Adelaide’s Proud Night Cricket Heritage – Watching This Electrical Storm*

On the eve of the first Day/Night Test match, it is opportune to remind the rest of the world that Adelaide has exposed form in this area and that the Almanac has always been in the vanguard.

Daniel Keane from the ABC was right onto it with this recent piece on the origins of, yep, you guessed it, Electric Light Cricket.

Not named after Colonel Light (or General Electric), the backyard backstory of this Adelaide athletic invention even made it into the real estate pages a few years back.

Almanackers with long memories (or sad lives, or both) may remember these gems, which predicted with unerring accuracy that Adelaide was the logical place for the first Test Cricketing nocturnal admissions:

Unheralded Sports (check the comments)

Non World Sports (comments again)

 

It’s a big week in Adelaide – It might be too long a bow to draw from Electric Sheep -> Blade Runner -> Harrison Ford -> Star Wars -> The Wookiee Draft but I’m gonna make it anyway.

If you are over there, I’m jealous, I wish I could be joining you. As Mick Jones once sang, “If you’re in the crowd tonight, have a Hall’s Stonie on me”

(*With Apologies to Ed Coopers)

 

 

 

About Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt

Saw my first SANFL game in 1967 - Dogs v Peckers. Have only ever seen the Dogs win 1 final in the flesh (1972 1st Semi) Mediocre forward pocket for the AUFC Blacks (1982-89) Life member - Ormond Netball Club -That's me on the right

Comments

  1. The great electric game was played near the upcoming knackers v Lutheran clash of willow and leather just near pulteney and the old harriers running track on the road through south parklands that ended up in King William road. They got their numbers and believe played in Pajama colours or is that an extension.

    It was serious stuff.

    Have a great game and remember if you are doing it in adders it’s probably been done there before
    Nank

  2. Loved Daniel Keane’s excellent description and history of Electric Light Cricket on the ABC website. Fantastic research. Hats off.
    Do I get a prize for knowing that a Hall’s Stonie is ginger beer?

  3. Luke Reynolds says

    Absolutely brilliant. Love it. As a keen, year round Indoor Cricketer and Summer outdoor cricketer, would love to have a crack at ELC.

    Does James Sutherland know about this? Maybe this is the form of the game he can pitch to the IOC (instead of beach cricket).

    Wonderful to read two of my favourite players I never saw, Fleetwood-Smith & Ironmonger, had a crack at ELC.

  4. Best combination of Keane & Roger Woodcock in ages (Twitter user joke). Yep, ELC was something I always recall seeing the results of in the local results section of the paper. Would drive past the courts on a regular basis too but knew absolutely nothing about it. Daniel’s piece was greatly illuminating (sorry). Of course, Adelaide pioneered night footy too.

  5. Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt says

    Nank – yep, it was pretty serious the year I played it. There were plenty of old blokes who we could rely upon for a ton every time they had a hit. I think I managed a scratchy 16 as my top score, coming in at number 14 or so.

    PB – no

    Luke – the requisite skimpy costumes wouldn’t look that good on some of the blokes who went around in the South Parklands

    Dave – which leads me to Adelaide’s obsession with sporting Cocks – Adcock, Badcock, Hercock, Sincock, Woodcock and Craig. No wonder Sandy Roberts moved to Melbourne

  6. Sincock the Rostrevor fast bowler from Kensie and SA was always referred to as Sincoe by us members of Sturt schoolboys in order not to offend the ladies who prepared the tea during Kensington Sturt games. Adcoe finest back pocket ever

    Nank

  7. Swish- thanks for the timely reminder. I didn’t see it in the flesh but, like many, often saw the scores in the paper, and wondered what it was all about.

    Do you think the game might have endured if during competition there was accompanying live music, supplied by, say, an Electric Light Orchestra?

  8. Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt says

    Or Gary Numan

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