1739 ENGLISH CRICKET SEASON

In the '1739 English cricket season', there were again very few match reports. The first Kent ''versus'' All-England games are a sign of very important matches to come.
The earliest known cricket picture was first displayed this year. It is an engraving called ''The Game of Cricket'' by Hubert-François Gravelot (1699 – 1733) and shows two groups of cherubic lads gathered around a batsman and a bowler. The wicket shown is the "low stool" shape, probably 2 foot wide by 1 foot tall, naturally with two stumps and a single bail. Gravelot helped to establish the French Rococo style in English publishing and was one of the most celebrated illustrators of the time. He worked in England 1723 – 1745, opening a drawing school on the Strand which had Thomas Gainsborough (1727 – 1788) among its pupils.

Contents

Matches

External links

References

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Source	Result
18 June (M)	London v Lingfield	venue unknown	WCS	Lingfield won by 2 wkts
The report does not state the venue of this match but does say the rematch will be at the Artillery Ground on the 27th.
27 June (W)	London v Lingfield	Artillery Ground	WCS	result unknown
No report was found of the rematch.
9 July (M)	Kent v All-England	Bromley Common	WCS	Kent won
This is the first known instance of a team representing All-England. The match was billed as between "eleven gentlemen of that county (i.e., Kent) and eleven gentlemen from any part of England, exclusive of Kent". Kent, described as ''the Unconquerable County'' won by "a very few notches".
c.12 July (Th)	Kingston & Moulsey v London	Moulsey Hurst	FL18	K&M won
19 July (Th)	London v Kingston & Moulsey	Kennington Common	FL18	K&M won by 3 runs
The ''London & Country Journal'' dated Tuesday 24 July reported on the second of these two matches but made references to the previous one which might have been played a week or so earlier. It seems that Kingston & Moulsey won the first game because of ''the Londoners turning out three bad men who played on Moulsey Hurst''. K&M won the second game by three runs despite losing "five of their best hands" from the earlier match. London replaced the "three bad men" with Lord John Philip Sackville, Mr Dunn and "Mr Boarer" (''sic'') who were described as "three very good gamesters".
23 July (M)	All-England v Kent	Artillery Ground	KCM	drawn
A report of this game includes the phrase "eleven picked out of all (''sic'') England".Kent led by over 50 on the first innings, and betting was then 2 to 1 in their favour. ''The Kentish Men were likely to have won, but a Dispute arose whether one of the Londoners was fairly out, which put an End to the Game. There were upwards of 10,000 People to see this Match''. One account stated that Kent’s opponents were London, but the match was the return of that played earlier in the month at Bromley.
5 September (W)	London v Chiselhurst	Artillery Ground	FL18	result unknown
Pre-announced by the ''London Evening Post'' on Saturday 1 September.

External links

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

References

★ ''Cricket Scores 1730 - 1773'' by H T Waghorn (WCS)

★ ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'' by G B Buckley (FL18)

★ ''Fresh Light on Pre-Victorian Cricket'' by G B Buckley (FLPV)

★ ''Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century'' by Timothy J McCann (TJM)

★ ''The Dawn of Cricket'' by H T Waghorn (WDC)