Cricket – The Philadelphia Story …. Plum Warner’s XI of 1897
Martin Chandler |Published: 2025
Pages: 110
Author: Smith, Steve
Publisher: Private
Rating: 3 stars
The first of the three major tours of England undertaken by the Gentlemen of Philadelphia took place in 1897. In June and July of that summer the Philadelphians played as many as 15 First Class matches. They won only two, against Sussex and Warwickshire, but overall left a good impression on their hosts.
Over the course of the summer various discussions took place about a return visit and it was eventually agreed that Plum Warner would lead a team of amateurs across the Atlantic in September. Warner’s side was not a particularly strong one despite the presence of Gilbert Jessop, the Gloucestershire all-rounder who requires no introduction, and ‘Shrimp’ Leveson-Gower who would lead England on an unsuccessful tour of South Africa in 1909/10.
The tour itself was not as long as the one that gave rise to it, Warner’s men playing matches in New York and Baltimore and then three in Philadelphia, one against odds involving 22 ‘colts’, and two matches against the full strength of the Gentlemen of Philadelphia.
As is the pattern with these tours the Englishmen were not troubled by New York or Baltimore, but the Philadelphians tested them, the Colts fully deserving a draw and the two First Class matches ending with each side winning one.
Smith diligently uncovers the story of the tour and the matches from contemporary reports and produces an interesting account. For once though he does appear to have overlooked a couple of significant sources. Firstly Warner himself gave a detailed account of the tour in his 1900 book, Cricket in Many Climes. Warner’s narrative would have added little to the match descriptions that Smith gives, but he did have some interesting reflections on Philadelphian and North American cricket generally, as does a chapter in Jessop’s autobiography, A Cricketer’s Log, published in 1922.
Nonetheless for those who have enjoyed this series of books this one will hold their attention and add again to their knowledge of cricket in an outpost where, a century and more ago, the game had quite a hold. As always the book can be purchased on Amazon or at a reduced price from Red Rose Books.
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