The Canadian XI's 1880 Tour of England and Scotland by Dave Smith

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Event:

Gentlemen of Canada in British Isles 1880

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DateLine: 18th October 2006

 

The first organised tour by a Canadian team was a rather eventful trip. Following the successful tour of North America, in 1879, by Richard Daft's English XI, Canadian cricketers hastened to organise their own reciprocal tour, form May to July 1880.

 

It should have been a success, but it was to prove something of a trial. It started with the team. The thirteen players selected could never be considered as representative of cricketers in Canada: only eight of the team played for Canadians teams, whilst three others, including the captain, played for clubs in the USA. for the other two, no cricket pedigree has yet to be found. The team was as follows: T Dale (Detroit) captain, J Dewhurst (Montrea), JS Gillean (London), GF Hall (Port Hope), JL Hardman (Montreal), RW Hibbard, JS Howard (Toronto), E Kearney, AH Lemmon (Guelph), H Miller (Detroit), W Pinkney (Montreal), J Smith (Montreal), AS Treloar (Chicago). In certain matches where the team was made up of more than eleven players, local cricketers were also employed to make up the numbers.

 

Reports suggest that the organisation was poor and funds were insufficient. The team played seventeen matches and the final report of 5 wins, 5 losses and 7 draws provides a surprisingly decent result for a team that is said to have been ill prepared, not representative of Canadian cricketing strengths, and not good enough to provide decent competition. The tour is said to have limped along until it ended abruptly in mid-July. although the tour was arranged untilthat time. It is likely that on the cricket field the team was able to hold it's own, but off the field there were other difficulties.

 

The biggest problem turned out to be the captain. Thomas Dale was born in Yorkshire in 1847, and despite being a fine cricketer appears to have been something of a rogue. He had been a trooper in the Royal Horse Guards, but had deserted in 1873 and emigrated to America where, in the intervening 7 years, he had married twice and fathered six children. He came to England in 1880 under an alias of Thomas Jordan. However, his desertion came back to haunt him, and on the first day of the match against Leicestershire, 2nd June, he was arrested by a Detective Crisp. He was sentenced to 35 days' imprisonment, but managed to break free from his imprisonment. He didn't get far, though: he was apprehended in the street by a civilian, who hauled him back in front of a hastily reconvened court martial, and was awarded a further 300 days' imprisonment. It would appear that, following his release, Dale returned to America. He appeared in one Fisrt-Class match, playing for the USA against the Philadelphians, in 1883, and was still playing for Detroit in 1893, when he played for that team against the touring Australians.

 

Following Dale's imprisonment, the Rev TD Phillips took over the captaincy. Reports say that he was sent for from Canada and arrived in late June. However, the scorecards have him playing in the Leicestershire match when Dale was arrested, and subsequent games. It is likely that Dale's captaincy was not up to scratch, and with poor organisation hampering the team, Phillips was called for very early in the tour.

 

Thomas Phillips was a very different character from Dale. He was, obviously, a clergyman, a high-school teacher and private tutor. More importantly he was a noted cricketer in North America. He was born in Bristol, in 1833, and was brought to Canada whilst still a small boy. He studied at Upper Canada College where he played cricket for the College, including the Past and Present team, and regularly appeared in the annual matches against the Province of Ontario. He played for various teams, including Paris, St Catherines, Ontario, Niagara and Ottawa, and regularly mplayed for representative Canafian sides, including rhe Canadian XXII against the touring English side of 1859, and four times in the International Series against the United States of America. In 1881 he moved to Chicago but continued to play for that city plus club sides Pullman and Garfield (of which he was a founder member), and also appeared for the Western Association representative side. He made his highest score at the age of 63, scoring 100 for Chicago Second XI against St George's Second XI at Chicago in 1896. He is known to have still been playing cricket into the 20th century.He appears to have been one of the most consistent cricketers of his time, being strong in defense and a noted leg hitter. He was also said to be an active fielder and an occasional bowler.

 

Unfortunately for the Canadians, Thomas Dale was their best all-round cricketer. Following his departure, they employed Walter Wright, the Nottinghamshire cricketer, and he provded to be very successful, in 9 matches taking 61 wickets and scoring 81 against Crystal Palace XII at Crystal Palace, the tourists' highest score. He scored 199 runs in 16 innings at an average of 13.26. His best bowling was 8 for 38 against Walsden at Walsden and he also took 7 for 29 against Crystal Palace XII at Palace, 5 against Stockport at Stockport, 7 against Cheltenham at Cheltenham, 6 for 29 against Surrey Club and Ground at The Oval, and 7 wickets in each of the innings against Halifax at Halifax.

 

James Gillean was the best of the American bowlers. He took 95 wickets, his best bowling being 9 for 8 and 7 for 23 Wavertree XII at Wavertree, Liverpool. He also took 8 eickets in the first innings against Stourbridge, 6 wickets against the Orleans Club at Twickenham, 6 for 23 against Walsden XV at Walsden, and 5 for 10 against Surrey Club and Ground at The Oval.

 

Of the other bowlers, E Kearney took 14 wickets including his best of 4 against the Gentlemen of Derbyshire at Derby. The others took a handful of wickets each. RW Hibbard took 3 for 15 against Wavertree XII at Wavertree, and H Miller took 3 wickets against Royal High School Old Boys at Edinburgh. Strangely, AS Treloar, who would appear to have been the main wicket-keeper, bowled in the second innings of the final match, against Stourbridge and District at Stourbridge, and took 5 wickets.

 

The best batsmen was RW Hibbard, of whom nothing is known. He scored 327 runs, the highest number at the best average of 15.57. His highest score was 61 against Greenock XII at Greenock.

 

JS Howard also scored 296 runs at an avergae of 10.57 with a high score of 28 against Crystal Palace XII at Crystal Palace. AH Lemmon scored 281 runs at an average of 11.70, with a high score of 44 against Longsight at Longsight. W Pinkney also scored 274 runs at an average of 11.41, with a high score of 67* against Gentlemen of Derbyshire at Derby. J Dewhurst scored 185 runs at an average of 7.70, with a high score of 33 against Stockport at Stockport. JL Hardman scored 172 runs at an average of 6.37 with a high score of 38 against Walsden at Walsden.

 

Neverltheless, it is clear that the loss of Thomas Dale was a big one. In 7 innings he scored 126 runs at an average of 18, with a high score of 52 against Greenock XII at Greenock. In his five matches he took 33 wickets, the best being 9 against Hunslet at Woodhouse Hill and 8 for 70 against West of Scotland at Hamilton Crescent. His replacement Thomas Phillips appeared in 11 matches, scoring 191 runs in 20 innings at an average of 9.55. His highest score was 50 against Surrey Club and Ground at The Oval.

 

If there had not been the problems with Thomas Dale, it is possible that the tour would have been seen as more succesful. Sevn years later a second tour was orgnaised with a far more representative side and much better organisation. It is seen as having been a success, and yet the results were almost identical - 5 wins, 5 losses and 9 draws.