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

Cricket became established in Surrey during the 17th century and the earliest village matches took place before the English Civil War. It is believed that the earliest county teams were formed in the aftermath of the Restoration in 1660.

18th Century

The first recorded inter-county match took place in 1709 between Kent and Surrey.

Surrey was a major county throughout the 18th century, largely due to the Chertsey Cricket Club and famous patrons such as Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville. Noted Surrey players included Edward "Lumpy" Stevens, William Yalden and William Beldham.

19th Century

The present Surrey CCC was formed at a meeting which took place at the new Kennington Oval during a match between two local teams on 21 & 22 August 1845.

The earliest first-class match at the Oval was Surrey Club v MCC on 25 & 26 May 1846. Only 194 runs were scored in the match with a top score of 13. W R Hillyer took 14 wickets to help MCC win by 48 runs.

Surrey CCC played its initial first-class match v Kent at the Oval on 25 & 26 June 1846, winning by 10 wickets.

For the history of Surrey cricket since the foundation of the county club, see : Surrey County Cricket Club.

Honours

* Champion County [An unofficial seasonal title proclaimed by consensus of media and historians prior to December 1889 when the official County Championship was constituted; see Surrey CCC for titles claimed by the county club since its foundation] (12) – 1731, 1743, 1746, 1749, 1757, 1765, 1773, 1778, 1793, 1796, 1830, 1831

References

External sources

* [http://www.chertseycc.org.uk/ccc/hist.html Chertsey Cricket Club website]
* [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/main.html From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787]
* [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/histories/champions.html Champion counties from 1728]

Bibliography

* Derek Birley, "A Social History of English Cricket", Aurum, 1999
* Rowland Bowen, "Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development", Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
* G B Buckley, "Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket", Cotterell, 1935
* G B Buckley, "Fresh Light on Pre-Victorian Cricket", Cotterell, 1937
* Arthur Haygarth, "Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744-1826)", Lillywhite, 1862
* Timothy J McCann, "Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century", Sussex Record Society, 2004
* H T Waghorn, "Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730-1773)", Blackwood, 1899
* H T Waghorn, "The Dawn of Cricket", Electric Press, 1906