History of English cricket (1726–1750) facts for kids
Cricket became a very popular sport in London and the south-eastern parts of England between 1726 and 1750. Even though travel was difficult back then, the game slowly started to grow in other areas of England. For over a hundred years, cricket was mostly a fun game played in the countryside. But then, rich people and gamblers became interested. They helped fund the sport's growth throughout the 1700s.
Important people like the 2nd Duke of Richmond wanted to make sure the game was played fairly. The first known written rules for cricket were made in 1727. Later, a full set of laws was created in 1744. Cricket grounds started to be fenced off in 1731, and soon after, people had to pay to watch games. Newspapers also started to report on cricket more as the industry grew. London's Artillery Ground became a famous place for big matches, drawing large crowds. A faster version of the game called single wicket was very popular in the 1740s. Some of the best players at the time included Robert "Long Robin" Colchin from Bromley and Richard Newland from Slindon.
Contents
How Cricket Grew in England
Cricket was still mainly played in certain regions of England, even though it was very popular. This was because it was hard to travel across the country. We know cricket was played in Gloucestershire by 1729, Buckinghamshire by 1730, and Hampshire by 1733.
The main place for cricket in the mid-1700s was the Artillery Ground in Finsbury, London. Around 1730, this ground became the main home for the London Cricket Club. Many important matches were played there, including exciting single wicket games where players often bet a lot of money. While London was the big city team, there were also famous country clubs like Dartford, Chertsey, and Croydon. These clubs were strong enough to challenge London and formed the main teams for counties like Kent and Surrey. Middlesex and Sussex also had strong teams. Other well-known places to play cricket included Dartford Brent, Kennington Common, Moulsey Hurst, and Richmond Green.
Cricket became more popular thanks to money from wealthy supporters, gambling, and large, excited crowds. As it grew, it started to spread out from its original home in the south-east. The game had even reached places like the Americas and India. English sailors and colonists were playing cricket overseas in the early 1700s.
Some of the most important supporters in the 1720s were Edwin Stead (from Kent), the 2nd Duke of Richmond, Sir William Gage (both from Sussex), and Alan Brodrick (from Surrey). Gage and Richmond kept supporting cricket into the 1730s. Other supporters then included the Prince of Wales and Lord John Sackville. A few players from the 1730s whose names we know are Thomas Waymark, Tim Coleman, and John Bowra.
Cricket, horse racing, and prizefighting (a type of boxing) were often linked because of gambling. Matches were held at places like Moulsey Hurst. Even the famous Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the Jockey Club (for horse racing) were started by the same group of noblemen and gentlemen who met in London.
Cricket in the News
Before 1697, newspapers didn't report on cricket because of strict laws about what could be printed. But by the mid-1720s, reports started to appear more often. However, it took a long time for news coverage to be complete. Early reports were usually just advertisements for upcoming matches or short talks about gambling odds, not about the actual game. It wasn't until 1726 that players' names were first mentioned in a newspaper.
In the 1730 season, many more matches were reported. This included four single wicket games and several 11-a-side matches. The London Club, which was the top club at the time, often played against county teams from Kent and Surrey. Match reports became much more common in the 1730s and started to include more details, sometimes even naming the supporters and players. This is why we have much more information about cricket in the 1730s than in earlier years.
The London Evening Post started in 1726, and the Daily Advertiser began in 1730. Both newspapers printed many cricket notices until they stopped publishing in the late 1790s. The growth of newspapers was very important. It gave the sport much-needed publicity at the time. It also helps us today to understand how the sport grew, as people back then didn't keep many records themselves.
The match between Kent and All England, played at the Artillery Ground on June 18, 1744, was even written about in a poem! It was called Cricket: An Heroic Poem by James Love. This was the first major piece of writing about cricket.
The Rules of Cricket
Early Rules: Articles of Agreement, 1727
In 1727, the 2nd Duke of Richmond set up two matches against Alan Brodrick. They wrote down "articles of agreement" to decide the rules for these games. This kind of agreement was used often during that time. It's the first time we know of rules being formally agreed upon, even though rules definitely existed before this. In the early days, rules were usually agreed upon by talking and could change from place to place. So, these written agreements helped to make the rules clearer.
Another example of these agreements happened in 1730 when London played Kent. The report said they "were obliged by their Articles to leave off at seven o'clock," so they couldn't finish the game. London was ahead by 30 runs when play stopped. The game was finished six days later at Kennington Common. The first full, official Laws of Cricket were written in 1744.
The 1727 agreement also said that "the Duke of Richmond & Mr. Brodrick shall determine the Ball or Balls to be played with." Similar rules were used for a while, and there was no effort to make bat or ball sizes standard until much later. Batters defended a two-stump wicket using a bat shaped like a hockey stick. The ball was bowled along the ground, either by rolling or skimming. The oldest known cricket bat that still exists is from 1729. It's on display at The Oval and belonged to a man named John Chitty.
Back then, players didn't use pads, gloves, or other protective gear. Umpires carried a stick, probably a bat, which batters had to touch to complete a run. Scorers sat on a small hill in the field and kept track of runs (then called "notches") by making marks on sticks. All runs had to be completed fully because boundaries (like hitting the ball to the edge of the field for four or six runs) didn't exist. There were also no known rules about taking care of the wicket, but the best bowler on the visiting team could decide where the wickets would be placed. The only early rule about the pitch and wicket size was that the pitch was 23 yards long in 1727. By 1744, it became a chain (22 yards).
The 1744 Cricket Laws
The 1744 Laws were put together by members of the London club. They weren't printed until 1752 and published until 1755. These laws covered things like the size of the pitch and wicket, how many balls were bowled in an over, and what the umpires' jobs were. Before these laws, the rules were "rather informal," meaning they weren't very strict. The 1744 rules were likely a way to update and write down the rules that were already being used. The wicket was set at 22 inches high and six inches wide, with two stumps and a single bail on top.
Single Wicket Cricket
The London Evening Post on August 27, 1726, had an advertisement for a single wicket match. It was between "the noted Perry" from London and "the famous Piper" from Hampton. They were playing "for twenty pounds a side." The match took place at Moulsey Hurst, a place used for many sports near Molesey in Surrey.
This is the first time players' names are known to have been in a newspaper. This match is also the earliest known game played under single wicket rules. Single wicket was a top-level form of cricket that was very popular at different times in the 1700s and 1800s. People loved it because it offered many chances for gambling. It became more and more popular in the 1730s, with many big money games happening at the Artillery Ground. This continued into the 1740s, and single wicket was most popular in the 1748 season.
In the 1730 season, there were four single wicket matches. Three of them involved four-player Kent teams led by Edwin Stead playing against four players from Brentford Cricket Club. The other game was between three players from Surrey and three from Sussex. The prize money was usually £50. In August 1735, there was a match with three players against four (we don't know the result) at Kennington Common. All the players were from the London club.
The Artillery Ground: A Famous Cricket Venue
A match between London and Surrey on August 31, 1730, was played at the Artillery Ground in Bunhill Fields, Finsbury, London. London won by 6 runs. This is the earliest known match at this location. People at the time sometimes called it the "old" Artillery Ground, maybe because it was used a lot for other sports and entertainment. It was generally used for matches involving the original London Club. It also became the main place for all London cricket until the mid-1760s.
Matches were recorded at the Artillery Ground until 1778. By then, the London Club had broken up, but its members still met socially and helped organize the game.
The first times cricket grounds were fenced off happened in 1731. The playing area at Kennington Common was roped off twice to try and keep spectators off the field. Cricket was the first sport known to fence off its venues, and it quickly became common. Stakes and ropes were reported at the Artillery Ground in 1732. It's not clear when people first started paying to watch games, but there was definitely a two pence charge at the Artillery Ground by the early 1740s.
Cricket in Schools and Universities
In 1727, Horace Walpole said that cricket was already "common" at Eton College. This is the earliest mention of cricket at Eton and in the county of Berkshire.
The earliest known mention of cricket at the University of Oxford is from 1673. The sport was being played there in the summer of 1729, according to Dr Samuel Johnson, who was a student there at the time. This was mentioned in James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson.
Key Moments in Early Cricket (1726-1740)
County names became more common in the 1720s. Teams called Kent and Surrey had been recorded as far back as 1709, though they probably didn't represent the whole counties. In August 1726, a combined London and Surrey team played against Edwin Stead's Kent XI at Kennington Common. In 1728, a Middlesex team played London. Then, in 1729, the names Hampshire and Sussex were first used in a team name, though not for individual county teams. In 1730, the first match took place between teams called Surrey and Middlesex.
In June 1728, a traveler from Switzerland, César-François de Saussure, wrote in his journal how often he saw cricket being played while traveling through southern England. He said county matches were "a commonplace" and that "everyone plays it, the common people and also men of rank." If they were common, they were also played with great passion. Winning teams would even declare their county's superiority! In August of the same year, a game at Penshurst Park between Kent and Sussex was won by Kent. The teams were organized by Edwin Stead (Kent) and Sir William Gage (Sussex). Stead's team had already won two games against the 2nd Duke of Richmond's team (also representing Sussex). Their win over Gage's team was reported as "the third time this summer that the Kent men have been too expert for those of Sussex." In August 1729, there was a return match at Penshurst Park between Stead's team and Gage's team. This time, Gage's team won, seemingly by the earliest known innings victory. A match report praised Thomas Waymark of Sussex, saying he "turned the scale of victory, which for some years past has been generally on the Kentish side."
Records show six eleven-a-side matches played in 1729, including the Stead v Gage return game. London and Dartford played each other twice. A Kent county team played in three matches: one against Sussex, one against Surrey, and one against a combined Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex team.
Fifteen eleven-a-side matches were recorded in 1730, with ten involving county teams. This was the first season where details of more than a few matches have survived. A short report of a match between Kent and London mentioned the "Kentish champions (losing) their honours," but it's not clear what this meant, as there was no county championship until much later.
Records of thirty eleven-a-side matches have been found for the 1731 season. Twelve games were recorded in 1732, with eleven involving London. A newspaper report in September said that London played 13 matches in total and were unbeaten. However, a report in May said that Croydon defeated London "by great odds." In 1733, ten matches involved London and/or a county team. Records have been found of seven matches in 1734, mostly involving London and Kent, who played each other twice. Of nine matches recorded in 1735, London played in seven.
In 1736, 18 eleven-a-side games and two single wicket games are on record. The earliest known tied match happened in one of the single wicket games when the teams, three from London and three from Surrey, both scored 23 runs. In the other single wicket game, two London players played against two from Richmond. One of the Richmond players got a serious face injury when hit by the ball.
Seven eleven-a-side games are known from 1737, all involving London. Some teams were sponsored by the Prince of Wales. There was crowd trouble at one match on Kennington Common between Kent and a combined London/Surrey team. Objects were thrown, and one person was injured. The match was played again twice in 1738. There are seven known matches in 1739, including the first to involve a team representing the Rest of England. It was advertised as "eleven gentlemen (of Kent) and eleven gentlemen from any part of England, exclusive of Kent." Kent won that game, and a return match soon after was a draw.
A series of pictures called The Game of Cricket was made by Hubert-François Gravelot in 1739. These are thought to be the "first modern representation of cricket." The six pictures show groups of children playing cricket. They show a wicket shaped like a "low stool," probably about 2 feet wide and 1 foot tall, with two stumps and a single bail. These pictures were used on porcelain. Gravelot was a very famous illustrator at the time.
The earliest known mention of Slindon Cricket Club is in a letter from July 30, 1740, from the Duke of Richmond to Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who would later become a prime minister. Eight matches are recorded in 1740, all involving London.
