In the 1780 English cricket season, Duke & Son of Penshurst

Penshurst

Penshurst is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The parish is located on the northern slopes of the Weald, west of Tonbridge. Within the parish boundaries are the two villages of Penshurst and Fordcombe, with a combined population of some 1,479 persons. The...

 made the first-ever six-seam cricket ball

Cricket ball

A cricket ball is a hard, solid leather ball used to play cricket. Constructed of cork and leather, a cricket ball is heavily regulated by cricket law at first class level...

.

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Source	Result
27–28 June (Tu-W)	Odiham & Alton v Alresford #	Odiham Down	WDC	Alresford won by 6 wkts
27–28 June (Tu-W)	Duke of Dorset v Sir H Mann	Sevenoaks Vine	SB43	Mann's XI won by 7 wkts
Duke of Dorset’s XI 93 (W Bowra 33) & 92 (W Bullen 34; Berwick 3w); Sir Horace Mann’s XI 105 (J Aylward 47) & 81-3 (J Miller 24*)
11–12 July (Tu-W)	Alresford v Odiham & Alton #	The Nythe, near Alresford	FLPV	O&A won by 100 runs
11 July (Tu)	Kent v Maidstone	Bishopsbourne Paddock	KCM	result unknown
3 August (Th)	Kent v Maidstone	Bishopsbourne Paddock	KCM	result unknown
8 August (Tu)	Maidenhead v Chertsey	Priestwood Common	WDC	Maidenhead won by 5 runs
This was a single innings match. The Maidenhead team here is a forerunner of the noted Oldfield Club which became prominent in the mid-1780s. Oldfield played at Oldfield Bray which is near Maidenhead and their strength was such that they were representative of Berkshire as a county. A handful of Maidenhead’s players in this game later played for the Oldfield Club.
15 August (Tu)	Kent v Maidstone	Bishopsbourne Paddock	CQ	result unknown
21–23 August (M-W)	Duke of Dorset v Sir H Mann	Bishopsbourne Paddock	SB44	Dorset's XI won by 14 runs
Duke of Dorset’s XI 97 (Earl of Tankerville 30, W Bedster 23; Gibson 5w, R Clifford 4w) & 163 (W Pattenden 32, W Bullen 30, E Stevens 25, W Bedster 24; Gibson 3w, R Clifford 2w); Sir Horace Mann’s XI 149 (B Rimmington 62, Mr R Hosmer 36; E Stevens 2w) & 97 (W Yalden 22*; W Bedster 3w, E Stevens 2w)
31 Aug - 1 Sept (Th-F)	All-England v Hampshire	Bishopsbourne Paddock	SB45	All-England won by 165 runs
All-England 197 (W Yalden 52, W Bowra 31, T Rimmington 25, R Clifford 25; R Nyren 3w) & 144 (J Miller 37, W Yalden 34, J Aylward 24; W Lamborn 2w); Hampshire 80 (John Small 22; R Clifford 4w) & 96 (E Aburrow 36, N Mann 33; R Clifford 3w, E Stevens 2w)
20–22 September (W-F)	Hampshire v All-England	Stoke Down	SB46	All-England won by 51 runs
All-England 179 (J Miller 50, R Clifford 33*, E Stevens 31, J Aylward 26, W Bedster 24; W Lamborn 4w) & 101 (B Rimmington 38; R Nyren 4w); Hampshire 169 (E Aburrow 42, T Sueter 36, N Mann 30; E Stevens 4w, R Clifford 2w) & 60 (R A Veck 23; E Stevens 6w) With 10 wickets and a first innings knock of 31, there is no doubt that Lumpy was the man of this match!
21 September (Tu)	Odiham & Alton v Alresford #	Odiham Down	WDC	O&A won by 10 runs

# Hampshire players Richard Veck and Thomas Taylor played for Alresford in these games. The Odiham & Alton teams include players called Beldam and Wells. Wells was probably James, elder brother of John; Beldam must have been George Beldam, elder brother of William who was still only 14 in 1780.

First mentions

• B Rimmington
  Rimmington (Kent cricketer)
  Rimmington refers to three brothers who played first-class cricket for Essex, Kent and All-England teams between the 1777 and 1791 seasons....
  
  
• T Rimmington
  Rimmington (Kent cricketer)
  Rimmington refers to three brothers who played first-class cricket for Essex, Kent and All-England teams between the 1777 and 1791 seasons....
  
  
• John Freemantle
  John Freemantle
  John Freemantle was an English cricketer who played for the legendary Hambledon Club....
  
  
• Gibson
  Gibson (Kent cricketer)
  Gibson was an English professional cricketer who made 2 known appearances in major cricket matches during the 1780 season.-Career:He played twice for Sir Horace Mann's XI and was mainly associated with Kent.-External sources:*...
  
   (Kent)

Other events

Duke & Son of Penshurst made the first-ever six-seam cricket ball and it was presented to the Prince of Wales (i.e., the future King George IV of England).

Several games have been recorded between the Duke of Dorset and Sir Horace Mann, though the match titles vary as before. Two of the matches have surviving scorecards which are in S&B.

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
142	James Aylward James Aylward James Aylward was a noted English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club. He was a left-handed batsman....
142	Joseph Miller
136	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....
130	B Rimmington Rimmington (Kent cricketer) Rimmington refers to three brothers who played first-class cricket for Essex, Kent and All-England teams between the 1777 and 1791 seasons....
120	William Bedster William Bedster William Bedster was an English cricketer of the late 18th century. He was a good batsman and a useful bowler....
108	Robert Clifford
106	William Bullen William Bullen William Bullen was an outstanding English cricketer throughout the last quarter of the 18th century. Hailing from Kent, Bullen was a great all-rounder, noted in the key sources as a fast bowler and a "powerful hitter"....
79	Edward "Curry" Aburrow
79	Noah Mann Noah Mann Noah Mann was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....
75	William Bowra William Bowra William Bowra was an English cricketer who played regularly for Kent teams from 1768 until 1788 and then for Sussex until 1792. He had 47 known first-class appearances between 1775 and 1792. His name was pronounced "Borra".In a Hampshire Chronicle report of a 1775 game, his name is spelt "Bower"...

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
18	Lumpy Stevens
16	Robert Clifford
9	Gibson Gibson (Kent cricketer) Gibson was an English professional cricketer who made 2 known appearances in major cricket matches during the 1780 season.-Career:He played twice for Sir Horace Mann's XI and was mainly associated with Kent.-External sources:*...  (Mann's XI)
8	Lamborn
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...

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	James Aylward James Aylward James Aylward was a noted English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club. He was a left-handed batsman....
5	William Bullen William Bullen William Bullen was an outstanding English cricketer throughout the last quarter of the 18th century. Hailing from Kent, Bullen was a great all-rounder, noted in the key sources as a fast bowler and a "powerful hitter"....
4	Noah Mann Noah Mann Noah Mann was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....
4	John Small
4	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....

External links

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