Cricket 1908

CR ICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. APRIL 16,1908. “ Together joined in Cricket’s m an ly toil.”— Byron. N o. 7 7 4 . v o l . x x v i i . THURSDAY , A P R IL 16, 1908. o n e p e n n y . E A R L Y CR ICKET IN JAPAN. It will probably come as a surprise to most followers of cricket to learn that it was as far back as 1863 that the game was introduced into Japan. What is be­ lieved to have been actually the first match was one in the year named between the European residents at Yokohama and a team drawn from the British Fleet stationed there. A few years ago Mr. J. C. Fraser, an old Harrovian, who cap- of foreigners into their country) called Ronius, but they had been warned so often, and without anything happening, that they had come to look upon the whole thing as a joke. One day, how­ ever, a warning came from the Charged d’Affairs, Col. St. John Neale, who at that time resided in the British Legation in Yokohama, that they were going to be attacked by the Ronius on a certain day. He advised Englishmen to leave Japan and proceed to China as he doubted his ability to protect them. This they said they were willing to do if he, on made, the native population of Yoko­ hama, including the servants, cleared out bag and baggage. This meant that no business was to be done, and the English­ men naturally wondered how they should pass the time, for they dare not leave the settlement and go into the country. A cricket match was suggested and a chal­ lenge sent to the Fleet. A filled-in swamp at the back, but inside the settlement, furnished a flat mud cricket ground, and there the match was played. A small force armed with rifles was landed from the men-of-war for protection, and they _ YOKOHAMA v. THE FLEET, 1863. ■Mr.^Tatham. Mr. "Whyte Jas. Downie, Esq. F. H. Eell, Esq. Chas. Hope,[Esq. Capt. Howard Vyse, R. Davis, Esq. Lieut. Pryce. J. C. Fraser, Esq. (an American). First English Consul (Umpire). Chas. Rickerby, Esq. (Editor at Yokohama. of Japan Mail). Mr. Hudson. Lieut. Smith, R.M .L.I. tained the Yokohama team on that occa­ sion, sent an account of the circumstances which gave rise to the game together with photographs of the players to the M.C.C., who have kindly granted permission for their reproduction in Cricket. Mr. Fraser, in his account, the copyright of which is the property of the M.C.C., states :— “ The match was played under rather curious circumstances. It took place in the year 1863 at Yokohama. The European residents, who were few in number at that time, had been frequently warned from Japanese sources that they were going to be assassinated by a band of disaffected Samourai (retainers of Daimios, Japanese Princes, who hated the advent behalf of the English Government, would guarantee to compensate them for the loss they would sustain through leaving the country. Col. Neale replied that he had not the power to make any such guarantee, and that there was no time to ask for authority, for in those days the nearest telegraph-station was at Point-de-Galle, in Ceylon. This being the case, the Englishmen said they would re­ main where they were, take the risk, and defend themselves if necessary. There were a few English men-of-war in the harbour at the time, and this, of course, gave them confidence; “ As the day approached upon which Col. Neale had said the attack was to be played with their revolvers on, ready for any emergency. It was a most novel sen­ sation for the wicket-keeper, as he carried his revolver backwards and forwards from wicket to wicket and placed it behind the stumps. Fortunately, no attack took place either on that day or afterwards, and very soon the native population began to return. The accompanying photo­ graphs were taken on the ground.” Admiral Sir Albert Hastings Markham, K.C.B., who played for the Fleet, upon reading the above account, wrote to Mr. Fraser, saying “ . . . It is, I suppose, the only match on record in which the players had to be armed. Knowing the fighting propensities of the Japanese of