The crowd may have been a good bit down on the 20,000 or so who turned up to watch the original match in 1879, but at least the game at Baxter Park was played to a finish this time.
The laughs were plentiful too as two Dundee cricket teams faced each other to resurrect a riotous match 135 years ago between a team of clowns from a travelling circus and Mr Paul’s Eleven in front of a massive crowd.
Sunday’s game between Norwood and Dundee High School FPs II saw members of the High team adorned in clown costumes, complete with full make-up and massive shoes, raising laughs galore as the extremely close fought game ended in a tie, with Norwood picking up the trophy as they had fewer wickets down.
As we reported, the original match was abandoned after its clown-costumed players were attacked by a spectator but there was no repetition of the violence this time, with only family members and friends there to watch the sporting contest.
Back in 1879, with the huge crowd surging dangerously close to the wicket, one spectator took exception to the clowns’ “grotesque appearance” and tried to hit two of them.
The ensuing chaos caused the match to be abandoned, but the Friends of Baxter Park decided to stage a more sedate version.
Graham McLaren, captain of Dundee High School FP XI said: “It went very well. It was a proper game in a sense given the surface at Baxter Park.
“It was a good idea and we were very lucky with the weather.”