The 1778 English cricket season marked the end of Thomas Brett

Thomas Brett

Thomas Brett was one of first-class cricket's earliest well-known fast bowlers and a leading player for Hampshire when its team was organised by the Hambledon Club in the 1770s.-Career:Noted for his pace and his accuracy, Brett was a leading wicket taker in the 1770s and was lauded by John...

's career as the game's first great fast bowler.

According to John Arlott

John Arlott

Leslie Thomas John Arlott OBE was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's Test Match Special. He was also a poet, wine connoisseur and former police officer in Hampshire...

 in his Arlott on Cricket: "...in 1778 Hambledon announced home and out matches - on level terms and with no 'given' players - with Alresford for fifty guineas a match." Unfortunately he gives no further details.

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Source	Result
30 May (S)	Hambledon Club v Hambledon Parish	Itchin Stoke Down	FL18	result unknown
Pre-announced in the Hampshire Chronicle on Mon 18 May as Hambledon Club 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 Hambledon Parish with Noah Mann. The title in the ACS list (Hambledon Parish v Hampshire) is incorrect. Often called Stoke Down, the venue here is more correctly known as Itchin Stoke Down Itchin Stoke Down Itchin Stoke Down is a rural location near the town of Alresford in Hampshire. It was used as a venue for major cricket matches in the 18th century and as the home of the Alresford Cricket Club.-Cricket venue:... . It is near Alresford New Alresford New Alresford or simply Alresford is a small town and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It is situated some 12 km north-east of the city of Winchester and 20 km south-west of the town of Alton...  and not, as many believe, near Hambledon, Hampshire Hambledon, Hampshire Hambledon is a small village and civil parish in the county of Hampshire in England, situated about north of Portsmouth.Hambledon is best known as the 'Cradle of Cricket'. It is thought that Hambledon Club, one of the oldest cricket clubs known, was formed about 1750... .
29–30 June (M-Tu)	All-England v Hampshire	Sevenoaks Vine	SB37	Hampshire won by 3 wkts
All-England 88 (W Yalden 19; T Brett 2w, R Francis 2w, N Mann 2w) & 122 (J Miller 32, W Yalden 22; T Brett 2w, R Nyren 2w, N Mann 2w); Hampshire 71 (R Francis 24; E Stevens 3w) & 140 (R A Veck 53*, R Nyren 38; W Lamborn 2w) Hampshire had William Bedster as a given man.
6–7 July (M-Tu)	Hampshire v All-England	Itchin Stoke Down	SB37	All-England won by 45 runs
All-England 143 (T White 33, J Minshull 31, J Wood 26, W Yalden 24*; T Taylor 3w, N Mann 2w) & 130 (W Bedster 34, W Bowra 29; R Nyren 4w); Hampshire 152 (John Small 49*, T Sueter 22; E Stevens 4w) & 76 (R Francis 23; E Stevens 3w, W Lamborn 3w)
24–25 August (M-Tu)	London v Dartford	Artillery Ground	FL18	result unknown
This was pre-advertised as Hampshire v All-England but that fixture was postponed and London v Dartford was played instead. The postponement was recorded in the Daily Advertiser on Fri 21 August. The Morning Chronicle on Tues 25 August reports that London scored over 120 and Dartford 84. Dartford at one point were apparently 0-5! The remainder of the match was to be played out the same day (Tuesday) but no subsequent report was found.
10–11 September (Th-F)	Chertsey v All-England	Laleham Burway	FL18	Chertsey won by innings & 24 runs
All-England 65 (Boltwood 27; E Stevens 2w, W Lamborn 2w) & 89 (J Miller 29; W Lamborn 6w, E Stevens 2w); Chertsey 178 (W Yalden 49, E Stevens 24*, H Attfield 24; Polden 4w, W Bullen 2w) This is one of those games where the status is questionable because of the use of a club name in the title. In real terms, Chertsey should be viewed as Earl of Tankerville’s XI. The All-England XI was undoubtedly weaker than normal with four unknown players Boltwood, Mansfield, Polden and Irons, though two of these at least performed with credit in the game.
15 September (Tu)	All-England v Chertsey	Artillery Ground	FL18	result unknown
This is the last time we have an important match played 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... . Hambledon was by now the predominant centre of English cricket and a lot of games were being played at other outlying venues such as Laleham Burway, Bishopsbourne Paddock and Sevenoaks Vine. London for the time being had been abandoned but the noblemen and gentlemen soon began to yearn for a return to the metropolis, as we shall see. Though not at the Artillery Ground, which had fallen into very bad repute. The General Advertiser on the same day announced this match as a return to the game at Laleham Burway Laleham Burway Laleham Burway is a tract of meadow land on the River Thames near Chertsey in Surrey. Part of it was a famous major cricket venue in the 18th century and the home of Chertsey Cricket Club.-Earliest known matches:...  on 10 & 11 September. It was not reported afterwards.
24–25 September (Th-F)	Hampshire v Surrey	Broadhalfpenny Down	ACS Spring Journal 2010	Hampshire won by 4 wkts
The stake was £1100. Surrey scored 115 (W Bedster 63*, T White 28) & 166 (J Miller 59); Hampshire replied with 135 (N Mann 31) & 149-6 (R A Veck 46, T Sueter 49).
6–8 October (Tu-Th)	Surrey v Hampshire	Laleham Burway	SB38	Surrey won by 138 runs
Surrey 238 (J Minshull 75, W Bedster 48, J Miller 42, W Yalden 24, T White 23*; T Brett 3w, T Taylor 2w) & 105 (J Miller 20; N Mann 3w, T Brett 2w); Hampshire 116 (G Leer 31; W Lamborn 6w, E Stevens 2w) & 89 (T Sueter 20; E Stevens 4w) A notice in the Morning Post on Mon 5 October said: "We hear the noblemen and gentlemen of the Grand Cricket Club (sic) have established a fund for the purpose of rewarding such players as particularly distinguish themselves in the great county match: and it is said the hero of the capital match to be played tomorrow at Chertsey, between Hampshire and Surrey, will be entitled to the first prize". Could this have been the first Man of the Match award? This game was played rather late in the year and it marks the end of a very notable career as it was the great Thomas Brett Thomas Brett Thomas Brett was one of first-class cricket's earliest well-known fast bowlers and a leading player for Hampshire when its team was organised by the Hambledon Club in the 1770s.-Career:Noted for his pace and his accuracy, Brett was a leading wicket taker in the 1770s and was lauded by John... 's swansong. Brett was still only 31 but it seems he have may have finished playing for employment reasons. He appears to have left the Hambledon area and moved to Portsmouth. Brett was described in Nyren's book as both the fastest and straightest of all the underarm bowlers. The description of Brett as the fastest and straightest of all bowlers brings to mind Brian Statham Brian Statham John Brian "George" Statham, CBE was one of the leading English fast bowlers in 20th-century English cricket. Initially a bowler of a brisk fast-medium pace, Statham was able to remodel his action to generate enough speed to become genuinely fast... , who was also noted for his accuracy despite bowling at high pace. Statham once expressed a philosophy that Brett might well have shared: "If they miss, I hit". The statistical record from 1772 is proof of his ability, bearing in mind that all his known wickets were bowled. It is reasonable to assume that a third or more of catches taken by Hampshire fielders were off his bowling. His known wicket tally was 102 but bowling details in every game are either unknown or incomplete. We do know he took 29 wickets (i.e., bowled only) in just five matches in the 1777 season 1777 English cricket season In the 1777 English cricket season, James Aylward made his world record score of 167 that stood until 1820.- Matches :^ The Dorset v Mann fixtures of the period were essentially two Kent teams plus given men... ; with catches, the true figure could well be 40-plus. It is curious that, in his recorded matches, Brett never played for anyone except Hampshire whereas his contemporaries made appearances for numerous teams. Brett made 31 appearances for Hampshire in games with surviving scorecards from 1772 to 1778.

Leading batsmen

Note that 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.

runs	player
162	William Yalden William Yalden William "The Yold" Yalden was a noted English cricketer. He was a very good batsman but was primarily known as a wicket-keeper....
147	John Minshull John Minshull John Minshull aka Minchin was a famous English cricketer during the 1770s...
138	Joseph Miller
132	William Bedster William Bedster William Bedster was an English cricketer of the late 18th century. He was a good batsman and a useful bowler....
97	Thomas White Thomas White (cricketer) Thomas "Daddy" White was a noted English cricketer.White played in the 1760s and 1770s; details of his early career are largely unknown but he retired in 1779. He is known to have appeared frequently for Surrey and All-England since recorded scorecards first became commonplace in 1772...
81	Tom Sueter Tom Sueter Thomas Sueter was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....

Leading bowlers

Note that the wickets credited to an 18th century bowler were only those where he bowled the batsman out. The bowler was not credited with the wickets of batsmen who were caught out, even if it was "caught and bowled". In addition, the runs conceded by each bowler were not recorded so no analyses or averages can be computed.

wkts	player
22	Lamborn
20	Edward "Lumpy" Stevens
10	Thomas Brett Thomas Brett Thomas Brett was one of first-class cricket's earliest well-known fast bowlers and a leading player for Hampshire when its team was organised by the Hambledon Club in the 1770s.-Career:Noted for his pace and his accuracy, Brett was a leading wicket taker in the 1770s and was lauded by John...
10	Noah Mann Noah Mann Noah Mann was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....
8	Richard Nyren Richard Nyren Richard "Dick" Nyren was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the 1760s and 1770s in the heyday of the Hambledon Club...
5	Thomas Taylor Thomas Taylor (cricketer) Thomas Taylor was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club. He is generally regarded as one of the most outstanding players of the 18th century....

Leading fielders

Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so the totals are of the known catches and stumpings only. Stumpings were not always recorded as such and sometimes the name of the wicket-keeper was not given. Generally, a catch was given the same status as "bowled" with credit being awarded to the fielder only and not the bowler. There is never a record of "caught and bowled"the bowler would be credited with the catch, not with the wicket.

ct/st	player
8+1	William Yalden William Yalden William "The Yold" Yalden was a noted English cricketer. He was a very good batsman but was primarily known as a wicket-keeper....
5	John Minshull John Minshull John Minshull aka Minchin was a famous English cricketer during the 1770s...
5	Thomas Taylor Thomas Taylor (cricketer) Thomas Taylor was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club. He is generally regarded as one of the most outstanding players of the 18th century....
4	John Wood of Seal John Wood (cricketer) John Wood was an English cricketer who played for Kent. His career began in the 1760s before first-class statistics began to be recorded and his known first-class career spans the 1772 to 1783 seasons....
3	William Bedster William Bedster William Bedster was an English cricketer of the late 18th century. He was a good batsman and a useful bowler....

External links

• From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787