Clem Hill's Reminiscences

the Australian innings next morning, stayed there all that day, and continued late on the afternoon of the third day. Then he topped off this display of stamina by fielding for a couple of hours. He was quite disappointed when finally he was caught and bowled by Hearne. He said he could have kicked himself for having made what he considered was such a poor shot. Thanks to his sterling performance, the leeway of 176 on the first innings was wiped off. Worrall made 53, Trumper 63, Darling 39 and Iredale 36 not out. When we were over 150 runs ahead, and a little over two hours left for the Englishmen to make that number, A.N.Hornby (secretary of the Lancashire Cricket Club) jokingly made an offer of £250 to Ben Wardill, our manager, to close the innings. ‘Make it £500 and we’ll consider it’, said Joe Darling. Wardill never came back. Darling closed the innings at 7 for 346. The Englishmen were left with 171 runs to make. Bowlers’ fame short-lived Then came a surprise for the spectators. We looked for a while as if we might win. Quaife, Fry and MacLaren went cheaply. Lilley, the wicket-keeper, and Young, a bowler, had had such a gruelling time at the hands of Noble that they would not have been able to do themselves justice. Bradley and Hearne, two more bowlers, were very tired. They were poor batsmen. There were only Hayward and Brockwell left, and they also were feeling the strain of their long spell in the field. A batsman when he is tired cannot play with the same vigour as when he is fresh. The bat feels twice as heavy, Ranjitsinhji and Jackson were batting. The former gave an easy chance, which was not accepted. That was the turning point of our plucky attempt to convert what at one time looked like certain defeat into possible victory. The batsmen played out time. Young, the bowler I have mentioned, had first been opposed to us in match with Essex earlier in the season. He had come off a boat, and was nicknamed ‘Sailor.’ He was tall and thin, and had long arms. He bowled left arm, and the ball swung into the batsman in a most disconcerting way. Voce reminds me of his action. He captured 4 for 42 and 7 for 32 at Essex. A great future was predicted for him. But we soon became accustomed to him. After the way Noble treated him he never played again in Test matches. I have always been interested in the fate of bowlers who are acclaimed as ‘great finds’. There was one in Yorkshire named Haigh. He had been taking many wickets for his county, and was chosen to play against us at Lord’s in 1905. We heard that he would be most disastrous. Archie MacLaren, a wise old head, advised that no bouquets be handed to Haigh until he had met some batsmen of the best class. ‘See how he gets on with the Australians’, he said. In his first two overs Trumper and Duff punished him most severely. ‘That’s what I expected would happen’, MacLaren remarked. 36 His Second English Tour 53 36 But is MacLaren’s comment even more indicative of a Lancastrian speaking about a Yorkshireman?