Details have survived of four historically important eleven-a-side matches in the 1754 English cricket season, and two notable single wicket matches.[note 1] Dartford was the pre-eminent club. The Leeds Intelligencer, forerunner of the Yorkshire Post, began publication; it has always been a noted source for cricket in Yorkshire.
Eleven-a-side matches
- London v Dartford
- 1 July, Artillery Ground.[2]
- The Daily Advertiser on Friday, 28 June, announced: "Wickets pitched at Twelve, and to begin play at One". London made 78 and 50; Dartford replied with 55 and 74/7. Dartford won by 3 wickets.[3]
- Woolwich v Dartford
- 24 August, Barrack Field, Woolwich.
- Dartford won.[3]
- Dartford v Woolwich
- 26 August, Dartford Brent.
- Woolwich won.[3]
- Both of the Dartford v Woolwich games were mentioned in the same report by Read's Weekly Journal dated Saturday, 31 August: "Dartford won away & lost at home against Woolwich on Sat. & Mon., 24 & 26 Aug. respectively".[3]
Single wicket
The Daily Advertiser on Friday, 28 June, announced for the same day a two-a-side game "behind George Taylor’s at Deptford". The players were Tom Faulkner and Joe Harris v John Capon and Perry.[3]
Tuesday, 24 September. A single wicket game at Brompton in Kent between the well-known Thomas Brandon of Dartford and a player called Parr of Chatham. The stakes were five guineas each and Brandon won by 47 runs.[5]
Other events
21–22 June (F–S). Midhurst & Petworth v Slindon on Bowling Green, Lavington Common.[6] The former apparently won by eight wickets, and the match seems to mark the swansong of Slindon as a great team, as they are not mentioned in the sources thereafter. Sussex cricket as a whole went into decline for many years and, although a number of inter-parish games were recorded over the next decade or so, it was not until 1766 that Sussex again took part in historically important matches. This temporary demise of Sussex is probably explained by the death of the 2nd Duke of Richmond in 1750. He was the greatest patron of Sussex cricket, and of Slindon in particular. His co-patron and good friend Sir William Gage, had died in 1744.[7]
First mentions
Clubs and teams
Players
Venues
Notes
- Any match listed in the ACS' Important Match Guide (1981) is historically important, and therefore of the highest standard, whether or not a scorecard might exist. The same applies to numerous matches discovered by researchers since 1981.[1] For further information, see First-class cricket.
References
- ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.
- ACS 1981, p. 23.
- Buckley 1937, p. 2.
- Buckley 1935, p. 33.
- Waghorn 1899, p. 53.
- McCann 2004, p. 48.
- George Edward Cokayne Complete Baronetage, Volume 1 1900
Bibliography
- ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC 85045528.
- Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. OCLC 23450280.
- Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. OCLC 23469107.
- McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century (PDF). Vol. 88. Lewes: West Sussex Record Office. ISBN 978-08-54450-55-8.
- Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, &c. From 1730–1773. Edinburgh: Blackwood. OCLC 1086375331.
Further reading
- Altham, H. S.; Swanton, E. W. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) (5th ed.). London: George Allen & Unwin. OCLC 894274808.
- Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978-18-54107-10-7 – via Internet Archive.
- Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN 978-04-13278-60-9.
- Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-00-07183-64-7 – via Internet Archive.
- Wilson, Martin (2005). An Index to Waghorn. London: Bodyline Books (limited edition, by subscription only).