History of English cricket (1751–1775) facts for kids

The years from 1751 to 1775 were a really important time for cricket in England. During this period, the famous Hambledon Club became very strong, and the game continued to grow all over the country. Big changes happened to the Laws of Cricket in 1775. These new rules included the leg before wicket (LBW) rule and adding a third stump to the wicket.

Cricket's Golden Age: 1751-1775

How Cricket Changed

Around 1760, cricket saw a major change. Bowlers started to pitch the ball, meaning they threw it through the air instead of rolling it along the ground. This led to the invention of the straight bat, which helped batsmen hit the pitched balls better. These changes made the game much more exciting and skillful.

The Hambledon Club Story

The Hambledon Club was formed around this time. It became the most important cricket club for the next 25 years. Based at Broadhalfpenny Down in Hambledon, it was a social club that also organized many county cricket matches. It even ran the Hampshire county teams.

Early Days of Hambledon

We don't know exactly when the Hambledon Club started. But by 1764, they were definitely playing matches. The earliest known games involving a team called Hambledon were in 1756 against Dartford. One newspaper ad from 1756 even mentioned a match on Broadhalfpenny Down because someone lost their dog there!

Hambledon's Rise to Fame

The 1764 season really kicked off the "Hambledon Era." Many great players of the 1700s, like Richard Nyren, John Small, and Lumpy Stevens, became known around this time. Hambledon and Chertsey were the top teams, playing each other often.

In 1768, a Hambledon batsman named John Small scored "above seven score notches," which means over 140 runs! This was a huge score back then. In 1769, John Minshull scored 107 runs for the Duke of Dorset's team. This is the earliest known century (100 runs) in any cricket match.

Cricket Spreads Across England

Cricket continued to spread beyond its early strongholds. In 1751, we find the first mentions of cricket in Durham, Somerset, Warwickshire, and Yorkshire. By 1757, Derbyshire was playing, followed by Northumberland in 1766, and Wiltshire in 1769.

In 1766, a diary entry mentioned a cricket match in Fenny Stratford, showing how popular the game was becoming even outside London and the south-east. In 1769, Berkshire was first recorded as a county team. They became a strong cricket area, producing many good players.

The Seven Years' War and Cricket

The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a big war that made things tough for England's economy. This meant less money was invested in cricket. During the war, fewer matches were recorded. For example, in 1760, there were no eleven-a-side matches at all. After the war ended in 1763, cricket slowly started to recover from 1764 onwards.

One interesting result of the war was that Great Britain gained more power in India. Over time, this led to cricket spreading throughout India, where it is now incredibly popular.

First Cricket Scorecards (1772)

While some early scorecards exist from 1744, not many have been found before 1772. That year, scorecards for three matches survived, and they are very important! These three scorecards became the starting point for all of cricket's official statistics.

The very first match in the main cricket database was played on June 24, 1772. It was between Hampshire and an England XI at Broadhalfpenny Down. Hampshire won this match by 53 runs.

The other two matches with surviving scorecards were also between England and Hampshire. Hampshire won one in Guildford, and England won the other in Bishopsbourne. These early scorecards only showed the total runs scored, not how players got out or who bowled.