The St George's Cricket Club was originally located in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

it later moved to

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58, ...

. Its name comes from its association with St. George's Episcopal Church at Stuyvesant Square, Manhattan. It hosted the first international cricket match in 1844, between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. The club was founded in 1838. Nicknamed the Dragonslayers, the SGCC set the standard of US cricket from 1838 to the Civil War.

History

The St George's Cricket Club was originally located in

it later moved to

. Its name comes from its association with St. George's Episcopal Church at Stuyvesant Square, Manhattan. It hosted the first international cricket match in 1844, between

and the

. The club was founded in 1838. Nicknamed the Dragonslayers, the SGCC set the standard of US cricket from 1838 to the Civil War. Most of its playing members were British-born and excluded Americans from participating in their "English game". The local resentment of this English social exclusivity amongst New York ball players may have been the impetus for cricket to be designated as an "English" game in the US, though it had been played for over a century at the time. The SGCC club traveled to Canada on several occasions in the 1850s, encouraging a touring tradition for American sports which culminated in George Parr's All England XI visiting New York, Philadelphia, and Montreal in 1859. This was the first occasion that a professional team of players in any sport had played in the United States. The All England Team of professionals played a US XXII team that included five SGCC players. St George's continued its dominant New York cricket organizational role until 1876, when the founding of the New York Metropolitan league and the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club at Walker Park ushered in a new era of league cricket in New York.Sentance Its first ground was located in Midtown Manhattan off of Bloomingdale Road (now Broadway) between 30th and 31st Street. The ground was located behind the Casper Samler farmstead, which was later replaced by the Gilsey Hotel. This ground was the site of many matches, including the first international cricket match in 1844. In the 1850s, economic development in Midtown necessitated that the club move to a new ground in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

. This ground was known colloquially and in news articles as the "Red House" ground and was located between what is now 105th and 106th streets and First Avenue. The Red House ground played host to domestic competitions between teams from New York and Philadelphia, as well as international matches with Canadian teams including the 1853 match between the US and Canada. Ultimately, the team relocated to

. After the Civil War, St George's was slated to get a ground in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

before moving to

Hudson City Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson ...

. St George's opponents included the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club, the

Philadelphia Cricket Club The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, is the oldest country club in the United States. It has two locations: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and Flourtown, Pennsylvania. History Founded on February 10, 1854, the Philadelphia Cricke ...

, and the

Toronto Cricket Club The Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club is a private sport and social club located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The club offers a variety of sporting and social programs including aquatics, cricket, croquet, curling, figure skating, fitne ...

. George Wright includes a picture of St George's cricket grounds in his biography. George Wright's older brother Harry also played for St George's team. The Wrights' father,

Samuel Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...

, was the professional

groundskeeper Groundskeeping is the activity of tending an area of land for aesthetic or functional purposes, typically in an institutional setting. It includes mowing grass, trimming hedges, pulling weeds, planting flowers, etc. The U.S. Department of Labor e ...

for team and is depicted, along with his son Harry, in a famous

daguerreotype Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre ...

holding a

cricket bat A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batters in the sport of cricket to hit the ball, typically consisting of a cane handle attached to a flat-fronted willow-wood blade. It may also be used by a batter who is making ground ...

while Harry holds a

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although hist ...

Notes

References

*{{Cite book, last=Sentance, first=P. David, title=Cricket in America 1710-2000, year=2006, publisher=McFarland American club cricket teams 1838 establishments in New York (state) Cricket clubs established in 1838 Sports in Manhattan Cricket teams in New York City