1765 English cricket season
Encyclopedia
The 1765 English cricket season gave an indication of increased cricket activity in the north of England as Leeds played Sheffield.
Few major cricket matches were reported in 1765 but events at the Artillery Ground
in August may have been almost the last straw where this infamous old venue was concerned.
in which Surrey
beat Kent
"after a smart contest". The source is the Gazetteer & London Daily Advertiser on Wed 4 September .
A notice in the Salisbury Journal on Monday 16 September might have interested the members of the Hambledon Club
: The Cricket players of the parish of Portsea
(in Hampshire
) will play the game of Cricket with any parish in the said County for 20 guineas each match, home and home (sic). It is not known if the challenge was taken up .
Few major cricket matches were reported in 1765 but events 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...
in August may have been almost the last straw where this infamous old venue was concerned.
Matches
| Date | Match Title | Venue | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 & 20 August (M-Tu) | 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:... v Dartford Dartford Cricket Club Dartford Cricket Club is one of the oldest in England and its origins go back to the early 18th century, perhaps earlier.See also: Dartford Brent... |
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... |
Surrey won | |
Played for 100 guineas a side with a crowd estimated at 12,000. The source records re the close of play situation on the Monday: the mob (many of whom had laid large bets), imagining foul play, several of whom were dangerously wounded and bruised. There is a report in the St James Chronicle of Thurs 22 August about this match which states that: a young fellow, a butcher, being entrusted with about £40 by his mistress to buy cattle in Smithfield market, instead went into the Artillery Ground and sported away the whole sum in betting upon the Cricket players. These reports give a clue to the disrepute that 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... had acquired by this time and few matches of importance were played there after 1765. After 1778, it ceases to appear in the records . |
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| 26 August (M) | Leeds v Sheffield | Chapeltown Moor, near Leeds Leeds Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial... |
Sheffield won | |
This was reported by the London Chronicle on Thurs 5 September. Sheffield won "with great difficulty". As it was rated a "great match" and reported by a London newspaper, this shows that cricket was already well-established in Yorkshire Yorkshire Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform... only 14 years after it was first reported there. |
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| c.9 September (Tu) | 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.... v Richmond |
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:... |
result unknown | |
All that is known is that this game took place a week before the next one. |
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| c.16 September (Tu) | Richmond 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.... |
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... |
Chertsey won by 106 runs | |
The scores were: Chertsey 130 & 116; Richmond 48 & 92. The source says: "Chertsey headed 94" which is incorrect according to team totals. Stephen Harding Stephen Harding (cricketer) Stephen Harding was a noted English cricketer of the mid-18th century who played for Chertsey, All-England and Surrey. Harding was a hard-hitting batsman and a good bowler, although his style and pace is unknown... , Chertsey bowler, scored 24 in four balls with a five, two sixes and a seven. The Edmeads brothers, Richard and John John Edmeads John Edmeads was an English cricketer who played for Chertsey Cricket Club, Surrey and All-England.... , scored 108 between them in the whole match. |
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Other events
There was a "threes" game on Friday 30 August at Moulsey HurstMoulsey 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....
in which 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:...
beat 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...
"after a smart contest". The source is the Gazetteer & London Daily Advertiser on Wed 4 September .
A notice in the Salisbury Journal on Monday 16 September might have interested the members of the Hambledon Club
Hambledon Club
The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.-Foundation:...
: The Cricket players of the parish of Portsea
Portsea
Portsea is an area of the English city of Portsmouth, located on Portsea Island, within the ceremonial county of Hampshire.The area was originally known as the Common and lay between the town of Portsmouth and the nearby Dockyard. The Common started to be developed at the end of the seventeenth...
(in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
) will play the game of Cricket with any parish in the said County for 20 guineas each match, home and home (sic). It is not known if the challenge was taken up .
External sources
Further reading
- H S AlthamHarry AlthamHarry Surtees Altham, CBE, DSO, MC was an English cricketer who became an important figure in the game as an administrator, historian and coach. His Wisden obituary described him as "among the best known personalities in the world of cricket"...
, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962 - Derek BirleyDerek BirleySir Derek Birley was an English educator and writer who had a strong interest in sport, especially cricket.He was educated at grammar school in Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, and at Queens' College, Cambridge University....
, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999 - Rowland BowenRowland BowenMajor Rowland Francis Bowen was a cricket researcher, historian and writer....
, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970 - Ashley MoteAshley MoteAshley Mote was a non-inscrit Member of the European Parliament for South East England. An outspoken critic of fraud in the European Institutions, he himself was convicted of benefit fraud in 2007 for which he served a nine-month prison sentence and was described by the trial judge as "a truly...
, The Glory Days of Cricket, Robson, 1997 - David UnderdownDavid UnderdownDavid E. Underdown was a historian of 17th-century English politics and culture and Professor Emeritus at Yale University. Born at Wells, Somerset, Underdown was educated at the Blue School and Exeter College, Oxford...
, Start of Play, Allen Lane, 2000