Goldsmiths’ College cricket first eleven with the Warden William Loring sitting centre circa 1910 to 1912.
If you were in the Goldsmiths’ College cricket team there was a time when you had a lifetime opportunity to play against a team captained by somebody hailed then and ever since as the greatest cricketer in the world.
It was something to tell your grandchildren about and dine out on for the rest of your life- certainly if cricket was your thing.
In 1914 cricket was an aspirational game extolling athleticism and what was described at the time as ‘muscular Christianity.’
It was the game advancing the alleged decorum and dignity of the British Empire and the meeting place in the British class system between gentry, farmers and serfs in the villages of England.
Yes, indeed this was the quintessential game played between ‘Gentleman’ and ‘Players.’
It was the game that state secondary and grammar schools pursued relentlessly and somewhat forlornly to emulate the values and ethos, indeed the majesty of the playing fields of Eton, Wellington and Marlborough Public Schools.