1786 in sports

1786 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Boxing

Events

• 11 January — Tom Johnson defeated Bill Lowe at Barnet in the first round after four minutes.^[1]
• 11 February — Tom Johnson defeated Jack Towers at Barnet in a 15-minute fight.^[1]
• 31 October — "Big" Ben Brain defeated "The Fighting Grenadier" John Boone at Long Fields in a 30 to 40 minute fight, depending on the source.^[2]

Cricket

Events

• Tom Sueter of Hampshire was given out for hitting the ball twice, the first recorded instance of this type of dismissal.
• First-class debut of the noted opening batsman Tom Walker, who is believed to have invented roundarm bowling.

England

• Most runs^[3] – Tom Walker 423
• Most wickets^[3] – Robert Clifford 23

Horse racing

England

• The Derby – Noble^[4]
• The Oaks – Yellow Filly
• St Leger Stakes – Paragon
• The inaugural July Stakes was run at Newmarket Racecourse and is the oldest race for two-year-olds still run in Great Britain.^[5]

References

1. Cyber Boxing Zone - Tom Johnson. Retrieved on 20 October 2017.
2. Cyber Boxing Zone - Ben Brain. Retrieved on 20 January 2018.
3. Note that scorecards created in the 18th century are not necessarily accurate or complete; therefore any summary of runs, wickets or catches can only represent the known totals and the missing data prevents effective computation of averages
4. "Epsom Derby | History, Winners, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
5. Abelson, Edward; John Tyrrel (1993). The Breedon Book of Horse Racing Records. Breedon Books. p. 115. ISBN 1873626150.