Replicating the 1924 cricket game that began Maccabi
Maccabi Australia’s centenary celebrations will begin with recreation of a pivotal 1924 Jewish cricket match.
A single, simple, but incredibly significant cricket match in Melbourne in December 1924 – between Jewish teams representing Victoria and NSW – exceeded all expectations at the time, and proved to be the seed that grew into what Maccabi Australia is today.
To kick-off Maccabi Australia’s centenary year celebrations, a replica of that match will be played in Melbourne on Sunday, March 23, featuring players including Michael Klinger and Todd Greenberg.
THE MATCH THAT STARTED IT ALL
The Jewish population of Australia in 1924 was substantially smaller, and due to the tyranny of distance, its major communities in Sydney and Melbourne lacked organised connections.
But one great idea, centred on the unifying qualities of sport, built the bridge to change that.
The Sydney Judaean Amateur Athletic Association wrote to Rabbi Israel Brodie in Melbourne to ask if there was any interest in a Jewish interstate cricket match.
There certainly was, and the idea was warmly embraced by the Judaean League of Victoria (JLV), which had about 700 members, and particularly by the Melbourne Judaean League Cricket Association.
An official program was made that featured a two-day Victoria v NSW men’s cricket match at Fitzroy Cricket Ground on December 29 and 30 of that year – but also a full week of communal receptions and social events that created a carnival vibe, drawing in the whole Jewish community.
Notably, the official printed program stated, “For the first time, the representatives of one state will intermingle, and come into close social contact and familiarity, with the co-religionists of the other”.
The 13-strong NSW team, captained by Harry Solomon and managed by player Sol Einfeld, travelled to Melbourne by train, and were welcomed at a Shabbat service at Bourke Street Synagogue by Rabbi Brodie, JVL president Dr D Rosenberg, and team Victoria captain Cecil Raphael.
There were several more receptions and day trips for the players, and even a ball attended by 300 people.
Victoria won the two-day match by 8 wickets, during which the crowd, at times, exceeded 400.
The standout bowler was Victorian captain Raphael, who took 4/22 and 4/32, while the top run-scorers were Victorian Charles Myers (42 and 53 not out), and NSW’s Harry Fisher (38).
The success and legacy of this tour was immediately apparent.
The editorial in the January 1, 1925 in The Australian Jewish Herald stated, “It is because we believe that the possibilities which may result from the visit of the [NSW] team are so limitless, that we say that the endeavour has a significance which must not be overlooked”.
And in a letter to the editor by JVL president Dr Rosenberg in the Sydney-based The Hebrew Standard on January 16, 1925, he wrote, “The visit of your [team NSW] men to us is historic – more – it is prophetic . . . [it] shows that in Australia, we Jews are one”.
The momentum from that historic match flowed into December 1925, when the first ever Jewish senior interstate sport carnival was held in Sydney, featuring Victoria and NSW, and the following year, also Western Australia.
THE REPLICA MATCH A CENTURY LATER
Maccabi Australia will kickstart its centenary year celebratory events in the most symbolic form possible – a replica match in Melbourne on Sunday March 23 between Victoria and NSW, preceded by a tribute match to the late Maccabi-AJAX Cricket Club stalwart Joel Rembach, who passed away last October.
There will also be an official dinner the night before with many past and current Jewish cricketers.
Everyone is welcome, and encouraged, to attend the replica match – details of which will be provided on Maccabi’s social media and sport club sites ahead of the event – and join in the celebrations.
Sydney-based Maccabi NSW executive committee member Ben Einfeld – whose great uncle Sol played for the 1924 NSW Jewish cricket side and was its team manager – will play in the replica match, as will Melburnian Paul Platus, while the father of 1924 NSW Jewish cricket team member Henry Kausman – 90-year-old Melburnian and Maccabi-AJAX stalwart Les Kausman – will attend the dinner and eagerly watch the match, as will former Australian Test and Victorian player Julien Weiner, and former NSW batter Marshall Rosen.
Einfeld and Platus are the key planning co-ordinators of the centenary replica game, and Platus and Kausman, who are keen historians, are sourcing and collecting relevant old photographs, and newspaper clips, which will go on display, and feature in a future exhibition.
Einfeld confirmed that players in the replica match will include former Australian T20 opening batter Michael Klinger, Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg and his brother Glenn, Maccabi-AJAX stalwart Barry Kave and his son Daniel, and former grade cricketer Moshe Ezekiel.
“There’s no doubt it will be a very nostalgic and special event – as there are so many multi-generational storylines,” Einfeld said.
“It will recognise that 1924 match as a real catalyst, but also celebrate the legacy of those visionaries who planted the seed for what Maccabi Australia has become, and its continuity and growth ahead.
“Maccabi is unique in that we give a lot of people a doorway to their Jewish identity, and community connection, that without Maccabi, they wouldn’t have – whether it be through sport clubs, carnivals, or being selected to represent Australia in Israel at the Maccabiah Games.”
Maccabi Australia general manager David Goldman stressed the ongoing, far-reaching positive impact that Maccabi provides, across all age groups today, 100 years on since that first interstate cricket match.
“Today Maccabi has 56 clubs, 9,000 members, and we reach 40,000 supporters,” Goldman said.
“There is so much to celebrate in our 100th year, starting with March 23, and then throughout the year with the Maccabiah torch relays in April and May, the Maccabi Australia sport Awards, and many state-based celebratory events later in the year.”
Maccabi Australia president Rodney Rosmarin reflected, “It makes you incredibly proud when you think back to 1924 about what those visionaries did, and it has continued on.
“I think they would be humbled, if they were still alive today, to find out that Maccabi Australia is 100 and getting stronger every year – through sport, Maccabi Life health and well-being initiatives, and inclusive programs like All Abilities – and that one-third of our Australian Jewish community today is directly connected in some way to Maccabi Australia.”
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