Chatham Cricket Club was founded by 1705 in

Chatham, Kent Chatham ( ) is a town located within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. The town developed around Chatham ...

, England. The first reference to its team is a match against West of Kent in August 1705. There is a specific reference to a "Chatham Club" in a description of a single wicket match in 1754. Chatham lost by 20 runs to

Meopham Meopham is a large linear village and civil parish in the Borough of Gravesham in Kent, England, lying to the south of Gravesend. The parish covers , and comprises two villages and two smaller settlements; it has a population of 6,427 increasi ...

in June 1772 at

George Louch George Louch (1746–1811) was an English cricketer and match organiser during the 18th century. He was especially noted for his fielding and was an early stalwart of Marylebone Cricket Club. He was a native of Chatham and educated at Westminst ...

's "cricketing field" in Chatham and in September 1772 the club played two matches against

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

, the second one on Louch's field. Chatham won the first at Dartford by 19 runs and then Dartford won at Chatham, also by 19 runs. There are records of three matches against

Bourne Bourne may refer to: Places UK * Bourne, Lincolnshire, a town ** Bourne Abbey ** Bourne railway station * Bourne (electoral division), West Sussex * Bourne SSSI, Avon, a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Burrington, North Somerset * Bourne ...

in 1773. The first at

Bourne Paddock Bourne Paddock was a cricket ground at Bourne Park House, the seat of Sir Horatio Mann, at Bishopsbourne around south-east of Canterbury in the English county of Kent. It was a venue for first-class cricket matches from 1766 to 1790. The groun ...

on Friday, 30 July 1773, was abandoned because of bad weather, Bourne won the second at Chatham on 30 and 31 August by 7 wickets and the third at Bourne on 6 and 7 September by 1 wicket. Louch's field was the club's venue in the early 1770s and there are references in 1785 and 1787 to Chatham Lines as a venue. In August 1787, a local match was played at "The Star" on Chatham Hill and this venue is mentioned several times in reports to 1791, especially for single wicket contests. There are few mentions of a Chatham team after 1773 and the last 18th century reference concerns a minor match against local opposition in June 1800.Waghorn, ''Dawn of Cricket'', p. 164. CricketArchive lists two "odds" matches played by Chatham against the

All-England Eleven In English cricket since the first half of the 18th century, various ''ad hoc'' teams have been formed for short-term purposes which have been called England (or sometimes "All-England"; i.e., in the sense of "the rest of England") to play against, ...

in September 1861 and

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

in August 1862. Both matches were played on Chatham Lines and the local club had 22 players against 11. Chatham also played the touring South Africans in June 1894. This was an eleven-a-side match which the South Africans won by five runs. The Chatham Club ultimately folded and there is no modern equivalent in Kent league cricket.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Authority control 1705 establishments in England Cricket in Kent Club cricket teams in England English cricket teams in the 18th century Former senior cricket clubs Sport in Kent Sports clubs and teams established in the 1700s