1728 English cricket season
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The overriding impression of the 1728 English cricket season is that teams of county strength were formed as the patrons sought stronger XIs to help them in the serious business of winning wagers. Easily the most successful this year was Mr Edward Stead whose Kent teams were "too expert" for those of Sussex.
Swiss traveller César de Saussure [1] noted in his journal the frequency with which he saw cricket being played while he was making his journeys across southern England in June 1728. He referred to county matches as "a commonplace".
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[edit] Honours
- Champion County [2] – Kent (Edward Stead's XI) [3]
[edit] Matches
| Date | Match Title | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 June (Tu) | Mr Edward Stead’s XI v Duke of Richmond’s XI [4] | Coxheath | Mr Edward Stead’s XI won? |
| ? July | Duke of Richmond’s XI v Mr Edward Stead’s XI [4] | Penshurst Park | Mr Edward Stead’s XI won? |
| 5 Aug (M) | London v Middlesex [5] | Islington | result unknown |
| ? August | Mr Edward Stead’s XI v Sir William Gage’s XI [5] | Penshurst Park | Mr Edward Stead’s XI won |
| date unknown | Duke of Richmond’s XI v Sir William Gage’s XI [4] | Lewes | result unknown |
The venue of the game on 5 August was very precisely reported as in the fields behind the Woolpack, in Islington, near Sadlers Wells, for £50 a side. This match is also the earliest known to have involved a team called Middlesex [5].
The results of the first two games are surmised from the report of the game at Penshurst in August, which states that the victory of Mr Stead's XI over Sir William Gage's XI was the third time this summer that the Kent men have been too expert for those of Sussex. In the Stead v Gage game, it seems that Kent won the game although Sussex needed just 7 in their second innings. The report clearly infers that the teams selected by Richmond, Gage and Stead were representative of the respective counties and so must have been of first-class standard [6].
[edit] References
- ^ César de Saussure : Introduction
- ^ An unofficial seasonal title proclaimed by media or historians prior to December 1889 when the official County Championship was constituted
- ^ Champion counties from 1728
- ^ a b c Timothy J McCann, Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century, Sussex Record Society, 2004
- ^ a b c H T Waghorn, The Dawn of Cricket, Electric Press, 1906
- ^ From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300–1787
[edit] External sources
[edit] Further reading
- H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962
- Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999
- Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
- David Underdown, Start of Play, Allen Lane, 2000
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