American Cricket and the Civil War — The Game's Lost American Future, 1861-1865

American cricket had been growing steadily since the 1840s, sustained by English immigration and by the prestige of the Philadelphia clubs. The 1859 Parr tour — the first English overseas cricket tour — had played five matches in New York, Philadelphia, Hoboken and Rochester to crowds of up to 25,000. Baseball, codified in 1845, was a local New York game that had begun to spread but was still considered cricket's junior cousin in 1860.

The split between the Union and the Confederacy after Abraham Lincoln's election in November 1860 disrupted club fixture lists across the country. The firing on Fort Sumter on 12 April 1861 began the war proper; cricket clubs in seceding states folded almost immediately, and Northern clubs lost members to volunteer regiments through 1861.

American cricket in 1860 was a serious enterprise. Philadelphia, with the Germantown, Merion and Young America clubs, was the unofficial cricket capital of the country; New York, Boston and Chicago had strong club scenes; the 1859 George Parr tour had drawn five-figure crowds in New York and had played the first English tour matches anywhere in the world. An estimated 10,000 Americans were playing organised cricket. The Civil War, which began with the firing on Fort Sumter on 12 April 1861, hit the game hard. Pitches required meticulous preparation that could not be sustained when groundsmen volunteered for the army; bats and balls had to be imported from England and shipping was disrupted by the Union blockade and Confederate raiders; multi-day cricket matches were impossible to organise when leading players were at the front. Baseball, with its single-day format, simpler equipment and informal grounds, was easier to keep going in army camps and behind the lines. Soldiers from across the Union learned baseball in their off-hours and took it home with them. By 1865 baseball had a national following that cricket could not match. Philadelphia held on: the Merion Cricket Club was founded in 1865 even as the war ended, and a tradition of high-quality cricket survived in the city until the First World War, producing first-class quality fast bowlers (J.B. King) and touring teams that visited England. But outside Philadelphia, American cricket never recovered.

Philadelphia cricket entered a long Indian summer. The Germantown and Merion clubs continued to produce top-class players; J.B. King's fast bowling on Philadelphian tours of England in the 1900s drew comparisons with the best Australian and English bowlers; the Halifax Cup competition continued until the 1920s. But the game outside Philadelphia withered. By 1900 baseball was the clear American national sport and cricket was a minority interest.