1742 English cricket season

1742 English cricket season

The 1742 English cricket season was the 46th cricket season since the earliest recorded eleven-aside match was played. Details have survived of ten significant matches, including two famous matches London and Slindon in September.

Recorded matches

Records have survived of ten significant matches:

Date	Teams	Venue	Result	Source
14 June	London v Bromley	Artillery Ground	match tied
	The second known instance in eleven-a-side cricket of a tied match.
7 July	London v Richmond	Artillery Ground	unknown
26 July	London v Croydon	Artillery Ground	unknown
2 August	Kent & Surrey v London	Duppas Hill, Croydon	unknown
	The counties team is described as "the Gentlemen of Kent and Surry and the Sussex Man from Slending". A large sum of money was at stake with play due to begin at noon. The announcement says "the booths (retail) are to be set back and the ground to be roped round" (i.e., forming a boundary).
9 August	London v Bromley	Artillery Ground	unknown
	"Played for a considerable sum". Wickets were pitched at twelve o’clock. Waghorn's source remarked that this was a return to the "tie game" on 14 June "which gave so much satisfaction to the spectators".
16 August	London v Croydon	Artillery Ground	unknown
	It is known that two Kent players and "the noted bowler from Slendon" assisted Croydon; while two Surrey players were given men to London. Played for a "considerable sum of money" with the ground to be roped round.
23 August	Surrey v Rest of England	Moulsey Hurst	Surrey won
	The original notice describes Surrey's opponents as "London, Westminster, Middlesex, Southwark and Part of Kent".
2 September	London v Surrey	Artillery Ground	unknown
	The match was originally scheduled for 6 September and was rearranged because of the visit of Slindon to London on that date.
6 September	London v Slindon	Artillery Ground	London won
	"London won with great difficulty. The wickets were pitched at twelve o’clock on the forfeit of 100 guineas. During the last innings of the match, the betting was as much as 20 to 1 in favour of Slindon". Slindon had only lost one match before the match.
10 September	London v Slindon	Artillery Ground	London won by 184 runs
	Was originally to have been played on 8 September, but was postponed on account of rain. At the conclusion of the above match Slindon offered to play again, either at Guildford or on the South Downs, for £100, but the challenge was not accepted.

First mentions

Clubs and teams

• Bromley Cricket Club
• Kent & Surrey

Bibliography

• ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS.
• Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (1900). At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742–1751. London: Cricket Magazine. OCLC 28863559. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
• McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society.
• Waghorn, H. T. (1906). The Dawn of Cricket. Electric Press.

Further reading

• 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. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell.
• Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.
• Underdown, David (2000). Start of Play. Allen Lane.