 July (Tu)	T Faulkner’s XI v J Bowra’s XI^[4]	Kennington Common	result unknown
This was billed as Long Tom versus the Kentish Shepherd, those being the nicknames of Tom Faulkner, who was also a prizefighter, and John Bowra.
17 August (M)	London v Ripley & Bromley^[2]	Artillery Ground	result unknown
A statement by Mr George Smith, the Keeper of the Artillery Ground: These matches being attended with great Charge the Door, for the Future, will be Six-pence; Two-pence not being sufficient to defray the Expense. The match was to be played for fifty guineas per side.
20 August (Th)	Ripley & Bromley v London^[2]	Ripley Green	result unknown
No details reported.
24 August (M)	London v Hadlow^[2]	Artillery Ground	result unknown
Hadlow, near Tonbridge in Kent, was stated to be a famous parish for cricket.
31 August (M)	All-England v Kent^[2]	Artillery Ground	result unknown
This game and the next one were the two postponed earlier in the season because of the Parliamentary Election. Another statement from George Smith: The Town may be certain that the taking Six-pence Admittance is out of no avaricious Temper. Two-pence being greatly insufficient to the Charge that attends the Matches, which Mr Smith is ready and willing to make appear to any Gentleman. The advertised teams (in the Daily Advertiser on Mon 31 August) were: Kent: Robert Colchin, John Bryant, James Bryant (all Bromley), Val Romney, Kipps, John Mansfield (all Sevenoaks), John Bell, Thomas Bell (both Dartford), Jones, John Larkin (both Hadlow), Robert Eures (Bexley). All-England: Richard Newland (Slindon), Green (Amberley, Sussex), Stephen Dingate, "Little" Bennett, Thomas Jure (all London), Thomas Faulkner, Joseph Harris, Broad, George Jackson (all Addington), William Sawyer (Richmond), Maynard (Surrey).
2 September (W)	Kent v All-England^[2]	Bromley Common	result unknown
No details reported. This match was advertised at the same time as the first one and not subsequently.

Other events

Mon 6 July. Five of Slindon versus Five of Dartford at the Artillery Ground.^[2] This was the result of a challenge by Slindon, published in the Daily Advertiser on Mon 29 June, to play five of any parish in England, for their own Sum. The announcement advised interested parties: If it is accepted of by any, they are desir’d to go to Mr Smith, who has Orders to make Stakes for them. The three Newland brothers all played. On Sat 4 July,^[5] Mr Smith announced in the same paper that five of Dartford in Kent, have made Stakes with him, and will play with the above Gentlemen at the Time and Place above mentioned for twenty Pounds.

Wed 8 July. Five of Slindon versus Five of Bromley at the Artillery Ground.^[4] Another game resulting from Slindon’s challenge. The Newland brothers played for Slindon again.

Fri 10 July. Five of Slindon versus Five of Hadlow at the Artillery Ground.^[5] Another game resulting from Slindon’s five-a-side challenge. Details unknown.

Wed 15 July. Five of Slindon versus Five of Hadlow at the Artillery Ground.^[5] A return game which suggests Hadlow might have won the first as Slindon, having issued the initial challenge, might wish to try for honours even. Details unknown.

In early August, there were two single wicket matches,^[5] at the Artillery Ground which were organised by the Duke of Richmond. In the first, three of his employees Stephen Dingate, Joseph Budd and Pye defeated both Little and Tall Bennett, and William Anderson. In the second, the same threes were to play again but in a "fives" match with the two Bryants added to the Duke’s team and with Tom Faulkner and one of the Harrises to their opponents. The result of the second game is unknown.

Sat 5 September. Three-a-side game at the Artillery Ground: Long Robin’s Side versus Stephen Dingate’s Side. The teams were Robert Colchin, John Harris and Val Romney against Stephen Dingate, Richard Newland and Thomas Jure. It was played for sixty guineas per side and the players were specially chosen from those who had played in the Kent v All-England games above, so presumably they must have been the best performers in those matches. It was ruled that all Strokes behind as well as before Wickets counted and in this respect the contest differs from any Three Match ever play’d.^[2]

First mentions

Allen (Kent)
John Bell (Dartford/Kent)
Thomas Bell (Dartford/Kent)
Thomas Jure (London)
John Larkin (Hadlow/Kent)
Robert Eures (Bexley/Kent)
Jones (Hadlow/Kent)
John Mansfield (Sevenoaks/Kent)
Pye (Sussex)
Joseph Rudd (Sussex)

References

1 2 G B Buckley, Fresh Light on Pre-Victorian Cricket, Cotterell, 1937
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 F S Ashley-Cooper, At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742-1751, Cricket Magazine, 1900
1 2 3 H T Waghorn, The Dawn of Cricket, Electric Press, 1906
1 2 G B Buckley, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, Cotterell, 1935
1 2 3 4 Timothy J McCann Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century, Sussex Record Society, 2004

Bibliography

Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (1900). At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742–1751. Cricket magazine.
Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell.
McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society.
Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730–1773). Blackwood.
Waghorn, H. T. (1906). The Dawn of Cricket. Electric Press.
Wilson, Martin (2005). An Index to Waghorn. Bodyline.

Additional reading

ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS.
Altham, H. S. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914). George Allen & Unwin.
Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. Aurum.
Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Cotterell.
Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.
Marshall, John (1961). The Duke who was Cricket. Muller.
Maun, Ian (2009). From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750. Roger Heavens. ISBN 978-1-900592-52-9.
Underdown, David (2000). Start of Play. Allen Lane.

External links

English cricket teams in the 18th century

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