Start date 1741 | ||
People also search for 1729 English cricket season | ||
The 1741 cricket season was the 144th in England since the earliest known definite reference to cricket in January 1597 (i.e., Old Style – 1598 New Style). Details have survived of twelve important matches. They include the first appearance in surviving match records of the soon-to-be-famous Slindon Cricket Club. The Surrey v London match on Richmond Green resulted in the earliest known tie in an important match.
Contents
- Important matches
- Single wicket
- Other events
- Counties
- Clubs and teams
- Players
- Venues
- Additional reading
- References
Among primary sources for the season are letters written by the Duke and Duchess of Richmond to each other and to the Duke of Newcastle. One example is a gloating letter from Richmond to Newcastle after "poor little Slyndon (sic)" beat "almost your whole county of Surrey". Meanwhile, the spread of cricket from the southeastern counties had continued into the south Midlands with three counties mentioned for the first time in surviving records.
Important matches
The following matches are classified as important:
Single wicket
Monday, 8 June. Five of London versus Five of Surrey in the Artillery Ground for £20 a side. The result is unknown.
Other events
Among the main primary sources for the events of the 1741 season are letters written by Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond (1701–50) married Lady Sarah Cadogan (1706–51), daughter of William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan, They married on 4 December 1719 at The Hague, Netherlands; and had eight children including Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond (1733–1806). It seems that the marriage of Richmond to Duchess Sarah was a success, not always the case among the Georgian aristocracy. The Duchess took a keen interest in all the Duke's doings including his cricket. Several references and letters written by her, including some financial accounts, have survived.
Thursday, 9 July. In a letter to her husband, the Duchess of Richmond mentioned a conversation with John Newland re a Slindon match against a team from East Dean at Long Down, near Eartham, a week earlier.
Tuesday, 28 July. In two subsequent letters to the Duke of Newcastle, the Duke of Richmond spoke about a game on this date which resulted in a brawl with "hearty blows" and "broken heads"! The game was at Portslade between Slindon and unnamed opponents. Apparently, Slindon won the battle but the result of the match is unknown.
There was a match at Wotton Underwood in Buckinghamshire that was reportedly attended by 6,000 people. Details, including the date, are unknown except that the patrons were the Duke of Bedford (who lost) and Richard Grenville. Grenville was then the MP for Buckingham and he later became the brother-in-law of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (Pitt the Elder). This is the first match known to have taken place at a location which is still part of Buckinghamshire (the earliest record of cricket in the county was in 1730 at Datchet Common, now in Berkshire).