Sussex v Australian Imperial Forces
County Ground, Hove
4th, 5th August (Two-day game)

Kent v Australian Imperial Forces
St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury
7th, 8th, 9th August (Three-day game)

For the first time for many years, the Sussex County Cricket Ground in Hove saw a big “ring” on the first day of our return match against Sussex, and a big profit for the club is hoped forOur Weekly Gossip, West Sussex Gazette (Sussex), Thu 7 Aug 1919, p.6.. In the end the AIF men were easily triumphantCricket, Saturday Referee and the Arrow (NSW), Sat 7 Nov 1914, p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article117421148 .

But the big story for the week was the most successful revival of the Canterbury cricket festivalCricket, The Journal (SA), Fri 3 Oct 1919, p.1. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article213265219 . The presence of the Australian Service team proved the means of attracting a large, though not a record, companyKent v. Australians, The Scotsman (Midlothian), Fri 8 Aug 1919, p. 8. , even so the gate was well above the averageCanterbury Week, The Sportsman (London), Mon 11 Aug 1919, p. 1. . When war was declared against Germany on August 4th, 1914, the Canterbury Week was closed down. Cricket, theatricals, and balls were declared “off.” And for four succeeding years also the Festival was droppedCanterbury Cricket Week, Whitsable Times and Herne Bay Herald (Kent), Sat 9 Aug 1919, p. 1. . Of course, the war is not forgotten, as Canterbury remembered the members of the Kent County cricket team who have fallen in the war with the unveiling this week of the Colin Blythe memorialFree Lance, Men and Matters, Star Green ‘Un (Yorkshire), Sat 30 Aug 1919, p. 1. . Blythe was well known to Australian cricket fans, having visited Australia twice, first with MacLaren’s team in 1901-2Colin Blythe Killed, Referee (NSW), Wed 21 Nov 1917, p. 12. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article120289061 . He played out his innings with honour on the blood-stained field of FlandersPersonal, Table Talk (Vic), Thu 22 Nov 1917, p. 7. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146644465 in 1917.

The festival is the oldest in cricket, having been going on for eighty yearsWill Dover Have A Full Cricket Week? Dover Express (Kent), Fri 27 June 1919, p. 2. . The Australians had the fortune to play on Ladies Day-the Kent County C.C. choosing to omit the proposed game between Gentlemen and Players of the countyCanterbury Week, The Sportsman (London), Fri 8 Aug 1919, p. 6. . Before the confetti and general litter left by the carnival had been swept from the streets, a long procession of motor-cars was travelling towards the St. Lawrence Ground, and behind the bevelled windows one caught sight now and then of a lorgnette or saw the flutter of coloured silk or muslin or cotton, and there hundreds of people walking too. When Colonel Troughton lead Kent into the field this afternoon two “flappers” were still joyfully collecting autographs from the Australian players long after first two Kent batsmen had come out of the pavilionLadies’ Day At Canterbury, The Times (London), Fri 8 Aug 1919, p. 8. .

English women in comparing the English soldier to the Australian found much to favour the latterChaplain Humphrey, Letters From The Front, Australian Christian Commonwealth (SA), Fri 5 Jan 1917, p. 14. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article214062702 . Thousands of Australian soldiers have been married in England, and the majority of them have taken English bridesA Serious Matter, Truth (QLD), Sun 11 Nov 1917, p. 12. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201554330 . The official figures show that these marriages are taking place at the rate of 200 a weekAustralian Soldiers, Port Adelaide News (SA), Fri 1 Feb 1918, p. 12. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212939687 . Two of our own have found new wives here in the homeland. Trenerry married Miss Murray, an English nurse, within weeks of the close of the warMarriage, Manilla Express (NSW), Mon 9 Dec 1918, p. 2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article191441235 , and next week at St. Michael’s Church in BeckenhamJohn Salmon, St Michaels & All Angels, Ravenscroft Road, Beckenham, 2010, photograph, https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2002162 , we will all be celebrating Stirling’s marriage to Hilda TongNAA: B2455, STIRLING WILLIAM STUART Page 27 of 31. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Gallery151/dist/JGalleryViewer.aspx?B=8092289&S=27&N=31&R=0#/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=8092289&T=P&S=27 . As such, Stirling will not be making the trip to Scotland with us next week. We of course, wish them all the best of luck, but the team’s bachelors think we have the best of itA Trip To The Highlands, The Express and Telegraph (SA), Thu 6 Nov 1919, p. 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article210604478 .

Another element of modern cricket on display here in Canterbury was the inventive use of the motor-car, according to the provision it has made in respect of luncheon-time–those who come in motor-cars bring hampers well-stocked with meats and pies and wines, and these they devour on the roof of the car. Then after luncheon comes another feature of Ladies week updated for modern times: the great promenade. At one time there would have been the skirts of stately ladies trailing upon the turf, but the skirts of to-day do not trail, and whether they cover age or youth they are uniformly short and brilliant and diaphanousLadies’ Day At Canterbury, The Times (London), Fri 8 Aug 1919, p. 8. .

One feature of Canterbury Week is the time-honoured epilogues of old stagers at the theatreCanterbury Week, The Sportsman (London), Fri 8 Aug 1919, p. 6. , which this year was entitled “Brighter Cricket”Kent v. Australians, Leicester Daily Post (Leicestershire), Sat 9 Aug 1919, p. 5. . Collins took it to heart. A good deal of criticism has been passed upon the Australian team lately on account of the excessively safe nature of their declarations, but on Saturday there was no question of lack of enterprise on their part. To score 300 runs in three hours is an improbable, but, in the case of a team like Kent, by no means an impossible task, and Mr. Collins was taking a risk in declaring when he didCricket, The Times (London), Mon 11 Aug 1919, p. 5. .

Finally, it was with deep regret this week that the team received the news of the passingPersonal, Albury Banner and Wodonga Express (Vic), Fri 8 Aug 1919, p. 28. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101514198 of Dave GregoryReinhold Thiele, Australian Cricketer Dave Gregory, c. 1875, photograph, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Dave_Gregory_cricketer_c1875.jpg . He was the captain of the first Australian team to play England on even terms and also of the first white Australian Eleven to tour England in 1878, and of course, our own Jack’s unclePersonal, Albury Banner and Wodonga Express (Vic), Fri 8 Aug 1919, p. 28. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101514198. The Gregory’s are a remarkable cricketing familyThe Gregory’s Our Greatest Cricket Family, Sporting Globe (Vic), Wed 8 Jul 1931, p. 13. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article182540116 . It can all be traced back to the patriarch Edward, Jack’s grandfather, who took part in theDave Gregory, Cricketer, Sydney Mail (NSW), Wed 13 Aug 1919, p. 18. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159656206 first important match played on the continentSeventy Years Of Cricket, The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW), Sat 5 Mar 1898, p. 487. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163805900 in Hyde Park in 1826The Australian (NSW), Wed 9 Aug 1826, p. 3.. Five of Edward’s sonsThe Gregory Family, The Empire (WA), Sat 28 Mar 1908, p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227981670 –David, CharlesVikings Of Cricket, Referee (NSW), Thu 11 Apr 1935, p. 13. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article135515015 , Edward (Ned)Death Of “Ned” Gregory, Australian Town and Country Journal (NSW), Sat 29 Apr 1899, p. 23. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71327146 , ArthurMr. Arthur Gregory, The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW), Mon 19 Aug 1929, p. 12. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28046682 , and Walter–played cricket for New South Wales. Two sons of EdwardThe Gregory Family, The Empire (WA), Sat 28 Mar 1908, p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227981670 –Sydney and CharlesThe Late Mr. Charles Gregory, The Daily Telegraph (NSW), Tue 15 Nov 1910, p. 9. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238654698 –also played for New South Wales. Ned played in Australia’s first test match alongside Dave, and Syd, of course, has a record all to himself. He has played in more Test matches than any other player. The men of the family are not the only ones to make the name remembered in the athletic lineThe Gregory Family, The Empire (WA), Sat 28 Mar 1908, p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227981670 . Mrs. Donnan (nee Nellie Gregory), Mrs Meagher (nee Gertie Gregory), Alice Gregory and Louisa Gregory, all daughters of Edward Gregory, were first-rate cricketers, and more than one of them has played for her stateThe Gregory Family, The Empire (WA), Sat 28 Mar 1908, p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227981670 . Alice, Louisa, and Nellie were all participants in the first women’s cricket match played in Australia in 1886 between the Siroccos and the Fernleas, whom were captained respectively by Alice and LouisaCricket, The Daily Telegraph (NSW), Wed 10 Mar 1886, p. 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237241965 . Between them they took 24 wickets and scored 88 runsCricket, The Daily Telegraph (NSW), Wed 10 Mar 1886, p. 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237241965.

Of Australia’s 105 test matches to date, a Gregory has featured in 61 of them. As we look forward to the resumption of Test cricket, no doubt our Jack will join his illustrious ancestors. On that front, it is understood that the Board of Control would be willing to send a team to England next season if an English eleven would return the visit the following season, prompted by our tour doing much to stimulate international cricketCricket, The Express and Telegraph (SA), Thu 9 Oct 1919, p. 4..