An interesting story to say the least, and a far cry from today's tours. The travel time alone incredible......
England’s First Test Tour: Death, Brawling, Betting and Cross-Dressing
"England’s 500th Test match on foreign soil, which concluded in Port Elizabeth on Monday, prompted a lot of people to reminisce about tours past, but few could hope to match the tale of England’s voyage to their first ever away Test, played in Melbourne in March 1877. It is a tale of death, drama, donkeys and cross-dressing, and was thankfully diarised in sometimes excruciating detail by an unnamed player in a series of letters to the Sporting Life.
In all 255 days passed between the players setting sail from Southampton and their return to London’s Charing Cross station. The correspondent details every day of the outbound trip. Along the way they stopped at Gibraltar, Malta (“the beggars and guides are a perfect nuisance, pestering you the whole time”), Port Said and Suez at either end of the Suez Canal (“Suez is a wretched town. No pleasure can be got by a visit to the place, which is a tumble-down, narrow-streeted, stinking hole”), Yemen and Galle, before the players switched boats for the leg to King George’s Sound.
Before they reached Malta one of their shipmates died. “About half‑past ten a death occurred on board, and at two the funeral took place. A very impressive ceremony – the ship stopping, and the knell tolling as the body was committed to the deep,” wrote the player. At Suez several players engaged in a donkey race, during which Allen Hill, the bowler who was to take the first ever Test wicket, fell off his ride and injured an elbow – the line of totally unnecessary injuries sustained by touring England cricketers engaged in completely unnecessary pursuits having started long before Rory Burns did his ankle playing football."
pharvey wrote: ↑Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:17 am
England’s 500th Test match on foreign soil, which concluded in Port Elizabeth on Monday, prompted a lot of people to reminisce about tours past, but few could hope to match the tale of England’s voyage to their first ever away Test, played in Melbourne in March 1877. It is a tale of death, drama, donkeys and cross-dressing, and was thankfully diarised in sometimes excruciating detail by an unnamed player in a series of letters to the Sporting Life.
Sounds like a cricket tour of Belgium and France I went on in the late 70s...
Well, here's a taster: while in Paris one of our number decided to avail himself of the services of a fille de joie, only to discover that she was all joie and no fille! And a mugger, to boot... Result? A sore head, an empty wallet and a cracking story in the best man's speech at his wedding.
dtaai-maai wrote: ↑Wed Jan 22, 2020 2:36 am
Well, here's a taster: while in Paris one of our number decided to avail himself of the services of a fille de joie, only to discover that she was all joie and no fille! And a mugger, to boot... Result? A sore head, an empty wallet and a cracking story in the best man's speech at his wedding.
Oh come on - this should be a series!!
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
