 In 1697, the earliest "great match" recorded was for 50 guineas apiece between two elevens at a venue in Sussex.Matches involving the two leading Sussex patrons Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and Sir William Gage were first recorded in 1725.The first teams that were nominally representative of Sussex as a county seem to have been assembled in the 1728 season to play against Edwin Stead's Kent.