1736 English cricket season - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A notable feature of 1736 was the rise to prominence of the famous Chertsey Cricket Club

Chertsey Cricket Club

Chertsey Cricket Club in Surrey is one of the oldest in England. Its own website dates its founding as 1737 but in fact matches involving a Chertsey team date from 1736....

, playing games against both Croydon

Croydon Cricket Club

The original Croydon Cricket Club was one of the oldest in England with origins going back to the early 18th century and perhaps earlier. It played most of its matches at Duppas Hill. The earliest record of the club is in the 1707 season when it played two matches against London Cricket...

and London

London Cricket Club

The original London Cricket Club was formed by 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of its home matches.-Early history of London cricket:...

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Result
before July	Croydon Croydon Cricket Club The original Croydon Cricket Club was one of the oldest in England with origins going back to the early 18th century and perhaps earlier. It played most of its matches at Duppas Hill. The earliest record of the club is in the 1707 season when it played two matches against London Cricket... v Chertsey Chertsey Cricket Club Chertsey Cricket Club in Surrey is one of the oldest in England. Its own website dates its founding as 1737 but in fact matches involving a Chertsey team date from 1736....	Croydon Croydon Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...	Croydon won
before July	Chertsey v Croydon	Laleham Burway Laleham Burway Laleham Burway is a tract of meadow land on the River Thames near Chertsey in Surrey. Part of it was a famous major cricket venue in the 18th century and the home of Chertsey Cricket Club.-Earliest known matches:...	Chertsey won
The above two games were played before July. Knowledge of them is from the announcement in Read’s Weekly Journal dated Sat 3 July about a deciding game on Richmond Green Richmond Green Richmond Green is a recreation area located near the centre of Richmond, which is a town of about twenty thousand inhabitants situated in south west London. The green is essentially square in shape and its open grassland, framed with broadleaf trees, extends to roughly twelve acres... to be played on Mon 5 July (see below). In each of the first two matches, the home team won "by a great number of runs". The match at Laleham Burway Laleham Burway Laleham Burway is a tract of meadow land on the River Thames near Chertsey in Surrey. Part of it was a famous major cricket venue in the 18th century and the home of Chertsey Cricket Club.-Earliest known matches:... is the first important one known to have been played at this famous venue in Chertsey Chertsey Chertsey is a town in Surrey, England, on the River Thames and its tributary rivers such as the River Bourne. It can be accessed by road from junction 11 of the M25 London orbital motorway. It shares borders with Staines, Laleham, Shepperton, Addlestone, Woking, Thorpe and Egham... .
13 May (Th)	London London Cricket Club The original London Cricket Club was formed by 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of its home matches.-Early history of London cricket:... v Mitcham Mitcham Cricket Club ]Mitcham Cricket Club is reported by The Independent to be the oldest cricket club in existence, with the club having been playing cricket on Mitcham Cricket Green since 1685. Mitcham club were also reportedly watched by Lord Nelson during his time in the area...	Kennington Common	result unknown
Recorded by Fresh Light in conjunction with the London v Mitcham games on c. Tues 22 June and on Thu 2 September.
c.22 June (Tu)	London v Mitcham	Kennington Common	London won
Recorded by Fresh Light' in conjunction with the London v Mitcham game on Thu 13 May.
5 July (M)	Croydon v Chertsey	Richmond Green Richmond Green Richmond Green is a recreation area located near the centre of Richmond, which is a town of about twenty thousand inhabitants situated in south west London. The green is essentially square in shape and its open grassland, framed with broadleaf trees, extends to roughly twelve acres...	drawn
Scores are known: Chertsey 88 & 55; Croydon 58 & 25-9. Croydon with one wicket standing still needed 61 to win when the clock struck eight and the game was drawn. Chertsey could claim a moral victory but the result remained a draw. Played for £50. The report in Read’s Weekly Journal dated Sat 3 July says this was “a new match to decide which are best”, the two teams having met twice before: Croydon won at Duppas Hill and Chertsey won at Laleham Burway (see above).
14 July (W)	London v Surrey Surrey county cricket teams Surrey county cricket teams have been traced back to the 17th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. The first definite mention of cricket anywhere in the world is dated c.1550 in Guildford.-17th century:...	Artillery Ground Artillery Ground The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is one of London's most centrally located cricket grounds, situated just off the City Road immediately north of the City of London...	London 30 runs
The report in the General Evening Post next day states that “London beat Surrey by 30 notches and had three men to go in”; there may have been a declaration of sorts in the second innings.
19 July (M)	Chertsey v London	Laleham Burway Laleham Burway Laleham Burway is a tract of meadow land on the River Thames near Chertsey in Surrey. Part of it was a famous major cricket venue in the 18th century and the home of Chertsey Cricket Club.-Earliest known matches:...	London won
late July	London v Chertsey	Artillery Ground Artillery Ground The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is one of London's most centrally located cricket grounds, situated just off the City Road immediately north of the City of London...	Chertsey 8 wkts
The first game on Mon 19 July was reported as "the hard match" and London won "by a very few notches". Scores are known from the second game: London 48 & 60; Chertsey 97 & 12-2. Chertsey’s team was said to be the same one that played Croydon on Richmond Green (see above).
11 August (W)	London v Surrey	Barnes Common	Surrey 19 runs
The report in the Whitehall Evening Post Whitehall Evening Post The Whitehall Evening Post was a London newspaper, founded in 1718.It was started in September 1718 by Daniel Defoe; and was then published on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Defoe left it in June 1720, but it continued to exist until the end of the century. It closed in 1801, with issue... on Saturday 14 August refers to Surrey as "Barnes, Fulham and Richmond". It goes on to say that the return on Tuesday 17 August would be played in the fields behind Powis House. It extends the hope that "the company will keep a good ring which was very much wanted at Barnes Common".
16 August (M)	Middlesex Middlesex county cricket teams Middlesex county cricket teams have been traced back to the 18th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. Given that the first definite mention of cricket anywhere in the world is dated c.1550 in Guildford, it is almost certain that the game had reached... v Surrey	Chelsea Common	Middlesex 9 runs
Played for 50 guineas a side as reported in the General Evening Post on Tues 17 August.
17 August (Tu)	London v Surrey	Lamb’s Conduit Field	London 86 runs
The Daily Gazetteer Daily Gazetteer The Daily Gazetteer was an English newspaper which was published from June 30, 1735-1746. The paper was printed for T. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-Noster Row, London by W... on Wed 18 August states that London beat Surrey by "upwards of 90 notches". The Whitehall Evening Post next day gives the scores and repeats the report of the previous match by first referring to Surrey as "Barnes, Fulham and Richmond"; but it then talks about "the Surrey men". London scored 55 and 75; Surrey scored 31 and 13 to give London the game by 86 runs. Two London batsmen in the second innings had a partnership of 51, which was a considerable achievement at the time given the usual condition of the pitches.
21 August (S)	Surrey v Middlesex	Moulsey Hurst Moulsey Hurst Moulsey Hurst is located in what is now West Molesey, Surrey on the south bank of the River Thames above Molesey Lock. It is one of England's oldest sporting venues and was used in the 18th and 19th centuries for cricket, prizefighting and other sports....	Surrey 5 runs
The source says "there were about £100 to £60 for the (sic) Middlesex".
2 September (Th)	London v Mitcham	Kennington Common	result unknown
Recorded in conjunction with the London v Mitcham game on Thu 13 May.
11 September (S)	Surrey v Middlesex	Moulsey Hurst Moulsey Hurst Moulsey Hurst is located in what is now West Molesey, Surrey on the south bank of the River Thames above Molesey Lock. It is one of England's oldest sporting venues and was used in the 18th and 19th centuries for cricket, prizefighting and other sports....	Surrey 2 runs
Reported a week later on Sat 18 September by the Whitehall Evening Post. The match was for 50 guineas a side.
20 September (M)	Surrey v Kent Kent county cricket teams Kent county cricket teams have been traced back to the 17th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. Kent, jointly with Sussex, is the birthplace of the sport...	Kennington Common	Surrey by 2 wkts
Scores are known: Kent 41 & 53; Surrey 71 & 24-8. During this match, an incident occurred in the crowd. Three soldiers apprehended a deserter but the crowd turned on them, rescued the deserter and "after a severe discipline let them go about their business"! Fresh Light added to this by quoting the General Evening Post on Sat 18 September . This report said the Kent team consisted of "the same that beat Middlesex last year on Moulsey Hurst and Bromley Common". Mr Buckley gives examples of when this report was variously quoted by other publications, including WDC, and dated wrongly. The content is itself incorrect as the teams played by Kent in the two matches were London & Middlesex at Moulsey Hurst and London Club at Bromley Common.
22 September (W)	Middlesex v Surrey	Lamb’s Conduit Field	result unknown
Announced the previous day in the London Evening Post.
4 October (M)	Kent v Surrey	Coxheath	drawn (rain)
First innings scores were level when the rain began, though Kent still had five wickets in hand. The date was given by Kent Cricket Matches after Cricket Scores had vaguely placed the date in September.

Other events

June. Mr Waghorn in Cricket Scores recounts a report of a single wicket match on Kennington Common. This names Mr Wakeland the distiller and Mr George Oldner playing together against two "famous" Richmond players who are "esteemed the best two in England". Unfortunately the esteemed pair are not named, though one of them suffered serious facial injuries in this game when the ball came off his bat and hit his nose. The report rails against "human brutes" who insisted he should play on despite his injuries, their money being more important, of course!

Fri 9 July. Rayner’s Morning Advertiser announced a same day match at White Lion Fields in Streatham between Streatham and London. No report of the game was found; it might not have been a major match .

Matches

Other events

External sources

Further reading