Clem Hill's Reminiscences

The crowd yelled. Moorhouse, recovering, cried out, ‘Ah, Trott, you take off one fast bowler and, blow me, if you don’t put on another as fast as t’other.’ Later in the season we were again in Yorkshire, this time at Leeds. There had been no rain in England for a month and we were looking forward to playing on a good, fast wicket. Imagine our surprise on examining the pitch on the morning of the game to find that it was soft and easy, whereas the ground everywhere else was dry. ‘Jonah’ was mystified, so sought out the groundsman, who told him that during the night there had been a heavy dew and a local shower. ‘Jonah’ was brief and to the point. ‘Yes,’ he snapped, ‘it was a local shower – very local, 22 yards long and three yards wide.’ The groundsman had taken care to see that the wicket was not very fiery as at Sheffield. Bowlers unable to stand in mud One more incident before I leaveYorkshire. Hughie Trumble was very tall, and stooped a little. We were passing through an avenue of people on to the field when one little ‘tyke’ called out to him, ‘Stand up, you long ‘un, and let’s have a look at you!’ Trumble went on with a sardonic smile. Trumble, who is secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club, was essentially a Test match winner. 13 He was a remarkably fine judge of the game, had a wonderfully good temper, and was always ready with a joke. He had good nerves, and was a very useful batsman when runs were badly wanted. He always worried F.S.Jackson, who could never decide when the long Victorian was going to bowl the slow one. Trumble dismissed Jackson three or four times with this particular ball by catching and bowling him. The batsman was deceived by the flight. Finally Jackson exclaimed, ‘You old devil, Hughie, you can get me caught and bowled whenever you like with that ball, but I will pick it sooner or later.’ And he did, though not always. The reference to ‘H.T.’, as Trumble was known, brings me now to the fateful third Test, for he took six wickets for 59 in the first innings, and six for 30 in the second. He was a right-arm bowler, and delivered the ball well over, using his full height of more than six feet. He was able to spin the ball, varied his pace well, and kept a good length. He could make the ball jump up abruptly from the pitch, and was a hard bowler to force away. For the Australians it was a most disappointing Test match, as it was played on a wicket affected by rain. England won by 66 runs, and victory must be traced back to the advantage that the home side obtained through having got about 60 during the hour’s play on the afternoon of the first day. Rain fell in the morning, and throughout the early part of the afternoon. It was only because the umpires were keen to give the public something for their money, that we sauntered out on to the field at 5 o’clock to begin play. It was impossible for our bowlers to run up to the wicket; it took them all their time to stand up in the mud to deliver the ball. They had no control over their delivery. The wicket was all if favour of the batsmen, as the ball cut straight through. His First English Tour 25 13 Hugh Trumble was Melbourne Cricket Club secretary from 1911 to 1938.