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Indlæser... The Strangers Who Came Home: The First Australian Cricket Tour of Englandaf John Lazenby
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Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. Can only agree with drmaf. Thoroughly enjoyable account of the Australian Eleven and their 1877 tour. How did they manage to play so many games, travel so many miles - and yet the squad was only eleven men. They would have finished off utterly exhaustedf - some of their feats were amazing. Not just a fascinating piece of cricket history, there's so much social history too. I'm a cricket tragic so I enjoyed this book immensely. I had never really heard about the Australian Eleven that was the first white team (a team of Aboriginal players had toured a decade earlier, barely mentioned in this book) from Down Under to tour the Old Dart - conventional cricket histories seemed to go straight from the 1st acknowledged Test in Melbourne in 1877 to the famous Ashes match in England in 1881. This was probably because, as the author explains, this team did not play an official recognised Test, although their epic defeat of the MCC in a single afternoon, a victory which sent shockwaves through complacent English cricket, should have been recognised as a Test. The tour was epic in every sense, since they travelled 70000 miles across three oceans and played 72 matches on three continents. the book abounds with personalities, including larger than life characters such as WG Grace, the giant of English cricket, the demon bowler Fred Spofforth, who broke wickets and English hearts, the big-hitting Charles Bannerman and the "Prince of Wicket-keepers", Jack Blackham. Lazenby narrates the tour with a sure touch, lovingly recording each key moment of every match, and including plenty of local reports and on the spot anecdotes from local press. This is vintage cricket writing, thoroughly absorbing. All cricket tragics regardless of nationality will love this. ingen anmeldelser | tilføj en anmeldelse
The Ashes cricket series, played out between England and Australia, is the oldest - and undoubtedly the most keenly-contested - rivalry in international sport. And yet the majority of the first representative Australian cricket team to tour England in 1878 in fact regarded themselves as Englishmen. In May of that year the SS City of Berlin docked at Liverpool, and the Australians stepped onto English ground to begin the inaugural first-class cricket tour of England by a representative overseas team. As they made their way south towards Lord's to play MCC in the second match of the tour, the intrepid tourists - or 'the strangers' as they were referred to in the press - encountered arrogance and ignorance, cheating umpires and miserable weather. But by defeating a powerful MCC side which included W.G. Grace himself in a single afternoon's play, they turned English cricket on its head. The Lord's crowd, having begun by openly laughing at the tourists, were soon wildly celebrating a victory that has been described as 'arguably the most momentous six hours in cricket history' and claiming the Australians as their own. The Strangers Who Came Home is a compelling social history which brings that momentous summer to life, telling the story of these extraordinary men who travelled thousands of miles, risking life and limb, playing 43 matches in England (as well as several in Philadelphia, America, on their return journey) during a demanding but ultimately triumphant homecoming. It reveals how their glorious achievements on the field of play threw open the doors to international sports touring, and how these men from the colonies provided the stimulus for Australian nationhood through their sporting success and brought unprecedented vitality to international cricket. No library descriptions found. |
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A decade after the Australian Aboriginal cricket tour of England, a second Australian team travelled half way around the world to play the best cricketers in England, Scotland, Wales, Canada and the United States (not all in the same match obviously). We read of the team's preparation in Australia and their tour around the UK, unleashing the Demon Spofforth on unsuspecting batsman. We also read of the backstage machinations by the Australian manager and his opposition counterparts.
Highly recommended and I'm definitely seeking out the author's other tomes. ( )