464:. After Slindon beat Surrey "almost in one innings" at the end of that season, it was inevitable they would come to the Artillery Ground and play London. This happened in 1742 when two matches were played against a background of furious gambling with huge wagers being laid against Newland's expected performance. London prevailed, winning the first match "with great difficulty" and then, having been assisted by the weather, thrashing Slindon by 184 runs in the second.
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In 1744, Slindon were back and in June they beat London by 55 runs in a match whose scores have been preserved by the earliest known cricket scorecard. Slindon beat London again in
September and proceeded to issue their audacious challenge to play against any parish in England. London did not take up
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Gambling has always had its unsavoury side and eventually the
Artillery Ground became a place of ill-repute. The club members became uneasy about associating with a place that was widely known for licentious and, occasionally, riotous behaviour, even though it showcased cricket of the highest class.
391:
The 1730s were the glory days of London
Cricket Club and it completely dominated the cricket scene, especially given its royal and aristocratic patronage. One of the earliest good players mentioned is "the famous Tim Coleman" who was referred as such in 1731 when it was rare to see any player named
486:
There was a noticeable increase in the popularity of single wicket contests in the late 1740s although the London club often arranged these at the
Artillery Ground. In the eleven a side game, county matches or games involving "best elevens" were the norm and, as the 1750s began, London was really
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reported from 21 June 1707 to 24 June 1707 that "two great matches at cricket (to be) plaid, between London and
Croydon; the first at Croydon on Tuesday, July 1st, and the other to be plaid in Lamb's-Conduit-Fields, near Holborn, on the Tuesday following, being the 3rd of July". No match reports
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from 1756 to 1763 and the number of matches played greatly reduced. There are signs of the game returning to its rural roots during this period and evidently the aristocrats were happy with that development. Apart from four matches in the
275:
It is reasonable to assume that the London
Cricket Club was disbanded during the Seven Years' War. With its demise and the war situation, the "honourable gentlemen" retreated to the countryside and founded or at least augmented the
253:, there are few mentions of London as a team in the aftermath of the Seven Years' War and many of the references suggest that these teams were in fact occasional "London XIs" rather than representing an organised London club.
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Very little is known of London's players during its heyday, from the 1720s to the 1760s. The following are the names that have been recorded by the season in which they are first mentioned in the sources.
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in London. This gentlemen's club was multi-functional, though essentially of a social and sporting nature, but its purpose was to encourage and enable gambling. For example, its members also founded the
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The 1707 London team may have been just an occasional XI as the foundation date of London
Cricket Club is unknown. But it was in existence by 1722 when it was referred to in a match against
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in the 16th century and there can be little doubt that the game had reached London by that time. Even so, there is no written reference to the game in London until 1680.
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The
Artillery Ground itself began to be used less and less after 1763. A match on 15 September 1778 is the last important one played there.
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but, in general, London means the club and
Middlesex was a team of players born in the county who were not necessarily of the London club.
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was already by then the predominant centre of
English cricket and a lot of games were being played at other outlying venues such as
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who, on their first appearance at the Artillery Ground, easily won by an innings and 4 runs. Addington did have the great player
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As the 1730s progressed, London continued to be generally successful. From time to time, challengers appeared.
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In the early 1780s, the gentlemen decided to re-establish themselves in the vicinity of London and founded the
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events. Cricket throughout the 18th century was funded by gambling interests and attracted huge stakes.
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403:. They played matches against various other parish clubs and sometimes took on county sides, mainly
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It was London's turn to be thrashed in 1743 when they played another of the "great little clubs":
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This is the thirteenth match the London gamesters have played this year and not lost one match
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London Cricket Club was founded and organised by members of what is usually termed the
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could be found so the results and scores are unknown (3 July in 1707 was a Thursday).
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1735 – Cook, Dunn, Ellis (London's "best bowler"), Marshall, Pool, Wakeland, Wheatley
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307:. The gentlemen moved their cricketing interests there and reinvented themselves as
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and London also had some tight contests against Chislehurst in the late 1730s.
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311:(MCC), which is thus a direct continuation of the old London Cricket Club.
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The earliest definite mention of cricket being played anywhere is at
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when it was unbeaten. As a report recounts after the final match:
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but it increasingly began to use the Artillery Ground from 1730.
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was formed in 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English
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But the biggest challenge to London's dominance emerged in the
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In the 1720s, the London club seemed to share its time between
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playing parish matches only unless it had several given men.
350:(Artillery Ground keeper), Butler, Hodder, Howlett, Norris
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For the Edwardian club for which W. G. Grace played, see
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291:. But they were not happy about the environment of
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334:1732 – Christopher Jones (Artillery Ground keeper)
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597:Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development
272:. London for the time being had been abandoned.
914:Sports clubs and teams established in the 1720s
324:1726 – Perry (took part in the earliest known
236:and were usually involved with organising big
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82:, where it played most of its home matches.
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395:London's main opponents in the 1730s were
299:to find a "more private venue". He opened
909:English cricket teams in the 18th century
643:English cricket teams in the 18th century
207:Learn how and when to remove this message
577:A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914)
548:Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century
359:1748 – George Carter, John Capon, Walker
904:Former senior cricket clubs of England
896:
502:
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616:
426:The club's best season may have been
346:1744 – Little Bennett, Tall Bennett,
244:Cricket was severely impacted by the
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456:which starred the great all-rounder
223:, which had its headquarters at the
145:adding citations to reliable sources
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78:. It is closely associated with the
74:over the next four decades, holding
587:A Social History of English Cricket
511:Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket
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113:The Noblemen's and Gentlemen's Club
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479:the challenge: only Addington and
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579:, George Allen & Unwin, 1962.
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599:, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970.
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353:1745 – William Anderson, Norton
331:1731 – "the famous" Tim Coleman
221:Noblemen's and Gentlemen's Club
132:needs additional citations for
86:Early history of London cricket
929:1722 establishments in England
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550:, Sussex Record Society, 2004.
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919:Club cricket teams in England
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685:Leicestershire & Rutland
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559:West Sussex Records Office.
441:first made its mark in the
251:1769 English cricket season
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18:London County Cricket Club
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924:Cricket teams in London
690:Marylebone Cricket Club
534:, Electric Press, 1906.
309:Marylebone Cricket Club
483:felt able to respond.
469:Addington Cricket Club
460:and was backed by the
76:important match status
439:Chertsey Cricket Club
156:"London Cricket Club"
97:A publication called
386:White Conduit Fields
293:White Conduit Fields
141:improve this article
609:, Allen Lane, 2000.
532:The Dawn of Cricket
392:in the newspapers.
342:Lord John Sackville
340:1739 – John Bowra,
68:London Cricket Club
30:
29:London Cricket Club
878:White Conduit Club
513:, Cotterell, 1935.
356:1747 – Thomas Jure
285:White Conduit Club
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544:Timothy J. McCann
382:Kennington Common
301:Lord's Old Ground
295:and commissioned
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246:Seven Years' War
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80:Artillery Ground
59:Artillery Ground
34:Team information
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197:February 2024
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139:Please help
134:verification
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99:The Post Man
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25:Cricket team
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778:Chislehurst
452:. This was
450:1741 season
443:1736 season
303:in 1787 in
297:Thomas Lord
234:Jockey Club
42:before 1722
39:Established
898:Categories
853:Montpelier
828:Hornchurch
701:Nottingham
491:References
421:vice versa
305:Marylebone
167:newspapers
55:Home venue
47:Last match
873:West Kent
838:Lingfield
813:Hambledon
798:East Kent
748:Brentford
733:Alresford
728:Addington
706:Sheffield
696:Middlesex
670:Hampshire
660:Berkshire
417:Middlesex
289:Islington
258:Hambledon
229:Pall Mall
92:Guildford
883:Woolwich
858:Richmond
833:Kingston
823:Homerton
793:Dartford
783:Coulsdon
773:Chertsey
763:Caterham
753:Brighton
401:Dartford
107:Dartford
868:Sunbury
863:Slindon
848:Mitcham
818:Hampton
788:Croydon
768:Chatham
758:Bromley
738:Arundel
711:Suffolk
653:England
481:Bromley
454:Slindon
397:Croydon
376:Matches
362:1753 –
315:Players
181:scholar
72:cricket
50:c. 1769
843:London
808:Hadlow
743:Bourne
721:Sussex
716:Surrey
413:Sussex
409:Surrey
328:match)
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803:Epsom
692:(MCC)
665:Essex
188:JSTOR
174:books
680:Kent
419:and
411:and
405:Kent
399:and
384:and
268:and
160:news
287:in
227:on
143:by
900::
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636:e
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