Chertsey Cricket Club in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

is one of the oldest

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

clubs in England, the foundation of the club dating to the 1730s. The club is based in

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in t ...

and plays in the Surrey Championship. Three known matches were played in 1736, one against

Croydon Cricket Club The original Croydon Cricket Club, based at Croydon (then part of Surrey), was prominent in the 18th century and played most of its matches at Duppas Hill. The earliest record of the club is in the History of cricket to 1725, 1707 season when it p ...

at Duppas Hill in Croydon followed by a return match at the Laleham Burway ground in Chertsey. A deciding game on Richmond Green was played on 5 July. In each of the two matches, the home team won "by a great number of runs". The club played a number of matches against

London Cricket Club The original London Cricket Club was formed in 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades, holding important match status. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of i ...

and

Dartford Cricket Club Dartford Cricket Club is one of the oldest cricket clubs in England with origins which date from the early 18th century, perhaps earlier. The earliest known match involving a team from Dartford took place in 1722, against London, but the club's ...

. In the 1760s, they played matches against the sport's rising power, the

Hambledon Club The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England. Foundation The origin of the club, based near Hambledon in rural Hampshire ...

, and in September 1778, Chertsey beat the rest of England (excluding Hampshire) by an innings and 24 runs. The Duke of Dorset (who played cricket for Chertsey) was appointed as Ambassador to France in 1784 and arranged to have the Chertsey team travel to France in 1789 to introduce cricket to the French, apparently to improve Anglo-French relations. However, the team, on arrival at Dover, met the Ambassador returning from France at the outset of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, and the opportunity was missed. Chertsey produced several famous players in the 18th century including the great bowler

Edward "Lumpy" Stevens Edward "Lumpy" Stevens (1735 – 7 September 1819) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket in the 18th century. He was an outstanding bowler who is generally regarded as the first great bowler in the game's hi ...

and the noted wicket-keeper William Yalden.

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* Former senior cricket clubs English cricket teams in the 18th century Sports clubs established in the 1730s 1737 establishments in England English club cricket teams Cricket in Surrey {{England-cricket-team-stub