I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the

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"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the 'wandering' cricket clubs (without a home ground), and is well known for its historically aristocratic membership and its colours of black, red and gold, symbolising the motto "Out of darkness, through fire, into light".

History

John Loraine Baldwin Vanity Fair 5 September 1895

The English club was formed on 4 July 1845 by a group of Old Harrovians at a dinner party and thus is one of the oldest

cricket club Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are obse ...

s still in existence. The English team still plays around 20 matches each year. Also known as IZ, I Zingari is a wandering (or

nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

ic) club, having no home ground. Uniquely for an amateur club, ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' reported all of its matches since 1867, but ceased to do so in 2005. I Zingari was founded by John Loraine Baldwin, the Hon. Frederick Ponsonby (later 6th Earl of Bessborough), the Hon. Spencer Ponsonby (later Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane), Richard Penruddocke Long and Edward Dewing, who were dining at the Blenheim Hotel in London's

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

after a match against

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

. They decided to form a club to foster the spirit of amateur cricket, and the club rules are famously idiosyncratic. William Boland, a barrister, was appointed the Perpetual President, and remains in post after his death. As a result, the leader of the club is termed its "Governor". Recent Governors of I Zingari have included Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham (1956 to 1977),

Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel ( ; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), known as Lord Dunglass from 1918 to 1951 and the Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...

(1977 to 1989), George Mann (1989 to ?), Dennis Silk (? to 2015) and Mike Griffith (from 2015). The club was at its strongest in the nineteenth century. It played seventeen first-class matches between 1849 and 1904, including matches against the Australians in 1882 and 1884.

Colours

Its club colours are black, red and gold, symbolizing the motto "out of darkness, through fire, into light". The colours inspired the egg-and-bacon colours adopted by the MCC in 1860, except on the tie the stripes go in the opposite direction.

I Zingari Australia

The Australian club, I Zingari Australia, was formed in 1888, and claims to be the oldest social cricket club in Australia, although there are older school, university and district teams. It first played on 29 September 1888, defeating

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

Past and Present by 37 runs. The Australian club was recognised by the English club in 1891 and given permission to wear the club colours. The Australian team still plays approximately 70 fixtures each year against other club, school and representative sides. Also in Australia, an I Zingari Rowing Club was established in Adelaide in 1882; it was renamed Adelaide Rowing Club shortly afterwards, but retains the same colours and motto as the English cricket club and the club's eight oared boats have all been named "I Zingari".

Cultural references

The fictional "gentleman thief" A. J. Raffles, created by E. W. Hornung, plays for I Zingari.

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's 1922 novel '' Ulysses'' features real-life I Zingari players, and fictional protagonist

Leopold Bloom Leopold Paula Bloom is the fictional protagonist and hero of James Joyce's 1922 novel '' Ulysses''. His peregrinations and encounters in Dublin on 16 June 1904 mirror, on a more mundane and intimate scale, those of Ulysses/Odysseus in Homer's ...

at one time wears I Zingari colours. Ambrose Abercrombie, the protagonist of

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

's 1948 novel ''

The Loved One Loved Ones, Loved One, The Loved Ones, or The Loved One may refer to: Films *The Loved One (film), ''The Loved One'' (film), a 1965 American satire based on the Evelyn Waugh novel *The Loved Ones (film), ''The Loved Ones'' (film), a 2009 Australia ...

'', belongs to I Zingari. Waugh based the character on I Zingari member and Hollywood actor C. Aubrey Smith. In the 1924 novel by Michael Arlen ''The Green Hat'' the protagonist has a friend (Napier Harpenden) who wears ‘…his faded I Zingari tie…’

References

External links

The vagrant gypsy life, 150 years of I Zingari
''

'', 1995
I ZingariI Zingari AustraliaHon. Sir Edward Chandos Leigh
{{I Zingari Former senior cricket clubs of England Club cricket teams in England Club cricket teams in Australia 1845 establishments in England Cricket clubs established in 1845 Clubs and societies in England