Start date 1772 | ||
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The 1772 English cricket season is notable in cricket statistics because it is from then that surviving scorecards are common. Scorecards have survived of three first-class matches played in 1772. These were all organised, in part at least, by the Hambledon Club and were between Hampshire and All-England.
Contents
- First class matches
- Single wicket
- Other events
- First mentions
- Leading batsmen
- Leading bowlers
- Leading fielders wicket keepers
- Additional reading
- References
Hampshire twice defeated All-England but lost the third of the three scorecarded matches before defeating Surrey in a match with no known scorecard. The leading bowlers of the day are understood to have been Thomas Brett of Hampshire and Lumpy Stevens of Chertsey and Surrey, although the scorecards of 1772 have not preserved any bowling or fielding data. The outstanding batsman of the season in terms of known runs scored was John Small of Hampshire, while William Yalden of Chertsey and Surrey also achieved good scores.
First-class matches
Note that these matches are unofficially first-class.
Single wicket
Tuesday, 2 June. There was a fives match at the Artillery Ground between Kent and Hampshire. Hampshire scored 11 & 46; Kent scored 35 & 23 for 4 to win by one wicket. The Kent team was John Boorman, John Frame, Richard May, John Minshull and Joseph Miller. Minshull scored 26 & 11; Frame scored the winning run. The Hampshire team was John Small, Tom Sueter, George Leer, Thomas Brett and Richard Nyren. Nyren scored 29 out of 46 in the second innings.
Other events
There are surviving scorecards from every English season starting in 1772 and these provide a continuous "statistical record", albeit a largely incomplete one till the mid-19th century. There are older scorecards, beginning with two matches at the Artillery Ground in 1744, but few were created, or have survived, between then and 1772.
There were a couple of games in June that involved the Blackheath club against teams designated as counties but, as G. B. Buckley says, "the alleged Kent team cannot have been representative" and they are minor matches only.
Another Kent game against a team called "London & Middlesex" apparently took place at the Artillery Ground on Tuesday, 11 August, the same day as the Hampshire & Sussex v Kent match above. It is believed that this was not a representative game, especially given the stakes on offer at Hambledon.
First mentions
Leading batsmen
Many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so it is impossible to provide a complete analysis of batting performances: e.g., the missing not outs prevent computation of batting averages. The "runs scored" are in fact the runs known.
Leading bowlers
No bowling figures are available. The most notable bowlers of the time were Lumpy Stevens of Chertsey, John Frame of Dartford and Hambledon's Thomas Brett, Richard Nyren, William Barber and William Hogsflesh.
Leading fielders & wicket-keepers
No fielding figures are available. Noted wicketkeepers of the time were Tom Sueter of Hambledon and Hampshire; William Yalden of Chertsey and Surrey; and Richard Simmons of Kent. One player who was noted for his fielding exploits was George Louch, of Chatham, who later became an early MCC stalwart.