Publication date: Friday, 17 July 2026

Hand in Glove

George Patterson and Cricket in Philadelphia

Stephen Musk

Published on 3 July 2026 by Red Rose Books

Original pictorial wrappers, new. £15.00

(i-iv), 5-139pp, illustrated.

The recent surge in interest in Philadelphian cricket has not been particularly kind to George Patterson. The spotlight has remained largely fixed upon Bart King, the only player from the city unarguably of world-beating class. But King did not play in a vacuum - in Philadelphia he had teammates and opponents. And some of them were extremely good cricketers in their own right. Patterson was one of the very best of these. At the first-class level he was possibly the best bat ever to play for the Gentlemen of Philadelphia. And his figures in the Halifax Cup, the senior domestic competition, were every bit as impressive as those of King, both with the bat and the ball. He was also a well-respected captain and a deep thinker on the game. Making extensive use of articles by and about Patterson in the contemporary press, this biography aims to return him to centre-stage, where he belongs, and, whilst doing so, casting fresh light on the development of cricket in Philadelphia.

The book was on the shortlist for The Cricket Society and MCC Book of the Year Award 2026

Father Marriott’s Summer Holidays

The forgotten story of England’s great leg-spinner

Max Bonnell

Original pictorial wrappers.

(i-iv), 5-168pp, illustrated.

Minor wear, very slight, to spine, otherwise a near fine copy; scans form part of the description.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, when July drew to a close, Charles Marriott set aside his schoolbooks, cleaned off his cricket boots, and went out to wreak havoc upon the best batsmen in England. If Marriott is remembered at all today, it’s usually as a statistical quirk - he remains the only cricketer ever to take 11 wickets in his single Test match. But there was much more to him than that: he recovered from his traumatic experiences in the Great War to become a bowler of rare and sustained skill, while a shared love of cricket and literature drew him into a close friendship with two of England's best-known poets. Father Marriott's Summer Holidays tells the extraordinary story of how this mild-mannered, scholarly, part-time cricketer became one of the greatest leg-spin bowlers England has ever produced.

BOOK REVIEW: https://www.cricketweb.net/books/fmsh/

Max Bonnell has on three occasions won the Jack Pollard Trophy, awarded annually to the best book on Australian cricket. This is his 4th publication for Red Rose Books.

Published as a hardback edition only on Friday, 30 January 2026

Cricket Back in Blighty

Taking a Break from the White Man’s Burden

Stephen Musk

(i-iv), 5-96pp, illustrated.

Hardback limited edition of 30 hardback copies, signed and numbered by Stephen Musk

Between the Wars 10 cricket tours were made to Norfolk from the Gold Coast (which later became Ghana) and Nigeria. These were organised by Edgar Cozens-Hardy, a senior railway engineer whose family were prominent in the county’s society. These tours gave civil servants and soldiers who were based in West Africa the opportunity to play some decent quality cricket whilst taking their leave in England. This monograph is concerned, not only with describing these visits, but also placing them in context. A brief history of cricket in the Gold Coast and Nigeria before World War Two is presented, as are an in-depth investigation into the careers of the tourists and a summary of the cricket that they played in the colonies. There is also an analysis of the on-field strength and social class of the clubs that hosted the visitors. This reveals that the cricket played was of a very good club standard, with many opponents representing Norfolk during their careers. Potted scores of all the matches are provided, along with the averages of the tourists. Light is therefore shone on the rarely mentioned but fascinating subject of the cricket played by colonial administrators.

Whisky Galore!

Seagram in England, 1922

Stephen Musk

Published on 1 August 2025 by Red Rose Books

Limited edition of 20 copies, signed by Stephen Musk

Original pictorial hard cloth.

(i-iv), 5-136pp, profusely illustrated, new.

In 1922, a team from Canada undertook a brief tour in England. This venture was bankrolled by Norman Seagram, a member of the wealthy family of whisky distillers of that name. As he also organised the visit, selected the squad, and captained the tour, it is no surprise that the team were known as “Norman Seagram’s Canadians”. The side was composed largely of the skipper’s friends, bolstered by a few promising college players, but was reasonably representative of cricket in Eastern Canada. No first-class matches were arranged but the programme saw the Canadians play against some of the strongest amateur sides in England, including the Incogniti, the Free Foresters and the MCC. Unfortunately, they were often outclassed and failed to win a single match, drawing seven and losing four of their fixtures. Although it was unsuccessful in terms of results on the field, the tour played a highly important role in the strengthening of relations between England and Canada. The various speeches concerning this are reproduced in full and there are scorecards and reports of all the matches. Brief profiles of the tourists are also provided - currently, no career records are available for Canadian cricketers, and a groundbreaking attempt has been made to draw these up for the tourists for the very first time. Finally, the narrative is enhanced by many previously unpublished photographs taken by Archie Mix, one of the visitors.

UK post only

The Forgotten Philadelphians The Pilgrims’ Tour in England, 1921

Stephen Musk

Published by Red Rose Books on 3 May 2024

Original pictorial hard cloth.

(iv) + 112 pages, illustrated.

Limited edition of 20 copies, signed by the author.

In 1921, a side known as the Philadelphia Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic and played 12 fixtures, albeit none of first-class status. If referred to at all, this tour is written off as an irrelevant, alcohol-fuelled jolly made by a bunch of ageing has-beens. This book, which includes match reports and scorecards of all the fixtures, aims to redress the balance. The Pilgrims played against all-amateur sides of a high quality and were successful on the pitch, winning five and losing just two of their matches. An analysis of the tourists’ performances in domestic cricket indicates that the squad was representative of the best Philadelphia had to offer at that time and it is argued that the visit should be considered as a bona fide tour of importance, even though it originated from a part of the world where cricket was on its last legs.

Stephen Musk was the winner of the Brooke-Lambert Award for the Statistician of the Year in 2023 ‘for his substantial contribution to ACS scholarship’. This is his 10th publication for Red Rose Books.

Red Rose Cricket Records: Number four.

Hats Off to Dean!

Lancashire's record bowling figure

K Martin Tebay

Published in 2020 by Red Rose Books, Blackpool, Lancashire

Original A5 card wrappers.

(iv) + 12pp, illustrated.

Limited edition number 19 of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Martin Tebay.

The fourth in a series of short-run, limited edition monographs recollecting Red Rose cricket records, this publication recalls the match at Aigburth, Liverpool, between Lancashire and Yorkshire on 10, 11, 12 July 1913. The non-championship first class match, arranged to coincide with the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Liverpool, saw Burnley-born Lancashire professional Harry Dean take 17-91, despite him being embarrassingly absent from the ground when play started. They remain Lancashire’s record bowling figures, the best in Roses history and are the best recorded by any bowler against Yorkshire in first-class cricket.

JT Tyldesley in Australia

The Heart and Hope of England

Ric Sissons

Published by Red Rose Books, Blackpool, 2023

Original pictorial hard cloth.

8vo (iv) + 58pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 62 hardback copies, signed by Ric Sissons.

John Tommy Tyldesley was England’s best professional batsman of the so-called Golden Age. Tyldesley toured Australia in 1901-02 and 1903-04. Expectations were high and he did not disappoint. In the Second Test in January 1904 in Melbourne, Tyldesley played his greatest ever innings in Australia. On a difficult, sticky wicket, John Tommy made 62 in England’s total of 103. England won the Test and eventually the series. Albert Knight wrote in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph that Tyldesley’s ‘batting in this match overshadowed that of Trumper’. Rare praise indeed. Before 1914, Tyldesley and Trumper were the two best batsmen on wet wickets. No wonder Knight describes Tyldesley as the ‘heart and hope’ of the side. Tyldesley was a player who knew his worth. With Len Braund, he tried to get more money from the MCC for the 1903-04 tour. They failed. The hard-headed Tyldesley would not be fooled again.

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Monographs on North American cricket: No. 10

Johnny Lester Philadelphia’s Renaissance Man

Stephen Musk

Published by Red Rose Books, 2026

Original A5 card wrappers, new.

(iv) + 16pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Stephen Musk

Born in England, Johnny Lester was educated at Haverford College in Philadelphia, quickly becoming its leading bat. He represented his school on its tour in England in 1896, scoring the huge total of 1186 runs at an average of 79.07, which included a century against the MCC. Unsurprisingly, he was fast-tracked into the representative Philadelphian side. He subsequently participated in the three first-class visits from the city to England, topping the batting averages in 1897 and 1903, and skippering the team in 1903 and 1908. But Lester was much more than just a successful cricketer. He interrupted his sporting career to obtain a doctorate of education and later became a noted teacher and publisher of academic works. But he is best remembered for editing the book A Century of Philadelphia Cricket, which remains the most important work on the sport in his adopted city. Truly a renaissance man, he seemed able to succeed at any task to which he turned his hand.

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‘Tyldesley v. The Australians.’

Lancashire CCC v. The Australians, 25, 26 May 1899, at Old Trafford, Manchester

K Martin Tebay

Published by Red Rose Books, 2023

Original pictorial hard cloth.

(iv) + 24pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 25 copies, signed and numbered by the author.

Over the course of his long and distinguished career in first-class cricket, Lancashire’s John Tommy Tyldesley, gained a reputation as one of the best batsmen of his generation on rain-affected pitches. And the featured match, between Lancashire and the Australians at Old Trafford in 1899, perfectly illustrates this. On a wicket that was ‘playing queerly’, Tyldesley scored 56 and 42 while his teammates could only muster 58 runs between them in Lancashire’s two completed innings. The book also briefly recalls Tyldesley’s famous Ashes innings of 62 on a “sticky dog” at Melbourne in 1903-04, and a less well-known innings of 77 on a “glue-pot” against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 1910.

Red Rose Cricket Records: Number nine.

A Rare Finish to a Great Game

Lancashire's first tied match in first-class cricket

K Martin Tebay

Published by Red Rose Books, Blackpool, Lancashire, 2021

Original A5 card wrappers.

(iv) + 12pp, illustrated.

Limited edition number 12 of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Martin Tebay.

‘A Rare Finish to a Great Game’, the ninth in a series of short-run, limited edition monographs, recalls the match played at Kennington Oval on 16, 17, 18 August 1894. The rain-affected county championship encounter between Surrey and Lancashire ended in one of the more uncommon of cricket results - a tie. It was Lancashire’s first tied match in first class cricket and the county has since been involved in only three more such matches throughout its illustrious first-class cricketing history.

Published on 6 December 2024 by Red Rose Books

Rain Man The Life and Times of John Tommy Tyldesley

Stuart Brodkin

Research by Stephen Williams

Original pictorial hard cloth, new.

(i-iv), 5-124pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 20 copies.

John Tommy Tyldesley, a truly iconic figure in the history of Lancashire and England cricket during the Golden Age, was reckoned by many good judges, among them Gilbert Jessop and Sir Neville Cardus, to have been the greatest batsman the world has ever seen on a “sticky wicket”. But whatever the conditions, consistency was his hallmark and over a period of 25 years, he scored more than 37,000 first-class runs at an average of nearly 41, compiling 86 centuries, including 13 double hundreds. He made 31 Test appearances for England at a time when professional batsmen were rarely considered to be better than their amateur counterparts. It was almost always a case of amateur batsmen and professional bowlers when it came to the make-up of the national team. Born in 1873, he began a cricketing dynasty that endures to this day. He is the great-great uncle of another of the game’s major figures, Yorkshire and England’s Michael Vaughan, whose son Archie continues the line after emerging as a promising recruit to the Somerset side in the 2024 season. Tyldesley dealt in runs and modesty in equal measure - his years of success never changing his outlook on the game or on life generally. A true professional in every sense of the word, he cared only for his family, for Lancashire, and for England.

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Notable Lancashire victories in 19th-century cricket: No. 5

‘McIntyre well on the spot’

Yorkshire CCC v Lancashire CCC Great Horton Road, Bradford, 10, 11, 12 August 1874

K Martin Tebay

Published by Red Rose Books, 2026

Original A5 card wrappers, new.

8vo (iv) + 12pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 20 copies, signed and numbered by Martin Tebay

The fifth booklet in the series recalls the first time Lancashire secured victory by an innings over their rivals from across the Pennines. The match took place at the ground of Bradford Cricket Club on 10, 11, 12 August 1874. Will McIntyre, the Nottinghamshire-born fast-bowler, a professional at Bolton Cricket Club who was also engaged by the Red Rose county, enjoyed a fine match, recording career-best figures of 13/66.

Red Rose Cricket Records: Number eleven.

Sensational Scoring at Old Trafford

Lancashire's largest victory in first-class cricket

K Martin Tebay

Published by Red Rose Books, Blackpool, Lancashire, 2023

Original A5 card wrappers.

(iv) + 12pp, illustrated.

Limited edition number 20 of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Martin Tebay

'Sensational Scoring at Old Trafford', the eleventh, and final, title in the Red Rose Cricket Records series, recalls the county match between Lancashire and Hampshire that took place on 3, 4 July 1911. Over 600 runs were scored by Lancashire batsmen during the opening day’s play and the visitors were bowled out twice the following afternoon as Lancashire won by an innings and 455 runs, the county’s largest margin of victory in first-class cricket.

Monographs on Lancashire Cricket: Number 10

Ralph Whitehead: Double Sensation in a Single Day

Lancashire CCC v Nottinghamshire CCC 29, 30 June, 1 July 1908 at Old Trafford, Manchester

K Martin Tebay

Published by Red Rose Books, Cumbria, November 2019

Original A5 card wrappers.

(iv) + 36pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 50 copies, signed and numbered by Martin Tebay.

The publication features a fulsome account of the 1908 county championship match in which Lancashire’s 24-year-old all-rounder Ralph Whitehead, following in the footsteps of Jim Ricketts and Archie MacLaren, scored a century on his first-class debut for the county. The first Lancashire cricketer to achieve this rare feat at Old Trafford, his subsequent no balling for “throwing” later in the same match ensured that his was a somewhat dramatic début. The booklet draws extensively on various reports and interviews in contemporary newspapers and cricket periodicals, including comments from the respective captains of the Lancashire and Nottinghamshire elevens and the umpire at the centre of the throwing controversy. Thankfully, Whitehead overcame the unwarranted suspicions regarding the legitimacy of his bowling action and would go on to enjoy seven successful seasons for Lancashire, scoring over 2,500 runs and taking 300 wickets. Whitehead’s lengthy career as a respected cricket professional and coach in leagues in and around the north of England is also recorded.

UK post free

Overseas postage: please e-mail

"Mr. Scorer" Lunt

Samuel Lunt Official scorer, Lancashire CCC 1887 - 1911

K Martin Tebay

Original A5 card wrappers.

(iv) + 12pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 50 copies, signed and numbered by Martin Tebay.

Samuel Lunt was an unsung hero of Lancashire cricket. His continued presence in the scorebox over a period of 25 years earned him the sobriquet of “Mr. Scorer” and he was verily Lancashire’s own “bearded wonder” (with apologies to the late Bill Frindall). He scored over 600 county matches between 1887 and 1911, never missing a game in that time. He was born in Bolton in 1834 but very little is known about his life outside cricket. My extensive research puts some flesh on the bones of a man who deserves some recognition for his contribution to Lancashire cricket, the scoring of which enabled him not only to see many of the early greats but also see many of them achieve extraordinary performances. I have, therefore, endeavoured to paint a picture of this significant cricketing personality, who died, aged 79, in Moss Side, Manchester.

UK post free

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Overcoming Stigma in Victorian Cricket The Remarkable Story of Francis Terry, Canada’s Mad Vicar

Stephen Musk

Published on 28 July 2022 by Red Rose Books

Original pictorial hard cloth.

(iv) + 64 pages, illustrated.

Limited edition of 15 copies, signed by the author.

Francis Terry was educated at Oxford University, where he failed to impress, either as a scholar or a cricketer. He had more success when playing in 10 first-class matches for Somersetshire between 1882 and 1885, even scoring a century against Hampshire. However, he appeared to have left cricket behind him when he trained to be a minister in the Church of England and seemed to be destined for an unremarkable, if worthy, life. Alas, Terry was unfortunate to succumb to severe mental ill health problems and was obliged to stand down from the ministry. Perhaps in search of a new start, he emigrated to Canada in 1891 and started to play cricket once more. He quickly became established as one of the leading batsmen in North America. And, despite his mental problems being common knowledge, he was often selected to represent Canada against the USA. He was even asked to skipper his adopted country on two occasions. Terry continued to suffer from very poor mental health for the rest of his life but successfully battled, and batted, on. He made his last international appearance in 1907, when at the advanced age of 46, and played club cricket until his old age. Given the tremendous stigma attached to mental illness in the 19th century, his story can be described as one of an inspiring triumph over severe adversity. It is hard to imagine that anyone might follow in his footsteps, even in today’s supposedly more enlightened times.

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Monographs on North American cricket: No. 9

Fowler's Tour. The Free Foresters Tour in North America, 1923

Stephen Musk

Published on 27 March, 2026 by Red Rose Books

Original A5 card wrappers.

(iv) + 16pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Stephen Musk

In 1922 Norman Seagram organised a tour of Canadian cricketers in England. Although it was a failure on the pitch it was a great social success and a return trip was organised, to be made by the Free Foresters in the following season. It consisted of 10 matches, eight being played in Canada followed by two in Philadelphia. Given that the touring squad was assembled by Major Teddy Wynyard, it was no surprise that it was largely composed of military men and Oxford students. The Free Foresters had a very successful tour, winning seven and drawing three of their 10 fixtures. The outstanding player was Bob Fowler, who scored 398 runs at an average of 44.22 and took 72 wickets at 8.92. The tour is described and it is noted how Fowler's social prowess and cricketing ability led to him being asked to skipper an MCC tour to the West Indies. Had he not died of leukaemia aged just 34 it is possible that he might have gone on to captain England in Test cricket.

Mine Host at The Mitre

Bobbie Peel at Blackpool, 1905

Gerry Wolstenholme

Published in 2009 by Red Rose Books

Limited edition number 5 of 20 cloth bound copies with marbled end-papers, ribbon marker and individual slip-case, signed and numbered by Gerry Wolstenholme

iv + 28pp, illustrated.

Minor shelf wear, overall a near fine copy; scans form part of the description.