 | This article is a work in progress. The 2018 version has been restored in the interests ofWP:PRESERVE. The lead section may have to be amended over time, but the main improvement will be conversion of the match table to prose. Otherwise, some copyediting may help. The article is adequately sourced. |
←1738 1740 → |
Details have survived of seen eleven-a-side matches in the1739 Englishcricket season.[note 1]
The growth of cricket is evident in the creation of teams representing theRest of England and the huge public interest in them, a crowd of over 10,000 assembling for one match. The "all England" teams were formed to take onKent which, as in previous seasons, had the game's strongest county team. Cricket joined the art world in 1739, an engraving calledYouth Playing Cricket being the earliest known cricket subject on public display.
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| date | match title | venue | result | source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 June (M) | Lingfield vLondon | venue unknown | Lingfield won by 2 wkts | [3][4] |
| notes | The report does not state the venue of this match but does confirm the rematch to be played at theArtillery Ground on the 27th. This is the first reference to the Lingfield club which had a noted team in the 18th century. | |||
| 27 June (W) | London vLingfield | Artillery Ground | result unknown | [3][4] |
| notes | No post-match report was found. The announcement is contained in the report of the previous match and said that "several large bets are depending". | |||
| 5 July (Th) | Kingston & Moulsey vLondon | Moulsey Hurst | Kingston & Moulsey won | [3][5][4] |
| notes | Referenced in the report of the return match two weeks later (see below). | |||
| 9 July (M) | Kent vRest of England | Bromley Common | Kent won | [6][4] |
| notes | This is the earliest known instance of anon-international England cricket team, loosely termed "all-England" or, more accurately, the Rest of England. The match report defines the all-England concept very well by saying that 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". An all-England team is, in effect, the rest of England outside its opponents so, in this case, players resident in Kent were ineligible for selection. Kent, which had a very strong team in this period and was described as "the Unconquerable County", won by "a very few notches". | |||
| 19 July (Th) | London vKingston & Moulsey | Kennington Common | Kingston & Moulsey won by 3 runs | [5] |
| notes | TheLondon & Country Journal dated Tuesday, 24 July, reported on the second of these two matches but made references to the previous one on Thursday, 5 July. It seems that Kingston & Moulsey won the first game because of "the Londoners turning out three bad men who played on Moulsey Hurst". Kingston & Moulsey won the second game by three runs despite losing "five of their best hands" from the earlier match. London replaced the "three bad men" withLord John Sackville,Mr Dunn andMr Boarer (sic) who were described as "three very good gamesters". | |||
| 23 July (M) | Rest of England vKent | Artillery Ground | drawn | [7][4][8] |
| notes | 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 report says: "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 that was an error because "all England" confirms that the match was a return to that played two weeks earlier at Bromley Common. | |||
| 5 September (W) | London vChislehurst | Artillery Ground | result unknown | [9] |
| notes | Pre-announced by theLondon Evening Post on Saturday, 1 September. | |||
The earliest known cricket picture was first displayed this year, an engraving calledYouth Playing Cricket byHubert-François Gravelot (1699–1773). The picture showed two groups of cherubic lads gathered around abatsman and abowler. Thewicket shown is the "low stool" shape, probably 2-foot (0.61 m) wide by 1-foot (0.30 m) tall, naturally with twostumps and a singlebail. Gravelot helped to establish the FrenchRococo style in English publishing and was one of the most celebrated illustrators of the time. He worked in England between 1732 and 1745, opening a drawing school on theStrand which hadThomas Gainsborough (1727–1788) among its pupils.[10]
Due to construction work on the site, 1739 was the last year in which cricket could be played inLamb's Conduit Field.Thomas Coram'sFoundling Hospital was established there in 1739.[11]
Monday, 20 August. A 12-a-side game was organised onCoxheath Common by theEarl of Middlesex andLord John Sackville between teams from theSevenoaks (aka the Hills) andMaidstone (aka the Dales) areas.[12]
According to Maun on page 96 of his book, there was anEssex vLondon match inIlford on "Monday, 1 August" (sic), but this is an error as 1 August 1739 was a Wednesday.[13] The match in question is the one played on Monday, 1 August 1737 (qv).[14]