The Philadelphian cricket team

Philadelphian cricket team

The Philadelphian cricket team was a team that represented Philadelphia in first-class cricket between 1878 and 1913. Even with the United States having played the first ever international cricket match against Canada in 1844, the sport began a slow decline in the country. This decline was...

 toured England in the summer of 1897. Starting on 7 June at Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, the tour lasted for two months and ended in late July at The Oval

The Oval

The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...

. The Americans played 15 first-class

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 matches captained

Captain (cricket)

The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...

 by George Stuart Patterson

George Patterson (cricketer)

George Stuart Patterson was an American cricketer, active in the late 19th century. Patterson played most notably for the Philadelphians, which flourished from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I...

. The tour is, perhaps, most notable for the introduction of American bowler

Bowling (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder...

 J Barton King to the international cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

ing world. It is also notable in that the match the Philadelphians played against the MCC was to be Patterson's last first-class cricket match.

Tour results

This tour was a very ambitious one for the Americans. They had last toured the British Isles in 1889. Though the results may have been less satisfactory than hoped for by promoters, the tour was arranged mainly for educational purposes and few of those on the American side expected to win many matches. Previous tours had tended to involve amateur English sides with a relatively low level of competition. In 1897 a schedule was made including all of the top county cricket

County Championship

The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...

 teams, the Oxford

Oxford University Cricket Club

Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...

 and Cambridge University teams

Cambridge University Cricket Club

Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...

, the Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

, and two other sides, though only a few of the counties thought it worthwhile to put their best elevens onto the field. While it initially aroused some curiosity, many English fans lost interest until Bart King and the Philadelphians met the full Sussex

Sussex County Cricket Club

Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...

 team at Brighton on 17 June. In the first innings, King proved his batting worth on a fourth-wicket

Wicket

In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...

 stand of 107 runs with John Lester

John Lester

John Ashby Lester was an American cricketer, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lester was one of the Philadelphian cricketers who played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I...

. He then took 7 wickets for 13 runs and the team dismissed Sussex for 46 in less than an hour. In the second innings, King took 6 for 102 and helped the Philadelphians to a victory by 8 wickets.

Despite the excitement surrounding King's performance, the Americans did not fare well overall. Fifteen matches were played, but only two were won while the team lost nine and earned a draw on four. The other win of the tour came against Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Cricket Club

Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...

. During this match King again shined by taking 5 for 95 and 7 for 72 and scoring 46 runs. According to the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...

King proved himself to be the best bowler on the American side and had to do much of the work. He bowled three hundred over

Over (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....

s more than anyone else. His average was just over 24 runs each for 72 wickets. In addition to his work bowling, King scored 441 runs with an average of just over 20. Captain George Patterson's best innings batting

Batting (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball with a cricket bat to score runs or prevent the loss of one's wicket. A player who is currently batting is denoted as a batsman, while the act of hitting the ball is called a shot or stroke...

 was 162 runs at Trent Bridge

Trent Bridge

Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...

 against Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...

.

Controversy

Having returned home from the tour, there were claims in the Philadelphia Public Ledger that the Philadelphians had been treated unfairly by the English umpires, but Patterson put those rumors to rest with a letter to the editor of an American newspaper:

My attention has been directed to a letter signed W.S. in the Field of July 24th, enclosing a clipping from the Philadelphia Public Ledger, severely criticising the umpiring

Umpire (cricket)

In cricket, an umpire is a person who has the authority to make judgements on the cricket field, according to the Laws of Cricket...

 in the Philadelphian matches during our tour through England. I wish to state on behalf of the Philadelphia team that the sentiments expressed in the clipping are not those of the team, and that we emphatically repudiate any insinuation of unfair treatment. On the contrary, we have been received with the most unvarying courtesy and fairness both on and off the field. I wish to take this opportunity of making a public acknowledgement of our indebtedness to Mr. Perkins, of the M.C.C.

Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

, for the umpires assigned to us, and to testify, unnecessary though it be, to their ability and integrity.

The calming words from Patterson on the issue seem to have defused the situation in Philadelphia.