Aboriginal cricket team coached by Charles Lawrence

Aboriginal cricket team. English cricketer, Charles Lawrence, runs the Pier Hotel, Manly (1865-1867). He visits and stays in NSW in 1862 to coach teams in Sydney. In April 1867 he joins an Aboriginal team, which he takes on the first cricket tour to England where they play 47 matches over six months. The team not only plays fine cricket, but also demonstrates athletic feats: high jump, somersaulting, running backwards and throwing cricket balls or bats over distances. The highlight is the team’s performance of a mock battle, hurling spears at an opponent who imbly dodges them. Most of the team comes from Edenthorpe in Victoria (MacLeod, Pictorial History: Manly, 20).