Cricket in California

posted by John Winn


'Sir Charles Aubrey Smith was famous in the world of cricket before ,,,,becoming a universal favourite on the films,,,,,,,' thus began C Aubrey Smith's obituary in the 1949 Wisden. His cricketing cv was remarkable and included the captaincy of Sussex, captaining a side in Australia and the first English side to tour South Africa. His unusual run up gave him the soubriquet of 'Round the Corner Smith'. In his film career he was an ideal candidate for roles that required the tall, stereotypical Englishmen with a stiff upper lip.

Smith's two worlds came together in 1932 when he founded the Hollywood Cricket Club which played against some distinguished opposition including Australian XIs led by Vic Richardson and Don Bradman. Other famous actors who were members of the club included Boris Karloff, Errol Flynn, Cary Grant , David Niven and Laurence Olivier. Clearly the club was not just restricted to men for it numbered Olivia de Haviland and Joan Fontaine among its members. Whether the two sisters, who could not stand each other played cricket is not known.

The club survives to this day and is a member of the Southern California Cricket Association. A permanent ground was made at Griffith Park in Burbank, near the film studios but is no longer used for cricket. The game still thrives in The Golden State, however, for earlier this month LA hosted the World Cricket League Division Four Championship.

The competing nations were USA, Oman, Denmark, Bermuda, Jersey and Italy and they finished in that order as a result of which USA and Oman will play in WCL Division Three early next year with Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and hosts Uganda. Despite beating USA, Jersey are now relegated with Italy to Division Five where they will meet local rivals Guernsey. The other teams in that group are yet to be decided.

Jersey suffered an injury crisis in LA to the extent that team manager Tony Carylon (46) played against Italy in the same XI as his 15 year old son, Harrison. Losses to Denmark, Oman and Bermuda were enough to send them down.

The games were played at Woodley Park, the home of the Leo Magnus Cricket Complex which has five pitches, The Marder, The Wong, The Wright, The Severn and The Village Green. The complex is named after 'Jingles' Magnus a former Jamaican cricketer who played and coached in California. It is considered to be amongst the best cricket facilities in the USA and is located in the Van Nuys district of LA, a neighbourhood in the central San Fernando valley with a majority Hispanic population. Van Nuys High School, which disappointingly does not offer cricket in its sports curriculum, does have a link to Sir Aubrey however, for it numbers both Marilyn Monroe and Robert Redford amongst its notable alumni. Now be honest you didn't expect to learn that today.

Finally its time to start adding next year's fixtures to your 2017 diary. Some Minor County fixtures are already out and in league cricket the Yorkshire Premier South and Aire Wharfe dates have appeared in the last few days. The county fixtures are understood to be with the counties for their perusal and are expected to be published in a couple of weeks.

C Aubrey Smith 1863 -1948