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 Commis ...

, has been a venue for

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

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 * T ...

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 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 ...

and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

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 and Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was created in 1675 for Charles ...

'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). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

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 most commonly refer to: * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Draw (tie), in a competition, where competitors achieve equal outcomes * Draw ...

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, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

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

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 ...

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 Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

team was defeated by London. The noted

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

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. His exact date and place of birth is unknown but he was christened at Chail ...

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, southwest of central London. It grew up around Chertsey Abbey, founded in AD 666 by Earconwald, St Erkenwald, and gained a municipal charter, market charter from Henry I of Engla ...

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 Britain. Many villages have their own teams that play at varying levels in local or regional club cricket leagues. When organised cricket first ...

teams each affiliated to two of Richmond's

pubs A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

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

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

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