1744 English cricket season
The single wicket form of the sport was popular and reports have survived of four top-class matches played at the Artillery Ground.
Some reports mention crowd disturbances and efforts were made to implement control by means of admission charges and limitations on the sale of alcohol.
The earliest known coded issue of the Laws of Cricket was drafted by members of several clubs, including London, of which Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, was president.
[1][2] The heading of the printed version, published in 1755, reads: "The Game at Cricket, As settled by the Several Cricket-Clubs, Particularly that of the Star and Garter in Pall-Mall".
However, there were cases of Articles of Agreement being drawn up, as for the matches in 1727 between Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and Alan Brodrick, 2nd Viscount Midleton.
[9] The first, containing individual scores but no details of dismissals, is from a match between the London Cricket Club and a combined Surrey and Sussex team at the Artillery Ground on 2 June.
London, whose team included given men, was the host club and their opponents were all from the counties of Surrey and Sussex.
[13] The card gives the scores by each player and their surnames only, although it does differentiate between the two pairs of brothers (the Harrises and Newlands) who were playing.
[21] The poet James Love (1722–1774) commemorated it in his Cricket: An Heroic Poem (1745), written in rhyming couplets.
[29][30][31] These matches were arranged to take place at the Artillery Ground over the next few days and it is known that Slindon v Addington began on Wednesday, 12 September.
[10][29][32][33] Slindon's match against Bromley was scheduled for Friday, 14 September, but there are no surviving reports of it taking place.
The teams were Robert Colchin ("Long Robin"), Val Romney and John Bryant against Richard Newland, Edward Aburrow senior and Joseph Harris.
Aburrow replaced John Mills, called the "famous Kent bowler", who was originally chosen.
A newspaper announcement before the second match warned spectators against encroaching onto the field of play and bringing dogs into the ground.
[10][11][38] During the season, there were three matches which modern sources have labelled Two Elevens as each involved unnamed teams.
[10][18][42][43] Near the end of the season on Wednesday, 19 September, the Artillery Ground staged "a great match between 22 of the best players from Kent, Surrey, Sussex and London".
[10][29][44][45] The prominent Addington and Bromley clubs, who accepted the Slindon challenge in September, were scheduled to play a match against each other on Friday, 13 July.
The venue was Bromley Common where, as stated in a pre-match announcement, no person was allowed to sell liquor "but who belong to the Parish".
A similar pre-match announcement warned that no person would be allowed to bring liquor into the ground "that don't live in the Parish".
[10][29][51] A third match was scheduled at the Artillery Ground for Friday, 7 September with Romney playing for London but no post-match details are known.
