The Gentlemen of Philadelphia in South Wales: 1903 and 1908
Martin Chandler |Published: 2026
Pages: 34
Author: Battersby, David and Hignell, Andrew
Publisher: Museum of Welsh Cricket
Rating: 3 stars
There has been a steady flow of new books and monographs on the subject of North American cricket in recent years, the majority of them looking at the thirty year period between 1883 and 1913 when the Gentlemen of Philadelphia had First Class status and, on their day, were a match for anyone.
Almost all of those publications have been the work of either Stephen Musk or Steve Smith so it was a pleasure to see that this one comes from a different source, albeit two men who are well known to the readers of our reviews, David Battersby and Andrew Hignell.
The fact that this one is published by the Museum of Welsh Cricket tells you all you need to know about it as, at its heart, it is an account of three matches played in Cardiff in 1903 and 1908, the second and third visits of the Gentlemen of Philadelphia to England.
This was a time when Glamorgan were full of ambition. In 1921 they would finally be able to join the County Championship, but these matches, two in 1903 and the other in 1908, were some years before that. Hosting the 1902 Australians had provided a substantial profit, and although that was not repeated in the matches against Philadelphia the matches were still well received.
What Battersby and Hignell concentrate on are accounts of the matches themselves, the first and last of which were won by the Philadelphians with the second drawn. The 1903 games were played by Glamorgan but in 1908 the home side was styled as South Wales, which is just as well given that Arthur Silverlock of Monmouthshire reached 60 in both innings of a low scoring match. Without him the South Wales scorecard would have been a sorry sight.
But the monograph is a little more than the story of three cricket matches. The ambitions of the Welsh county are the backdrop to what took place and these games were an early step on Welsh cricket’s journey to the top table of the English game. All in all the monograph is nicely produced and, as is always the case, is exceptionally well illustrated with images of items of contemporary memorabilia.
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