The Game of Cricket

If there appears to be a bias towards cricket in these posts, it is purely accidental. This game was a new one to me when I found it, and has a very attractive cover design, so it is worth describing.

The game is played on a cardboard pitch with a set of stumps illustrated at about a quarter of the way in from each end. There are red numbered spots (1-6) in front of the stumps, and these have the numbers 1-6 printed on them, with lines linking each of those numbers to a score or penalty. The bowling side throws a die to determine which of the red spots is used by the bowler, and the bowler then throws the die to discover the effect, which is based on the scores and ways of getting out in the real game. The instructions are pasted inside the lid and unusually contain what appears to be an error, describing the right hand end of the pitch when the left was intended, but it is a minor problem.

The box is printed by chromolithography, but not the board.

I would suggest that the game dates from the late 1920s or early 1930s.

Croquet Race

The New Game of Croquet Race

is a completely new one on me. The pieces are missing from this example, but are unlikely to have been anything more than a die and counters. The game could have been produced by any of a number of makers, including companies such as Spears, but there is a strong possibility that it was made by Roberts Brothers. The board and cover label are chromolithographs, with the board decorated with characters in clothing of a noticeably earlier date than those on the lid, suggesting that the game may have been poroduced initially in the early years of the 20th century, but that this example was produced in the period of or after World War I.

The rules are pasted inside the lid in this example, so it is possible to understand the game, which is simple but clever and as likely to cause dissent amongst the players as the real game of croquet. Players have to follow a track, passing through hoops (for which they gain an extra throw of the die) in order to hit two pegs (halfway and at the end) with exact throws. If they land on a space occupied by an opponent a new throw is used to send that player BACK and the active player FORWARD, so the players are encouraged to use this technique to delay their opponents.