1697 to 1725 English cricket seasons

Little is known about English cricket from the earliest known "great match" in 1697 to 1725 as few records were kept. Newspaper reports about the sport became more common after 1725 and gradually provided greater detail. By the end of the 17th century, English cricket had developed to the point where inter-county matches were being held in addition to the "grassroots" form of village cricket. The end of press censorship in 1696 meant that cricket could now be reported in the newspapers and the first known report of a match appeared in 1697. But the newspaper industry was still in its infancy and it would be a long time before anything like comprehensive coverage would be achieved.

1697

Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond

The "great match" in 1697 was the first to be recorded by a contemporary newspaper but by no means the first such match to be held. It must have been organised by at least one patron and, given its Sussex venue, it is likely that the first Duke of Richmond was involved.

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
30 June (W)	"A Great Match"	Sussex	result unknown
The earliest known newspaper report of a match proclaimed to be great or a similar adjective. The report was in the Foreign Post dated Wednesday, 7 July 1697 and describes a great match at cricket that was played the middle of last week in Sussex with eleven of a side and they played for fifty guineas apiece. The stakes on offer indicate the importance of the fixture and the fact that it was eleven-a-side suggests that two strong and well-balanced teams were assembled. No other details were given but the report is evidence to support the view that top-class cricket, in the form of "great matches" played for high stakes, was in vogue in the years following the Restoration in 1660.

1700

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
April	series of matches	Clapham Common	results unknown
A series of matches, to be held on Clapham Common, was pre-announced on 30 March by a periodical called The Post Boy. The first was to take place on Easter Monday and prizes of £10 and £20 were at stake. No match reports could be found so the results and scores remain unknown. Interestingly, the advert says the teams would consist of ten Gentlemen per side but the invitation to attend was to Gentlemen and others. This clearly implies that cricket had achieved both the patronage that underwrote it through the 18th century and the spectators who demonstrated its lasting popular appeal.

1702

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
date unknown	Duke of Richmond's XI v Arundel	Sussex	Duke of Richmond's XI won?
The source for this game is a receipt sent by one Saul Bradley to the Duke on 14 December 1702. The receipt was in respect of one shilling and sixpence paid by the Duke for brandy when your Grace plaid at Cricket with Arundel men. It is thought the brandy was bought to celebrate a victory. This was the first Duke of Richmond, also called Charles Lennox. He died in 1723 and it was his son, Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, who became the famous patron of Sussex cricket. The British East India Company bought control of the New (or English) Company that had been set up as a rival trading organisation in 1698. An Act of Parliament then amalgamated the two as "The United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies". The charter was renewed several times in the 18th century, each time with financial concessions to the Crown.[citation needed] The significance of this piece of information is that it was largely via the success of the East India Company that cricket was introduced to and established in India; and consequently in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.[citation needed] The first report of cricket in India concerns mariners of the so-called "John Company" playing at Cambay in 1721 as recorded below.

1705

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
? July	West of Kent v Chatham	Malling	result unknown
This was an 11-a-side game advertised in The Post Man dated 24 July 1705.

1706

William Goldwin wrote a Latin poem of 95 lines on a rural cricket match. It was called In Certamen Pilae (On a Ball Game) and it was published in his Musae Juveniles.

The spread of cricket relied heavily on ease of transport and communications. In 1706, Parliament established the first Turnpike trusts which placed a length of road under the control of trustees drawn from local landowners and traders. The turnpike trusts borrowed capital for road maintenance against the security of tolls. This arrangement became the common method of road maintenance for the next 150 years.^{[citation needed]}

1707

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
1 July (Tu)	Croydon v London	Croydon (Duppas Hill?)	result unknown
3 July (Th) or 8 July (Tu)	London v Croydon	Lamb's Conduit Field, Holborn	result unknown
These two matches were advertised in a periodical called The Post Man (dates 21–24 June 1707) as "two great matches at cricket (to be) plaid (sic), between London and Croydon; the first at Croydon on Tuesday, 1 July, and the other to be plaid in Lamb's-Conduit-Fields, near Holborn, on the Tuesday (sic) following, being the 3rd of July". No match reports could be found so the results and scores are unknown. The dates are uncertain as the report states: "the first game to be played on Tuesday, 1 July 1707 [which is a correct date in the then in use Julian Calendar] and the other to be played on the Tuesday following, being the 3rd of July [it is assumed that the second game was played on either Thursday, 3 July or Tuesday, 8 July]". There is record of a London Club from 1722 but it is not known when that organisation was founded or if it formed the London teams in the 1707 matches. Later matches in Croydon were played at Duppas Hill, but it is not known for certain if that was the venue in 1707. Lamb's Conduit Field was near Holborn in Middlesex. It had no connection with White Conduit Fields in Islington which later became the home venue of the White Conduit Club, forerunner of MCC.[citation needed]

1709

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
29 June (W)	Kent v Surrey	Dartford Brent	result unknown
The earliest known match involving county teams or at any rate teams bearing the names of counties. The match was advertised in the Post Man dated Saturday 25 June 1709. The stake was £50. It has been suggested that the teams in reality were Dartford and a Surrey parish, but this contradicts evidence of patronage and high stakes.[citation needed] Dartford was the foremost Kent club in this period and possibly provided not only the venue but also the nucleus of the team with some players coming from elsewhere in the county. The Surrey team may equally have been drawn from a number of Surrey parishes and subscribed by their patron.[citation needed] It is possible that one of the Kent players was William Bedle (1680–1768), of Dartford, the earliest great player whose name has been recorded. He was reckoned to be "the most expert player in England" and would have been in his prime c.1700 to c.1720.[citation needed] Dartford Brent was a popular Kent venue in the 18th century and was possibly used for matches in the 17th century also.[citation needed]

1710

The earliest reference has been found to cricket being played at Cambridge University.

1717

Thomas Marchant, a farmer from Hurstpierpoint in Sussex, first mentioned cricket in his diary. He made numerous references to the game, particularly concerning his local club, until 1727. His son Will played for "our parish", as he often called the Hurstpierpoint team.

1718

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
1 Sept (M)	London v Rochester Punch Club[citation needed]	to be confirmed[citation needed]	completed in 1719
This game was unfinished on 1 September 1718 because some of the Rochester players walked off in an attempt to have the game declared incomplete so that they would retain their stake money.[citation needed] London was clearly winning at the time. The game while incomplete became the subject of a noted lawsuit where the terms of the wager were at issue.[citation needed] The court ordered it to be played out and this happened in July 1719. Rochester with 4 wickets standing needed 30 (presumably 30 more runs rather than 30 runs in total) but were out for 9 (again, presumably, 9 more runs).[citation needed]

1719

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
? July (see 1718)	London v Rochester Punch Club[citation needed]	to be confirmed[citation needed]	London won by 21 runs
19 August (W)	London v Kent	White Conduit Fields	Kent won
The report says the teams played "for a considerable sum of money".

1720

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
9 July (S)	London v Kent	White Conduit Fields	London won
Two London fielders were badly injured by a clash of heads and the original source expressed a concern about their eventual recoveries. Waghorn noted that advertising and reporting of cricket ceased for some years and wondered if that was due to a perception that the sport is dangerous. NOTE: Waghorn's comment about reduced reporting (reduced matches?) needs further examination in the light of the 1720 South Sea Bubble (possible economic impact) and the 1721 Stamp Act (possible impact on publication of sporting news).[citation needed]

1721

English sailors were reported to be playing cricket at Cambay, near Baroda, and this is the earliest known reference to cricket being played in India.

1722

Although teams styled London were already in existence, the first actual reference to a London Club was dated in 1722.

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
18 July (W)	London v Dartford	Islington	unknown
There was a letter about this game in The Weekly Journal dated 21 July 1722.

1723

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
date unknown	Dartford v Tonbridge	Dartford Brent	unknown
Recorded in the journal of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford: "Upon Dartford, upon the Heath as we came out of the town, the men of Tonbridge and the Dartford men were warmly engaged at the sport of cricket, which of all the people of England the Kentish folk are the most renowned for, and of all the Kentish men, the men of Dartford lay claim to the greatest excellence". "The Heath" was Dartford Brent. Robert Harley (1661–1724) was a noted Tory politician who was against spending on the armed forces; he was a particular favourite of Queen Anne and a strong opponent of Sir Robert Walpole.

1724

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
11 June (Th)	Dartford v London	Dartford Brent	result unknown
18 June (Th)	London v Dartford	Kennington Common	result unknown
London v Dartford is the earliest known match at Kennington Common, where (it is believed) The Oval is now sited.
10 August (M)	Penshurst &c. v Dartford	Islington	result unknown
This match featured the combined parishes of Penshurst, Tunbridge and Wadhurst versus Dartford. It is reported in a diary entry by one John Dawson, who may have watched it. No details are known but as Dartford was already recognised as a leading club, it may have been a great cricket match as Mr Dawson says.
date unknown	Chingford v Mr Edward Stead's XI	venue unknown	completed in 1726
This match seems to be the earliest reference to cricket being played in Essex (if at Chingford) or by an Essex team. The game echoed the one in 1718 as the Chingford team refused to play to a finish when Mr Stead's team had the advantage. A court case followed and, as in 1718, it was ordered to be played out presumably so that all wagers could be fulfilled. We know that Lord Chief Justice Pratt presided over the case and that he ordered them to play it out on Dartford Brent, though it is not known if this was the original venue. The game was completed in 1726. Mr Edward Stead (sometimes called Edwin Steed) of Maidstone was a noted patron of early 18th century cricket, especially in his native Kent.

1725

7 May. Minutes of the Honourable Artillery Company make the earliest known reference to the famous Artillery Ground in Finsbury being used for cricket. There is a note which concerns "the abuse done to the herbage of the ground by the cricket players".

Date	Match title	Venue	Result
15 July (Th)	Sir William Gage's XI v unknown XI	venue unknown	Sir William Gage's XI lost
20 July (Tu)	Duke of Richmond's XI v Sir William Gage's XI	venue unknown	result unknown
Knowledge of these two games is based on a humorous letter sent by Sir William Gage to the Duke of Richmond on 16 July. Gage bemoans that he was shamefully beaten the previous day in his first match of the year but says nothing of his opponents. He then looks forward to playing the Duke's team next Tuesday and wishes his Grace success in everything except his cricket match!

External links

• Classification of cricket matches from 1697 to 1825
• CricketArchive match lists
• Dartford Cricket Club website
• From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787

Bibliography

• Harry Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962.
• Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999.
• Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970.
• G. B. Buckley, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, Cotterell, 1935.
• G. B. Buckley, Fresh Light on Pre-Victorian Cricket, Cotterell, 1937.
• Leach, John (2005). Keith Warsop and Peter Wynne-Thomas. ed. "In the Mists of Time: History of Cricket to 1697". The Cricket Statistician (Nottingham: Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians) (132): 9–14. 
• Maun, Ian (2009). From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750. Roger Heavens. ISBN 978 1 900592 9. 
• Timothy J. McCann, Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century, Sussex Record Society, 2004.
• David Underdown, Start of Play, Allen Lane, 2000.
• H. T. Waghorn, The Dawn of Cricket, Electric Press, 1906.