Spencer Ponsonby (later Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane) and Richard Penruddocke Long, who were dining at the Blenheim Hotel in London's Bond Street after a match against Harrow School.
Its name means 'the gypsies' in dialecticised Italian, and I Zingari was the name of an English amateur cricket club formed in 1845, and an Australian one formed 40 years later.
I Zingari |
John, 5th Earl of Bessborough, played five games in the 1830s; Frederick, the 6th Earl, played more than 70 games between 1834 and 1856, and was a founder of both Surrey and I Zingari; while Spencer appeared over 60 times between 1841 and 1862.
The first recorded match on the ground was in 1878, when the Orleans Club played I Zingari.