1726 English cricket season

The 1726 cricket season was the 129th in England since the earliest known definite reference to cricket in January 1597 (i.e., Old Style – 1598 New Style). Details have survived of two important matches and the earliest known single wicket match.

1726 is the first season in which a newspaper report names a participant in a cricket match and the first players mentioned by name were Perry of London and Piper of Hampton who played a single wicket match. The main story of the year, as in some earlier seasons, concerns cricket's relationship with the law, though once again the issue was non-payment of gambling debts.

The London Evening Post dated 27 August carried an advertisement for a single wicket match between players called "the noted Perry (of London) and the famous Piper (of Hampton", the earliest definite reference to a single wicket contest. The venue was Moulsey Hurst, near Molesey in Surrey, famous for various sporting activities, especially prizefighting, and was often used for cricket throughout the 18th century.

The following matches are classified as important:

An important match played "for 25 guineas between the men belonging to Edwin Stead, Esq. of Maidstone and the men of London and Surrey". This is the only match in 1726 that could be considered an inter-county fixture. Kent, based on the esteem of the Dartford club and the successful patronage of Edwin Stead, is generally believed to have been the strongest county in the 1720s.

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