1728 English cricket season

Infobox cricket season
season = 1728 English cricket season


imagesize =
caption =
cricket formats = first-class and single wicket
tourists =
county champions = Kent
knockout cup winners =
national league winners =
most runs =
most wickets =
most victims =
most catches =

The overriding impression of the 1728 English cricket season is that teams of county strength were formed as the patrons sought stronger XIs to help them in the serious business of winning wagers. Easily the most successful this year was Mr Edward Stead whose Kent teams were "too expert" for those of Sussex.

Swiss traveller César de Saussure [ [http://www.adnax.com/saussure/info.htm César de Saussure : Introduction ] ] noted in his journal the frequency with which he saw cricket being played while he was making his journeys across southern England in June 1728. He referred to county matches as "a commonplace", and "everyone plays it, the common people and also men of rank" ["A Foreign View of England in the Reigns of George I and George II. The Letters of Monsieur César de Saussure to his Family"]

Honours

* Champion County [An unofficial seasonal title proclaimed by media or historians prior to December 1889 when the official County Championship was constituted] – Kent (Edward Stead's XI) [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/histories/champions.html Champion counties from 1728] ]

Matches

The venue of the game on 5 August was very precisely reported as "in the fields behind the Woolpack, in Islington, near Sadlers Wells, for £50 a side." This match is also the earliest known to have involved a team called Middlesex .

The results of the first two games are surmised from the report of the game at Penshurst in August, which states that the victory of Mr Stead's XI over Sir William Gage's XI was "the third time this summer that the Kent men have been too expert for those of Sussex". In the Stead v Gage game, it seems that Kent won the game although Sussex needed just 7 in their second innings. The report clearly infers that the teams selected by Richmond, Gage and Stead were representative of the respective counties and so must have been of first-class standard [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/main.html From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300–1787] ] .

References

External sources

* [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/1728_ENG.html CricketArchive match lists]
* [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/main.html From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787]

Further reading

* H S Altham, "A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914)", George Allen & Unwin, 1962
* Derek Birley, "A Social History of English Cricket", Aurum, 1999
* Rowland Bowen, "Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development", Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
* David Underdown, "Start of Play", Allen Lane, 2000