Itchin Stoke Down is a rural location near the town of Alresford in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. It was used as a venue for 13

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

matches between 1778 and 1806 and as the home of the

Alresford Cricket Club Alresford Cricket Club was one of the strongest cricket teams in England during the late 18th century. It represented the adjacent small towns of New Alresford and Old Alresford in Hampshire. According to John Arlott, between about 1770 and 179 ...

. Itchin Stoke Down is first referenced as the venue for 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, ...

v Hambledon Parish match in May 1778.

G B Buckley George Bent Buckley (1885 – 26 April 1962) was an English surgeon and a celebrated cricket historian and an authority on the early days of the game. Buckley was born in Saddleworth, Yorkshire, the son of Arthur and Jane Buckley, his fath ...

, ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'', Cotterell, 1935 The first first-class match known to have taken place on the Down was between

and

All-England The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the Badminton World Federation, BWF's latest grading system, it was given BWF Super Series, Super Series st ...

in July of the same year.

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...

, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862: see p.37Stoke Down, Alresford
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-12-29. The Down was used as an occasional venue by Hampshire teams from then until the beginning of the 19th century and it survived the Hambledon Club. It was still in use for a Hampshire v All-England match as late as 1806, which was several years after the demise of Hambledon.

References

1778 establishments in England Cricket grounds in Hampshire Cricket in Hampshire Defunct cricket grounds in England Defunct sports venues in Hampshire English cricket venues in the 18th century History of Hampshire Sport in Hampshire Sports venues completed in 1778 Sports venues in Hampshire New Alresford {{England-cricket-ground-stub