Cricket – The Philadelphia Story…. Mitchell’s XI of 1895
Martin Chandler |Published: 2025
Pages: 120
Author: Smith, Steve
Publisher: Private
Rating: 3 stars
Steve Smith’s series of books on the subject of tours made by or to Philadelphia during ‘The Golden Age’ has just been extended by three more titles. I must confess to beginning to wish that, as it seems clear Smith intends to cover every single such tour, that he had published his books in strict chronological order, although I can see that others might disagree with me on that.
The 1895 tourists were English, all amateurs and all but one attended university at Oxford or Cambridge. The one who didn’t, Yorkshireman Frank Milligan, was educated at Eton so clearly he too would not have been out of place when the side attended the many social functions laid on for them.
As always it is interesting to try and judge how strong the tourists were. None of them were Test cricketers although in years to come as many as five would be. That in itself doesn’t help a great deal however as of those skipper Frank Mitchell, Milligan, Clem Wilson and Jock Hartley played their only Tests in South Africa. Only batsman Frank Druce appeared in an Ashes contest.
On this occasion Smith does not delve very deeply into the lives of the tourists, which is something of a disappointment as all seem interesting characters. The captain was a man who as well as appearing for England against South Africa led the South Africans in the Triangular Tournament in 1912, and was also a Rugby Union International. Milligan must have an interesting back story as well given that despite playing his county cricket in the Broadacres he was actually born in Hampshire, as must Druce. Two years later Druce played in all five Tests in Australia in 1897/98, selected after a magnificent summer for Cambridge, but his fleeting appearances in county cricket were a failure, and after he returned from a not unsuccessful tour of Australia business calls meant he was all but lost to the First Class game at just 23.
But Smith would doubtless argue that this is a book about a tour and that the contemporary sources he cites say enough about the tourists, and he certainly has a point. On this short tour Mitchell’s men were originally scheduled to play one match each in New York and Toronto followed by three First Class matches in Philadelphia.
The book begins with something of a digression, but a useful one in that it explains how cricket in Philadelphia was organised. In contrast to England, where everything was run under the benevolent dictatorship of the MCC there were five major clubs in Philadelphia, all of whom needed to be involved in order for tours to run smoothly.
As to the cricket itself New York proved no real challenge to the tourists who were also close to a comfortable win over Canada when their two day game ended. The Philadelphian sides were a different test altogether however and although Mitchell’s side managed to get home by two wickets in the second game they were convincingly beaten in the other two.
As always Smith has made great use of contemporary sources to provide detailed accounts of the matches and the tourists non-cricketing itinerary is also described. Having commented on the comparative lack of biographical detail on the Englishmen I should perhaps add that there are thorough pen portraits of three of the Philadelphians, centurions George Patterson and Francis Bohlen, and skipper William Brockie, as well as one of the New York skipper, Howard McNutt.
As with all of Smith’s book this one is available on Amazon or, at a discounted price, via Red Rose Books.
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