All Ten: The Ultimate Bowling Feat

87 Bart King Gentlemen of Philadelphia v Gentlemen of Ireland, 1909 Merion Cricket Club Ground, Haverford on 17, 18 September 1909 (3-day match) Gentlemen of Philadelphia won by an innings and 168 runs Gentlemen of Ireland 111 (JB King 10-53) and 74 (HV Hordern 5-30); Gentlemen of Philadelphia 353 (FS White 118) Gentlemen of Ireland first innings WMJ Mooney b King 1 GA Morrow not out 50 O Andrews b King 5 JM Magee c Haines b King 16 *+FH Browning b King 1 JG Aston b King 0 HM Read b King 16 WP Hone b King 0 W Harrington b King 11 WH Napper lbw b King 0 JE Lynch lbw b King 1 Extras (b 6, lb 1, nb 1, w 2) 10 Total (all out, 36.1 overs) 111 Fall of wickets 1-2, 2-16, 3-56, 4-61, 5-61, 6-85, 7-85, 8-109, 9-109, 10-111 Gentlemen of Philadelphia bowling : JB King 18.1-7-53-10, HV Hordern 11-2-38-0, PH Clark 5-1-8-0, W Graham 2-0-2-0 Gentlemen of Philadelphia : CC Morris, FS White, RH Patton, JL Evans, JB King, AM Wood, W Graham, HV Hordern, PH Clark (capt), HA Haines, CH Winter (wk) In the quarter-century before the First World War the Philadelphians (a combined team of amateurs drawn from the city’s clubs) could field a team well able to hold its own in first-class cricket. For a time cricket, rather than baseball, was the city’s major sport, with a number of fine grounds on which big matches drew large crowds: for example 22,000 in 1891 to watch Lord Hawke’s XI. The Philadelphians toured Britain five times between 1883 and 1908. They also received many visitors, including three Australian teams returning from Britain. And for a time a Philadelphian was one of the best bowlers in the world. Born in Philadelphia in 1873, John Barton King played baseball when young but soon took up cricket. He progressed quickly, making his first-class debut in 1893 against Jack Blackham’s Australians. With seven wickets in a match that the Philadelphians won easily, his impact was immediate. He would eventually play 65 first-class matches: 37 on three tours to Britain, the others in Philadelphia against a variety of teams on short autumn tours. He was also a decent bat. Against Surrey in 1903 he scored 98 (run out) and 113 not out (and bowled Tom Richardson with ten minutes left to complete a Philadelphian victory). This was his only first-class century,