Old Ebor
@oldebor.bsky.social
A cricket tragic who writes about the pre-war history of the game https://oldebor77.substack.com/
In 1919, league cricket in England became a genuine competitor to county cricket, able to attract the best players. For a time, administrators feared the effects of the Lancashire League and Bradford League. It was largely, but not entirely, a question of money. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
"There is only one question — a financial one"
County Cricket and the Lure of the Leagues
open.substack.com
In 1919, league cricket in England became a genuine competitor to county cricket, able to attract the best players. For a time, administrators feared the effects of the Lancashire League and Bradford League. It was largely, but not entirely, a question of money. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
"There is only one question — a financial one"
County Cricket and the Lure of the Leagues
open.substack.com
Andy Newell was an excellent club cricketer who never quite made it at first-class level. But his disappearance and apparent suicide in 1907 made headlines. His obituary even featured in Wisden. The problem was that Newell was not dead. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
Secret Lives and Wasted Sympathy
The Disappearance of Andy Newell
open.substack.com
Andy Newell was an excellent club cricketer who never quite made it at first-class level. But his disappearance and apparent suicide in 1907 made headlines. His obituary even featured in Wisden. The problem was that Newell was not dead. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
Secret Lives and Wasted Sympathy
The Disappearance of Andy Newell
open.substack.com
Hedley Verity was one of the greatest spinners to play for England. But the man — and his cricket — have been submerged beneath the hagiography of the valiant and tragic war hero. His career was less straightforward than the legend ever allows. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
Hedley Verity
Before the Hagiography
open.substack.com
Hedley Verity was one of the greatest spinners to play for England. But the man — and his cricket — have been submerged beneath the hagiography of the valiant and tragic war hero. His career was less straightforward than the legend ever allows. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
Hedley Verity
Before the Hagiography
open.substack.com
I never saw Sobers unfortunately, as he was before my time. But if he isn't the greatest ever, then the word has no meaning. Raising a glass to Sir Garry
Cricket's greatest-ever all-rounder, and an iconic figure in Nottinghamshire history. We are extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Sir Garfield Sobers. https://f.mtr.cool/hkzezavgyc
It has become a legend that as well as being Hampshire’s wicket-keeper in the 1920s (and one of the heroes of a match his county won after being bowled out for 15), Walter Livsey was also the valet of his captain, Lionel Tennyson. The truth was less clear-cut.. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
The Legends of Walter Livsey
Wicket-keeper, Coach, Writer … and Valet?
open.substack.com
It has become a legend that as well as being Hampshire’s wicket-keeper in the 1920s (and one of the heroes of a match his county won after being bowled out for 15), Walter Livsey was also the valet of his captain, Lionel Tennyson. The truth was less clear-cut.. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
The Legends of Walter Livsey
Wicket-keeper, Coach, Writer … and Valet?
open.substack.com
Walter Gilbert, a cousin of WG Grace, fell into disgrace in 1886. Not just for his arrest and conviction for theft, nor for financial struggles that already had resulted in bankruptcy. But for his horrifying decision to turn professional after years as an amateur open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
The Thin Partition
The Fall of Mr W. R. Gilbert
open.substack.com
Walter Gilbert, a cousin of WG Grace, fell into disgrace in 1886. Not just for his arrest and conviction for theft, nor for financial struggles that already had resulted in bankruptcy. But for his horrifying decision to turn professional after years as an amateur open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
The Thin Partition
The Fall of Mr W. R. Gilbert
open.substack.com
The Agony Column of the Times was full of stories that fascinated the public, but which were never resolved. DEAREST H. — Am in great distress. Pray write at once to same address as last; it will be quite safe. Loving little wife. (10 May 1881) open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
"Little Wife" and Other Stories
The Agony Column of The Times in 1881
open.substack.com
Daisie Stanley was one of the most remarkable women to play cricket. Her value lay not in batting or bowling, but in a genius for publicity that made her, in 1890, the heart of the Original English Lady Cricketers, the first professional women’s cricket team. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
The Captain of the "Blues"
Miss Daisie Stanley and the Original English Lady Cricketers
open.substack.com
Daisie Stanley was one of the most remarkable women to play cricket. Her value lay not in batting or bowling, but in a genius for publicity that made her, in 1890, the heart of the Original English Lady Cricketers, the first professional women’s cricket team. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
The Captain of the "Blues"
Miss Daisie Stanley and the Original English Lady Cricketers
open.substack.com
No-one knows what happened to the South African cricketer Jimmy Blanckenberg. After his last Test in 1924, he went on to play league cricket. He vanished from view in the 1930s and from public records in 1947. But it was not his first disappearance oldebor77.substack.com/p/the-man-wh...
The Man Who Fled
The Many Disappearances of Jimmy Blanckenberg
oldebor77.substack.com
Kate Hudson was the daughter of an optician. After the death of her father in 1895, her husband took her for a break in Helmsley. And he murdered her. open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
The Optician's Daughter
The Murder of Kate Hudson
open.substack.com
R. H. Spooner — with his brilliant, stylish batting — came to be a symbol for an entire period of English cricket: the "Golden Age". Yet it was a period to which he never entirely belonged. Real life got in the way a little too often. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
"Clothed the Grass with Gold"
Reginald Spooner, the Ghost of the Golden Age
open.substack.com
R. H. Spooner — with his brilliant, stylish batting — came to be a symbol for an entire period of English cricket: the "Golden Age". Yet it was a period to which he never entirely belonged. Real life got in the way a little too often. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
"Clothed the Grass with Gold"
Reginald Spooner, the Ghost of the Golden Age
open.substack.com
Andrew Stoddart captained England in two sports in the 1890s. His career encompassed the highest highs and the lowest lows, but his face never quite fitted. And throughout, he remained a tired pessimist. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
A Tired Pessimist
The Rise and Fall of Andrew Stoddart
open.substack.com
Andrew Stoddart captained England in two sports in the 1890s. His career encompassed the highest highs and the lowest lows, but his face never quite fitted. And throughout, he remained a tired pessimist. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
A Tired Pessimist
The Rise and Fall of Andrew Stoddart
open.substack.com
In 1913, an 18-year-old called Dorothy Vause disappeared from Whitby without explanation. When her family received letters and telegrams from her days later, she said that she had been kidnapped. But the truth was almost certainly very different. open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
The Stationmaster's Daughter
The Escape of Dorothy Vause
open.substack.com
Snuffy Browne was one of the most remarkable men ever to play cricket. He should have been impossible. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
"The Highest Ambition"
Snuffy Browne, the Impossible Cricketer
open.substack.com
Snuffy Browne was one of the most remarkable men ever to play cricket. He should have been impossible. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
"The Highest Ambition"
Snuffy Browne, the Impossible Cricketer
open.substack.com
In 1913, an 18-year-old called Dorothy Vause disappeared from Whitby without explanation. When her family received letters and telegrams from her days later, she said that she had been kidnapped. But the truth was almost certainly very different. open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
The Stationmaster's Daughter
The Escape of Dorothy Vause
open.substack.com
I've had the manuscript for my long-term project on early West Indies cricket sitting on my laptop for months now but finding a publisher is … challenging! Interested to hear what people might think about self-publishing, one way or another. Good idea? Bad idea? Terrible idea?
“Tiger” Smith was the Warwickshire wicket-keeper for 20 years and England’s first-choice before the First World War. He went on to be an umpire and a coach. But his most extraordinary achievement might have been the autobiography published after his death open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
On His Own Terms
The Unquiet Life of Tiger Smith
open.substack.com
Ranjitsinhji was acclaimed during his lifetime as the greatest cricketer of all time. But his ultimate aim was not cricketing greatness — which he unquestionably achieved — but a throne to which he never had any real claim. open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
Ranjitsinhji
A Conjuror of Runs and Myths
open.substack.com
In 1904, in a boarding house at the heart of Liverpool’s Chinese community, a man called Pong Lun shot dead his friend John Go Hing. But no-one in the story proved quite as straightforward as the press claimed, not least the widow of John Go Hing. open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
The Murder of John Go Hing
And the Many Lives of His Widow
open.substack.com
In 1904, in a boarding house at the heart of Liverpool’s Chinese community, a man called Pong Lun shot dead his friend John Go Hing. But no-one in the story proved quite as straightforward as the press claimed, not least the widow of John Go Hing. open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
The Murder of John Go Hing
And the Many Lives of His Widow
open.substack.com