County cricket being played in 1709, though an official County Championship was not instituted until 1890. Having already been badly hit by the Seven Years' War, county cricket ceased altogether during the Napoleonic Wars and there was a period from 1797 to 1824 during which no inter-county matches took place. Inter-county cricket was popular throughout the 18th century, although the best team, such as Kent in the 1740s or Hampshire in the days of the famous Hambledon Club, was usually acknowledged as such by being matched against All-England. The most successful county teams were Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. There was,
Surrey County Cricket Club English county team, finishing either first or second in the county championship in 10 seasons out of 12. They finished runners-up in 1948, shared the championship with Lancashire in 1950, won seven consecutive outright titles from 1952 to 1958, and were runners-up again in 1959. Their margins of victory were usually large. For example, Yorkshire were runners-up in 1952 but finished 32 points behind. Their great success was built on a remarkably strong bowling attack, with Test seamer Alec Bedser supported by the outstanding spin duo of Tony Lock and Jim Laker, the latter widely regarded as one of the