New Britain herald., 1927-05-28
GAME OF CRICKET.
Once GREAT SPORT

Residents Of By.G0ne' Days Con-
sidered It Thrilling
The game OF cricket Is desplsed,
condemned, and ridiculed by modern
sporting enthusiasts Of New Britain.
who call it too slow" or too Eng
lish," but 1t once attained the popuS
larity here which baseball has
reached today, drawing hundreds OF
spectators to the more important
games. Just as the Englishmen are
proverbislly befuddled by the intri-
cacies OF baseball. SO are present.
day Americans puzzled by the fine
points of the older game. The rules
are so different that it was inevl-
table that they should conflict and
that one should crowd the other off
the sporting map. while the conf
parative leisureliness Of cricket was
a determining factor in deciding
which game was to pass on.
In the middle Of the 10 century
cricket reached the height of its
popularity in Connecticut. Clubs
were organized all over the state
and engaged in inter-town matches
! which aroused all the enthusiasm
| Of worlds series.
In New Britain the Phoenix club
was organized. with the late Philip
Corbin as president Other members,
whose names mean nothing to fol-
lowers of the National Guards. the
All-New Britains. or the Falcons but
| will bring memories to older resi-
dents. including William H. Hart
! William kinlock. William Hotch-
| kiss. Judson Dickinson, John STAN
nard. Charles Andrews, George Gill
Bert, Daniel Gilbert, William Bur-
: rift Monroe Stannard. Charles Wet
, more, John Burritt, Walter Stanley,
! Walter Parsons. Henry Mather, An
drew Hart, Charles Gilbert, William
H. Riley. C. NJ. Talcott Thomas H.
Bingham. Andrew Corbin, Robert
Kenyon. Frank Stanley, J. C. Baggs,
| Thaddeus Butler. Frank Beckley.
Joseph Warner, John Perkins, and
| Walter Judd.
New Britain Wins, 310-141!
Probably the greatest game this
organization played was in 1855.
| when It met the Winsted club IN
! Waterbury for a dinner. The game
began at II o'clock in the morning.
for cricket cannot be played in the
short time which baseball requires.
New Britain batted first and scored
Is runs before the side was retired,
while Winsted scored a puny So. De-
spite the early start, 1t was growing
dark when the final Winsted bats
man. was put out and the locals won
/ by 80 to 141. The game had at
! tracted much attention. and crowds
lined the playing field. while q
f, thousand spectators gathered on q
nearby hill to watch the cricketers
play the game.
| So late was It when the game
ended that the Winsted club had tc
forego the dinner purchased witt
its own money. The players hustled
to the station and took the trair
home, leaving the victorious New
Britainites to eat In solitar,
triumph. After the meal the win
ners returned home. arriving abou1
midnight. Word Of their glorious
victory had preceded them. and the,
were met at the station by q huge
crowd Of fans (although they were
not called that in those days.) A
band provided music and there wa!
torchlight procession aroung Cen
trail park, on which a huge bonfire
was burning. Several enthusiast
carried a huge banner inscribed
Welcome Home" and the demon
stration was almost as wild as tina
which greeted Lindbergh on hh
arrival at Paris.
Crowded Out BY Baseball
Cricket gradually lost its hold II
New Britain, although 1t held OF
longer here than In many parts o
the country. The new game Of base
ball was growing more and MGR
popular and was threatening it. TIL
newcomer was professionalism an
leagues were formed. It was mucl
faster and more exciting. beini
therefore more suitable to tn
American temperament. Cricket con
tinued to he played for years. blu
the leaders in the sport were mostl
Englishmen who had come owe
from their native land and whe
; they grew too old to play their wa
nobody to take their places.
Playing fields were none too nu
merous, either. Building operation
began to cover up the open lot
within driving distance OF the cen
!. ter and the few which were LEI
such as Rentschler's park and Elec
i. trio field became baseball dia
monds. Cricket hung on in a forlor
way until the end Of the century
and spasmodic attempts were mad
to revive It, but after 1900 no suit
able playing field could be foun
anu uOHc VI luc CIlChetelS "cic Gil
; thusiastic enough 10 buy and la
out one Tor themselves, so cricke'
or wicket" as 1t was sometime
called. passed out Of the sportin
picture. Today there are but fe,
persons In the city who even kno,
the rules in the vaguest sort Q
, fashion.
POLICEMEN IN PARADE,
Policemen assigned fer parad
duty in connection with the corner
stone blessing eyerc}cea ~ III. Go