The overriding impression of the 1728 English cricket season is that teams of county strength were formed as the patrons sought stronger XIs to help them in the serious business of winning wagers. Easily the most successful this year was Mr Edward Stead whose Kent teams were "too expert" for those of Sussex.
Swiss traveller César de Saussure[1] noted in his journal the frequency with which he saw cricket being played while he was making his journeys across southern England in June 1728. He referred to county matches as "a commonplace", and "everyone plays it, the common people and also men of rank"[2]
The venue of the game on 5 August was very precisely reported as in the fields behind the Woolpack, in Islington, near Sadlers Wells, for £50 a side. This match is also the earliest known to have involved a team called Middlesex[6].
The results of the first two games are surmised from the report of the game at Penshurst in August, which states that the victory of Mr Stead's XI over Sir William Gage's XI was the third time this summer that the Kent men have been too expert for those of Sussex. In the Stead v Gage game, it seems that Kent won the game although Sussex needed just 7 in their second innings. The report clearly infers that the teams selected by Richmond, Gage and Stead were representative of the respective counties and so must have been of first-class standard [7].
