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Edgar Mayne's album: A last hurrah

Edgar Mayne's album: A last hurrah

After the disastrous Triangular Tournament in England in 1912, the Australian XI sailed home via North America, playing matches in Philadelphia, New York, Winnipeg and British Columbia.

A black and white photograph of people on the deck of an ocean liner. There are 10 men and one woman in the photo. The men all wear long trousers, shoes, shirts and jackets. Two wear caps while one wears a hat. Three of them stand to the right of the photo, two with their backs to the camera. The third man in this group is mostly obscured by the other two men. He appears to be looking at a piece of paper. The rest of the men and the woman stand near or sit on some of the ocean liner's superstructure. They look at the camera. The woman wears a long dress, jacket and broad-brimmed hat. A man stands with the woman, holding a pair of binoculars at about chest height. In the left background one of the men sits in a deck chair, reading a book. The wooden planks of the ocean liner's deck are clearly visible in the photo.


During this leg of the tour, Australian batsman Edgar Mayne met entrepreneur Richard Benjamin and together they planned a second Australian tour of North America in 1913.

Left: Members of the Australian team relax on the deck of the SS Otway. In the days before air travel a tour of England would involve months at sea. Photo: George Serras.

A black and white photograph of three men. They stand next to each other in front of a building. The man in the middle wears cricket clothes and a pair of batting pads on his lower legs. He wears a light-toned top hat. The other two men wear light-toned trousers, shoes, shirts and dark jackets. They both hold very small umbrellas in their left hands, up over their heads. In the background there are people sitting and standing on the verandah of the building. The man wearing cricket clothes in the group of three appears to be holding something between his hands, at about chest height. It is difficult to see what he is holding. The three men stand on tufted grass.



Mayne recruited enough players for a team and approached the Australian Cricket Board of Control for support.

The board refused official endorsement, but the players went anyway, enjoying a successful tour through Canada and the United States of America.

The Australians played 53 matches and only lost one. This turned out to be the last first-class match played in the United States, as American cricket surrendered to the popularity of baseball.

Left: Australian cricketers ER Mayne, PS Arnott, JN Crawford standing in front of Ottawa Cricket Pavilion in Canada.
Photo: George Serras.

A black and white photograph of cricketers on a cricket field. There are eight men in cricket clothes, standing or walking on the field. A ninth man walks to the left of the cricketers, dressed in a dark suit and hat. In the left background stands a group of men dressed in dark suits. The names of the cricketers have been written above each one. At the top of the photo is written 'Australians v Yorkton (Canada) Sept 8 9 1913'. Beyond the cricket field can be seen houses. In the far right background are what appear to be two grain silos.


Left: The Australians on the field at Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada on their 1913 tour. Photo: George Serras.

A black and white photograph of five men on a snow field. Three of the men are standing while two appear to be sitting on rocky ground. They all wear suits. One of the standing men wears a long coat and boater-style hat. The man standing to the left of that man wears a cap. One of the sitting men wears a trilby-style hat. Four of the men hold flat chunks of snow in their hands. One of the sitting men balances a large, flat piece of snow on his head. In the background is a steep section of the snow field, rising up from left to right. Beyond the edge of the snow is a rock face, with many cracks and weathering marks on it.



Left: Australian cricketers AA Mailey, ER Mayne, WW Bardsley, GS Down and PS Arnott play in the snow on their trip to Canada in 1912/13. Photo: George Serras.

A black and white photograph of two men sitting on deck chairs on an ocean liner. The man in the left deck chair wears light-toned shoes, trousers, shirt and a dark jacket. He holds a book in his lap. The man in the right deck chair wears a dark suit and shoes. He has his hands resting in his lap. Both look at the camera. The names of each man have been written above them. The man at left is E.R. Mayne while the man at right is S. H. Emery. At the top of the photo is written 'On board S.S. Niagara Australian Team to America May 1913'.



Left: ER Mayne and SH Emery on board the SS Niagarato America in 1913. Photo: George Serras.


More on Edgar Mayne's album