Clem Hill's Reminiscences

risky cuts and shots. On a fast and fiery wicket I feel almost inclined to compare him with Trumper (in my opinion the greatest batsman I ever saw), but the New South Welshman was better on a sticky or a bad wicket. If I had to name the six best batsmen who played for England in my time I would say, without putting them in any order of merit, that they were Grace, Ranjitsinhji, Jackson, MacLaren, Hobbs and Tyldesley. England had to follow on in this game, which in those days was a very rare occurrence, and in my experience the only time that the Englishmen did so in their own country. 4 Bad wickets mystify Australians: ground dry, pitch soft, rubber lost The outfield at Headingley was dry and in good condition, but the pitch itself was soft. The Australian cricketers were mystified. The groundsman’s explanation is given. On this same tour there was another wicket which surprised them, and it was on the last day of a match to decide the rubber. The Australians had to bat on it. The practice wickets had dried out after some heavy rain, but the Test pitch had not. Australia lost. In these days of my first tour of England, three Test matches were played instead of five, as at present. We had lost the first, won the second, and were now to play the third at Kennington Oval to decide the rubber. But, before I come to that match, there are a few amusing incidents to relate. Our fast bowler Ernie Jones, who is living in retirement in Adelaide, broke more stumps than any man I ever met. Umpires were often dashing off to the pavilion to get a new one. Playing against Essex he strongly impressed the great umpire Bob Thoms, by pitching a ball on the off stump, and sending the leg bail the best part of 100 feet. ‘Bring along a whole trainload of the best batsmen in this world, and this chap will bowl them all out with a ball like that’, Thoms remarked impulsively. In a match with Yorkshire, at Sheffield, Johnny Brown took strike to Jones. The first ball just missed his ear, the next a short one, shot over the top of his head, and Jim Kelly, the wicket-keeper, half-stopped it, but it went almost to the boundary. Brown ran a single, and Tunnicliffe, who was batting with him called out, ‘Come along Johnny, plenty of room for another.’ But Brown had had enough. ‘No, Tunny,’ he called back, ‘I have a wife and family at home; no more of that stuff for me.’ The Yorkshire crowd, always liked by the Australians for their fairness and sporting qualities, began to yell out to Harry Trott, our captain, ‘Trott, take him off. Trott, he will kill someone.’ Trott, ever ready for a joke, responded to the requests and gave ‘Jonah’ a spell. The crowd cheered. He threw the ball to Eady, who for two or three overs was nearly as fast as Jones. Moorhouse was batting, and, not expecting a fast ball, shaped up in the ordinary way. The first one, a full pitcher, hit him hip high, and he dropped as if killed. His First English Tour 24