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| Previous Tournament: | 1742 English cricket season |
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| Next Tournament: | 1744 English cricket season |
The 1743 English cricket season was the 47th cricket season since the earliest recorded eleven-a-side match was played. Details have survived of 18 eleven-a-side and three single wicket matches.
Two paintings of cricket matches date from this year. The Cricket Match by Francis Hayman hangs at Lord's and depicts a game at the Artillery Ground and An Exact Representation of the Game of Cricket by Louis Philippe Boitard now hangs in the Tate Gallery.
Records have survived of ten significant matches:[1] [2]
| Date | Teams | Venue | Result | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 May | Kent v London, Middlesex & Surrey | Bromley Common | Kent forfeited | [3] [4] [5] | |
| Scores at eight o’clock pm: London, Middlesex & Surrey 97 & 112–3; Kent 69. It was initially agreed to continue next day but Kent later "gave up the match". The London, Middlesex & Surrey team was also described as Lord Montfort’s XI. Montfort was associated with the London club and seems to have been a noted patron of the game, although this match is the only one with which he can be directly associated. The Kent side was organised by Lord John Philip Sackville. | |||||
| 27 May | Woburn v London | Woburn Park | London won | ||
| Woburn was the seat of the John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford who was a noted patron. | |||||
| 28 May | Woburn v London | Woburn Park | Woburn won | ||
| 9 June | Deptford & Greenwich v London | Blackheath | Deptford & Greenwich won | [6] | |
| Played for a "considerable sum". | |||||
| 13 June | London v Woburn | Artillery Ground | Woburn won by 54 runs | ||
| 13 June | Dartford v Rochester | Dartford Brent | Dartford won by 30 runs | [7] | |
| The report pre-announced a return match at Rochester on the 23rd. | |||||
| 23 June | Rochester v Dartford | Marsh's, Rochester | unknown | [8] | |
| The return to the above, but no details are known. | |||||
| 24 June | Bromley & Chislehurst v London | Bromley Common | Bromley & Chislehurst won "with difficulty" | ||
| 27 June | London v Bromley & Chislehurst | Artillery Ground | unknown | ||
| 4 July | Kingston & Richmond v London | Richmond Green | London won | ||
| Robert "Long Robin" Colchin of Bromley played for London as a given man. This is the earliest known mention of Colchin.[9] | |||||
| 18 July | London v Kingston & Richmond | Artillery Ground | London won by 67 runs | ||
| Scores are known: London 57 & 117; Richmond &c 55 & 52. This was a return to the match at Richmond Green on 4 July). | |||||
| 25 July | London v Addington | Artillery Ground | Addington won by an innings & 4 runs | [10] | |
| Scores are known: London 32 & 74; Addington 110. | |||||
| 1 August | Woburn v London | Woburn Park | London won by 3 runs | [11] | |
| Scores: London 46 & 60; Woburn 72 & 31. | |||||
| 8 August | London v Woburn | Artillery Ground | London won by 1 wicket | ||
| Scores are known: Woburn 104 & 36; London 93 & 48/9. | |||||
| 23–24 August | Sevenoaks v London | Sevenoaks Vine | London won 6 runs | ||
| Scores are known: London 41 & 54; Sevenoaks 49 & 40. Sevenoaks had been 24/6 in the second innings at close of play on the first day, needing 23 to win. | |||||
| 29 August | London v Sevenoaks | Artillery Ground | London won | [12] | |
| The match report states that London won "with great difficulty". | |||||
| 5–6 September | London v Horsmonden & Weald | Artillery Ground | London won by 1 wicket | [13] [14] | |
| 12 September | London v Horsmonden & Weald | Artillery Ground | London won | ||
| No details were reported of this return match which London won. A third game was to be played. | |||||
| 14 September | London v Sevenoaks | Artillery Ground | unknown | ||
| Pre-announced as "the third great match of cricket" between the two sides. It followed the games on 23 & 20 August. | |||||
| 19 September | London v Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Middlesex | Artillery Ground | London won by 53 runs | ||
| Scores are known: London 70 & 97; BB&M 71 & 43. It was announced beforehand that: "the days being short, it is ordered that the wickets be pitched at 10 o’clock. This will be the last great match of the season". | |||||
| September | London v Horsmonden & Weald | venue unknown | unknown | ||
A three-a-side game was played at the Artillery Ground on 11 July with six players who were stated to be "the best in England". They were William Hodsoll (Dartford), John Cutbush (Maidstone) and Val Romney (Sevenoaks) playing as Three of Kent; and Richard Newland (Slindon), William Sawyer (Richmond) and John Bryant (Bromley) playing as Three of All-England. Hodsoll and Newland were captains[3] and Kent won by 2 runs. The London Evening Post says the crowd was computed to be 10,000". A return match was arranged at Sevenoaks Vine on Wednesday, 27 July but it did not take place.[15]
A five a side game on Richmond Green between Five of Richmond and Five of London was played on 16 August and on 31 August a five-a-side match was plated Artillery Ground between Five of London and Five of Richmond.[3]
A match at Finningham between teams from Finningham and Stradbroke in September is the earliest known reference to cricket in the county of Suffolk.[16]