Something

THE cricket has been mesmerising so far this year: a tied World Cup final against New Zealand that ended in a controversial win for the Brits; England score a pitiful 85 all out against Ireland who we bowled out for an astonishing record low of just 38 runs.

Even I and my non-cricket following family were transfixed, but will we still be on the edge of our seats as England and Australia slug it out through the Ashes? Who knows?

Either way, perhaps it all might ignite more interest in collecting memorabilia associated with the game. Cricketana has a strong following already but there is still scope for the newcomer and much waits to be discovered.

The hobby took off in 1987 following an important auction of cricketing memorabilia at Lord’s to celebrate the bicentenary of the MCC. The quality of what was on offer and the prices some of it achieved, opened collectors’ eyes to the potential and now cricketana is well established on the collecting wishlist.

The sport has a recorded history of having started in the UK in the 16th century, possibly in Kent or Sussex, having been imported from France or Belgium, where it might have started as a children’s game.

The first recognised English cricket club was Hambledon, in Hampshire, described as the “cradle of cricket”. It was founded in 1750 from what was then a social club for local worthies.

The club continued into the 1790s, but attention shifted to London and the Marylebone Cricket Club, best known today as the MCC, which was founded in 1787.

Lord’s cricket ground, named after MCC founder Thomas Lord, was acquired in 1824 and the club subsequently issued the first code of practices and laws of the game and became its ruling authority.

The first recognised Test Match between England and Australia was played in Melbourne in 1877.

The game was quickly adopted as part of every boy’s school curriculum, not just as a source of healthy exercise, but also as part of the character-building process that would produce honourable gentlemen in later life.

A visit to the MCC Museum, the world’s oldest sports museum, is a must for every collector. Apart from memorabilia belonging to just about every cricketing hero who ever held a bat, it is also where the urn containing the Ashes – said to be the remains of a burnt circle bail – is on permanent display.

No auction (or collection) of cricketana is complete without something relating to the distinctive black-bearded WG Grace, every boy’s sporting hero. He made his entry into first class cricket aged only 15 and from then until his retirement in 1900, scored more than 51,000 runs, representing an average of upwards of 1,300 runs for every year he played.

He scored 126 centuries, 10 double centuries and three times reached the

third century. He was also a deadly accurate bowler who took more than 2,800 wickets.

On one occasion, against an Oxford University side, Grace took all 10 wickets in one innings, each wicket costing fewer than five runs.

Not surprisingly, his likeness was reproduced in a plethora of highly collectable mementoes in every medium from valuable bronze statutes to more readily affordable Staffordshire figures, paintings and prints to silver presentation inkstands and trophies.

The same applies to other cricketing memorabilia whose importance relates directly to its association with a famous player or important match.

International caps, blazers, trophies, signed programmes and team photographs are all cases in point that are much sought after today.

Much has been written about cricket and some collectors and dealers specialise

Charming 19th century English School oil on canvas showing a grandfather teaching a clutch of children how to play cricket. Estimate £400-£600 Terracotta figure of W G Grace, signed and dated 1885 by Edwin Roscoe Mullins (1849-1907). A direct copy of his bronze presented to the MCC it is estimated at £700-£1,000 Late Victorian gilt brass barometer. Estimate £150-£200 Nineteenth century Staffordshire potters were quick to recognise the money-making potential of producing figures of leading cricketers. This is George Parr – the ‘Lion of the North’ – whose first-class career lasted from 1844-1870. He played mainly for Nottinghamshire, and was club captain from 1856. Estimate £250-£350 Late 19th century Doulton Lambeth stoneware three-handled tyg and a two-handled loving cup moulded with cricketers, the latter dated 1883, estimated together at £200-£300