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{{short description|American cricketer}}
{{Infobox NonTest Cricketer |
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2018}}
flag = Flag of the United States.svg |
{{Infobox cricketer
nationality = American |
| name = Bart King
country = USA |
| image = Bart King c1905cr.jpg
country abbrev = USA |
| caption = King in around 1905
name = Bart King |
| country = United States
picture = John Barton King Bowling.jpg |
| fullname = John Barton King
batting style = Right-handed batsman (RHB) |
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1873|10|19}}
bowling style = Right arm ] |
| birth_place = ], Pennsylvania, U.S.
fc = 65 |
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1965|10|17|1873|10|19}}
fc runs = 2134 |
| death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
fc bat avg = 20.51 |
| batting = Right-handed
fc 100s/50s = 1/8 |
| bowling = Right-arm ]
fc top score = 113 |
| role = ]
fc overs = 2288 |
| club1 = ]
fc wickets = 415 |
| year1 = {{nowrap|1893–1912}}
fc bowl avg = 15.66 |
| club2 = ]
fc 5s = 38 |
| year2 = 1894
fc 10s = 11 |
| type1 = ]
fc best bowling = 10/53 |
| debutdate1 = September 29,
fc catches/stumpings = 67c |
| debutyear1 = 1893
lalo matches = - |
| debutfor1 = Gentlemen of Philadelphia
lalo runs = - |
| debutagainst1 = ]
lalo bat avg = - |
| lastdate1 = October 4,
lalo 100s/50s = - |
| lastyear1 = 1912
lalo top score = - |
| lastfor1 = Gentlemen of Philadelphia
lalo overs = - |
| lastagainst1 = Australians
lalo wickets = - |
| columns = 1
lalo bowl avg = - |
| column1 = ]
lalo 5s = - |
| matches1 = 65
lalo 10s = - |
| runs1 = 2,134
lalo best bowling = - |
| bat avg1 = 20.51
lalo catches/stumpings = - |
| 100s/50s1 = 1/8
date = 14 January |
| top score1 = 113]
year = 2007 |
| deliveries1 = 13729
source = http://content.cricinfo.com/usa/content/player/25637.html
| wickets1 = 415
| bowl avg1 = 15.65
| fivefor1 = 38
| tenfor1 = 11
| best bowling1 = 10/53
| catches/stumpings1 = 67/–
| date = August 18,
| year = 2007
| source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6356/6356.html CricketArchive
}} }}


'''John Barton King''' (] ]&ndash;] ]) was one of the greatest ] ]ers of all time. He was the most prominent player in the United States during the sport's brief ]n "Golden Age". ] called '''Bart King''' "America's greatest cricketing son"<ref>Donald Bradman. ''The Art of Cricket''. Robson Books (1998).</ref> and he is arguably the greatest of all cricketers to have come from North America. He was noted as a preeminent fast and swing bowler.<ref>Neil Cohen. ''The Everything You Want to Know About Sports Encyclopedia''. Bantam Books (1994), 99.</ref> '''John Barton''' "'''Bart'''" '''King''' (October 19, 1873October 17, 1965) was an American ]er, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. King was part of the ] that played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of ]. This period of cricket in the United States was dominated by "]"—men of independent wealth who did not need to work. King, an amateur from a middle-class family, was able to devote time to cricket thanks to a job set up by his teammates.

A skilled ] who proved his worth as a ], King set numerous records in the continent of North America during his career and led the ] bowling averages in England in 1908.<ref name="Rolfe">{{cite book |last=Rolfe |first=John |title=Everything You Want to Know About Sports (Sports Illustrated for Kids) |publisher=Bantam Books for Young Readers |location=New York |year=1994 |isbn=0-553-48166-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/everythingyouwan00cohe }}</ref> He successfully competed against the best cricketers from England and Australia. King was the dominant bowler on his team when it toured England in 1897, 1903, and 1908. He dismissed batsmen with his unique delivery, which he called the "angler", and helped develop the art of ] in the sport.<ref name="SABRUK">{{cite web |url=http://www.sabruk.org/examiner/10/cricket.html |title=SABR UK Examiner no.10: Baseball and Cricket: Cross-Currents |access-date=January 31, 2007 |last=Synge |first=Allen |year=2007 |publisher=] (UK Chapter) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208042929/http://www.sabruk.org/examiner/10/cricket.html |archive-date=February 8, 2007 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> Sir ] described Bart King as "one of the finest bowlers of all time",<ref name="WisObit">{{cite web|url=http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/234625.html |title=Wisden – 1966 – Obituaries in 1965 |access-date=January 31, 2007 |year=1966 |publisher=] }}</ref> and ] called him "America's greatest cricketing son."<ref name="TheDon">{{cite book | last = Bradman | first = Donald | title = The Art of Cricket | publisher = Robson Books | year = 1998}}</ref>


==Early and personal life== ==Early and personal life==
King was born in Philadelphia in 1873. Early in his life, he worked in the linen trade. This was the family business but his father later allowed him to enter the insurance industry as a career. King was a member of the aristocratic and wealthy families of Philadelphia that produced many of the era's top cricketers. It has been suggested, however, that his career in insurance was set up for him by those families to allow him to continue playing the game. In 1913, King married a young woman by the name of Lockhart. The marriage lasted for fifty years, though he outlived his wife by two years.<ref>Obituary. ''Cricket Quarterly'' (1966), 61.</ref> King died in 1965 in his native Philadelphia just two days short of his 92nd birthday.<ref></ref> King was born in ] on October 19, 1873.<ref name="Cricinfo" /> Early in his life, he worked in a ] trade. Although this was the family business, his father later allowed him to leave to enter the insurance industry. King was not a member of the ] and wealthy families of Philadelphia that produced many of the era's top cricketers. King's obituary in ''Cricket Quarterly'' suggests that his career in insurance was set up for him by those families to allow him to continue playing the game. In 1913 (or 1911<ref>"Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Indexes, 1885–1951," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JVZ4-KYS : accessed October 19, 2013), John B King and Lockhart, 1911.</ref>), King married Fannie Lockhart; the marriage lasted for fifty years. King's wife died in 1963, and he died in 1965 in his native Philadelphia two days before his 92nd birthday.<ref name="Quart">{{Cite journal|title=Obituary of John Barton King |journal=Cricket Quarterly |volume=31 |issue=1 |year=1966 |page=61 |url=http://www.haverford.edu/library/cricket/JBKING.HTM|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207072143/http://www.haverford.edu/library/cricket/JBKING.HTM |archive-date=February 7, 2012 |df=mdy }}</ref><ref name="Cricinfo">{{cite web|url=http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/usa/content/player/25637.html |title=Cricinfo Players and Officials – Bart King |access-date=January 31, 2007 |year=2007 |publisher=] }}</ref>

Bart King was regarded by many of his contemporaries as an affable person. ] called him the ] of cricket thanks to his quips and stories. King was also noted for making jabs at opponents, but leaving them laughing at themselves. The same held true when he would question ] that turned down his ]. He is said to have spoken for ninety minutes at a dinner during his last tour to England, punctuated every few seconds with laughs. The dinner guests were kept laughing even while King spoke with a ] expression. One man who attended the dinner noted that King "told his impossible tales with such an air of conviction ... that his audiences were always in doubt when to take him seriously. He made their task doubly difficult by sprinkling in a fair mixture of truth with his fiction."<ref name="Barke">{{cite book | last = Barker | first = Ralph | title = Ten Great Bowlers | publisher = Chatto and Windus | year = 1967 | pages = 124–155 }}</ref>

] described him as a "tall, beautifully built, American ]."<ref>], ''10 for 66 and All That'', Phoenix, London, 1958, p. 112.</ref>


==Cricketing career== ==Cricketing career==
].]]
Like most young men of his era, Bart King came to cricket only after first playing ]. It was not until he was 15 years old that he first turned to cricket.<ref>Obituary. ''Cricket Quarterly'' (1966), 61.</ref> It was in 1888 that he began playing ] for Tioga in Philadelphia. This was one of the premier Philadelphian cricket clubs, though there are no matches recorded for him until the next year. In that season he took 37 wickets for 99 runs.
Like most young American men of this era, Bart King came to cricket only after first playing baseball. He began to play ] at ] in 1888, aged 15,<ref name="Quart"/> starting out as a ].<ref name="WisObit"/> Tioga was one of the lesser Philadelphian cricket clubs. King played his first recorded match for the club in 1889, when he was tried as a bowler due to his physique. He took 37 ]s for 99 ]s for the club in the 1889 cricket season.<ref name="Picador">{{cite book |author=Ramachandra Guha, Ed |title=The Picador Book of Cricket |publisher=Picador |location=New York |year=2001 |isbn=0-330-39612-9 }}</ref>
]
King was not only an outstanding bowler, but he was also an very fine batsman. To this day, his 344 runs for Belmont stand as the North American record. He also scored 39 centuries in his career and he topped 1,000 runs in a season six times, in 4 of them also taking over 100 wickets. He took over 100 wickets on 4 other occasions also. In his whole career he scored 19,808 runs for an average of 36.47 and took 2,088 wickets for an average of 10.47.<ref>Obituary. ''Cricket Quarterly'' (1966), 61.</ref>


King played for Tioga until 1896, when he joined ]. King joined the ] for three tours of England while playing at Belmont. King's most dominating matches came during these tours, playing with the premier American team of the era.
King played for Tioga until 1896, when he joined the Belmont Cricket Club. During this period, in 1908, King topped the England bowling averages with the extraordinary figure of 11.01 which was not to be bettered until 1958 by ] of Derbyshire with a figure of 10.99.<ref>.</ref> But the most dominating matches in which he played had been in the two previous tours. In 1897, he took 7 for 13 against the full ] team. In the second innings, he took 5 for 102 he helped the Philadelphians to a victory by 8 wickets.<ref>Obituary. ''Cricket Quarterly'' (1966), 61.</ref> King made use of a lethal delivery which he called "the angler", a product of his experience as a baseball pitcher to confuse the English batsmen.<ref>.</ref>


===Australia in Philadelphia===
King's even more masterful tour came in 1903 against ]. In the first innings, he scored 98 runs before being run out and took 3 for 89. In the second innings he made 113 and took 3 for 98. Surrey lost the match by 110 runs. It would seem that after the match, at a banquet, he fell asleep during a speech by the ].<ref>Obituary. ''Cricket Quarterly'' (1966), 61.</ref>
In 1893, the ] stopped by Philadelphia on its way home from a ]. Australia fielded a strong side, but the team was tired after a long tour and trip. In spite of this fatigue, the Australians chose to face the full strength of the Gentlemen of Philadelphia in a three-day match starting September 29.


On a small ground at ], the September grass was coarse. It had been rolled so that the ball moved very quickly across the ground. The Australian side, fielding first, dropped many ] and could not cope with the short ], allowing the Philadelphians to reach a huge total of 525 runs. King came in to bat last, at number 11, making 36 runs. The leading Australian bowlers, ] and ], took 2 for 104 and 0 for 114 respectively. When the Australians came to bat, they hoped that they would, by now, have recovered from their tiring journey, but ran into problems when dealing with Bart King's developing swing bowling. The side was all out for 199, with King taking 5 wickets for 78 runs. The Australians ] and were all out again for 268, allowing the Gentlemen of Philadelphia to win by an ] and 68 runs.<ref name="CricketArchive1893">{{cite web |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/4/4057.html |title=Philadelphians v Australians in 1893 |access-date=April 17, 2007 |date=2003–2007 |publisher=CricketArchive }}</ref>
==Legacy==
In 1912, he took part in his last two international matches against Australia and his performances were of high quality for a bowler nearing his fortieth year. In the first match, which Philadelphia won by 2 runs, he took 9 for 78 runs and in the second, which Australia won by 45 runs, he took 8 for 74. After that season he joined the Philadelphia Cricket Club and in 1916 he retired. King's twenty-seven year career ended when he played his last game for the Philadelphia Cricket Club against Frankford, on ] ]. On this occasion, his bowling and batting were nothing remarkable but his batting average was 43.33 for the season.


The cricket world was stunned that a single American city could turn out a side capable of beating the full strength of Australia. The Australians won the return match on October 6 by six wickets,<ref name="CricketArchive1893-2">{{cite web |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/4/4059.html |title=Philadelphians v Australians in 1893 |access-date=April 17, 2007 |date=2003–2007 |publisher=CricketArchive }}</ref> but the Australian captain, ], said to the Americans, "You have better players here than we have been led to believe. They class with England's best."<ref name="Barke"/>
Bart King took all 10 wickets in an innings on three occasions (on five others he took 9 wickets). One of these occasions, against the ], in 1909 was followed by his taking the hat-trick in the second innings.


===Tour of England in 1897===
King was elected an honorary member of our ] in 1908 and an honorary life member of the ] in 1962.
{{Main article|Philadelphian cricket team in England in 1897}}
]
King won the Child's Bowling Cup, the premier award for bowling in American cricket, for the first time in 1896,<ref name="Barke"/> and joined the Philadelphian cricket team's tour of England in 1897. The tour was very ambitious, and was arranged mainly for educational purposes: few of those on the American side expected to win many matches.<ref name="Wis1898Sum">{{cite web|url=http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/150157.html |title=Wisden – 1898 – The Philadelphians in England, 1897 |access-date=January 31, 2007 |year=1898 |publisher=] }}</ref> Previous tours had tended to involve amateur English sides with a low level of competition. In 1897, the tour started on June 7 at ], ending in late July at ] almost 2 months later. The schedule included fifteen matches against all of the top ] teams, the ] and ], the ], and two other sides, though only a few of the counties thought it worthwhile to put their best elevens onto the field.<ref name="Wis1898Sum" />


While the tour initially aroused some curiosity, many English fans lost interest until Bart King and the Philadelphians met the full ] team at ] on June 17. King demonstrated his batting ability in the first innings with a fourth-wicket stand of 107 with ].<ref name="CricketArchive2">{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/4/4791.html |title=Sussex v Philadelphians in 1897 |access-date=February 9, 2007 |date=2003–2007 |publisher=CricketArchive |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930025330/http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/4/4791.html |archive-date=September 30, 2007 }}</ref> He then took 7 wickets for 13 runs, and Philadelphia dismissed Sussex for 46 in less than an hour.<ref name="Barke"/> <!--Philadelphians' second innings?--> King took 6 for 102 in Sussex's second innings, helping the Philadelphians to victory by 8 wickets.<ref name="Quart"/>
==Teams==
===International===
*]


Despite the excitement surrounding King's performance, the Americans did not fare well overall, and the results may have been worse than hoped for by the tour's promoters. Philadelphia won only two of their fifteen matches, losing nine and earning a draw in the remaining four. After their win against Sussex, the only other win of the tour came against ]. During this match, King took 5 for 95 and 7 for 72 and scored 46 runs.<ref name="Picador"/> According to '']'', King proved himself to be the best bowler on the American side and had to do much of the work. He bowled three hundred ]s, more than anyone else in the team, taking 72 wickets with a ] of a little over 24 runs. In addition to his bowling, King scored 441 runs as a batsman<ref name="CricketArchive">{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1897_f_Batting_by_Runs.html |title=First-class Batting and Fielding in England for 1897 (Ordered by Runs) |access-date=February 9, 2007 |date=2003–2007 |publisher=CricketArchive }}</ref> at a ] of just over 20.<ref name="Wis1898Sum"/>
===USA first-class===
*]


Following the 1897 tour, many English counties were interested in securing King's services. It was thought that he would not play as a professional, so alternative means of remuneration had to be found: one county reportedly offered to arrange a marriage with a widow who had an income of ]7000 per year.<ref name="Picador"/> In the end, King returned to the United States, where he continued to perform very well in club cricket.
===Philadelphia club===
*Belmont
*Tioga


===Tour of England in 1903===
==Statistics links==
<!--{{main|Philadelphian cricket team in England in 1903}} - should be expanded-->
*

*
The Philadelphian team returned to England in 1903. This proved to be King's most successful tour, particularly his performances in the matches against ] and ]. King played in 13 of the 15 matches on the tour, missing two with a strained side. In his first match, against Cambridge University, he took 5 for 136 and 4 for 28. He followed that with 8 for 39 in the first innings against Oxford University, though the match was eventually abandoned as a draw due to rain. In his next match, against ], he took 2 for 26 in the first innings but did not bowl in the second. He also took 7 for 51 and 2 for 28 against a strong ] side at ].<ref name="CricketArchive3">{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/6/6232.html |title=Marylebone Cricket Club v Philadelphians in 1903 |access-date=February 9, 2007 |date=2003–2007 |publisher=CricketArchive }}</ref> Then came the Lancashire match at ].<ref name="Barke"/>

In Lancashire's first innings, King bowled 27 overs and took 5 wickets for 46 runs. The Philadelphians passed Lancashire's first innings score, but their lead was quickly overtaken in Lancashire's second innings. With the wind strong over King's left shoulder, the scene was set for him to dominate the opposition. In his first over after the lunch break on day two of the match, he ] one of Lancashire's ] and his replacement with successive balls. He clean ] two more batsmen in his second over, and bowled a ] out of the ground in the third. In 3 overs, he had taken 5 wickets for 7 runs. After this performance, King had to be rested in the field. One batsman was ] before King returned to take 4 more wickets, ending the innings with 9 for 62.<ref name="CricketArchive1903Lancs">{{cite web |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/6/6257.html |title=Lancashire v Philadelphians in 1903 |access-date=April 17, 2007 |date=2003–2007 |publisher=CricketArchive }}</ref> The Philadelphians won next morning by nine wickets.<ref name="Picador"/>

Against Surrey on August 6, King was overpowering again. It was in this match that King gave what Barker called his finest first-class performance ever.<ref name="Barke"/> Batting first, he scored 98 runs in the Philadelphian's first innings before being ], and he then took 3 for 89 in Surrey's reply. In the second innings, he made 113 ] and then took 3 for 98.<ref name="CricketArchive4">{{cite web|url=http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/6/6316.html |title=Surrey v Philadelphians in 1903 |access-date=February 9, 2007 |date=2003–2007 |publisher=CricketArchive }}</ref> Surrey lost the match by 110 runs. Apparently, King was so exhausted after his performance that he fell asleep during a speech by the ] ] at a banquet after the match.<ref name="Quart"/>

===Tour of England in 1908===
<!--{{main|Philadelphian cricket team in England in 1908}} - should be expanded-->

King toured England with the Philadelphians a third time in 1908. This tour included both first-class matches and more minor ones. The first match that was played was against South Wales in ]. The Philadelphians won by 36 behind the bowling of King and ]. The pair took all 20 wickets of the Welsh side.<ref>{{cite web |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/7/7627.html |title=South Wales v Philadelphians in 1908 |access-date=April 18, 2007 |date=2003–2007 |publisher=CricketArchive }}</ref> After this, the first-class matches began with ] on July 9. Again the Philadelphians won and again Hordern and King took most of the wickets.<ref>{{cite web |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/7/7632.html |title=Worcestershire v Philadelphians in 1908 |access-date=April 18, 2007 |date=2003–2007 |publisher=CricketArchive }}</ref> This trend continued throughout the tour. In the first-class matches that King played, the Philadelphians recorded four wins and six losses.<ref>{{cite web|url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/ENG/1908_ENG_Philadelphians_in_England_1908.html |title=Philadelphians in England 1908 |access-date=April 18, 2007 |date=2003–2007 |publisher=CricketArchive |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401161631/http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/ENG/1908_ENG_Philadelphians_in_England_1908.html |archive-date=April 1, 2007 |df=mdy }}</ref> Although he was already 35 years old, King had posted extraordinary numbers in his bowling. He topped the bowling averages for the entire ] at 11.01. This mark was not bettered until 1958, when ] of ] posted an average of 10.99.<ref name="SABRUK"/>

===Later career===
King's cricketing career did not end with his last first-class match. He continued to play club matches in Philadelphia and participated in non-first-class fixtures around the continent. King is noted for holding the bowling record against ]. On a rainy afternoon at Philadelphia in 1906, King bowled into a slight breeze to capture 8 wickets for 17 runs.<ref name="Cricinfo2">{{cite web|url=http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/NATIONAL/ICC_MEMBERS/CAN/CCA_HISTORY_11SEP1997.html |title=Cricinfo – Canada |access-date=January 31, 2007 |last=Boller |first=Kevin |year=2007 |publisher=] }}</ref> This record came in a four-year period during which King focused on club cricket in Philadelphia, when he won the city's batting award three times and the bowling award four times.<ref name="Barke"/>

King played in his last two international matches in 1912, against Australia. His performances were of the highest quality, given that he was nearing his fortieth year.<ref name="Quart"/> In the first match, he took 9 wickets for 78 runs to help Philadelphia win by 2 runs; in the second, Australia won by 45 runs despite him taking 8 for 74.

King joined the ] after the 1912 season. Despite being well past his 40th year, he continued to play competitive cricket for another 4 years. His 27-year career ended with his last game for the Philadelphia Cricket Club against Frankford, on July 20, 1916. On this occasion, his bowling and batting skills had declined, but he maintained a batting average of 43.33 for that final season.<ref name="Quart"/>

==Death==
King died at a ] in his native Philadelphia in 1965, two days short of his 92nd birthday.<ref name="timesobit">{{cite news|title=Obituary – J. B. King|newspaper=]|date=October 23, 1965|page=10}}</ref> '']'' newspaper in the UK ran an obituary for him, which quoted ] as saying that: "Had he been an Englishman or an Australian, he would have been even more famous than he was."<ref name="timesobit"/>

==Achievements and legacy==
]
Though King focused on bowling throughout his career, he was also a very fine batsman. In 1905, he established a North American record batting record by scoring 315 at the ]. The following year, he scored 344 not out for Belmont against the ], setting a North American batting record which still stands.<ref name="Cricinfo2"/> He scored 39 centuries in his North American career, and he topped 1,000 runs in six seasons. He took over 100 wickets in eight seasons, including a double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in four seasons. In his whole career, he scored 19,808 runs at an average of 36.47, and took 2,088 wickets at an average of 10.47.<ref name="Quart"/> He took all 10 wickets in an innings on three occasions, and took 9 wickets in an innings five times. One of these occasions, in the ]'s first innings in 1909, was followed by a ] in the second innings.<ref name="CricArchive">{{cite web|url=http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/8/8031.html |title=Cricket Archive – Philadelphians v Ireland in 1909 |access-date=January 31, 2007 |date=2003–2007 |publisher=CricketArchive }}</ref>

There is an apocryphal story of King emulating a famous baseball pitcher of the day, ], by sending all his fielders back into the pavilion and finishing off the opponent's innings on his own. King and Belmont were playing Trenton in the Halifax Cup at Elmwood Cricket Ground. Some versions of the story have him banishing the fielders and then calling one of them to a position {{convert|22|yd|m}} back and {{convert|4|yd|m}} to the leg side. This fielder was stationed there to pick up the ] which landed at his feet after King bowled his trademark "angler".<ref name="Picador"/> This story was disputed some years later by the captain of Trenton, who claimed that when he "went in to bat that afternoon, King had four balls left in his over." He claimed to have "hit the first delivery to ] but of course there was no one there. The ball stopped within three feet of the boundary, and King had to chase it. By the time he got back we had run six."<ref name="Barke"/> The captain claimed to be the only batsmen to have hit four consecutive sixes off King, but commended the bowler on his ability to spin a tale.

Thanks to his dominant performance over his career and his renown in the world of cricket, King was elected an honorary member of the Incogniti Cricket Club in 1908 and an honorary life member of the ] in 1962.<ref name="Quart"/> When Plum Warner was asked to name the greatest bowler who ever lived, he said that John Barton King, "at the top of his power and speed, was at least the equal of the greatest of them all."<ref name="Barke"/>

King is credited as one of the first bowlers to utilise ] deliberately. Other bowlers in his time could sometimes get the ball to swing, but King was one of the first to do so at will with an old or new ball.<ref name="Picador"/> He made use of a lethal delivery which he called the "angler", a product of his experience as a baseball pitcher, to confuse the English batsmen.<ref name="SABRUK"/> He would come in with the ball clasped above his head in both hands as would a baseball pitcher. He was famous for his late swing—in and out—and would produce the ] with his right hand coming down from a point over his left shoulder.<ref name="Barke"/> He described it as an in-swinger which, if properly bowled, would change direction sharply in the last 10 or {{convert|15|ft|m}} of flight. King used this ball only sparingly and only against good batsmen.<ref name="Cricinfo3">{{cite web|url=http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/usa/content/story/261614.html |title=Cricinfo – Cricket in the USA |access-date=January 31, 2007 |last=Marder |first=John |author2=Adrian Cole |year=2007 |publisher=] }}</ref> After a tour to Philadelphia by an Australian side in 1896,<ref name="CricketArchive1896Aus">{{cite web|url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/USA/1896_USA_Australia_in_North_America_1896.html |title=Australia in North America 1896 |access-date=April 17, 2007 |date=2003–2007 |publisher=CricketArchive |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914163433/http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/USA/1896_USA_Australia_in_North_America_1896.html |archive-date=September 14, 2007 |df=mdy }}</ref> ] said "the Philadelphians really have some high-class players, but it was the fact of their bowlers playing us with baseball curves that upset our batsmen."<ref name="Barke"/>

]


==Notes== ==Notes==
{{reflist}} {{reflist}}


==External links==
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* {{Commons category-inline|Bart King}}
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* {{ESPNcricinfo|id=25637}}
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Latest revision as of 15:55, 22 September 2024

American cricketer

Bart King
King in around 1905
Personal information
Full nameJohn Barton King
Born(1873-10-19)October 19, 1873
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedOctober 17, 1965(1965-10-17) (aged 91)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast
RoleBowler
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1893–1912Gentlemen of Philadelphia
1894G.S. Patterson XI
FC debutSeptember 29, 1893 Gentlemen of Philadelphia v Australians
Last FCOctober 4, 1912 Gentlemen of Philadelphia v Australians
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 65
Runs scored 2,134
Batting average 20.51
100s/50s 1/8
Top score 113*
Balls bowled 13729
Wickets 415
Bowling average 15.65
5 wickets in innings 38
10 wickets in match 11
Best bowling 10/53
Catches/stumpings 67/–
Source: CricketArchive, August 18, 2007

John Barton "Bart" King (October 19, 1873 – October 17, 1965) was an American cricketer, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. King was part of the Philadelphia team that played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I. This period of cricket in the United States was dominated by "gentlemen cricketers"—men of independent wealth who did not need to work. King, an amateur from a middle-class family, was able to devote time to cricket thanks to a job set up by his teammates.

A skilled batsman who proved his worth as a bowler, King set numerous records in the continent of North America during his career and led the first-class bowling averages in England in 1908. He successfully competed against the best cricketers from England and Australia. King was the dominant bowler on his team when it toured England in 1897, 1903, and 1908. He dismissed batsmen with his unique delivery, which he called the "angler", and helped develop the art of swing bowling in the sport. Sir Pelham Warner described Bart King as "one of the finest bowlers of all time", and Donald Bradman called him "America's greatest cricketing son."

Early and personal life

King was born in Philadelphia on October 19, 1873. Early in his life, he worked in a linen trade. Although this was the family business, his father later allowed him to leave to enter the insurance industry. King was not a member of the aristocratic and wealthy families of Philadelphia that produced many of the era's top cricketers. King's obituary in Cricket Quarterly suggests that his career in insurance was set up for him by those families to allow him to continue playing the game. In 1913 (or 1911), King married Fannie Lockhart; the marriage lasted for fifty years. King's wife died in 1963, and he died in 1965 in his native Philadelphia two days before his 92nd birthday.

Bart King was regarded by many of his contemporaries as an affable person. Ralph Barker called him the Bob Hope of cricket thanks to his quips and stories. King was also noted for making jabs at opponents, but leaving them laughing at themselves. The same held true when he would question umpires that turned down his appeals. He is said to have spoken for ninety minutes at a dinner during his last tour to England, punctuated every few seconds with laughs. The dinner guests were kept laughing even while King spoke with a dead-pan expression. One man who attended the dinner noted that King "told his impossible tales with such an air of conviction ... that his audiences were always in doubt when to take him seriously. He made their task doubly difficult by sprinkling in a fair mixture of truth with his fiction."

Arthur Mailey described him as a "tall, beautifully built, American Adonis."

Cricketing career

King played most of his Philadelphia club career at the Belmont Cricket Club.

Like most young American men of this era, Bart King came to cricket only after first playing baseball. He began to play club cricket at Tioga Cricket Club in 1888, aged 15, starting out as a batsman. Tioga was one of the lesser Philadelphian cricket clubs. King played his first recorded match for the club in 1889, when he was tried as a bowler due to his physique. He took 37 wickets for 99 runs for the club in the 1889 cricket season.

King played for Tioga until 1896, when he joined Belmont Cricket Club. King joined the Philadelphian cricket team for three tours of England while playing at Belmont. King's most dominating matches came during these tours, playing with the premier American team of the era.

Australia in Philadelphia

In 1893, the Australian team stopped by Philadelphia on its way home from a tour of England. Australia fielded a strong side, but the team was tired after a long tour and trip. In spite of this fatigue, the Australians chose to face the full strength of the Gentlemen of Philadelphia in a three-day match starting September 29.

On a small ground at Belmont, the September grass was coarse. It had been rolled so that the ball moved very quickly across the ground. The Australian side, fielding first, dropped many catches and could not cope with the short boundary, allowing the Philadelphians to reach a huge total of 525 runs. King came in to bat last, at number 11, making 36 runs. The leading Australian bowlers, Hugh Trumble and George Giffen, took 2 for 104 and 0 for 114 respectively. When the Australians came to bat, they hoped that they would, by now, have recovered from their tiring journey, but ran into problems when dealing with Bart King's developing swing bowling. The side was all out for 199, with King taking 5 wickets for 78 runs. The Australians followed on and were all out again for 268, allowing the Gentlemen of Philadelphia to win by an innings and 68 runs.

The cricket world was stunned that a single American city could turn out a side capable of beating the full strength of Australia. The Australians won the return match on October 6 by six wickets, but the Australian captain, Jack Blackham, said to the Americans, "You have better players here than we have been led to believe. They class with England's best."

Tour of England in 1897

Main article: Philadelphian cricket team in England in 1897
Bart King c. 1905

King won the Child's Bowling Cup, the premier award for bowling in American cricket, for the first time in 1896, and joined the Philadelphian cricket team's tour of England in 1897. The tour was very ambitious, and was arranged mainly for educational purposes: few of those on the American side expected to win many matches. Previous tours had tended to involve amateur English sides with a low level of competition. In 1897, the tour started on June 7 at Oxford, ending in late July at The Oval almost 2 months later. The schedule included fifteen matches against all of the top county cricket teams, the Oxford and Cambridge University teams, the Marylebone Cricket Club, and two other sides, though only a few of the counties thought it worthwhile to put their best elevens onto the field.

While the tour initially aroused some curiosity, many English fans lost interest until Bart King and the Philadelphians met the full Sussex team at Brighton on June 17. King demonstrated his batting ability in the first innings with a fourth-wicket stand of 107 with John Lester. He then took 7 wickets for 13 runs, and Philadelphia dismissed Sussex for 46 in less than an hour. King took 6 for 102 in Sussex's second innings, helping the Philadelphians to victory by 8 wickets.

Despite the excitement surrounding King's performance, the Americans did not fare well overall, and the results may have been worse than hoped for by the tour's promoters. Philadelphia won only two of their fifteen matches, losing nine and earning a draw in the remaining four. After their win against Sussex, the only other win of the tour came against Warwickshire. During this match, King took 5 for 95 and 7 for 72 and scored 46 runs. According to Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, King proved himself to be the best bowler on the American side and had to do much of the work. He bowled three hundred overs, more than anyone else in the team, taking 72 wickets with a bowling average of a little over 24 runs. In addition to his bowling, King scored 441 runs as a batsman at a batting average of just over 20.

Following the 1897 tour, many English counties were interested in securing King's services. It was thought that he would not play as a professional, so alternative means of remuneration had to be found: one county reportedly offered to arrange a marriage with a widow who had an income of £7000 per year. In the end, King returned to the United States, where he continued to perform very well in club cricket.

Tour of England in 1903

The Philadelphian team returned to England in 1903. This proved to be King's most successful tour, particularly his performances in the matches against Lancashire and Surrey. King played in 13 of the 15 matches on the tour, missing two with a strained side. In his first match, against Cambridge University, he took 5 for 136 and 4 for 28. He followed that with 8 for 39 in the first innings against Oxford University, though the match was eventually abandoned as a draw due to rain. In his next match, against Gloucestershire, he took 2 for 26 in the first innings but did not bowl in the second. He also took 7 for 51 and 2 for 28 against a strong MCC side at Lord's. Then came the Lancashire match at Old Trafford Cricket Ground.

In Lancashire's first innings, King bowled 27 overs and took 5 wickets for 46 runs. The Philadelphians passed Lancashire's first innings score, but their lead was quickly overtaken in Lancashire's second innings. With the wind strong over King's left shoulder, the scene was set for him to dominate the opposition. In his first over after the lunch break on day two of the match, he yorked one of Lancashire's opening batsmen and his replacement with successive balls. He clean bowled two more batsmen in his second over, and bowled a stump out of the ground in the third. In 3 overs, he had taken 5 wickets for 7 runs. After this performance, King had to be rested in the field. One batsman was run out before King returned to take 4 more wickets, ending the innings with 9 for 62. The Philadelphians won next morning by nine wickets.

Against Surrey on August 6, King was overpowering again. It was in this match that King gave what Barker called his finest first-class performance ever. Batting first, he scored 98 runs in the Philadelphian's first innings before being run out, and he then took 3 for 89 in Surrey's reply. In the second innings, he made 113 not out and then took 3 for 98. Surrey lost the match by 110 runs. Apparently, King was so exhausted after his performance that he fell asleep during a speech by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Alverstone at a banquet after the match.

Tour of England in 1908

King toured England with the Philadelphians a third time in 1908. This tour included both first-class matches and more minor ones. The first match that was played was against South Wales in Cardiff. The Philadelphians won by 36 behind the bowling of King and Ranji Hordern. The pair took all 20 wickets of the Welsh side. After this, the first-class matches began with Worcestershire on July 9. Again the Philadelphians won and again Hordern and King took most of the wickets. This trend continued throughout the tour. In the first-class matches that King played, the Philadelphians recorded four wins and six losses. Although he was already 35 years old, King had posted extraordinary numbers in his bowling. He topped the bowling averages for the entire 1908 English cricket season at 11.01. This mark was not bettered until 1958, when Les Jackson of Derbyshire posted an average of 10.99.

Later career

King's cricketing career did not end with his last first-class match. He continued to play club matches in Philadelphia and participated in non-first-class fixtures around the continent. King is noted for holding the bowling record against Canada. On a rainy afternoon at Philadelphia in 1906, King bowled into a slight breeze to capture 8 wickets for 17 runs. This record came in a four-year period during which King focused on club cricket in Philadelphia, when he won the city's batting award three times and the bowling award four times.

King played in his last two international matches in 1912, against Australia. His performances were of the highest quality, given that he was nearing his fortieth year. In the first match, he took 9 wickets for 78 runs to help Philadelphia win by 2 runs; in the second, Australia won by 45 runs despite him taking 8 for 74.

King joined the Philadelphia Cricket Club after the 1912 season. Despite being well past his 40th year, he continued to play competitive cricket for another 4 years. His 27-year career ended with his last game for the Philadelphia Cricket Club against Frankford, on July 20, 1916. On this occasion, his bowling and batting skills had declined, but he maintained a batting average of 43.33 for that final season.

Death

King died at a nursing home in his native Philadelphia in 1965, two days short of his 92nd birthday. The Times newspaper in the UK ran an obituary for him, which quoted Plum Warner as saying that: "Had he been an Englishman or an Australian, he would have been even more famous than he was."

Achievements and legacy

Bart King's bowling delivery

Though King focused on bowling throughout his career, he was also a very fine batsman. In 1905, he established a North American record batting record by scoring 315 at the Germantown Cricket Club. The following year, he scored 344 not out for Belmont against the Merion Cricket Club, setting a North American batting record which still stands. He scored 39 centuries in his North American career, and he topped 1,000 runs in six seasons. He took over 100 wickets in eight seasons, including a double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in four seasons. In his whole career, he scored 19,808 runs at an average of 36.47, and took 2,088 wickets at an average of 10.47. He took all 10 wickets in an innings on three occasions, and took 9 wickets in an innings five times. One of these occasions, in the Gentlemen of Ireland's first innings in 1909, was followed by a hat-trick in the second innings.

There is an apocryphal story of King emulating a famous baseball pitcher of the day, Rube Waddell, by sending all his fielders back into the pavilion and finishing off the opponent's innings on his own. King and Belmont were playing Trenton in the Halifax Cup at Elmwood Cricket Ground. Some versions of the story have him banishing the fielders and then calling one of them to a position 22 yards (20 m) back and 4 yards (3.7 m) to the leg side. This fielder was stationed there to pick up the bails which landed at his feet after King bowled his trademark "angler". This story was disputed some years later by the captain of Trenton, who claimed that when he "went in to bat that afternoon, King had four balls left in his over." He claimed to have "hit the first delivery to cover point but of course there was no one there. The ball stopped within three feet of the boundary, and King had to chase it. By the time he got back we had run six." The captain claimed to be the only batsmen to have hit four consecutive sixes off King, but commended the bowler on his ability to spin a tale.

Thanks to his dominant performance over his career and his renown in the world of cricket, King was elected an honorary member of the Incogniti Cricket Club in 1908 and an honorary life member of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1962. When Plum Warner was asked to name the greatest bowler who ever lived, he said that John Barton King, "at the top of his power and speed, was at least the equal of the greatest of them all."

King is credited as one of the first bowlers to utilise swing bowling deliberately. Other bowlers in his time could sometimes get the ball to swing, but King was one of the first to do so at will with an old or new ball. He made use of a lethal delivery which he called the "angler", a product of his experience as a baseball pitcher, to confuse the English batsmen. He would come in with the ball clasped above his head in both hands as would a baseball pitcher. He was famous for his late swing—in and out—and would produce the in-swinger with his right hand coming down from a point over his left shoulder. He described it as an in-swinger which, if properly bowled, would change direction sharply in the last 10 or 15 feet (4.6 m) of flight. King used this ball only sparingly and only against good batsmen. After a tour to Philadelphia by an Australian side in 1896, George Giffen said "the Philadelphians really have some high-class players, but it was the fact of their bowlers playing us with baseball curves that upset our batsmen."

King's First-class batting career, showing runs scored (red bars) and the average of the last ten innings (blue line).

Notes

  1. Rolfe, John (1994). Everything You Want to Know About Sports (Sports Illustrated for Kids). New York: Bantam Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-553-48166-5.
  2. ^ Synge, Allen (2007). "SABR UK Examiner no.10: Baseball and Cricket: Cross-Currents". Society for American Baseball Research (UK Chapter). Archived from the original on February 8, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "Wisden – 1966 – Obituaries in 1965". John Wisden & Co. 1966. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  4. Bradman, Donald (1998). The Art of Cricket. Robson Books.
  5. ^ "Cricinfo – Players and Officials – Bart King". Cricinfo. 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  6. "Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Indexes, 1885–1951," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JVZ4-KYS : accessed October 19, 2013), John B King and Lockhart, 1911.
  7. ^ "Obituary of John Barton King". Cricket Quarterly. 31 (1): 61. 1966. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012.
  8. ^ Barker, Ralph (1967). Ten Great Bowlers. Chatto and Windus. pp. 124–155.
  9. Arthur Mailey, 10 for 66 and All That, Phoenix, London, 1958, p. 112.
  10. ^ Ramachandra Guha, Ed (2001). The Picador Book of Cricket. New York: Picador. ISBN 0-330-39612-9.
  11. "Philadelphians v Australians in 1893". CricketArchive. 2003–2007. Retrieved April 17, 2007.
  12. "Philadelphians v Australians in 1893". CricketArchive. 2003–2007. Retrieved April 17, 2007.
  13. ^ "Wisden – 1898 – The Philadelphians in England, 1897". John Wisden & Co. 1898. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  14. "Sussex v Philadelphians in 1897". CricketArchive. 2003–2007. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2007.
  15. "First-class Batting and Fielding in England for 1897 (Ordered by Runs)". CricketArchive. 2003–2007. Retrieved February 9, 2007.
  16. "Marylebone Cricket Club v Philadelphians in 1903". CricketArchive. 2003–2007. Retrieved February 9, 2007.
  17. "Lancashire v Philadelphians in 1903". CricketArchive. 2003–2007. Retrieved April 17, 2007.
  18. "Surrey v Philadelphians in 1903". CricketArchive. 2003–2007. Retrieved February 9, 2007.
  19. "South Wales v Philadelphians in 1908". CricketArchive. 2003–2007. Retrieved April 18, 2007.
  20. "Worcestershire v Philadelphians in 1908". CricketArchive. 2003–2007. Retrieved April 18, 2007.
  21. "Philadelphians in England 1908". CricketArchive. 2003–2007. Archived from the original on April 1, 2007. Retrieved April 18, 2007.
  22. ^ Boller, Kevin (2007). "Cricinfo – Canada". Cricinfo. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  23. ^ "Obituary – J. B. King". The Times. October 23, 1965. p. 10.
  24. "Cricket Archive – Philadelphians v Ireland in 1909". CricketArchive. 2003–2007. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  25. Marder, John; Adrian Cole (2007). "Cricinfo – Cricket in the USA". Cricinfo. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  26. "Australia in North America 1896". CricketArchive. 2003–2007. Archived from the original on September 14, 2007. Retrieved April 17, 2007.

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