1739 English cricket season

In the 1739 English cricket season, there were again very few match reports. The first Kent versus All-England games are a sign of very important matches to come.

The earliest known cricket picture was first displayed this year, an engraving called The Game of Cricket by Hubert-François Gravelot (1699–1773). The picture showed two groups of cherubic lads gathered around a batsman and a bowler. The wicket shown is the "low stool" shape, probably 2-foot (0.61 m) wide by 1-foot (0.30 m) tall, naturally with two stumps and a single bail. Gravelot helped to establish the French Rococo style in English publishing and was one of the most celebrated illustrators of the time. He worked in England between 1732 and 1745, opening a drawing school on the Strand which had Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788) among its pupils.

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Result
18 June (M)	London v Lingfield ^[1]	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 on the 27th.
27 June (W)	London v Lingfield ^[1]	Artillery Ground	result unknown
No report was found of the rematch.
9 July (M)	Kent v All-England ^[1]	Bromley Common	Kent won
This is the first known instance of a team representing All-England. 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 ^[2]	Moulsey Hurst	K&M won
19 July (Th)	London v Kingston & Moulsey ^[2]	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) who were described as "three very good gamesters".
23 July (M)	All-England v Kent ^[3]	Artillery Ground	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 ^[2]	Artillery Ground	result unknown
Pre-announced by the London Evening Post on Saturday 1 September.

First mentions

John Bowra

References

1 2 3 H T Waghorn, Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730-1773), Blackwood, 1899
1 2 3 G B Buckley, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, Cotterell, 1935
↑ F S Ashley-Cooper, Kent Cricket Matches 1719-1880, Gibbs & Sons, 1929

Bibliography

Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell.
McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society.
Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730–1773). Blackwood.
Waghorn, H. T. (1906). The Dawn of Cricket. Electric Press.
Wilson, Martin (2005). An Index to Waghorn. Bodyline.

Additional reading

ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS.
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.
Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Cotterell.
Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.
Marshall, John (1961). The Duke who was Cricket. Muller.
Maun, Ian (2009). From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750. Roger Heavens. ISBN 978-1-900592-52-9.
Underdown, David (2000). Start of Play. Allen Lane.

External links

English cricket teams in the 18th century

"All" England

English cricket venues to 1825

English cricket seasons

Historic era

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Pre-County Championship era

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