1767 English cricket season
Encyclopedia
In the 1767 English cricket season, Hambledon
Hambledon Club
The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.-Foundation:...

’s success continued and the team staged some remarkable batting performances but unfortunately very little is known of them.

There was an interesting report concerning the Laws of Cricket
Laws of cricket
The laws of cricket are a set of rules established by the Marylebone Cricket Club which describe the laws of cricket worldwide, to ensure uniformity and fairness. There are currently 42 laws, which outline all aspects of how the game is played from how a team wins a game, how a batsman is...

 in the Reading Mercury dated Monday 8 June which states: The Articles of the Game of Cricket as settled in the year 1744 by the Society of Noblemen & Gentlemen at the Star & Garter in Pall Mall, may be had at the Printing Office in reading or of the newsmen, neatly printed on a whole sheet of fine writing paper, price only 3d, or on a pasteboard bordered with marble paper, price 6d .

The Society of Noblemen & Gentlemen may well have been the name of the organisation that ran cricket and other sports. It was essentially a social club with sporting interests. They have been loosely referred to as the "London Club" but that was surely a cricketing enterprise based at the Artillery Ground
Artillery Ground
The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is one of London's most centrally located cricket grounds, situated just off the City Road immediately north of the City of London...

 that they backed, as they also formed and subsidised the Jockey Club
Jockey Club
The Jockey Club is the largest commercial organisation in British horseracing. Although no longer responsible for the governance and regulation of the sport, it owns 14 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham and Newmarket, amongst other concerns such as the National Stud and...

, and subsequently both the White Conduit Club
White Conduit Club
The White Conduit Club, although short-lived, was perhaps the most significant club in cricket history for it bridged the gulf between the rural and rustic Hambledon era and the new, modern and metropolitan era of MCC and Lord's, the two entities that it spawned.We do not know for certain when the...

 and MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

 .

Matches

Date Match Title Venue Result
6 July (M) Greenwich v London
London Cricket Club
The original London Cricket Club was formed by 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of its home matches.-Early history of London cricket:...

 
Blackheath London won by 2 runs

Afterwards, an elegant dinner was provided at the Assembly Rooms.
4 August (Tu) Hampshire
Hampshire county cricket teams
Hampshire county cricket teams have been traced back to the 18th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that...

 v Sussex 
Broadhalfpenny Down
Broadhalfpenny Down
Broadhalfpenny Down, situated on a hilltop about a mile from the rural village of Hambledon in Hampshire, was the home venue for first-class cricket matches of the Hambledon Club from 1753 to 1781...

Hampshire won

No details are known other than the outcome, which was given in the Reading Mercury of Mon 10 August.

There is a report of a second Hampshire v Sussex game on Sat 8 August, also won by Hampshire, but this may be a duplicate of the above as it is not recorded elsewhere .
c.5 August (W) Bourne v Surrey
Surrey county cricket teams
Surrey county cricket teams have been traced back to the 17th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. The first definite mention of cricket anywhere in the world is dated c.1550 in Guildford.-17th century:...

 
Bishopsbourne Paddock
Bishopsbourne Paddock
Bishopsbourne Paddock was a cricket ground at Bourne House, seat of Sir Horatio Mann, near Canterbury in Kent. It was a popular venue for first-class matches from 1766 to 1790.-Matches:...

result unknown

This was announced in the Kentish Weekly Post on 5 August. Bourne Club (Sir Horace Mann's team) had four given men so may have had a very useful side. The announcement says: Wickets to be pitched at 10 so the match may be played out that day (sic) on account of the Assizes. It is not known what date that day was, unfortunately. The Surrey team was probably Mr Henry Rowett’s Caterham Club.

Mon 17 August. There was a fives game on Richmond Green
Richmond Green
Richmond Green is a recreation area located near the centre of Richmond, which is a town of about twenty thousand inhabitants situated in south west London. The green is essentially square in shape and its open grassland, framed with broadleaf trees, extends to roughly twelve acres...

 between Richmond and Brentford. King George III was present and ordered dinner for the players at The Feathers in Richmond. He also awarded a guinea each to the winners and half a guinea each to the losers .
23 September (W) Richmond v Kingston Richmond Green
Richmond Green
Richmond Green is a recreation area located near the centre of Richmond, which is a town of about twenty thousand inhabitants situated in south west London. The green is essentially square in shape and its open grassland, framed with broadleaf trees, extends to roughly twelve acres...

Kingston won by 2 wkts

Richmond scored 70 & 55; Kingston replied with 71 and 55-8.
c.21 September (M) Caterham v Hambledon
Hambledon Club
The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.-Foundation:...

 
Duppas Hill
Duppas Hill
Duppas Hill is a park, road and surrounding residential area in Waddon, near Croydon in Greater London . It is thought to be named after a family called 'Dubber' or 'Double'.Duppas Hill has a long history of sport and recreation...

, Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

Hambledon won by 262 runs

A very large margin for the times and Hambledon reportedly had a partnership of 192 which was described in a contemporary report as the greatest thing ever known. This is the earliest known century partnership. The game was played for 200 guineas.

One source says the partnership was believed to have been between Tom Sueter
Tom Sueter
Thomas Sueter was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....

 and Edward Aburrow (i.e., Aburrow junior) but the primary sources do not name the players .

The match report simply says "October" and that the game was played a few days earlier. As it took place near Croydon, the venue was almost certainly Duppas Hill
Duppas Hill
Duppas Hill is a park, road and surrounding residential area in Waddon, near Croydon in Greater London . It is thought to be named after a family called 'Dubber' or 'Double'.Duppas Hill has a long history of sport and recreation...

 .
28 & 29 September (M-Tu) Hambledon
Hambledon Club
The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.-Foundation:...

 v Caterham
Broadhalfpenny Down
Broadhalfpenny Down
Broadhalfpenny Down, situated on a hilltop about a mile from the rural village of Hambledon in Hampshire, was the home venue for first-class cricket matches of the Hambledon Club from 1753 to 1781...

Hambledon won by 224 runs

Another huge margin of victory but no details have survived.
14 October (W) Caterham v Hambledon
Hambledon Club
The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.-Foundation:...

 
Caterham Common Caterham won

This was played for £100 and, surprisingly, given the results of the two previous games, was won by Caterham.

First mentions

  • Sir Horatio Mann
    Sir Horatio Mann
    Sir Horatio Mann, 2nd Baronet was an English MP. He is remembered as a member of the Hambledon Club in Hampshire and a patron of Kent cricket. He was an occasional player but rarely in first-class matches....

  • Edward "Curry" Aburrow
  • Tom Sueter
    Tom Sueter
    Thomas Sueter was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....

  • Henry Rowett
    Henry Rowett
    Henry Rowett was an English amateur cricketer who played for Surrey during the 1760s. He was chiefly noted for his patronage of Caterham Cricket Club which was prominent at the time and was a close rival of the Hambledon Club...

     (Surrey)

External sources


Further reading

  • H S Altham
    Harry Altham
    Harry Surtees Altham, CBE, DSO, MC was an English cricketer who became an important figure in the game as an administrator, historian and coach. His Wisden obituary described him as "among the best known personalities in the world of cricket"...

    , A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962
  • Derek Birley
    Derek Birley
    Sir Derek Birley was an English educator and writer who had a strong interest in sport, especially cricket.He was educated at grammar school in Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, and at Queens' College, Cambridge University....

    , A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999
  • Rowland Bowen
    Rowland Bowen
    Major Rowland Francis Bowen was a cricket researcher, historian and writer....

    , Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
  • Ashley Mote
    Ashley Mote
    Ashley Mote was a non-inscrit Member of the European Parliament for South East England. An outspoken critic of fraud in the European Institutions, he himself was convicted of benefit fraud in 2007 for which he served a nine-month prison sentence and was described by the trial judge as "a truly...

    , The Glory Days of Cricket, Robson, 1997
  • David Underdown
    David Underdown
    David E. Underdown was a historian of 17th-century English politics and culture and Professor Emeritus at Yale University. Born at Wells, Somerset, Underdown was educated at the Blue School and Exeter College, Oxford...

    , Start of Play, Allen Lane, 2000
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