An Ordnance Corps officer takes guard, 1858 circa (b/w photo)

An Ordnance Corps officer takes guard, 1858 circa. Photograph, 1858 circa. Keeping troops occupied and out of trouble was a constant headache for the authorities. Eager to distract men from drink and prostitutes, senior Army officers recommended a range of leisure activities, including cricket. Cricket was thought to embody certain 'English virtues' such as strength, persistence, courage, leadership, camaraderie and sportsmanship. Such were the supposed moral and character-building powers of the game that in 1841 General Sir Rowland Hill, Commander in Chief of the British Army, ordered that a cricket ground be built in every military barracks in the country. Photograph from an album of 100 photographs, 1858-1859.