1741 English cricket season

Infobox cricket season
season = 1741 English cricket season


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cricket formats = first-class and single wicket
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county champions = Slindon/Sussex
knockout cup winners =
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The 1741 English cricket season was notable for the first appearance in recorded matches of the famous Slindon Cricket Club.

Much of our knowledge is based on letters written by the Duke and Duchess of Richmond to each other and to the Duke of Newcastle. The gloating letter by the Duchess after "little Slindon" beat "almost your whole county of Surrey" is particularly illuminating about the values and refreshingly frank attitudes of the time. A Victorian duchess could never have written such a letter as she would be ruled by politeness and protocol.

Honours

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

Matches

Other Events

Thu 9 July. In a letter to her husband, the Duchess of Richmond mentioned a conversation with John Newland re a Slindon v East Dean match at Long Down, near Eartham, a week earlier. This seems to be the first recorded mention of any of the Newland family .

Tues 28 July. In two subsequent letters to the Duke of Newcastle, the Duke of Richmond spoke about a game on this date which resulted in a brawl with "hearty blows" and "broken heads"! The game was at Portslade between Slindon and unnamed opponents. Apparently, Slindon won the battle but the result of the match is unknown! Timothy J McCann, "Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century", Sussex Record Society, 2004]

Tues 18 August. A match played on the Cow Meadow near Northampton between two teams of amateurs from Northants and Bucks is the earliest known instance of cricket in Northamptonshire .

Mon 10 August. There was a match at Woburn Park between a Bedfordshire XI and a combined Northants and Huntingdonshire XI H T Waghorn, "Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730-1773)", Blackwood, 1899] . Woburn Cricket Club under the leadership of the Duke of Bedford was on the point of becoming a well known club (see 1742 English cricket season) G B Buckley, "Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket", Cotterell, 1935] .

The Duke and Duchess of Richmond

Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond (1701 - 1750) married Lady Sarah Cadogan (1706 - 1751), daughter of William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan, on 4 December 1719 at The Hague, Netherlands. They had eight children including Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond (1733 - 1806).

It seems that the marriage of Richmond to Duchess Sarah was a success and that was not always the case among the Georgian aristocracy. The Duchess took a keen interest in all the Duke's doings including his cricket. Several references and letters written by her, including some financial accounts, have survived. Her stout support of her husband in the matter of her grudge against the "Surrey mob" is not only historically interesting but says a great deal about the obvious affection between them and it is noticeable that she did not long survive him [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/main.html From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300–1787] ] .

References

External sources

* [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/1741_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
* David Underdown, "Start of Play", Allen Lane, 2000