The 1747 English cricket season was the fourth season following the earliest known codification of the Laws of Cricket.
Matches[edit]
Details of 14 matches between significant teams have survived.[1][2]
- 13 May – Addington & Croydon v Deptford & Greenwich – Duppas Hill, Croydon
- 29 May and 9 June – Addington & Croydon v London – Duppas Hill, Croydon
- 1–2 June – London v Addington & Croydon – Artillery Ground
- 12 June – Dartford v London – Dartford Brent
- 15 June – London v Addington & Croydon – Artillery Ground
- 29 June – London v Dartford – Artillery Ground
- 2 July – Dartford v Hadlow – Dartford Brent
- 9 July – Long Robin's XI v William Hodsoll's XI – Artillery Ground
- 28 July – Tom Faulkner's XI v John Bowra's XI – Kennington Common
- 17 August – London v Bromley & Ripley – Artillery Ground
- 20 August – Bromley & Ripley v London – Ripley Green
- 24 August – London v Hadlow – Artillery Ground
- 31 August – England XI v Kent – Artillery Ground
- 2 September – Kent v England XI – Bromley Common
The two games between Kent and England were due to be played at Bromley Common on 29 June and at the Artillery Ground on 1 July, but the source reports that both matches "are deferred on account of the gentlemen subscribers being engaged at several Elections", referring to the Parliamentary Election of 1747.
Single wicket matches[edit]
A single wicket cricket match between five players of Slindon against five of Dartford at the Artillery Ground on 6 July was the result of a challenge by Slindon, published in the Daily Advertiser on 29 June, to play "five of any parish in England, for their own Sum". The announcement advised interested parties: "If it is accepted of by any, they are desir'd to go to Mr Smith, who has Orders to make Stakes for them".[3][4] Matches followed against Bromley on 8 July and Hadlow on 10 and 15 July at the same ground. Another game resulting from Slindon's five-a-side challenge. Details unknown.[5]
In early August, two single wicket matches at the Artillery Ground which were organised by the 2nd Duke of Richmond[5] and on 5 September a three-a-side game took place, again at the Artillery Ground, between teams led by Robert Colchin and Stephen Dingate.[3][6]
Other events[edit]
According to Rowland Bowen, cricket was first played in New York this year.[7] This is, however, doubted by Ian Maun, who states that "no contemporary record of cricket in New York is known before 1751".[8]
First mentions[edit]
Clubs and teams[edit]
Players[edit]
- John Bell (Dartford/Kent)[3]
- Thomas Bell (Dartford/Kent)[3]
- John Larkin (Hadlow/Kent)[3]
- Robert Eures (Bexley/Kent)[3]
Venues[edit]
References[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
- ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS.
- Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (1900). "At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742–1751". Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. London: Cricket Magazine. OCLC 28863559.
- Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN 0-413-27860-3.
- Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Cotterell.
- McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society.
- Maun, Ian (2009). From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750. Roger Heavens. ISBN 978-1-900592-52-9.
Further reading[edit]
- Altham, H. S. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914). George Allen & Unwin.
- Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. Aurum.
- Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.
- Underdown, David (2000). Start of Play. Allen Lane.