History of Cricket in America.
America's National Pass-time during the 1800's
Whenever I tell people I play cricket at Drexel and a club called Prior in Philadelphia their usual response is of bewilderment, “like what, say that again buddy.”
Very few are aware of the meek existence of cricket in America, and fewer of its rich history that dates back almost 300 years, almost a century before the establishment of The United States of America.
The history of cricket on American soil dates back to 1709: William Byrd, owner of the Westover Plantation in Virginia and a bon vivant famous for establishing the first major horse race in the New World, noted in his diary for 6 May, 1709: " I rose about 6'oclock and Colonel Ludwell, Nat Harrison, Mr. Edwards and myself played at cricket, and won a little bit."
However, the cricket played by these folks back then was far removed from the modern version of the game. It was "deeply informal, played four-a-side and, in general, played for wagers. The only spectators were friends and family."
As cricket’s reach gradually expanded across all the British Colonies, cricket began its transformation from an informal, recreational sport to a more serious, more regulated sport. The first ever public report of a formal cricket match was on 29, April, 1751 in the The New York Weekly Gazette and the Weekly Post Boy between the New Yorkers and a London "eleven" played in line with the "London method," referring to the earliest written Laws of Cricket set down in London in 1744. A decade later in 1754, Benjamin Franklin brought along a copy of the “Laws of Cricket,” cricket's official rule book, from England, which proved to be the holy grail for amateur Cricket in America.
By the time the American Revolution began, cricket was being played by several cricket clubs across the leading cities of colonial America, mainly New York and Philadelphia; Richmond and Virginia had one club each as well. But it was the regional variant called "wickets," a precursor to cricket and closer to kind of cricket William Byrd and his friends played that was widely adopted by the locals and played across the country. There is anecdotal evidence of George Washington playing "Wickets" with his troops at Valley Forge in the summer of 1778.
Cricket in the past.
On the back of the American Revolution, the immense destruction caused by the war resulted in lack of fields to play on and a lack of players. Cricket in America had began to loose its foothold. However, the establishment of the St George's Cricket Club in 1839 in New York city and, four years later, the Union Club in Philadelphia instilled newfound hope and interest into American cricket. From there onwards, Cricket in America entered a "modern phase," wherein cricket burst onto the scene. Within a decade, more than 20 teams joined the small list of operational cricket clubs, cricket extended to more than 20 states and reached all the way in the far west corners of America in cities like Baltimore, Savannah, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and even San Francisco.
During this period, matches between cricket clubs from America and cricket clubs from elsewhere, mainly England, Australia and Ireland, were a common phenomenon.
In the midst of all this, the first international cricket match was played. Cricket become not just America's but the world's first modern sport after a cricket match between America and Canada was played at St George's Club of New York on 24 and 26 September, 1844. The match took place in Bloomingdale Park, which is where the New York University Medical Center stands now at 31st Street and First Avenue.
The game came into being after St George's Cricket Club's somewhat unsuccessful trip to Toronto to face off the Toronto Cricket Club, which had no idea that the game was happening. When the Americans set foot, as a matter of goodwill, the teams participated in a sketchy friendly game. Immediately after the end of day's play, a return trip was planned. But when the teams returned, the match had already transformed into an international contest with the Americans recruiting players from Washington, DC, Boston, New York and Philadelphia – while, the Canadians did the same to form a national squad.
Unfortunately for the Americans, Canada won the game by 23 runs. Nonetheless, both teams were a part of a historical event. The game had between 10,000 to 20,000 spectators and around $120,000 worth of bets were placed, roughly 4.3 million in today's dollar. It was the first international sporting of any kind preceding the first international soccer game by nearly 30 years. The tradition is continued even till today, intermittently, the two countries compete for the KA Auty Cup, the tournament has expanded from the original one-off two day test match to include a One-day International and two Twenty20 matches.
The first ever cricket club built exclusively for Americans was in Haverford College, in the Philadelphian suburbs. Even though, the club was short-lived it led to the creation of clubs like Union Cricket Club in 1843, the Philadelphia Club in 1954 and Germantown and Young America Club in the following year. It was Philadelphia where cricket in America was headquartered due to the receptiveness of the locals towards the sport and the Englishmen’s desire to grow the game in this part.
Although cricket was flourishing in Philadelphia, it was doomed by fate. As the civil war raged in the country, Baseball, which was considered a children's game before the war, grew in popularity as it proved to be a perfect solution for recreation for the military men. The simplicity and the relaxed nature of the sport made it easier for it to be played during the time of war, as compared to cricket, which took hours to finish, needed a well maintained field, required equipments, and what not. Many cricketers and other men shifted to playing baseball during the war, bidding farewell to cricket.
Soon after the war, baseball became a mainstay for American recreation, appealing to a much larger audience than cricket ever did. The mass appeal and the honorarium provided to baseball players rallied former cricketers to take up the sport. In no time, cricket clubs across the nation revamped into baseball clubs.
The first ever recognized baseball team were the Cincinnati Red Stockings that recruited, Harry Wright, a young bowler from the St. Georges Cricket club to play and manage the team in 1869. Wright applied his cricketing skills, tactics and technique to baseball. The Red Stockings with Wright made history by winning all the 65 games and become the first and the only team to accomplish a perfect season. This feat nationalized baseball in America, turning it into a new favorite pastime. Meanwhile, cricket became more insular, retreating into gentlemanly amateurism. During this time, cricket began to be picked up by East Coast colleges outside Philadelphia, like Harvard, Columbia and Cornell.
