Representing

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, the original Kingston Cricket Club was prominent in the 18th century, taking part in known matches from 1720 to 1767. According to surviving records, it had no specific venue and is known to have played at both

Kennington Common Kennington Common was a swathe of common land mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth. It was one of the earliest venues for cricket around London, with matches played between 1724 and 1785. G B Buckley, ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cric ...

and Moulsey Hurst. Kingston teams are recorded, either individually or jointly with other clubs, in eleven known major matches.

Matches

On Wednesday, 6 July 1720, a game between Kingston and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

is one of the earliest known major matches. The venue is unknown but Kingston won. The next record is a match in September 1731 when Kingston played

at Moulsey Hurst and was defeated by an unknown margin. This match was played for 25

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

a side and "some thousands of persons of both sexes were present on this occasion".Waghorn, ''Cricket Scores'', p. 4. A team called Kingston and Moulsey played two matches in July 1739 against

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, winning both times, the second by the close margin of three runs. In July 1743, a combined Kingston and Richmond side played two matches against London and lost them both. In 1745, Kingston played

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

on Wednesday, 24 July, and London at the

Artillery Ground The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is an open space originally set aside for archery and later known also as a cricket venue. Today it is used for military exercises, cricket, rugby and football matches. It belongs to the Honourable Artillery Comp ...

on Wednesday, 7 August. Neither result is known. The next mention is in 1751 when a combined Kingston and Hampton team played Richmond at Moulsey Hurst on Wednesday, 4 September, but no other details are known. Kingston and Hampton played each other at Hampton Court Green on Thursday, 10 July 1755, Hampton winning by 3 wickets. The final mention of Kingston is on Wednesday, 23 September 1767 when they defeated Richmond by 2 wickets at Richmond Green. Kingston Cricket Club is unrecorded after 1767. It may have disbanded in the later part of the 18th century and there is no modern equivalent. The nearest club to Kingston is Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club in

Bushy Park Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hampton ...

. This club was established in 1863 and is currently a member of the Surrey Championship in the

ECB Premier Leagues The ECB Premier Leagues are a series of regional cricket leagues organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that form the top tier of club cricket in England and Wales. The ECB published "Raising the Standard" in 1997, the ECB Manageme ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{English cricket teams in the 18th century Cricket in London Cricket in Surrey Club cricket teams in England English cricket teams in the 18th century Former senior cricket clubs of England Sports clubs and teams established in the 1700s