1731 English cricket season

The 1731 English cricket season was the 35th cricket season after the earliest recorded eleven-aside match was played. Details have survived of around 30 matches as well as one notable single wicket match. Match reports in newspapers were increasingly common and began to contain more detail, sometimes including the names of patrons and players.

1731 English cricket season

One match played during the year was at Richmond Green in August ended in a riot. It is the earliest match for which the team totals were recorded and have been preserved, rather than simply who won the wager.

Recorded matches

Around 30 matches are recorded as having been played during the year. CricketArchive records 26 matches whilst other sources add further matches to the total. The matches include 15 played by London Cricket Club with other clubs such as Dartford and Sevenoaks also playing. Sides named for counties which are known to have played in 1731 include Kent, Middlesex and Surrey whilst matches involving sides raised by prominent patrons such as Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and Thomas Chambers continued to be played.[1][2]

A match at Richmond Green between a side raised by Thomas Chambers and the Duke of Richmond's team is the earliest in which team scores are known. The game ended at a pre-agreed time with Chambers' side needing a few runs to win with wickets in hand. The end result caused a fracas among the crowd who were incensed by the prompt finish because the Duke of Richmond had arrived late and delayed the start of the game.[3]

Single wicket matches

A single wicket match was played at Maidstone in July between two officers of the Royal Horse Guards, Captain Beak and Lieutenant Coke. It was for a "considerable sum of money" and won by Captain Beak after three hours "very hard played".[4]

First mentions

Clubs and teams

Players

Venues

References
  1. Other matches in England in 1731, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
  2. Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (1981) A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863, p.20. ACS: Nottingham.
  3. Buckley GB (1935) Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, p.6. Cotterell
  4. Waghorn HT (1899) Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730–1773), p.3. Blackwood.

Further reading
  • Altham HS (1962) A History of Cricket, Volume 1 London: George Allen & Unwin.
  • Birley D (1999) A Social History of English Cricket. London: Aurum. ISBN 978 1 78131 1769
  • Major J (2007) More Than a Game: The Story of Cricket's Early Years. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-718364-7
  • Underdown D (2001) Cricket and Culture in Eighteenth-century England. London: Penguin. ISBN 9780140283549
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