Cricket – The Philadelphia Story …
Martin Chandler |Published: 2024
Pages: 72
Author: Smith, Steve
Publisher: Red Rose Books
Rating: 3.5 stars
Until recently very little of cricket’s voluminous literature covered the game outside of the Test playing countries. In recent years however we have seen a number of books on the game in its more far flung outposts and, in particular, the US.
Currently we are seeing yet another attempt to launch the game in the States. Major League Cricket began last year, and games are being hosted in the forthcoming T20 World Cup, but the game’s writers have not been looking at the modern game in North America. They have concentrated instead on the bygone age of the forty years before the Great War.
Back then there were two major Test playing nations, England and Australia, and in the first decade of the twentieth century the South Africans joined them. The USA were never a Test playing nation. The sport was little played in much of the country, and not being part of the British Empire was an issue, but despite that for a time the city of Philadelphia was able to produce a team that was capable of competing at First Class level.
Author Steve Smith wrote the second of the two biographies of the legendary Philadelphian swing bowler Bart King that have appeared in recent years. With his second book on the subject Steve embarks on what is planned as a series of books with this title, the centrepiece of this one being the Philadelphians first ever appearance in First Class cricket.
Beginning with a short introduction the book begins with a chapter on the Halifax Invitational Tournament of 1874. The intention had been that the participating teams would be styled as Canada, USA and a side from the British garrison stationed at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The USA did not provide a national side as such, but the invitation to do so was taken up by the Philadelphians, who beat each of their opponents by an innings.
Despite that success little was expected of the Philadelphians in the three day match that was scheduled against the Australians for October of 1878. The Australians had spent the summer touring the UK and whilst no Test matches had taken place a strong side had lost only seven of its forty two matches.
The Philadelphians did not best the Australians, although they did get a first innings lead and when the game ran out of time the visitors were 56-4 in pursuit of 100 for victory. The match was well attended and, the Australians at one point threatening to pull out because of concerns about the umpiring, not lacking in controversy.
The Australians five other fixtures, in New York, Toronto, Montreal, St Louis and San Francisco, all against odds, did not provide them with any sort of real test, which serves only to underline the superiority of the Philadelphians 0ver the rest of America, and this was still more than a decade before the emergence of Bart King.
The book itself contains pen portraits of all the Australians as well as of those Philadelphians who appeared in the match, as well as a detailed account of the play itself. Later there is a look at the rest of the tour matches and a reflection on the umpiring dispute that blew up.
The stories in the book have been told before, and those who have researched the period in the past will find nothing new but to anyone coming to the subject of Philadelphian cricket for the first time this is a good story that is well researched and told in an engaging and interesting way that augurs well for future releases in the series. The book is available directly from the publisher at £14 including UK postage and packing for the softcover version or, for those of us who like limited editions, there are 20 hardbacks at £38 each. Copies of both versions will be available in Australia from Roger Page
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