The Young America Cricket Club (YACC) was founded on 19 November 1855 at the house of William Wister after the

Germantown Cricket Club The Germantown Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was one of the four principal cricket clubs in the city and was one of the clubs contributing members to the Philadelphian cricket ...

team refused to allow young players to gain cricket experience through match participation.

Owen Wister Owen Wister (July 14, 1860 – July 21, 1938) was an American writer and historian, considered the "father" of western fiction. He is best remembered for writing '' The Virginian'' and a biography of Ulysses S. Grant. Biography Early life ...

, the nephew of William, wrote what is considered the first true

Western novel Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 20th century and ...

ever written, '' The Virginian'', the prototype for the first movie Western which came out as a silent movie in 1914 and has been filmed many times since that time.

History

The Newhall family joined with the Wister family founding the club in 1855 with the first games played on the Wisters' Belfield estate. The YACC team was largely responsible for keeping cricket going in Philadelphia during the Civil War. The YACC played at the Turnpike Bridge ground from 1858 to 1877 before moving to their new

Stenton Stenton ( sco, Staneton) is a parish and village in East Lothian, Scotland. It is bounded on the north by parts of the parishes of Prestonkirk and Dunbar, on the east by Spott and on the west by Whittingehame. The name is said to be of Saxon ...

ground in 1879. The

allowed YACC to share their Nicetown ground while their new ground was being prepared. Walter and Charles Newhall became famous YACC players. Walter Newhall scored his first century aged 12. Charles was the most successful bowler against the 1872 England team earning the respect

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...

, England's greatest batsman. Before Bob Newhall captained Philadelphia's first touring team in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

the YACC played 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 ...

in Canada. Three generations (ten members) of the Newhall family played on the YACC from its founding in 1854 to its merging with the Germantown CC in 1890. The Newhalls also helped administer cricket in Philadelphia. George Newhall became editor of the '' American Cricketer'' which had a 52-year publication history from 1877 to 1929. YACC won the Halifax Cup in 1880, 1883 and 1885. The Halifax Cup won by a Philadelphia team in 1874 at Halifax in Nova Scotia became the social event of the year in Philadelphia from 1880 to 1926 by which time it was eclipsed by golf and tennis tournaments.

References

*David Sentance, ''Cricket in America 1710-2000'' (McFarland 2006) pg. 278. *George M Newhall, ''The Cricket Grounds of Germantown and a plea for the game'' (1910) pg. 185-187. *John A Lester, ''A Century of Philadelphia Cricket'' (University of Pennsylvania 1951) pg. 365.

External links

* * {{Dead link, date=October 2010, bot=H3llBot Archived(?

paywall Cricket in Philadelphia Club cricket teams in the United States Cricket clubs established in 1854 1854 establishments in Pennsylvania

History

See also

References

External links