Location near Chertsey, Surrey Establishment by 1736 | Home club Chertsey Cricket Club Last used before 1856 | |
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County club Surrey (pre-county club) Similar Artillery Ground, The Dripping Pan, Chertsey Bridge, Chertsey Abbey, Kennington Common | ||
Laleham Burway is a tract of meadow land on the River Thames near Chertsey in Surrey. Part of it was a famous cricket venue in the 18th century and the home of Chertsey Cricket Club.
Contents
Earliest known matches
A notable feature of the 1736 English cricket season was the rise to prominence of the famous Chertsey Club, playing games against both Croydon and London. It is known that two games were played before July that season. One was Croydon v Chertsey at Duppas Hill in Croydon; the other is Chertsey v Croydon at the Laleham Burway ground in Chertsey. Knowledge of the games is via an announcement in Read’s Weekly Journal dated Saturday, 3 July, about a deciding game on Richmond Green to be played on Monday, 5 July. In each of the two matches, the home team won "by a great number of runs". The match at Laleham Burway is the first important one that we know to have been played at this famous venue in Chertsey.
History
Numerous important matches were played at Laleham Burway during the 18th century. Perhaps the most famous (or infamous) was the one in which Thomas White's huge bat caused a furore that led to a change in the Laws of Cricket. This was the Chertsey v Hambledon game on Monday, 23 and Tuesday, 24 September 1771.
Last known important match
The last important game at the ground may have been Chertsey v Coulsdon in June 1784, but there are doubts about its status. The last definitely known top-class match was therefore Chertsey v Berkshire in September 1783.
Laleham Burway continued to be used for club cricket into the 19th century but records of it have been lost. Chertsey CC had "ceased to exist" by 1856 and its revival was centred on the Recreation Ground in Chertsey. The club relocated to its present ground at Grove Road just after the First World War.