Lord Hawke's XI cricket team in North America in 1891–92
# Lord Hawke's XI cricket team in North America in 1891–92

In the English winter of 1891–92, Lord Hawke led a touring party of English amateur cricketers on a tour of North America. During their tour they played eight matches, six in the United States of America and two in Canada. The tour contained two first-class fixtures, both contested against the Gentlemen of Philadelphia.

C.W. Alcock of Surrey originally intended to take the team, but finding himself unable to go had to find a successor. Lord Hawke took on the role of organising the tour. The team was weaker than he wished but the inclusion of Sammy Woods at the last hour considerably strengthed the bowling. Woods turned out to be the success of the tour, taking 76 wickets in the 8 matches at an average of 7, as well as scoring 260 runs.

## Touring party

| Name | County | Birth date | Batting Style | Bowling Style |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Lord Hawke (Captain) | Yorkshire | (1860-08-16)16 August 1860 (aged 31) | Right-handed | – |
| Herbie Hewett | Somerset | (1864-05-25)25 May 1864 (aged 27) | Left-handed | Unknown arm medium |
| George Hillyard | – | (1864-02-06)6 February 1864 (aged 27) | Right-handed | Right arm fast-medium |
| John Hornsby | – | (1860-04-18)18 April 1860 (aged 31) | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox |
| Kingsmill Key | Surrey | (1864-10-11)11 October 1864 (aged 26) | Right-handed | Right arm off break |
| Kenneth McAlpine | – | (1858-04-11)11 April 1858 (aged 33) | Right-handed | – |
| Henry Milles | Kent | (1867-11-24)24 November 1867 (aged 23) | Right-handed | Right arm off break |
| George Ricketts | – | (1864-06-02)2 June 1864 (aged 27) | Right-handed | Right arm medium |
| Viscount Throwley | Kent | (1861-05-11)11 May 1861 (aged 30) | Right-handed | Right arm medium |
| Sammy Woods | Somerset | (1867-04-13)13 April 1867 (aged 24) | Right-handed | Right arm fast-medium |
| Charles Wreford-Brown | Gloucestershire | (1866-10-09)9 October 1866 (aged 24) | Right-handed | Right arm slow |
| Charles Wright † | Nottinghamshire | (1863-05-27)27 May 1863 (aged 28) | Right-handed | – |

## Matches

### First-class matches

The party left Liverpool on 16 September 1891, and during the voyage Herbie Hewett, George Ricketts and Charles Wreford-Brown suffered badly from seasickness. Sammy Woods, who was not affected by such ailments, attempted to get the three men to take dinner with him on the fourth evening. He served champagne and vegetable soup, but an American who was also suffering from nausea commented "Say steward, did you bring this up or did I?" None of Woods' three team-mates ate the dinner. The party landed in New York on the evening of 23 September and immediately made their way to Philadelphia for a half-day's practice before their first match.

* 25–28 September 1891 Scorecard
* Gentlemen of Philadelphia won by 8 wickets Germantown Cricket Club Ground Umpires: Unknown
* 1–2 October 1891 Scorecard
* Lord Hawke's XI won by 4 wickets Germantown Cricket Club Ground Umpires: Unknown

### Match log

| No. | Date | Opponents | Venue | Country | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 5–7 October | All New York | Livingston Field, Staten Island | United States | Drawn |
| 2 | 9–10 October | Baltimore | Baltimore | United States | Won by an innings and 150 runs |
| 3 | 12–13 October | Boston Athletic Association | Boston | United States | Won by 242 runs |
| 4 | 16–17 October | Chicago | Chicago | United States | Won by an innings and 90 runs |
| 5 | 20–21 October | Western Ontario | Rosedale, Toronto | Canada | Won by an innings and 54 runs |
| 6 | 23–24 October | Eastern Ontario | Ottawa | Canada | Won by an innings and 84 runs |
