Cricket 1908

C R IC K E T : a weekly record of the game . AUGUST 6, 1908. T oge th e r jo in ed in C r ick e t ’s m a n ly to il B y r o n , N o . 790 . v o l . x x v i i . THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1908. o n e p e n n y . A M E R I C A N C R I CKE T . It w ill perhaps com e as a surprise to many to learn that Am erican cricket can boast a most respectable antiquity, and that records are extant of the gam e being played in that country some years before the discovery of Australia. As far back as I 1751 N ew Y ork played eleven of L ondon at N ew Y ork and won by 87 runs, scoring 81 and 86 against 43 and 37, the gam e, so we are told, being played “ accordin g to the L ondon m eth od.” Three years later— on A ugust 1st, 1754, to be precise— Brad­ fo rd ’s Journal published the follow in g :— “ W e hear that there is to be a great cricket match for a good sum played on Saturday next, near Mr. Aaron R a w lin g ’s Spring, be­ tween eleven you ng men of this city [Annapolis] and the sam e number of Prince G e o rg e ’s C ou n ty.” M atches were doubtless played in various other parts o f the country lon g before the 18th century drew to a close, but particulars have hot been preserved. T he gam e was certainly know n in Boston as early as 1790, for John Adams, then Vice-President of the United States, in advocating in the Senate a high-sounding title for the President o f the United States, said that “ There were presidents of fire com panies and o f a cricket clu b .” T he Y ou n g Am erica Club has, or had, a copy of the “ Law s of C rick et,” taken over by Franklin m ore that a century a go, and bibliophiles will not need to be reminded that on M ay 1st, 1809’, a pamphlet was. issued entitled “ B ye-L aw s for the G overn­ ment of the Boston Cricket C lu b .” C uriously, nothing was said in this very rare publication concerning the supply o f bats and balls, but the secretary had strict injunctions to see that refresh­ ments were provided in sufficient quantity. Ten years later the 4th D uke of Richm ond, the V iceroy o f Canada, who had gained high honours as a player in E ngland as C olonel the H on. Charles Lennox, died in great agony as the result ot a bite re­ ceived in a finger from a tame fox belong­ ing to an E nglish soldier at M ontreal. He w as a great lover of the gam e, and as recently as tw o days before his death played cricket and racquets with the officers stationed at K ingston. DR. J. A. LESTER. T he gam e does not appear to have been played in Philadelphia before 1831 or 1832, and then only in a haphazard w ay. There seems to have been no-one at that early period sufficiently enthusiastic to band the cricketers together and establish a club on a sound basis. In 1836, how ever, an English gardener, named W illiam Carvill, introduced the gam e to H averford, and his efforts quickly met with a gratifying result, though it was not lon g before the students tired of the gam e and patronized other pas­ times instead. It is pleasant to be able to add that Carvill, whose name deserves an honoured place in the history of Am erican cricket, survived until 1887, when he was ninety years of age, and so lived to see H averford again take to the gam e and gain m any noteworthy successes. As the gam e grew in popu­ larity in Canada and the States, matches gradually cam e to be played between som e of the leading clubs of each country. T he T oronto C .C . cam e early to the front, and the St. G eorg e’s and U nion of N ew Y ork and Phila­ delphia respectively also gained a name for themselves. One of the crack players of the Canadian Club mentioned w as G eorge Anthony Barber, the proprietor of the Toronto H erald. W hen he went down to play against N ew Y ork in 1843, his paper announced : “ O n Thursday last eleven of the T oron to Cricket C lub left this city in the steamer Ad­ m iral, Captain Gordon, for R ochester, en route for N ew Y ork , to play the m uch-talked- of m atch with the N ew Y ork Club. As the proprietor o f the H erald has been solicited to form one o f the eleven, our readers w ill doubtless excuse all om issions and imperfections consequent upon his absence.” T his w as certainly adm irable from the point of view of C ricket, but one cannot help w ondering how the non-sport­ ing section of the subscribers view ed the m atter. T h e St. G e org e’s C lub, as well as the U nion C .C . o f Philadelphia, w as com posed alm ost entirely of Englishm en, and rivalry between the tw o organizations w as very keen. The grounds of the latter were at Cam den, and of the form er at the crossing of B roadw ay, Sixth Avenue, and Thirtieth Street. As early as 1844 J. T urner played a great inn­ ings o f 120 on the Camden ground for the Philadelphian side against St. G eorge’s,