More Than A Game: The Story of Cricket's Early Years
The former Prime Minister examines the early history of one of the great loves of his life in a book that sheds new light on the summer game’s social origins.All his life John Major has loved cricket. In ‘More Than a Game’ he examines it from its origins up to the coming of the First World War. Along the way he considers the crucial role of the wealthy patrons who gambled huge sums on early matches; the truth behind the legends that have grown up around the famous Hambledon Club; changes in rules and techniques, including the transition from underarm to overarm bowling; the long-standing, but often blurred, distinction between 'gentlemen' and 'players'; the coming of the MCC and its role as the supreme arbiter of the game; the spread of cricket throughout the British Empire; and the emergence of the county game and international competition.It is a story rich in anecdote and colourful characters. Many of the great names from the 'Golden Age' of cricket – C.B. Fry, Ranjitsinhji, 'Demon' Spofforth and of course the towering figure of W.G. Grace – are still well-known today. But long before then the game already had its stars: men like the Kentish innkeeper's son 'Lumpy' Stevens, who played at the highest level until he was nearly sixty; 'Silver Billy' Beldham, who was taught how to play by a gingerbread baker; the notoriously avaricious and ill-tempered Lord Frederic Beauclerk, a direct descendant of Charles II and Nell Gwynne; and the mighty 'Lion of Kent' Alfred Mynn.
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MORE THAN A GAME
The Story of Cricket’s Early Years
JOHN MAJOR
To Norma, Elizabeth, James and Luke
Contents
5 Cricket Spreads: Early Roots
8 The Rise and Fall of Single-Wicket
9 The Missionary and the Mercenaries
10 Wider Still and Wider: Cricket Goes Abroad
12 The Boom in Leisure: Competition for Cricket
13 The Cricketers and the Counties
14 The Chroniclers and the Scribes
16 The Grand Old Man and the Backroom Boy
APPENDIX 2: Rules of the White Conduit Club
APPENDIX 3: ‘Laws for Single Wicket’ (1831)
APPENDIX 4: Important Single-Wicket Matches 1800–1848
APPENDIX 5: W.J. Prowse, ‘In Memoriam, Alfred Mynn 1807–1861’
Charles Lennox, second Duke of Richmond, a keen gambler with a lifelong love of cricket. Mezzotint by John Faber Jr, after John Vanderbank. (Courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London)
Sir William Gage, whose estate Firle in East Sussex was one of the cradles of eighteenth-century cricket. (Courtesy of the Firle EstateTrustees)
Cricket being played in 1743 at the Artillery Ground in Finsbury, London. (The Roger Mann Collection)
Lionel Sackville, first Duke of Dorset, one of the great early patrons of the game. Portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1717. (Private Collection,© NTPL/John Hammond)
Charles Sackville, second Duke of Dorset. Portrait by Rosalba Carriera. (Private Collection, © NTPL/John Hammond)
Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, an enthusiastic early patron of cricket. Portrait miniature by Gaetano Manini, 1755. (© AshmoleanMuseum, University of Oxford/The Bridgeman Art Library)
The Duke of Cumberland, a better judge of a soldier than a cricketer. Portrait by David Morier. (© Private Collection/Philip Mould Ltd/TheBridgeman Art Library)
A match at Moulsey Hurst, on the banks of the river Mole in Surrey. (The Roger Mann Collection)
‘Lumpy’ Stevens, the most deadly underarm bowler of his day. (TheRoger Mann Collection)
Sir Horace Mann, the most amiable of cricket’s early benefactors. (TheRoger Mann Collection)
John Frederick Sackville, third Duke of Dorset, the third in a line of great cricketing patrons. Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1769. (Private Collection, © NTPL/John Hammond)
The Countess of Derby plays cricket with other ladies at The Oaks, in Surrey, in 1779. (The Roger Mann Collection)
John Nyren, whose memories of Hambledon have given us a vivid picture of early cricket. (The Roger Mann Collection)
An eighteenth-century cricket match, possibly at Hambledon. (TheRoger Mann Collection)
A page from a sketchbook by George Shepheard, showing some of the Hambledon cricketers. (The Roger Mann Collection)
The Bat and Ball Inn on Broadhalfpenny Down, Hambledon. (TheRoger Mann Collection)
‘Silver Billy’ Beldam joined the Hambledon club in 1785, and lifted the art of batting to a new level of style and elegance. (The Roger MannCollection)
Lord Winchilsea, a key founder of the MCC who encouraged Thomas Lord to acquire its first ground. (The Roger Mann Collection)
Cricket Played by the Gentlemen’s Club, White Conduit House, Islington in 1784. (The Roger Mann Collection)
An engraving, after Thomas Rowlandson, depicting a match between the ladies of Hampshire and Surrey at Newington in 1811. (The RogerMann Collection)
The canny Yorkshireman Thomas Lord, who left the world’s most famous cricket ground as his memorial. (The Roger Mann Collection)
William Ward, a central figure in securing Lord’s place as the headquarters of cricket. (The Roger Mann Collection)
Benjamin Aislabie, first Secretary of the MCC. (The Roger MannCollection)
Lord Frederick Beauclerk: avaricious, ill-tempered, hypocritical, and adept at bending the rules. (The Roger Mann Collection)
Fuller Pilch, the finest batsman of his day, and ‘single-wicket champion of England’. (The Roger Mann Collection)
John Wisden, the founder of the Almanack and a fast round-arm bowler. (The Roger Mann Collection)
The Scorer, by Thomas Henwood (1842). (The Roger Mann Collection)
Alfred Mynn and Nicholas Felix before their famous single-wicket contest in 1846 for the title ‘champion of England’. (The Roger MannCollection)
William Clarke, the finest underarm bowler of them all, and the founder of Trent Bridge cricket ground. (The Roger Mann Collection)
Clarke’s All-England Eleven of 1847. (The Roger Mann Collection) The All-England Eleven on the move in 1851, by Nicholas Felix. (TheRoger Mann Collection)
George Parr, who succeeded Clarke as leader of Nottinghamshire and the All-England Eleven. (The Roger Mann Collection)
The first English overseas touring team. George Parr’s men gather on deck before their 1859 voyage to North America.
