Cricket in America achieved its greatest acclaim, most extensive organization and highest level of competition in Philadelphia in the mid-19th century. The city took upon itself the burden of representing the entire U.S. during the sport's emerging international popularity. It was a story of amazing successes, abysmal failures and engaging personalities--like John B. King, revered to this day as one of the all-time greatest players--and eventual decline and demise. This meticulously researched history examines the origin and rise of a sport's legacy that, even in its demise, would endure as a lost vision of America's sporting destiny.

Cricket was played in Virginia in 1710 and was enjoyed on Georgia plantations in 1737. Teams representing New York and Philadelphia faced each other as early as 1838. By 1865, Philadelphia was considered the best cricket-playing city in the United States, competing against Canadian, English and Australian teams from 1890 to 1920. This 30 year span was essential to the formation of America's sports identity--and by its end, while the sport of baseball drew increasing attention, the game of cricket moved from being the game of America's aristocrats to a safe haven for America's nonwhite immigrants who were excluded from baseball because of Jim Crow laws. Here, the game's unique multi-ethnic, religious and cultural tradition in the United States is fully explored. The author explains cricket's ties to the beginnings of baseball and covers the ways in which the game continues to play an important role in America's inner cities.

Presents an analytical explanation of why cricket failed as an American sporting institution. Devotes much attention to the rise of organized American sports immediately before and after the Civil War and interprets this phenomenon in the context of both its premodern American history as well as its development up to the First World War. The geographical focus is on the larger urban areas of the Atlantic seaboard, but other urban and rural areas are also discussed. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR