Richmond Green cricket ground, on The Green at

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commiss ...

, has been a venue for

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 striki ...

matches since the 17th century. The earliest reference dates from May 1666 and some top-class matches were played there in the first half of the 18th century. A match in 1731, which culminated in a riot, is the earliest in cricket history of which team scores are known. The result of a match in July 1741 is the sport's earliest known

tie Tie has two principal meanings: * Tie (draw), a finish to a competition with identical results, particularly sports * Necktie, a long piece of cloth worn around the neck or shoulders Tie or TIE may also refer to: Engineering and technology * Ti ...

History

The earliest reference to cricket on The Green is from May 1666 when Sir Robert Paston, a resident of Richmond, wrote a letter to his wife and mentioned that their son had taken part in "a game of criquett (''sic'') on Richmond Green". The source includes a photograph of the actual letter. The first match that is definitely known to have been played on The Green was between

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

in June 1730. Surrey won but no details have survived. The following year, on 23 August, a match between Mr Chambers' XI (a Richmond team) and the

Duke of Richmond Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor dynasty, Tudor and House of Stuart, Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was ...

's XI (a Sussex team) is the earliest in cricket history of which team scores are known. Richmond's XI totalled 79

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

s in their first

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

and Chambers' XI replied with 119 to take a first innings lead of 40. Richmond's XI were all out for 72 in their second innings, so Chambers' XI needed 33 to win. The game ended promptly at a pre-agreed time when Chambers' XI had "four or five more to have come in" and needed "about 8 to 10 notches". The result was, therefore, a

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...

and this caused a fracas among the crowd who were incensed by the prompt finish because the Duke of Richmond had arrived late and delayed the start of the game. The riot resulted in some of Richmond's players "having their shirts tore off their backs: and 'tis said a law suit will commence about the play". The stake was 200

guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

s. On 22 July 1741, a match between Surrey and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

resulted in cricket's earliest known

. The first time Richmond Cricket Club are known to have played on The Green was on 4 July 1743 when a combined Richmond & Kingston team was defeated by London. The noted

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

player

Robert Colchin Robert Colchin (1713 – 1750) was an English cricketer and match organiser of the mid-Georgian period at a time when the single wicket version of the game was popular. He was christened at Chailey in Sussex in 1713 and buried at Deptford in ...

guested for London and the match is his earliest recorded mention. Later matches on The Green involved the Richmond club against other parish teams – for example,

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 the ...

in 1761, 1765 and 1771; Kingston in 1767; and Montpelier in 1799 and 1800.

Present day

The Green is presently home to two

village cricket Village cricket is a term, sometimes pejorative, given to the playing of cricket in rural villages in England and Wales. Many villages have their own teams that play at varying levels in local or regional club cricket leagues. When organised cric ...

teams each affiliated to two of Richmond's

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, ''The Prince's Head'' and ''The Cricketers''. Midweek matches are contested in the modern limited overs format of

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

usually on a Tuesday or Thursdays, where surrounding village teams compete for the Len Smith Charity Shield.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Richmond Cricket Club official website
{{coord, 51.4615, -0.3067, display=title 1666 establishments in England Cricket grounds in Surrey Cricket grounds in London Defunct cricket grounds in England Defunct sports venues in Surrey English cricket in the 14th to 17th centuries English cricket venues in the 18th century History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Richmond Green Sport in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

History

Present day

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links