John Lester - Legacy and Later Life

Legacy and Later Life

John Lester helped to lift Philadelphia cricket to the highest levels of international play with his leadership and understanding of the sport. He is one of the few American cricketers noted in Cricket Scores and Biographies, which said that he was "a watchful batsman who could hit well and had plenty of strokes and strong defence." In 1951 he authored A Century of Philadelphia Cricket, which was a definitive history of the game in the area. Lester was also integral in the foundation of the C.C. Morris Cricket Library when he proposed that cricket, "with a history and literature second to none should be given a permanent home in the United States." In 1969 he made his final public appearance at a cricket function when the library was opened at Haverford. Lester received his Ph.D. in education from Harvard University in 1902 and for many years was head of the English department at the Hill School Pottstown, Pennsylvania and served as a university professor. He died in 1969 and as a lasting memorial, the pavilion at Cope Field is named in his honor.