From Macdonaldtown to Lord’s – The Erratic Syd Emery
Archie Mac |Published: 2025
Pages: 130
Author: Rodgers, Pat
Publisher: The Cricket Publishing Company
Rating: 4.5 stars
‘Mad Mick’ was the moniker of Syd Emery and as nicknames go it is evocatively descriptive. Emery was one of the ‘naughty boys’ on the ill-fated 1912 Triangular tour of England. The fact Emery’s other nickname was ‘Dinny’ after the Greek god of wine – Dionysus – may indicate a fondness for alcohol which was said to be the major cause of the poor behaviour by some of the Aussie tourists. The 1912 tour saw six of the best Australian players pull out after selection. The replacements, which included Emery, have mostly been dismissed as not deserving of an Ashes tour.
Author Pat Rodgers quickly debunks these myths in relation to Emery. First, he makes a compelling case that based on the first-class figures in the Australian summer immediately preceding the 1912 tour, Emery had strong claims to be included before the ‘Big Six’ withdrew. Secondly, Rodgers points out Emery was at worst on the periphery of the troublemakers, and to confirm this he asserts Emery was selected for a trip to North America later in 1912, whereas the identified poorly behaved players were not invited.
Even the most knowledgeable Golden Age devotee will learn a significant amount about Emery, and not just his cricketing exploits. From a strictly working-class background, Emery’s cricket ability saw him exposed to high society in both England and North America. While this was a welcome derivative from cricket, it was the game itself that Emery loved. This was demonstrated by his commitment to cricket throughout his life as player and administrator.
The book itself is laid out to perfection, from a quick take on Emery succeeding on the 1912 tour, to some infanticide committed by a couple taking advantage of single mothers that could not care for their infant children. The murder case introduces the reader to the types of struggles present in the Inner West Sydney suburb of Macdonaldtown (present day Erskineville) from where Emery hailed. We then follow Emery as he attempts to master the new type of bowling – the bosie, and then onto his rise to Test cricketer.
We learn that an Emery over could mix an unplayable ball with a couple of longhops and full tosses. This meant he could be a match winner one day and a liability the next. The same principle applied to his batting, which was either big hitting destruction or out slogging to a ball he should have blocked. Emery, it seems, was also a poor runner between the wickets and his career is littered with run outs.
The unsound brilliant ones rarely last long, and Emery was no exception. Just four Tests, all on the 1912 tour, and a first-class career over before the age of 30 was disappointing but won’t come as a surprise after reading his biography.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and think it the best by author Pat Rodgers, which is a big call as he has written some lovely niche cricket books. The only bugbear was, while there were some nice pics, they do not have captions naming all the players in team photos. The rest of the little details we like are there; full index, especially a comprehensive one on the subject; notes on sources used; and full contents. There was also a nice touch with Rodgers’s naming a Freemason team XI of those that Emery, a Freemason himself, played with in Australia.
In recent reviews I have mentioned the interesting forewords penned by CricketWeb friend and renowned publisher/author, Ronald Cardwell. Well, in this book he has outdone himself, and I suspect cannot improve on his introductory story. It seems a young Cardwell, batting No.11, was walking around the ground when he struck up a conversation with two senior citizens. The next week the conversation continued, and to Cardwell’s surprise one of the older men presented him with their personal Test scrapbook. That man was none other than Sid Emery. Serendipitous indeed.
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