John Ashby Lester (August 1, 1871September 3, 1969) was an American

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and a teacher. Lester was one of the Philadelphian cricketers who played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. His obituary in ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''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" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'', described him as "one of the great figures in American cricket." During his career, he played in 53 matches for the Philadelphians, 47 of which are considered first class. From 1897 until his retirement in 1908, Lester led the batting averages in Philadelphia and captained all the international home matches.

Early life and career

Lester was born in Penrith in Cumberland, England in 1871. He began playing cricket at a very young age. He was playing a game in Yorkshire in 1892 when he met Dr. Isaac Sharpless. Sharpless was the president of Haverford College, and invited him to the United States to attend the school. In his early days as a student in Cumberland's Ackworth School, he had been described as a "very indifferent batsman". It was only after entering Haverford that he developed his batting style.Melville, Tom, ''The Tented Field'', Bowling Green State University Popular Press, Ohio (1998), , p.135-136 As a student at Haverford, Lester excelled as an athlete and a scholar and played football, track, tennis, and soccer. During his freshman year, he averaged 100.5 runs per innings. Lester also won the Cope Bat every year during his time at Haverford. In his final season with the school in 1896, he scored 1,185 total runs and took 40 wickets for averages of 79 and 23.2, respectively. He also captained Haverford on their first overseas tour, scoring 105 against the MCC on his first appearance at Lord's. On this tour, he created a great impression with an average of over 84 and prepared himself for the Philadelphian's tour of England the following year.

Tour of England in 1897

The tour undertaken by the Philadelphian cricketers was very ambitious. Though the results might have been less satisfactory than hoped for by its promoters, the tour was arranged mainly for educational purposes and few of those on the American side expected to win many matches. Previous tours had tended to involve amateur English sides as opponents, with a low level of competition. In 1897 a schedule was prepared including all of the top

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

teams, the

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

and Cambridge University teams, the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influenc ...

, and two other sides, though only a few of the counties thought it worthwhile to put their best elevens onto the field. Starting on June 7 at

, the tour lasted for two months and ended in late July at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

. While it initially aroused some curiosity, many English fans lost interest until John Lester and the Philadelphians met the full Sussex team at Brighton on June 17. Behind a dominant bowling performance by

Bart King 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 ...

, Lester helped to seal the victory with his batting. In the first innings, Lester and King were partners in a fourth-wicket stand of 107, with Lester top-scoring with 92. He continued in the second innings with 34 not out. John Barton King

Despite the excitement surrounding Lester's and King's performances, the Americans did not fare well overall. Fifteen matches were played, but only two were won, while the team lost nine and earned a draw in four. The other win came against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. During this match at

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family ...

, Lester scored 35 runs in the first innings and 67 in the second. Lester was the best batsmen on the Philadelphian side; beginning with 72 not out in his first match, he kept up his form all through the tour, scoring 891 runs for an average 37.12. Several counties offered him contracts to play in England.

Tours of England in 1903 and 1908

John Lester was chosen to captain the Philadelphians in 1903 and 1908 on their tours to England. Against Leicestershire in August 1903, Lester made his highest score in first-class cricket. In the first innings, he made 126 not out, and this was followed by a respectable 64 in the second innings. His batting on this tour so impressed the critics that he was called the "one batsman (among the Philadelphians) who may almost (be) described as great" and that he "would soon be one of the greatest men of his day" In his last first-class match on the 1908 tour, Lester posted a score of 34 in the first innings, but was dismissed LBW for nought in the second innings. He did manage to take 4 wickets in the Philadelphians' loss to

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Legacy and later life

John Lester helped to lift Philadelphia cricket to the highest levels of international play with his leadership and understanding of the sport. He is one of the few American cricketers noted in ''Cricket Scores and Biographies'', which said that he was "a watchful batsman who could hit well and had plenty of strokes and strong defence."Quoted in In 1951 he authored ''A Century of Philadelphia Cricket'', which was a definitive history of the game in the area. Lester was also integral in the foundation of the C.C. Morris Cricket Library when he proposed in 1964 that cricket, "with a history and literature second to none should be given a permanent home in the United States."Quoted in In 1969, he made his final public appearance at a cricket function when the library was opened at Haverford. Lester received his PhD in education from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1902 and for many years was head of the English department at

The Hill School The Hill School (commonly known as The Hill) is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO). ...

in Pottstown, Pennsylvania and served as a university professor. He died in 1969 and as a lasting memorial, the pavilion at Cope Field is named in his honor.

Teams

International

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

(in two non-first-class matches against Canada, one in 1901 and one in 1906)United States of America v Canada
Scorecard, CricketArchive. Retrieved September 28, 2018.

USA first-class

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Philadelphia club

* Merion

Publications

*''Essays of Yesterday and Today''. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1943. *''A Century of Philadelphia Cricket''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1951.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, John 1871 births 1969 deaths Cricketers from Philadelphia Philadelphian cricketers Academics from Pennsylvania Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Haverford Fords men's soccer players People from Penrith, Cumbria English emigrants to the United States American cricketers The Hill School faculty Association footballers not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality Sportspeople from Cumbria