Object number
M.2015.1010
Title
Oxford University Authentics CC Blazer of Rodney CA Fitzgerald, 1940s
Creator
Material
Size
length: 84.5 cm
Description
Oxford University Authentics Cricket Club Blazer. Vertical stripes, wide navy blue with narrower burnt red and gold/cream. A-line shape with short, wide lapels with buttonhole. Three pockets, three buttons on front and two on cuffs. Marked ‘O.U A.C.C.’.
Display caption
OXFORD UNIVERSITY AUTHENTICS TOUR OF INDIA 1902-03
The Oxford University Authentics toured pre-partition India around the time of the 1903 Delhi Durbar, the fabulous pageant arranged to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII as Emperor of India. The Authentics were founded in the 1880s, as an antidote to the perception that only players from a certain background were selected for the ‘Varsity’ XI, but by 1902 it was a club open to all Oxford cricketers. For its tour of India, the club was unable to call upon some of its most celebrated members, such as Test players C B Fry, P F Warner and B J T Bosanquet, the latter two touring Australia and New Zealand with Lord Hawke’s XI at the time. Instead, the team was captained by former Surrey skipper Kingsmill Key, and included Alfred H Hornby, son of England Test cricketer Alfred N Hornby, and the slow underarm bowler George Simpson-Hayward, who would go on to take 23 wickets in five Tests for England. Simpson-Hayward was one of two Cambridge University ‘guests’ in the party. They played four matches in Pakistan, at Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Aligarh. They then travelled to Delhi, where their match against the Gentlemen of India on 5 January 1903 formed part of the fortnight-long Durbar.
Oxford University Authentics Cricket Club Blazer of R C A Fitzgerald, c.1940
MCC Collection: purchased 2015
M.2015.1010
Association
Exhibitions
Object name
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