Clem Hill's Reminiscences

Giffen did the hat trick, and from one hit they ran eight. When the opposition learned who these mighty players were and how they had been tricked, they were annoyed, but soon got over it and enjoyed the joke. On a hot night at Tamworth in New South Wales, George and two of his mates in the Australian Eleven had nothing to do. They were dressed in their pyjamas, and were looking for a place to get a breath of cool air. Noticing some silk hats in the lobby of the hotel, they put them on and strolled down to where a fancy dress ball was being held. They mounted a platform, where one of them took hold of a bell on a table and began to ring it. The master of ceremonies dashed up, and was proceeding to bundle them out when Bannerman, who was also in the team, whispered in his ear, ‘They’re three of the Australian Eleven.’ That was enough; they stayed, and were made a great fuss of. Such is hero worship. A remark from one of the crowd which George loved to relate was made when Alec Bannerman was stonewalling. The Englishmen were crowded around him. Grace was very close. A barracker called out, ‘Look out Alec, he’ll put his hand in your pocket.’ It used to be said that Giffen refused to go to England with one team because he was not appointed captain; also that he would not make the trip unless his brother Walter was taken. He denied both of these charges. In later years, when he was captain, he would keep himself on bowling for long periods, despite the demands of the crowd on the mounds to take himself off. He did take himself off once, and they cheered him, but he promptly went on at the other end. Help for young cricketers Just two more incidents that old George used to relate. He was playing in England. Grace thought that the bats used by the Australians looked too wide, so he called for a gauge to test them. Some of them were slightly out. Then the bats of the great Englishman himself were brought along. The first one tested was found to be much too wide. That ended the examination. The other one is of an Australian who could not master the deliveries of Peake 23 , an Englishman, so decided to practise in his bedroom. He stepped back to one imaginary ball, then forward to another. He finished up with a big hit to leg, and smashed the toilet seat to fragments. But he was confident that he could now play Peake. He was bowled by him first ball. Joe Darling and I owe a great deal to George Giffen, as we had the advantage of his skill and advice when we were starting our cricketing careers. He would bowl to us at practice for hours. And what practice it was! We had to play him all the time. There were no long hops or full pitchers such as I sometimes see at the nets nowadays. He was always fit, never tired, and had great stamina. I have Stoddart’s Tour of Australia 32 23 Hill, or perhaps more likely a typesetter, appears to be in error here as Peake is the name in the original text. Peake was an amateur Gloucestershire fast bowler and parson of the 1880s with minor cricket credentials, whereas Edmund Peate was a more substantial cricketer of the same era. See Notes on Players and Umpires, towards the back of this book.