In the 1749 English cricket season, the popularity of single wicket

Single Wicket

Single wicket cricket is a form of cricket played between two individuals, who take turns to bat and bowl against each other. The one bowling is assisted by a team of fielders, who remain as fielders at the change of innings. The winner is the one who scores more runs...

 may have waned as there is a greater proportion of eleven a side games in the year’s reports.

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Result
29 May (M)	London London Cricket Club The original London Cricket Club was formed by 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of its home matches.-Early history of London cricket:...  & Bromley Bromley Cricket Club Bromley Cricket Club was one of the strongest English cricket clubs in the mid-18th century when its team was led by Robert Colchin aka "Long Robin".-Earliest mentions:...  v Addington Addington Cricket Club Addington is about three miles south-east of Croydon. It is only a small place but Addington Cricket Club fielded one of the strongest cricket teams in England from about the 1743 season to the 1752 season....	Artillery Ground Artillery Ground The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is one of London's most centrally located cricket grounds, situated just off the City Road immediately north of the City of London...	result unknown
No details reported.
? June	Hastings v Pevensey	venue unknown	result unknown
Hardly any details are known but it was apparently played for a hundred guineas.
2 & 3 June (F-S)	All-England All-England Eleven In cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team...  v Surrey Surrey county cricket teams Surrey county cricket teams have been traced back to the 17th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. The first definite mention of cricket anywhere in the world is dated c.1550 in Guildford.-17th century:...	Dartford Brent Dartford Brent Dartford Brent was an extensive area of common land on the outskirts of Dartford in Kent. In history, it was the scene of a confrontation between King Henry VI and Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York in 1452; and in 1555 thousands of spectators were to witness the burning to death at the stake of...	Surrey won by 2 wickets
All-England scored 89 and 42; Surrey replied with 73 and 59-8. No individual performances are known. All-England had Durling Durling (Surrey cricketer) The Surrey and All-England cricketer called Durling was a noted player in the mid-18th century, although nothing is known of him outside mentions in match reports....  of Addington (in Surrey) as a given man; Surrey had James and John Bryant as given men. The Bryants were natives of Bromley in Kent. John Frame John Frame (cricketer) John Frame was an English cricketer and arguably the first great fast bowler in the game's history...  was associated with Dartford but was actually born in Surrey, at Warlingham in 1733. All-England: Robert Colchin Robert Colchin Robert "Long Robin" Colchin was a highly influential professional English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period at a time when the single wicket version of the game was popular.-Cricket career:... , William Hodsoll William Hodsoll William Hodsoll , was a noted English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period. Hodsoll lived at Dartford for some years and was a tanner .... , Robert Eures Robert Eures Robert Eures was a noted English cricketer of the mid-18th century. He came from Bexley in Kent and played for Kent county cricket teams as well as for All-England... , Val Romney Val Romney Valentine "Val" Romney was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the 1740s. A specialist batsman, he was mainly associated with Kent but also represented All-England... , John Larkin John Larkin (cricketer) John Larkin was a noted English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period at a time when the single wicket version of the game was popular.... , Jones, John Bell, John Mansfield, Richard Newland Richard Newland Richard Newland was an English cricketer in the mid-Georgian period who played for Slindon Cricket Club and Sussex under the patronage of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond. He also represented various All-England teams... , Joseph Budd, Durling. Surrey: Stephen Dingate Stephen Dingate Stephen Dingate was a leading English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period. He almost certainly began playing in the 1720s and was one of the best known players in England through the 1740s.... , Tom Faulkner Tom Faulkner Tom Faulkner , known as "Long Tom", was a noted English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period.A Surrey man, he was a prominent single wicket player who frequently played in challenge matches at the Artillery Ground.... , Joseph Harris, John Harris, George Jackson, Maynard, ? Bennett, John Bryant, James Bryant, Humphreys, John Frame. It is not known which of "Little" or "Tall" Bennett played for Surrey.
5 June (M)	All-England v Surrey	Artillery Ground	drawn
All-England scored 71 and 47. Surrey scored 89 in their first innings but bad light prevented them chasing their target of 30. Presumably the match had to be finished (or left unfinished) on the one day. No individual performances are known. The two teams were unchanged from the match on 2 & 3 June.
21 June (W)	London v Richmond & Ripley	Artillery Ground	result unknown
No details reported.
26 June (M)	Long Robin’s XI v S Dingate’s XI	Artillery Ground	result unknown
The game was arranged by the members of the London Cricket Club London Cricket Club The original London Cricket Club was formed by 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of its home matches.-Early history of London cricket:...  and played for a hundred guineas a side. William Hodsoll William Hodsoll William Hodsoll , was a noted English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period. Hodsoll lived at Dartford for some years and was a tanner ....  was due to play for one side or the other but had to withdraw. We do not know who replaced him. Long Robin’s XI: Robert Colchin, John Bryant, John Mansfield, James Bryant, John Bell, Robert Eures, Val Romney, Durling, John Colchin, John Bowra, John Larkin. S Dingate’s XI: Stephen Dingate, Tom Faulkner, Joseph Harris, John Harris, George Jackson, John Frame, Humphreys, "Little" Bennett, Tom Peake Tom Peake Tom Peake was a noted English cricketer of the mid-18th century... , John Capon, Thomas Jure Thomas Jure Thomas Jure was a noted English cricketer of the mid-18th century who played for the famous London Cricket Club and also for All-England.... .
14 August (M)	London v Bearsted (Kent)	Artillery Ground	London won "with great ease"
London won with great ease. It was stated that Bearsted was the best team in Kent, having beaten all other parishes in their neighbourhood.

Other events

Mon 10 July. Five of All-England defeated Five of Addington at the Artillery Ground. The match was played for fifty guineas a side and was the result of a challenge by the Addington players to meet any other five in England. Betting was 8-1 in favour of Addington .

Addington: Tom Faulkner

Tom Faulkner

Tom Faulkner , known as "Long Tom", was a noted English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period.A Surrey man, he was a prominent single wicket player who frequently played in challenge matches at the Artillery Ground....

, Joseph Harris

Joe Harris (cricketer)

Joseph Harris and his brother John Harris were English cricketers in the 1740s and 1750s...

, John Harris, George Jackson

George Jackson (cricketer)

George Jackson was a noted English cricketer of the mid-18th century who played for the famous Addington Cricket Club and for Surrey...

, Durling

Durling (Surrey cricketer)

The Surrey and All-England cricketer called Durling was a noted player in the mid-18th century, although nothing is known of him outside mentions in match reports....

.

All-England: Robert Colchin

Robert Colchin

Robert "Long Robin" Colchin was a highly influential professional English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period at a time when the single wicket version of the game was popular.-Cricket career:...

, John Bryant, Robert Eures

Robert Eures

Robert Eures was a noted English cricketer of the mid-18th century. He came from Bexley in Kent and played for Kent county cricket teams as well as for All-England...

, John Bell, Thomas Waymark

Thomas Waymark

Thomas Waymark was an English professional cricketer in the first half of the 18th century...

.

Mon 17 July. In a return match, the same Addington five beat the same All-England five for fifty guineas .

Wed 26 July. In a deciding match, All-England won by 2 runs. They scored 11 and 12; Addington replied with 16 and 5. The prize this time was 100 guineas. All-England made two changes to their team with James Bryant and Val Romney

Val Romney

Valentine "Val" Romney was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the 1740s. A specialist batsman, he was mainly associated with Kent but also represented All-England...

 replacing John Bell and Thomas Waymark. Addington’s five were unchanged .

A game at White Conduit Fields

White Conduit Fields

White Conduit Fields in Islington was an early venue of major cricket matches and the original home of the White Conduit Club, forerunner of MCC...

 on Wed 2 August involving 22 members of the London Club. The report states that the venue was in use before 1720 but that the White Conduit Club was not established until c.1780. On the site was the White Conduit Tavern, erected in about 1648, and this was a favourite halting-place for those who had walked out a short distance from London. In 1749, the Tavern was owned by William Curnock and shortly afterwards by Robert Bartholomew, the Surrey cricketer .

Mon 28 August. Long Robin’s XI v T Faulkner’s XI at the Artillery Ground for sixty guineas a side but the teams were not top-class and had several players making up the numbers .

Tues 29 August. Portsmouth versus Fareham & Titchfield on Portsmouth Common. The Portsmouth team, which was described as those living on the Common, won by great odds .

Further reading

• H S Altham
  Harry Altham
  Harry Surtees Altham, CBE, DSO, MC was an English cricketer who became an important figure in the game as an administrator, historian and coach. His Wisden obituary described him as "among the best known personalities in the world of cricket"...
  
  , A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962
• Derek Birley
  Derek Birley
  Sir Derek Birley was an English educator and writer who had a strong interest in sport, especially cricket.He was educated at grammar school in Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, and at Queens' College, Cambridge University....
  
  , A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999
• Rowland Bowen
  Rowland Bowen
  Major Rowland Francis Bowen was a cricket researcher, historian and writer....
  
  , Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
• David Underdown
  David Underdown
  David E. Underdown was a historian of 17th-century English politics and culture and Professor Emeritus at Yale University. Born at Wells, Somerset, Underdown was educated at the Blue School and Exeter College, Oxford...
  
  , Start of Play, Allen Lane, 2000

External links

• CricketArchive match lists
• From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787