The 1781 English cricket season saw the end of Broadhalfpenny Down

Broadhalfpenny Down

Broadhalfpenny Down, situated on a hilltop about a mile from the rural village of Hambledon in Hampshire, was the home venue for first-class cricket matches of the Hambledon Club from 1753 to 1781...

 and the beginning of cricket in Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

.

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Source	Result
6–9 June (W-S)	Hampshire v All-England	Stoke Down	SB47	Hampshire won by 8 wkts
All-England 101 (J Aylward 25; W Lamborn 7w, N Mann 3w) & 232 (J Aylward 73, R Clifford 48, B Rimmington 31; N Mann 4w, R Nyren 2w); Hampshire 206 (T Sueter 66, John Small 47; E Stevens 2w) & 128-2 (N Mann 73, W Bedster 49) ACS call this Hampshire v Kent but S&B calls it Hampshire v All-England with a note that most of the All-England players were Kent men. However, as S&B calls the 30 July game Hampshire v Kent with Bedster, it seems the intention on 6 June was to field an All-England team (it included Lumpy and Yalden of Surrey and there is some doubt about the origin of the three Rimmingtons who may have been from Essex rather than Kent).
20–21 June (W-Th)	Duke of Dorset v Sir H Mann	Sevenoaks Vine	SB47	Dorset's XI won by 10 wkts
Sir Horace Mann’s XI 136 (R Clifford 32, J Miller 29; E Stevens 2w, W Bedster 2w) & 84 (Mr R Hosmer 37*); Duke of Dorset’s XI 158 (T Pattenden 50*, T Sueter 34; R Clifford 4w, W Lamborn 3w) & 63-0 (N Mann 37*, W Bullen 26*)
2–3 July (M-Tu)	Odiham v Maidenhead	Odiham	WDC	Odiham won by 31 runs
Odiham scored 135 & 95; Maidenhead replied with 118 & 81.
18–20 July (W-F)	Kent v Hampshire	Bishopsbourne Paddock	SB48	Kent won by 150 runs
Kent 181 (J Miller 29, J Aylward 29, R Clifford 26; W Lamborn 3w, R Nyren 2w) & 186 (R Clifford 57, J Aylward 25; J Freemantle 2w); Hampshire 59 (E Stevens 2w, R Clifford 2w) & 158 (G Leer 53, R A Veck 26; E Stevens 4w)
23 July (M)	Maidenhead v Odiham	Maidenhead	WDC	Odiham won by 10 wkts
Maidenhead scored 60 & 49; Odiham 73 and 37-0.
30 Jul - 1 Aug (M-W)	Hampshire v Kent	Broadhalfpenny Down	SB49	Kent won by 38 runs
Kent 218 (R Clifford 66, J Miller 45, W Bowra 29; R Nyren 4w, R Purchase 3w, W Lamborn 2w) & 188 (W Bullen 54, W Bowra 42*, J Aylward 28); Hampshire 185 (N Mann 49, T Taylor 34, R A Veck 26; W Bullen 6w) & 183 (R A Veck 44, N Mann 41*, John Small 34, T Taylor 23; R Clifford 2w) An outstanding all-round performance by William Bullen William Bullen William Bullen was an outstanding English cricketer throughout the last quarter of the 18th century. Hailing from Kent, Bullen was a great all-rounder, noted in the key sources as a fast bowler and a "powerful hitter".... . Richard Purchase Richard Purchase Richard Purchase was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club.He was only 16 when he made his debut in 1773.Born in Liss, Hampshire, he played for his county in 1773 and 1774 but then did not appear again until 1781... ’s name had not appeared in a match since 1774. The end of an era. This match marked the end of Broadhalfpenny Down Broadhalfpenny Down Broadhalfpenny Down, situated on a hilltop about a mile from the rural village of Hambledon in Hampshire, was the home venue for first-class cricket matches of the Hambledon Club from 1753 to 1781...  as a big match venue. The Hambledon Club began using Windmill Down Windmill Down Windmill Down is a rural location near the town of Hambledon in Hampshire. It was used as a venue for major cricket matches in the 18th century and from 1782 as the home of the Hambledon Club.-Opening of Windmill Down:...  next year.
2 August (Th)	Leicester v Melton Mowbray	Barrowcliffe Meadow, Leicester	FL18	Melton Mowbray won by 16 runs
Reported in the Leicester Journal on Sat 4 August.
8–11 August (W-S)	Duke of Dorset v Sir H Mann	Bishopsbourne Paddock	SB49	Dorset's XI won by 106 runs
Duke of Dorset’s XI 170 (T Sueter 58, T Pattenden 26*; R Clifford 3w, W Lamborn 2w) & 184 (T Sueter 56, W Bullen 36; W Lamborn 3w, R Clifford 3w); Sir Horace Mann’s XI 147 (J Aylward 36, J Miller 31, R Clifford 24; E Stevens 4w) & 101 (J Aylward 44, John Small 28; E Stevens 4w) A very impressive performance by Tom Sueter Tom Sueter Thomas Sueter was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....  scoring two fifties in the game, which would be like scoring two centuries in a match now. Lumpy with at least 8 wickets also played his part.
27–28 August (M-Tu)	Kent v Hampshire	Bishopsbourne Paddock	SB50	Hampshire won by 8 runs
Hampshire 60 (R Clifford 3w) & 106 (R Purchase 24; R Clifford 2w, W Bowra 2w); Kent 88 (J Aylward 32; W Lamborn 4w, R Nyren 2w) & 70 (R Nyren 3w, W Lamborn 2w)
27–28 August (M-Tu)	Maidenhead v Bucks	venue unknown	WDC	Maidenhead won by 124 runs
No other details are known, including the venue.
17–18 September (M-Tu)	Leicester v Nottingham	Loughborough	FL18	incomplete due to dispute
Reported in the Leicester Journal on Sat 22 September. Nottingham scored 50 & 73; Leicester had scored 73 & 9-2 when the game ended prematurely because of a dispute about wide deliveries. The repercussions dragged on and the dispute remained unresolved a year later (see 1782).
24 September (M)	Oxfordshire v Berkshire	Benson Common, Oxfordshire	FL18	result unknown
Advertised in the Reading Mercury on Mon 17 September.

Other events

A match on Brinnington Moor in August is the earliest known reference about cricket being played in Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

. Reported in the Manchester Journal on Sat 1 September (see FLPV).

The End of Broadhalfpenny Down

As Ashley More says in his splendid account of Broadhalfpenny Down

Broadhalfpenny Down

Broadhalfpenny Down, situated on a hilltop about a mile from the rural village of Hambledon in Hampshire, was the home venue for first-class cricket matches of the Hambledon Club from 1753 to 1781...

’s long and chequered history, it is not where cricket started. The mythology has arisen from the place’s nickname as "the cradle of cricket". The cradle was rocked by a group of children in the Weald long, long ago in the days before Longshanks, and perhaps even the Conqueror, troubled the world.

We first hear of Broadhalfpenny Down in 1756 because a poor dog got lost there when Hambledon was playing a big match, almost certainly against Dartford. It continued to be the Hambledon Club’s chosen venue until 1781 when the members decided it was too remote and that Windmill Down

Windmill Down

Windmill Down is a rural location near the town of Hambledon in Hampshire. It was used as a venue for major cricket matches in the 18th century and from 1782 as the home of the Hambledon Club.-Opening of Windmill Down:...

, which is adjacent to Hambledon village, was more suitable.

Broadhalfpenny Down is actually two miles from Hambledon, which is a fair way when most people are on foot and the rest on horseback. And it is uphill. But it did have a good pub opposite. Oddly enough, Windmill Down did not.

The end was inevitable but it took the Duke of Dorset to say it. He commented that the Down was "a bleak place to play cricket" and indeed he was probably already hankering for a return to London as the game’s centre. Others agreed with him, whether they gave his views consideration or not. As a result, the club decided to take action and thought they had staved off the inevitable by the move to Windmill Down. But they had only postponed it for London beckoned and it only needed a suitable metropolitan venue to end the Hambledon adventure.

And that is what happened.

First mentions

• M Rimmington
  Rimmington (Kent cricketer)
  Rimmington refers to three brothers who played first-class cricket for Essex, Kent and All-England teams between the 1777 and 1791 seasons....
  
  
• Martin (Essex)
• Hogben
  Hogben (Kent cricketer)
  Hogben was an English professional cricketer who made 6 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1781 to 1782.-Career:He was mainly associated with Kent but also represented All-England.-External sources:*...
  
   (Kent)
• Webb
  Webb (Kent cricketer)
  Webb was an English professional cricketer who made 5 known appearances in major cricket matches during the 1781 season.-External sources:*...
  
   (Kent)

Leading batsmen

Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so it is impossible to provide a complete analysis of batting performances: e.g., the missing not outs prevent computation of batting averages. The "runs scored" are in fact the runs known.

runs	player
319	James Aylward James Aylward James Aylward was a noted English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club. He was a left-handed batsman....
305	Robert Clifford
298	Noah Mann Noah Mann Noah Mann was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....
281	Tom Sueter Tom Sueter Thomas Sueter was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....
195	Joseph Miller
193	William Bullen William Bullen William Bullen was an outstanding English cricketer throughout the last quarter of the 18th century. Hailing from Kent, Bullen was a great all-rounder, noted in the key sources as a fast bowler and a "powerful hitter"....
181	John Small
162	William Bowra William Bowra William Bowra was an English cricketer who played regularly for Kent teams from 1768 until 1788 and then for Sussex until 1792. He had 47 known first-class appearances between 1775 and 1792. His name was pronounced "Borra".In a Hampshire Chronicle report of a 1775 game, his name is spelt "Bower"...
136	Richard Aubrey Veck Richard Aubrey Veck Richard Aubrey Veck was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....
122	George Leer George Leer George Leer was a famous English cricketer who played for Hampshire in the time of the Hambledon Club.Leer began playing in the 1760s...
119	William Bedster William Bedster William Bedster was an English cricketer of the late 18th century. He was a good batsman and a useful bowler....
81	Thomas Pattenden Thomas Pattenden Thomas Pattenden was a noted English cricketer who played for Kent in the 1760s and 1770s...

Leading bowlers

Note that the wickets credited to an 18th century bowler were only those where he bowled the batsman out. The bowler was not credited with the wickets of batsmen who were caught out, even if it was "caught and bowled". In addition, the runs conceded by each bowler were not recorded so no analyses or averages can be computed.

wkts	player
27	Lamborn
20	Robert Clifford
20	Edward "Lumpy" Stevens
15	Richard Nyren Richard Nyren Richard "Dick" Nyren was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the 1760s and 1770s in the heyday of the Hambledon Club...
12	William Bullen William Bullen William Bullen was an outstanding English cricketer throughout the last quarter of the 18th century. Hailing from Kent, Bullen was a great all-rounder, noted in the key sources as a fast bowler and a "powerful hitter"....
8	Noah Mann Noah Mann Noah Mann was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....

Leading fielders

Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so the totals are of the known catches and stumpings only. Stumpings were not always recorded as such and sometimes the name of the wicket-keeper was not given. Generally, a catch was given the same status as "bowled" with credit being awarded to the fielder only and not the bowler. There is never a record of "caught and bowled"the bowler would be credited with the catch, not with the wicket.

ct/st	player
11	Tom Sueter Tom Sueter Thomas Sueter was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....
10	Robert Clifford
8	William Bullen William Bullen William Bullen was an outstanding English cricketer throughout the last quarter of the 18th century. Hailing from Kent, Bullen was a great all-rounder, noted in the key sources as a fast bowler and a "powerful hitter"....
7	William Yalden William Yalden William "The Yold" Yalden was a noted English cricketer. He was a very good batsman but was primarily known as a wicket-keeper....
6	James Aylward James Aylward James Aylward was a noted English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club. He was a left-handed batsman....
6	Edward "Lumpy" Stevens
5	William Bowra William Bowra William Bowra was an English cricketer who played regularly for Kent teams from 1768 until 1788 and then for Sussex until 1792. He had 47 known first-class appearances between 1775 and 1792. His name was pronounced "Borra".In a Hampshire Chronicle report of a 1775 game, his name is spelt "Bower"...
5	Richard Aubrey Veck Richard Aubrey Veck Richard Aubrey Veck was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....

External links

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