8/23/2005

Civil War history from the cricket papers

America is not generally remembered as a world force in cricket, except in the columns of cricket periodicals.

Cricketer International has a nice article on American star Walter S. Newhall (right), who was killed in 1863 after stints on the staffs of Fremont and McClellan.
During the summer of 1859 he showed the stuff of which he was made by scoring 549 runs for the Young America Cricket Club in the Philadelphia competition and set local tongues wagging when he scored 105 against the Delphian Cricket Club.
(The Philadelphia Cricket Club revived the game in 1998 after six decades of neglect.)
In later years the Newhall family emerged as one of the most prominent cricket playing families in the history of the sport. No less than six members represented the United States of America against Canada, England, Ireland and Australia between 1859 and 1912. During the match between the United States and Canada at Nicetown, Pennsylvania on September 13-14, 1880 cricket history was made when four Newhall brothers (George, Daniel, Robert and Charles) appeared for the US.