USA vs Canada Series – May 23 & 24 for the 1844 Jodah Trophy !
The 1844 Jodah Trophy
1844 Sept – in a field at what is now 34th St & 2nd Ave in Manhattan NY an amazing event took place, that was to have world changing consequences of a magnitude no one fore saw. Teams representing the relatively young countries of the United States of America and Canada took the field at St George’s Cricket Club in Bloomingdale Park to play a cricket match. About 20,000 spectators (probably the equivalent o half million today) watched the game.
After thousands of years of fighting, wars and empire building It was the first time in history that 2 countries would do battle against each other on a playing field, instead of a battle field. At the end there would be a winning country, and a losing country but no blood would be shed, no one would die. Men would find a peaceful way to express their testosterone-laden aggression, competitiveness and desire to do battle – a peaceful way to go to “war”.
Scholars pay almost no attention to this 1844 Cricket match but it was the beginning of a new world, the beginning of international sports, and its impact on mankind can not be overestimated.
The game was played almost continuously every year until the early 1900s then revived in 1963 before lapsing again. Then in 2008 Lloyd Jodah brought up the idea again, and after launching American College Cricket promised to revive the Series,on Facebook & Youtube. A writer for Cricinfo noticed and wrote it as fact. Cricket Canada then took up the challenge and re-started the series in 2011 though it appears moribund now.
Now American College Cricket will follow through and, on Memorial Day Weekend ,May 23 & 24 have a USA vs Canada Series, featuring college players just as that 1844 match featured many college players. Some top players from Canadian & American universities which are American College Cricket members will be selected to play in this Series, which will take place in Toronto.
Whilst USA will have a larger pool of players to choose from, there is enough talent in the Canadian universities to make it an exciting Series.In fact in 2010 a Canadian University, York University won the the American College Cricket Championship, and 4 of their players went on to play for Canada including Khushroo Wadia & Raza Ur Rehman. Ryerson will represent the Toronto area where most of the players of the 1844 Canadian team came from, whilst McGill and University of the Fraser Valley have played huge roles in Canadian cricket history.
The competitiveness of all the players will make this a highly charged and exciting game and offer a preview of the College World Cup which will take place in January 2016 !
The Trophy will be named “The 1844 Jodah Trophy” to connect it to its lineage, and be an annual feature Lloyd explained the naming of the Trophy,
“I’ve always wanted to honor my Mom & Dad, and the extended Jodah family’s immense contribution to the game over more than 50 years. Since between my brother, my sister & myself we’re now both American & Canadian, there’s a serendipity to it.”
The Trophy will be made by Cricket Zone & Trophy World (Contact Ravi at Buxtonlinetop@yahoo.com). USA uniforms designed by Anja & Lloyd.
Potential sponsors may contact Lloyd at Dogevpr2@aim.com
