1756 English cricket season

The 1756 English cricket season marks the beginning of cricket’s “Hambledon Era”. The Hambledon team, then probably run by a parish organisation rather than the famous club which is believed to have been formed in about 1765, made its first recorded appearances in three matches against Dartford.

The Seven Years War began in 1756 and there is no doubt that it had a huge impact on cricket as there is clearly a reduction in the number of major matches recorded during its span. Many players will have joined the forces and the patrons will have been reluctant to invest in games fielding weak teams; in any case, they would need to save their money in wartime. It is also very likely that cricket’s first bowling revolution occurred in the next ten years or so as bowlers were certainly pitching the ball by 1770, but there are no surviving reports to describe the reception that pitching had when it was tried and implemented [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/main.html From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787] ] .

Honours

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

Matches

Other events

In "Dawn of Cricket", H T Waghorn records a pre-announcement that a "fives" game involving a Hambledon side would be played on Sat 28 August at the Artillery Ground. The Hambledon players are unnamed but their opponents were a strong team: Tom Faulkner, Joe Harris, John Frame, John Bell and Durling. No details of the result were recorded. Stakes were £20 a side. This may have been a curtain raiser for the main event on Monday 30 August H T Waghorn, "The Dawn of Cricket", Electric Press, 1906] .

References

External sources

* [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/1756_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
* Ashley Mote, "The Glory Days of Cricket", Robson, 1997
* David Underdown, "Start of Play", Allen Lane, 2000