Cricket - the Philadelphia story . . . Lord Hawke's XI of 1891
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Described as "quasi-athletic aristocrats who would be more at home handling a lady's fan than the willow bat," Lord Hawke's "eat, drink and be merry" cricketing party arrived in North America in 1891. They were to play a series of eight matches in the USA and Canada two of which, the games against Philadelphia, were first-class matches. While Hawke's party could likely beat the Canadians and the Americans of Baltimore, New York, Boston and Chicago equipped with a lady's fan, the Philadelphians were different. Lord Hawke admitted as much when upon his arrival he stated -
"The only players we are anyway afraid of are the Philadelphians, who have been playing excellent cricket this year."
The Philadelphians did not disappoint.
Steve Smith
Steve Smith is a successful magazine editor and writer who penned the bestselling sports autobiographies To the Point, for bad-boy cricketer Herschelle Gibbs, and SuperVan & I, for motor-racing legend Sarel van der Merwe. Steve is also an enthusiastic mountain-biker, having completed several multiday stage races. He is the editor of CAR magazine, and was previously at the helm of Red Bull's magazine, The Red Bulletin, and Sports Illustrated. He lives in Cape Town, South Africa.
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