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1792 English cricket season

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In the 1792 English cricket season, Kent played Hampshire at Cobham Park, which was Lord Darnley’s estate and the home of the Bligh family. Ninety years later it became the home of the Ashes in the shape of the urn brought back from Australia by the Hon. Ivo Bligh.

A match in Sheffield provides the earliest known instance of the rare dismissal of obstructing the field.

Elsewhere, the earliest known cricket club in India was formed in Calcutta.

Matches

Date Match Title Venue Source Result
7–9 May (M-W) MCC v Middlesex Lord's (Dorset Square) SB128 MCC won by 274 runs
15–17 May (Tu-Th) MCC v Middlesex Lord's (Dorset Square) SB129 Middlesex won by 5 runs
21–22 May (M-Tu) Bligh v Earl of Winchilsea Lord's (Dorset Square) SB129 Winchilsea's XI won by 8 wkts
28–30 May (M-W) MCC v Sussex Lord's (Dorset Square) SB130 Sussex won by 9 wkts
31 May - 1 June (Th-F) MCC v Berkshire Lord's (Dorset Square) SB131 MCC won by 7 runs
6–8 June (W-F) MCC v All-England Lord's (Dorset Square) SB132 MCC won by innings & 10 runs

See the note re the 1793 match on 12–14 June which some sources have recorded on the same dates in 1792.

21–23 June (Th-S) All-England v Kent Lord's (Dorset Square) SB133 All-England won by 10 runs
2–4 July (M-W) All-England v Hampshire Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland SB134 Hampshire won by 75 runs
9 July (M) Nottingham v Leicester ^ Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland SB135 Leicester won by 4 wkts

^ Full title is Nottingham v Leicestershire & Rutland. There is no doubt the teams were representative of the counties and similar to the sides that competed against MCC in 1791. The match is historically important and is a major fixture. The Nottingham v Leicester game is also in William North’s 1832 book of Nottingham Old Club Match Scores.

16–18 July (M-W) Hampshire v All-England Windmill Down SB136 Hampshire won by 127 runs
19–20 July (Th-F) Hampshire Colts v Brighton # Windmill Down SB137 Hampshire won by 6 wkts
24–27 July (Tu-F) Hampshire v Surrey Perriam Down SB137 Surrey won by 109 runs
2-4 Aug (Th-S) Berkshire v MCC Oldfield Bray SB138 Berkshire won by 10 runs
7 Aug (Tu) Brighton v Hampshire Colts # PoW Ground, Brighton SB139 Brighton won by 7 wkts

# The two Hambledon v Brighton games recorded in S&B are considered minor due to lack of recognised players.

15-17 Aug (W-F) Kent v Hampshire Cobham Park, near Gravesend SB140 Hampshire won by 8 wkts

Cobham Park was Lord Darnley’s estate and the home of the Bligh family. Ninety years later it became the home of the Ashes brought back from Australia by the Hon. Ivo Bligh.

20-23 Aug (M-Th) Sussex v MCC PoW Ground, Brighton SB140 Sussex won by 3 wkts

The Prince of Wales Ground in Brighton had its name changed over the years and was known as Box’s Ground in the next century.

23-25 Aug (Th-S) Sussex v MCC PoW Ground, Brighton SB141 Sussex won by innings & 44 runs
27 Aug (M) Sheffield v Bents Green Sheffield ? FLPV Sheffield won by 10 wkts

This was three innings a side and is the first match played in Yorkshire for which the full scores are known. Mr Buckley found the information in the Sheffield Advertiser dated 31 August 1792. This is the first match in which a batsman was given out for obstructing the field. The Bents Green player John Shaw, who scored 7 in the first innings, had his dismissal recorded as "run out of the ground to hinder a catch".

29-31 Aug (W-F) Kent v Essex Dartford Brent SB142 Kent won by 81 runs
5-6 Sept (W-Th) Sussex v Middlesex PoW Ground, Brighton SB142 Sussex won by 5 wkts

S&B says only the two first innings were played during 5-7 Sept 1792 (rain-affected?) and the game was concluded on 27 May 1793 when the two second innings were played.

17-19 Sept (M-W) Kent v Hampshire Dartford Brent SB143 Hampshire won by innings & 23 runs
20-22, 24 Sept (Th-M) Middlesex v Sussex Lord's (Dorset Square) brit drawn (rain)

Britcher reports that the game was postponed because of rain until Whit Monday in 1793 but we do not know if it was concluded. Details of this match only came to light recently when Britcher’s work became available.

27-28 Sept (Th-F) Essex v Kent Langton Park, Hornchurch SB144 Kent won by 158 runs

First mentions

Countries

Counties

Clubs and teams

Players

Venues

Leading batsmen

Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so it is impossible to provide a complete analysis of batting performances: e.g., the missing not outs prevent computation of batting averages. The "runs scored" are in fact the runs known.

Tom Walker with 542 runs, including a top score of 107, made the most runs in 1792; ahead of William Beldham with 503, including a top score of 144.

Other leading runscorers were William Fennex 388; Earl of Winchilsea 374; Edward Bligh 372; George Louch 270; Andrew Freemantle 266; Jack Small 258; Richard Purchase 232; George Henry Monson 230; John Wells 207

Leading bowlers

Note that the wickets credited to an 18th-century bowler were only those where he bowled the batsman out. The bowler was not credited with the wickets of batsmen who were caught out, even if it was "caught and bowled". In addition, the runs conceded by each bowler were not recorded so no analyses or averages can be computed.

Thomas Boxall with 46 was the leading wicket-taker in 1792

Other leading bowlers were David Harris with 36 wickets; Thomas Lord 33; John Hammond 28; Richard Purchase 28; Tom Walker 24; William Beldham 18; Harry Walker 18; William Fennex 13; William Bedster 10

Leading fielders

Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so the totals are of the known catches and stumpings only. Stumpings were not always recorded as such and sometimes the name of the wicket-keeper was not given. Generally, a catch was given the same status as "bowled" with credit being awarded to the fielder only and not the bowler. There is never a record of "caught and bowled": the bowler would be credited with the catch, not with the wicket.

William Beldham with 31 catches was easily the season's best fielder

Others were George Henry Monson 13 ct, 1 st; Edward Bligh 7 ct, 6 st; George Louch 13; William Fennex 11 ct, 1 st; Richard Purchase 11 ct; John Wells 11 ct; Thomas Ingram 6 ct, 4 st; Thomas Scott 9 ct; Tom Taylor 9

References

Bibliography

  • Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (1924). Hambledon Cricket Chronicle 1772–1796. Jenkins.
  • Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell.
  • Haygarth, Arthur (1862). Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Lillywhite.
  • Mote, Ashley (1997). The Glory Days of Cricket. Robson.
  • Nyren, John (1998). Ashley Mote (ed.). The Cricketers of my Time. Robson.
  • 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.
  • Britcher, Samuel, A list of all the principal Matches of Cricket that have been played (1790 to 1805), annual series
  • Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Cotterell.
  • McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society.
  • Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.
  • Underdown, David (2000). Start of Play. Allen Lane.
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