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| Baseball's UK heritage confirmed | Baseball's UK heritage confirmed |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Local historians in Surrey have confirmed evidence that baseball was played in the UK more than 20 years before American independence. | Local historians in Surrey have confirmed evidence that baseball was played in the UK more than 20 years before American independence. |
| A diary that documents a game being played in Guildford in 1755 has been verified by Surrey History Centre. | A diary that documents a game being played in Guildford in 1755 has been verified by Surrey History Centre. |
| William Bray, a Surrey diarist and historian from Shere, wrote about the game when he was still a teenager. | William Bray, a Surrey diarist and historian from Shere, wrote about the game when he was still a teenager. |
| Major League Baseball, the governing body of the game in the US, has been informed of the discovery. | Major League Baseball, the governing body of the game in the US, has been informed of the discovery. |
| Mixed sport | Mixed sport |
| Julian Pooley, Surrey History Centre manager and William Bray expert, said the diary showed the game was a well-established sport in the 18th Century and was played by men and women. | Julian Pooley, Surrey History Centre manager and William Bray expert, said the diary showed the game was a well-established sport in the 18th Century and was played by men and women. |
| Tricia St John Barry, who owns the diary, dug out the documents last year after watching a report on BBC South Today which said the sport began in the 1790s. | Tricia St John Barry, who owns the diary, dug out the documents last year after watching a report on BBC South Today which said the sport began in the 1790s. |
| William Bray lived from 1736 to 1832 and worked as a solicitor, a steward of Surrey manors and a Surrey historian. | William Bray lived from 1736 to 1832 and worked as a solicitor, a steward of Surrey manors and a Surrey historian. |
| It's a great American tradition to take things from other places and improve them Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post | |
| Mr Pooley said: "He kept lots and lots of diaries that we have in the Surrey History Centre but last year a new one was discovered in a garden shed and it contains his diary from 1754 to 1755. | |
| "It contains a reference to him playing baseball. What intrigued me is he is playing it with a load of young ladies." | "It contains a reference to him playing baseball. What intrigued me is he is playing it with a load of young ladies." |
| The diary states they had tea after the game on Easter Monday and also played cricket. | The diary states they had tea after the game on Easter Monday and also played cricket. |
| Kevin Sullivan, the Washington Post's London bureau correspondent and an avid Boston Red Sox fan, told BBC Radio Four's Today Programme: "It's a great American tradition to take things from other places and improve them. | Kevin Sullivan, the Washington Post's London bureau correspondent and an avid Boston Red Sox fan, told BBC Radio Four's Today Programme: "It's a great American tradition to take things from other places and improve them. |
| "We've always known that baseball evolved - it wasn't invented like basketball." | "We've always known that baseball evolved - it wasn't invented like basketball." |
| There was a later historical reference to the game being played in England in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, written between 1797 and 1798. | There was a later historical reference to the game being played in England in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, written between 1797 and 1798. |