{"id":511,"date":"2010-11-28T14:22:43","date_gmt":"2010-11-28T03:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stumblingpast.wordpress.com\/?p=511"},"modified":"2022-08-04T00:24:16","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T00:24:16","slug":"cricket-in-sydney-1876","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stumblingpast.com\/2010\/11\/28\/cricket-in-sydney-1876\/","title":{"rendered":"Cricket in Sydney 1876"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"An<\/a>
Basic equipment for playing cricket – bat, stumps and ball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When fossicking in the archives I have at times come across\u00a0 fascinating and totally irrelevant material.\u00a0 It seems to be a shame not to share this, so I have created the ‘Lucky Dip’ category.\u00a0 ‘Lucky Dip’ contains what I regard as ephemera but what may be central to the interests of others.<\/p>\n

What better time than the start of the current Ashes <\/a>encounter to reflect on the English tour of Australia when the first test match was played between Australia and England.\u00a0 For international readers not familiar with the game I have provided a list of sites which give basic explanations of this sport at the end of this post.<\/p>\n

Work Stops for Cricket in 1876<\/h2>\n

I am currently researching the history of teaching reading in Australia, so I was quite surprised to come across a reference to the England vs New South Wales cricket match that was held between 7th and 11th December 1876.<\/p>\n

In 1876, the NSW Council of Education had to consider the weighty issue of allowing Council employees to attend the international cricket match.\u00a0 This is what I read in the Council’s minute book:<\/p>\n

Read the Chief Clerk’s memorandum requesting that the office may be closed at noon on the 7th, 8th, and 9th December.<\/p>\n

The Council resolved that the office be closed at 12 noon on Saturday (9th), and that one half of the clerks have leave on Thursday from the same hour, and the remainder on Friday.<\/p>\n

Minute Book No. 9, Council of Education, 4 Dec. 1876, p. 332.\u00a0 Held at the New South Wales State Archives, NRS 2646.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This match predates the first test match between Australia and England which was held during the same English tour in 1877.\u00a0 Clearly the game held an important place in Sydney at this time.<\/p>\n

Curious, I checked out newspaper articles about the match on the National Library of Australia’s wonderful Australian Newspapers<\/a> website.\u00a0 Did the game live up to everyone’s expectations?\u00a0 How were businesses affected by this game?<\/p>\n

The Game<\/h3>\n

The decision of the Council of Education to allow its employees to attend the match during work hours indicates that cricket was popular in Sydney at the time.\u00a0 Newspaper commentary also testified to the popularity of the game:<\/p>\n

From an early hour a perfect stampede of ‘buses, cabs, and pedestrians took place from the city, all having the one destination. The numbers on the ground swelled readily, and by 3 o’clock there could not have been less than 12,000 spectators. The grand stand, capable of accommodating 1000 sitters, was crowded to excess, and standing room was scarcely obtainable. The eastern terraces were densely packed, and an unbroken line of people several deep surrounded the white fences.<\/p>\n

‘International Cricket Match’, Sydney Morning Herald<\/em>, 8\/12\/1876, p. 5.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Considering that the population of Sydney in 1871 was 137, 586 (Spearritt 2000<\/a>, p. 3) this would mean that 9% of the population saw the match on the first day according to the Sydney Morning Herald’s estimate of the numbers who attended.\u00a0 This interest was sustained throughout the match:<\/p>\n

\n

ALTHOUGH popular estimates of the size of crowds are not always to be trusted, it will hardly be questioned that during last week some thirty or forty thousand people found their way to the cricket match, which is to be finished to-day.\u00a0 Facts like this clearly show that the passion for cricket is as strong in the colonies as in England itself, and they are also a sufficient indication that the cricketing passion gets stronger rather than weaker as years go on.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

The Sydney Morning Herald, <\/em>11\/12\/1876, p. 4.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While NSW won by two wickets we need to keep in mind that they fielded fifteen players whereas England played with eleven.\u00a0 This did not stop the Sydney Morning Herald <\/em>from declaring that ‘[s]uch a victory deserves to be written in letters of living fire in the history of Australian cricket’ (‘International Cricket Match’, Sydney Morning Herald, <\/em>12\/12\/1876, p. 5.).\u00a0 Hyperbole in sports journalism has a long history!<\/p>\n

It seems that the organisers and the supporters wanted a close match and while some wanted to see the teams meet on equal terms the voices of those who wanted some handicap system prevailed:<\/p>\n

…much difference of opinion exists as to the number of players necessary to give N. S. Wales a fair chance of victory. Enthusiastic admirers of the game of cricket, as played here, carried away probably by an exaggerated idea of our strength, desire to see a contest on equal terms, but such a proposition appears to meet with very little support. A suggestion has also been made that we should send eighteen to the wickets and only place eleven in the field, so that the public may have an opportunity of gauging the play of the English team against the ordinary number of fieldsmen. A third proposal, and one which finds considerable acceptance, is that the handicap should be reduced to sixteen, and if the Cricket Association reconsider their decision, the latter suggestion would not be a bad one to adopt : but to meet the eleven on equal terms would simply be throwing away any chance of a creditable victory.<\/p>\n

Sydney Morning Herald, <\/em>18\/11\/1876, p. 5.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

After all, the purpose of playing sport has always been to win!\u00a0 In fact Sydney-siders were rather pleased at the final number that both sides agreed would represent\u00a0 New South Wales:<\/p>\n

It was regarded as a great compliment on tbe part of the English captain to limit our players to 15 in number, after just defeating 22 of Adelaide in one innings…<\/p>\n

‘The Great Cricket Match – All-England Eleven v. New South Wales Fifteen’, Sydney Morning Herald, <\/em>15\/12\/1876, p. 8.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Business Stops<\/h3>\n

The effect of this match on businesses and other employers is testament to the depth of interest in cricket at the time:<\/p>\n

For weeks and even months past the prospects of the All-England match have been to many a far more interesting and pressing topic than the condition of trade, the state of public education, or the possibility of a foreign invasion. There are serious men who shake their heads at this, and wonder what it will all come to. But there is evidently no help for it. The cricket fever gets worse rather than better.<\/p>\n

The Sydney Morning Herald, <\/em>11\/12\/1876, p. 4.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The newspapers gave further details of the effect of the match on businesses:<\/p>\n

In consequence of the All-England Cricket Match most of the wholesale houses closed at noon to-day. There were few transactions recorded in the morning, and none of character to affect materially the Import markets….<\/p>\n

The Associated Brokers postponed their auction sales of wool aud sheepskins, on account of the cricket match, from this after-noon until to-morrow (Friday) morning, at 10 o’clock sharp, at the Chamber of Commerce as usual.<\/p>\n

‘Mercantile and Money Article’, Sydney Morning Herald, <\/em>8\/12\/1876, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Most of-the large wholesale houses closed to-day at noon, on account of the All-England cricket match…<\/p>\n

‘Mercantile and Money Article’, Sydney Morning Herald, <\/em>9\/12\/1876, p. 6.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The affect on business was also reported in The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser:<\/em><\/p>\n

The competition at the sales of hides and tallow was not over brisk, owing doubtless to the interference with business caused by the cricket match….<\/p>\n

Joseph Palmer’s Stock and Share Report in The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 12\/12\/1876, p. 3.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I am not aware of this type of disruption to trade in Australia due to cricket in my lifetime and I have never heard of an employer granting their workers time off to watch the cricket, unless it was considered annual leave.\u00a0 I wonder if cricket has this kind of effect in Pakistan and India? <\/em><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Background and References<\/h2>\n

Websites that Explain Cricket<\/h3>\n

Cricket is one of those cultural things that children in cricket-playing nations are brought up with.\u00a0 I learned about cricket by sitting next to my father and watching the first half hour or so of each day of the 1975 Ashes tests in England.\u00a0 Playing copious amounts of backyard cricket, watching cricket on tv for years afterwards and playing outdoor cricket for my university were also important for my cricket education.<\/p>\n

\"Bowling<\/a>
Backyard cricket: Stu ‘bowling’ the ball – note the straight arm (photo by Tahirih).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cricketer<\/a>
Backyard cricket: Josh waiting for Stu to ‘bowl’ the ball.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Videos:<\/p>\n