Cricket, the Philadelphia Story – Ranjitsinhji’s XI of 1899
Martin Chandler |Published: 2024
Pages: 104
Author: Smith, Steve
Publisher: Private
Rating: 3 stars
Back in 1897 the Gentlemen of Philadelphia toured England. Altogether the Americans played 15 First Class fixtures their record was patchy, only two of those matches being won, against Sussex and Warwickshire. The Sussex win was the more memorable with the home side being bowled out for just 46 in their first innings, the great Ranji being bowled by the legendary Bart King for a duck.
Second time round Ranji did rather better, scoring 74, but King was the star of the show. He scored 58 in his side’s first innings and his match haul of 13-115 were major contributions to the visitors’ eight wicket win.
Two years later Ranji faced King again, as he led a side that, after the close of the English season, visited North America for three weeks. Ranji took a strong team with him, Archie MacLaren and Gilbert Jessop perhaps being the best known names to 21st century eyes, but there were no fewer than eight Test players. All the playing members of the party were amateurs.
Steve Smith has written about this era of American cricket before, with a biography of Bart King and an account of the Philadephians’ bow in First Class cricket, a match against Australia in 1878, and he has plans to cover other similar subjects in the future.
This account begins, as is only to be expected, with an introduction for each of the tourists, courtesy of contemporary summaries from CB Fry. Smith then proceeds to give accounts of the six matches played, two of them First Class. The tourists won both the important games comfortably and at no time were they unduly troubled.
The detailed contemporary accounts of the matches are very much of their time, and the most interesting aspects of the tour are the complaints about the tourists behaviour, running up expenses that the Americans had to meet, and displaying a lack of courtesy towards their hosts, particularly in New York.
For those with an interest in Philadelphian cricket this book is undoubtedly going to be of interest, and the complaints of poor behaviour do seem to be justified, and entirely in keeping with received wisdom on the characters of Ranji and his sometime secretary, MacLaren.
The book is available on Amazon in two formats, one a paperback and the other a hard back which, although unsigned and unnumbered, I am told will be limited to 125 copies, and some copies of that one are currently on their way to Roger Page in Melbourne.
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