Clem Hill's Reminiscences

erratic. Once he struck F.S.Jackson on the ribs, and put him out of action for some time. Grace was a fine type of man. He was 6 feet tall and weighed from 17 to 18 stone. He had a long beard, and fascinated me with his hearty laugh. Imagine my feeling when he, the greatest batsman in the world, came up to me and shaking me by the hand, said, ‘Keep going boy; you can bat all right. You’ll make a lot of runs in England.’ My modest contribution had been 32 and 23. Before I push on to the first Test I must mention Kortright, the fast bowler for Essex. He took a 22 yards run and for three overs was easily the fastest bowler I have played against. He bounced here, there, and everywhere. One ball just tilted George Giffen’s bat on one side. George played the next almost from the square-leg umpire, and I think it was the only time in his long, honourable, and brilliant career that he was glad to get out. Richardson the demon And now for the first Test at Lord’s, the historic home of the Marylebone Cricket Club. Will I ever forget it? Every young cricketer has three ambitions – to represent Australia, to be selected to play at Lord’s in a Test match, and to make a century there. Tom Richardson and Lohmann saw to it that none of us reached the coveted three figures in the first innings. We were all back in the pavilion for a miserable 53. Richardson was the demon. He secured six wickets for 39, and not one batsman looked like making runs against him. Excuses have been made for that failure, but, all the same, there is no getting away from the fact that the wicket was a perfect one, and that the performance of Richardson was remarkable. Trott won the toss, and we had visions of a tall score, but we had overlooked the fact that for the previous fortnight or so we had encountered a series of slow wickets, and here we were caught on a true and fast one. Richardson’s pace beat us all along the line. A tall man – he was 6ft 2in – he came right over with his delivery, and kept a perfect length. It was astonishing how he, at his pace, could make the ball nip back from the off stump and knock out the leg pin. He bowled just outside the off stump or right on the wicket to an off field. He was faster than Larwood is. The Nottinghamshire express gets his speed from his body swing. This was the last time that Lohmann played for England. He was one of the greatest all-rounders, and as a slip fieldsman was without peer. He is the only bowler who has twice captured eight wickets in Test matches. This he did on the Sydney Cricket Ground. In the first innings of this first Test he took 3 for 13. W.Gunn also played for the last time in Test matches in this game. 9 Another giant in build, his favourite shot was a square drive past point to the boundary with tremendous force. I remember one going past Trott like a shot out of a gun. J.T.Hearne, T.W.Hayward and A.A.Lilley played in this fixture – the first of their many big international matches. His First English Tour 20 9 Hill has made a slip here as William Gunn’s last Test was at Trent Bridge in 1899.