1737 English cricket season

Infobox cricket season
season = 1737 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 = In the 1737 English cricket season, the London club continued to pre-dominate at club level but Kent and Essex were the strongest teams at county level.

Honours

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

Matches

Other Events

"May". There was a tragic incident in a match at Newick in Sussex when a player called John Boots was killed after he collided with his partner whilst going for a run. Both men were knocked down but got up again, only for Mr Boots to drop down dead as he was running to his wicket. This was recorded in a number of sources. Mr McCann found a reference in the West Sussex Records Office which named Mr Boots and said he was buried on Tues 31 May at Chailey. Chailey and Newick are neighbouring parishes just to the north of Lewes in East Sussex .

"June". Frederick, Prince of Wales and Sir William Gage wagered a considerable sum on a match in Hyde Park, London. This seems to have involved noblemen only Timothy J McCann, "Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century", Sussex Record Society, 2004] .

The "General Evening Post" on Tues 2 August announced a game at Kew Green on Thu 4 August. The Prince of Wales was due to play and lead a team of noblemen against the London Cricket Club, but it was probably members of the London Club rather than its professional players G B Buckley "Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket", Cotterell, 1935] . Mr Buckley says it is doubtful if the match was ever played as Princess Augusta (1737 – 1813) was born on the Wednesday and this occasioned great celebrations. The Prince provided beer for the populace but "one lot of it was too bad to drink" . However, Mr Buckley seems to be mistaken here as Princess Augusta was born on Wed 31 August. She was the elder sister of George III and became Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttell. She was the mother of Princess Caroline of Brunswick who made the famously ill-fated marriage with the future George IV in 1795 [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/main.html From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300–1787] ] .

There is mention of another "aristocrats only" game that apparently took place at Kew in June. The captains were the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Marlborough H T Waghorn, "Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730-1773)", Blackwood, 1899] .

References

External sources

* [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/1737_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