1763 English cricket season

The 1763 English cricket season began after the Seven Years' War had ended in February that year. Details have survived of two eleven-a-side matches.^{[note 1]}

Surrey v Middlesex

Surrey and Middlesex met 3 August on Ripley Green, and again 22 & 23 August on the Artillery Ground.^[5] The first was played for £200 and Middlesex won "with great ease".^[6]

In the second match, Middlesex won "by a great majority". One newspaper reported that, during play on the first day, a spectator lost over £20 to a pickpocket. The Artillery Ground had by this time fallen into disrepute, and it would not last much longer as a major venue.^[7]^[8]

End of the war

1763 was an important year for England and for the future of cricket as it marked the end of the Seven Years' War. French influence in India was reduced to a handful of trading posts, and its hopes of an eastern Empire were no more, though Napoleon Bonaparte certainly tried to revive those hopes. Great Britain expanded its interests in India to begin the era of the British Raj, a consequence of which was the eventual hegemony of cricket in Indian sport. In the short term, however, economic hardship at home meant little capital for investment in cricket, as evidenced by only a couple of matches in 1763.

Edmund Chapman

Wednesday, 30 July. The death of Mr Edmund Chapman of Chertsey in his 69th year, which means he was born in either 1694 or 1695. Chapman was an eminent master bricklayer, and "accounted one of the most dexterous cricket players in England". There are no earlier references to Edmund Chapman who must have been active c.1715 to c.1740, presumably playing for Chertsey Cricket Club, or perhaps Croydon Cricket Club, and for Surrey as a county.^[6]

Other events

First mention of cricket in Wales at Pembroke.

Notes

^ Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources.^[1] However, the term only came into common use around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised. It was formally defined as a standard by a meeting at Lord's, in May 1894, of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective.^[2] Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status.^[3] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as important or, at least, historically significant.^[4] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

^ "FC Matches in England in 1772". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
^ Wisden (1948). Preston, Hubert (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (85th ed.). London: Sporting Handbooks Ltd. p. 813. OCLC 851705816.
^ ACS 1982, pp. 4–5.
^ ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.
^ ACS 1981, p. 23.
^ ^a ^b Waghorn 2005.
^ Buckley 1937, p. 4.
^ Waghorn 1899.

Bibliography

ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC 85045528.
ACS (1982). A Guide to FC Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC 10586869.
Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. OCLC 23469107.
Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, &c. From 1730–1773. Edinburgh: Blackwood. OCLC 1086375331.
Waghorn, H. T. (2005) [1906]. The Dawn of Cricket. London: J. W. McKenzie. ISBN 978-09-47821-17-3.