1739 English cricket season - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

In the 1739 English cricket season, there were again very few match reports. The first 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...

versus All-England

All-England Eleven

In cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team...

games are a sign of very important matches to come.

The earliest known cricket picture was first displayed this year. It is an engraving called The Game of Cricket by Hubert-François Gravelot

Hubert-François Gravelot

Hubert-François Bourguignon, commonly known as Gravelot , was a French engraver, a famous book illustrator, designer and drawing-master...

(1699 – 1773) and shows two groups of cherubic lads gathered around a batsman and a bowler. The wicket shown is the "low stool" shape, probably 2 foot (0.6096 m) wide by 1 foot (0.3048 m) tall, naturally with two stumps and a single bail. Gravelot helped to establish the French Rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

style in English publishing and was one of the most celebrated illustrators of the time. He worked in England 1732–1745, opening a drawing school on the Strand which had Thomas Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter.-Suffolk:Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woolen goods. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his penciling skills so that he let...

(1727–1788) among its pupils.

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Result
18 June (M)	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 Lingfield	venue unknown	Lingfield won by 2 wkts
The report does not state the venue of this match but does say the rematch will be at the 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... on the 27th.
27 June (W)	London v Lingfield	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...	result unknown
No report was found of the rematch.
9 July (M)	Kent v All-England	Bromley Common Bromley Common Bromley Common is the area centered around the road of the same name, stretching between Masons Hill at the south end of Bromley and Hastings Road, Locksbottom. Part of the A21...	Kent won
This is the first known instance of a team representing All-England All-England Eleven In cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team... . The match was billed as between "eleven gentlemen of that county (i.e., Kent) and eleven gentlemen from any part of England, exclusive of Kent". Kent, described as the Unconquerable County won by "a very few notches".
c.12 July (Th)	Kingston & Moulsey v London	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....	K&M won
19 July (Th)	London v Kingston & Moulsey	Kennington Common	K&M won by 3 runs
The London & Country Journal dated Tuesday 24 July reported on the second of these two matches but made references to the previous one which might have been played a week or so earlier. It seems that Kingston & Moulsey won the first game because of the Londoners turning out three bad men who played on Moulsey Hurst. K&M won the second game by three runs despite losing "five of their best hands" from the earlier match. London replaced the "three bad men" with Lord John Philip Sackville, Mr Dunn and "Mr Boarer" (sic) John Bowra John Bowra was an English professional cricketer of the mid-Georgian period who made 5 known appearances in first-class cricket.-Career:John Bowra has been identified as "Mr... who were described as "three very good gamesters".
23 July (M)	All-England v Kent	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...	drawn
A report of this game includes the phrase "eleven picked out of all (sic) England". Kent led by over 50 on the first innings, and betting was then 2 to 1 in their favour. The Kentish Men were likely to have won, but a Dispute arose whether one of the Londoners was fairly out, which put an End to the Game. There were upwards of 10,000 People to see this Match. One account stated that Kent’s opponents were London, but the match was the return of that played earlier in the month at Bromley.
5 September (W)	London v Chislehurst	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...	result unknown
Pre-announced by the London Evening Post on Saturday 1 September.

Matches

External sources

Further reading