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Cricket at Cobham
Extracts from A Yeoman of Kent: an
account of Richard Hayes (1725 – 1790) and of the village of Cobham
in which he lived and farmed by Ralph Arnold.
Published by Constable, 1949. [Local Studies K. COB]
The first recorded mention of Cobham cricket occurs under the
date 26 June 1776, when the diarist watched a match against the
neighbouring village of Addington. In the summer of 1792, Kent
played Hampshire in Cobham park, losing by seven wickets. From that
date until 1850, although there is no record of a club, a good deal
of cricket seems to have been played in the village under the aegis
of various members of the Bligh family.
The 4th Earl of Darnley and his brother, General the Hon. Edward
Bligh, both played for the Kent XI and the ill-fated 5th Earl,
though less eminent as a cricketer, laid out the celebrated ground
on the south ridge of the park. The aristocratic flavour with which
the game was tinged is nicely represented in a surviving account of
a match played in 1800:
“The unparalleled urbanity of Lord Darnley, on that occasion,
who played in the match, was scarce to be equalled but cannot be
exceeded. His Lordship, in the intervals of playing, invited the
gentlemen of the [opposing] club to see his Hall, and with the
greatest condescension personally attended them, pointing out
everything worthy of observation in that most eligible mansion
which afforded them the highest gratification possible.”
Having tired out the opposition bowlers with sight-seeing, his
Lordship presumably went on to make a great many runs.
The celebrated Cobham Cricket Club dates from the year 1850,
when the Hon. Henry Bligh, brother of the 6th Earl, restored the
ground laid out by his father and inaugurated the long series of
Hall versus Village matches which were such a feature of Cobham
cricket until the end of the century.
The Cobham Club had some peculiar features. It had no rules and
there were no subscriptions. The “players” were employees of Cobham
Hall and the “gentlemen” were such Cobham residents and such
members of families living in the neighbourhood as received
invitations to play. Lord Darnley paid all the expenses connected
with the upkeep of the ground, selected the team for the annual
fixture against the Royal Engineers, provided luncheon on certain
match days, watched practically every game from start to finish (a
day’s cricket began punctually at 10.30am and ended as
late as 8pm) and inaugurated a number of customs that had to be
meticulously observed. If, for example, an ingoing Cobham batsman
failed to pass the outcoming batsman at the entrance to the
players’ tent, he would be dropped from the side for the rest of
the season.
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