Preface

 

 

No cricket tour book has been delayed as long as this one, and no Test series has better deserved a chronicle in book form. It comes a century after the event.

Stoddy’s Mission is compiled by one who has always been drawn to the period and has gathered a wide variety of source material, a principal element being the 1894–95 England captain’s own original tour scrapbook. Out of it came some rich material for his biography—‘My Dear Victorious Stod’ (l970)—in which the 1894–95 tour occupied no more than 35 pages. The bulky scrapbook, together with a mass of detail from other contemporary newspapers, gleaned by my son, Peter, provided a base for the narrative.

Numerous books and periodicals, studied over many years, have bred in the author a familiarity with those long-lost cricketers which has made it sometimes difficult to adjust to the modern game. The happy consequence is that one who is torn in these two directions can at least enjoy the best of both worlds, the old and the new, even if touches of fantasy sometimes intrude. Further complications spring from the fact of having equal backgrounds in and affinities for both England and Australia.

One reference book warrants particular mention for its value in terms of factual framework, and that is Ray Webster’s First-Class Cricket in Australia Volume 1 1850–51 to 1941–42, which affords an ‘audited’ scorecard of every match, with many longlasting inaccuracies (even from Wisden) erased. The skills of Patrick Eagar and Jan Traylen in copying rare photographs are also warmly acknowledged. And, not for the first time, Richard Smart, publisher and friend, is thanked for his crucial support and faith.

Stoddy’s Mission comes with the fervent hope that the 1994–95 Ashes Test series between Australia and England—played by way of centenary celebration and watched, courtesy of the new-fangled satellite television, by millions rather than thousands—will be just as breathtaking a spectacle as that First Great Test Series when Anglo-Australian cricket combat took recognisable shape.