The Strangers Who Came Home: The First Australian Cricket Tour of England

by John Lazenby

Overview

A compelling and beautifully drawn social history of the first Australian cricket tour of England

'An excellent, bustling account of the first Australian cricket XI to tour England' Independent
'A fascinating story, well told' Choice

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781408842881
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	01/29/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

John Lazenby has since 1997 he has worked as a freelance journalist on national newspapers including The Times, the Sunday Times, the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph and as a sports broadcaster for both radio and television. His first book, Test of Time: Travels in Search of a Cricketing Legend was longlisted for the William Hill Prize. He lives in London.

Table of Contents

Prologue ix

1 15 March-19 April 1877 1

2 19 April 1877-28 March 1878 14

3 29 March-13 May 1878 31

4 14-23 May 1878 38

5 24-27 May 1878 61

6 28-29 May 1878 88

7 29 May-5 June 1878 97

8 5-18 June 1878 109

9 19-23 June 1878 122

10 23 June-6 July 1878 134

11 8-21 July 1878 146

12 22 July-25 August 1878 158

13 26 August-7 September 1878 175

14 9-17 September 1878 190

15 19-29 September 1878 196

16 30 Septembet-19 November 1878 206

17 19 November 1878-10 February 1879 228

Epilogue 251

Notes 259

Bibliography 269

Acknowledgments 277

Index 278