In the 1750 English cricket season, Kent and Surrey played three inter-county matches. In At the Sign of the Wicket, F S Ashley-Cooper gives the opinion that the Hambledon Club was founded in or about 1750, but there is no evidence to support this view and the club's origin is unknown. As the team was playing top-class cricket in the 1756 season (i.e., its earliest recorded matches), it seems likely that a local club of some kind was founded much earlier than 1750 as it must have risen to a position of prominence in Hampshire before being able to take on the likes of Dartford from 1756.