{"id":1950,"date":"2024-10-18T10:30:38","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T10:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/?page_id=1950"},"modified":"2025-06-10T09:09:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T09:09:21","slug":"clubs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/clubs\/","title":{"rendered":"Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-page pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1950?print=print\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_blank\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/clubs\/#General\" >General<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/clubs\/#Summary_of_important_teams\" >Summary of important teams<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/clubs\/#Footnotes\" >Footnotes<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"General\"><\/span>General<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In considering how teams were set up in the Eighteenth Century, it is worth considering some comments by Timothy McCann:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>There is a regrettable tendency for historians of local cricket clubs to equate the earliest reference to cricket being played in the area with the formation of the cricket club. The view of the present writer had been that [cricket] clubs were largely a Victorian invention and Arthur Haygarth seemed to support it. His list of some of the most famous cricket clubs starts with Hambledon in about 1760 (the Hambledon Club first appears in this volume playing a Sussex team in 1768 (220) and includes only the Sevenoaks Vine Club and the Marylebone Club before 1800.<sup data-fn=\"beb6644f-492b-4737-80a3-904e69109087\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#beb6644f-492b-4737-80a3-904e69109087\" id=\"beb6644f-492b-4737-80a3-904e69109087-link\">1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I think McCann is right to draw our attention to the consideration that to talk of Cricket Clubs in the Eighteenth Century as we now understand the term is somewhat misleading. Nonetheless, the were teams who played in the names of towns or villages who operated with a more or less consistent pool of players, so they have some of the characteristics of clubs. Nonetheless, I shall generally refer to teams rather than clubs as I feel that is a touch more accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a great many cases, however, Eighteenth Century Cricket teams have no records attached to them beyond records of matches they played and knowledge of where they played their matches. For this reason, there is often not a great deal more to be said of several significant teams beyond what is already included in the relevant pages on the grounds. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/other-important-grounds\/#The_Vine_Sevenoaks_Kent\">Sevenoaks<\/a> and Bourne more or less fall into this category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Summary_of_important_teams\"><\/span>Summary of important teams<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table is-style-stripes\"><table><thead><tr><th>Name<\/th><th>Area<\/th><th>Heyday<\/th><th>Ground<\/th><th>Patrons \/ promoters<\/th><th>Great players<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/other-important-clubs\/#Dartford\">Dartford<\/a><\/td><td>Kent<\/td><td>1720s, <br>1760s,<br>1790s.<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/other-important-grounds\/#Dartford_Brent_Kent\">Dartford Brent,<\/a><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/patrons\/#Edwin_Stead_1701_%E2%80%93_1735\">Edwin Stead<\/a><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/the-early-cricket-hall-of-fame\/#William_Bedle_1680_%E2%80%93_1768\">William Bedle<\/a><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>London CC <br> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/the-star-and-garter\/\">Star and Garter<\/a>)<\/td><td>London<\/td><td>1722 &#8211; 1756<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/the-artillery-ground\/\">Artillery Ground, Finsbury<\/a><\/td><td>George Smith (lessor<br>of the Artillery Ground)<\/td><td>Not known<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/other-important-clubs\/#Croydon\">Croydon<\/a><\/td><td>Surrey<\/td><td>1730 &#8211; 1739<\/td><td>Duppas Hill<\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/?page_id=3437\">Slindon<\/a><\/td><td>Sussex<\/td><td>1741 &#8211; 1747<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/other-important-grounds\/#Slindon_Common\">Slindon Common<\/a><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/patrons\/#Charles_Lennox_1st_Duke_of_Richmond_1672_%E2%80%93_1723\">Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond<\/a><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/the-early-cricket-hall-of-fame\/#Richard_Newland_1713_-1778\">Richard Newland<\/a><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/other-important-clubs\/#Bromley\">Bromley<\/a><\/td><td>Kent<\/td><td>1742 &#8211; 1745<\/td><td>Bromley Common<\/td><td><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/the-early-cricket-hall-of-fame\/#Robert_Colchin_1713_%E2%80%93_1750\">Robert Colchin -&#8220;Long Robin&#8221;<\/a><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/other-important-clubs\/#Addington\">Addington<\/a><\/td><td>Surrey<\/td><td>1743 &#8211; 1752<\/td><td>Addington Village Road<\/td><td><\/td><td>Tom Faulkner<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/other-important-clubs\/#Chertsey\">Chertsey<\/a><\/td><td>Surrey<\/td><td>1760 &#8211; 1780<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/other-important-grounds\/#Laleham_Burway_Surrey\">Laleham Burway<\/a><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/patrons\/#Charles_Bennet_4th_Earl_of_Tankerville_1743_%E2%80%93_1822\">Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville<\/a><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/the-early-cricket-hall-of-fame\/#Edward_%E2%80%98Lumpy_Stevens_1735_%E2%80%93_1819\">Lumpy Stevens<\/a><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Bourne<\/td><td>Kent<\/td><td>1770 &#8211; 1790<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/other-important-grounds\/#Bourne_Paddock_Bishopsbourne_Kent\">Bourne Paddock<\/a><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/patrons\/#Sir_Horatio_Mann_2nd_Baronet_1744_%E2%80%93_1814\">Sir Horatio Mann<\/a><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/hambledon\/\">Hambledon<\/a><\/td><td>Hampshire<\/td><td>1772-1791<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/broadhalfpenny-down\/\">Broadhalfpenny Down;<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/other-important-grounds\/#Stoke_Down_Hampshire\">Stoke Down<\/a>;<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/windmill-down\/\">Windmill Down<\/a><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/patrons\/#Rev_Charles_Powlett_1728_%E2%80%93_1809\">Rev Charles Powlett<\/a>;&nbsp;<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/patrons\/#John_Sackville_3rd_Duke_of_Dorset_1745_%E2%80%93_1799\">John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset<\/a>;<br><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/the-early-cricket-hall-of-fame\/#Richard_Nyren_1734_%E2%80%93_1797\">Richard Nyren<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/the-early-cricket-hall-of-fame\/#David_Harris_1755_%E2%80%93_1803\">David Harris<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/the-early-cricket-hall-of-fame\/#John_Small_Senior_1737_%E2%80%93_1826\">John Small sr<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/the-early-cricket-hall-of-fame\/#%E2%80%9CSilver%E2%80%9D_Billy_Beldham_1766_%E2%80%93_1862\">Billy Beldham<\/a><br>Numerous others<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sevenoaks<\/td><td>Kent<\/td><td>1730s<br>1770 -1790<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/other-important-grounds\/#The_Vine_Sevenoaks_Kent\">Sevenoaks Vine<\/a><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/patrons\/#The_Sackvilles_%E2%80%93_Lionel_Charles_John_1688_%E2%80%93_1765\">Sackville family<\/a><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>White Conduit<br> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/the-star-and-garter\/\">Star and Garter<\/a>)<\/td><td>London<\/td><td>1782 &#8211; 1787<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/white-conduit-ground\/\">White Conduit Fields<\/a><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/patrons\/#George_Finch_9th_Earl_of_Winchilsea_1752_%E2%80%93_1826\">George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea<\/a>;<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/patrons\/#Charles_Lennox_4th_Duke_of_Richmond_1764_%E2%80%93_1819\">Charles Lennox&nbsp; 4th Duke of Richmond<\/a>;<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/patrons\/#Peter_Burrell_1st_Baron_Gwydyr_1754_%E2%80%93_1820\">Peter Burrell, 1st Baron Gwydyr<\/a>;<\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/?page_id=896\">MCC<\/a><\/td><td>London<\/td><td>1787 and<br>Thereafter<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/dorset-square-the-first-lords-ground\/\">Lord&#8217;s &#8211; Dorset Square<br><\/a>(until 1810)<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/patrons\/#George_Finch_9th_Earl_of_Winchilsea_1752_%E2%80%93_1826\">George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea<\/a>;<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/patrons\/#Charles_Lennox_4th_Duke_of_Richmond_1764_%E2%80%93_1819\">Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond.<\/a><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/the-early-cricket-hall-of-fame\/#Reverend_Lord_Frederick_Beauclerk_1773_%E2%80%93_1850\">Reverend Lord Frederick Beauclerk<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:46px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Footnotes\"><\/span>Footnotes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-footnotes\"><li id=\"beb6644f-492b-4737-80a3-904e69109087\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/sussex-cricket-in-the-eighteenth-century-timothy-mccann-2004\/\">McCann <\/a>page lxii <a href=\"#beb6644f-492b-4737-80a3-904e69109087-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 1\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>General In considering how teams were set up in the Eighteenth Century, it is worth considering some comments by Timothy McCann: There is a regrettable tendency for historians of local cricket clubs to equate the earliest reference to cricket being played in the area with the formation of the cricket club. The view of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":true,"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"<a href=\\\"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/sussex-cricket-in-the-eighteenth-century-timothy-mccann-2004\/\\\">McCann <\/a>page lxii\",\"id\":\"beb6644f-492b-4737-80a3-904e69109087\"}]"},"class_list":["post-1950","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PdOpLv-vs","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1950"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4919,"href":"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1950\/revisions\/4919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earlycricket.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}