Cricket 1882

Toge ther jo ined in Cricket’s m an ly to il.”— Byron. BegUter«Mor- i X S i i J io n Abroad. THURSDAY, SEPT. 28, 1882. PRICE 2d. W IL L IA M LLO YD MURDOCH . O n ly one cricketer of the present age can claim to have won such a world-wide reputation as the captain of the Australian team, whose portrait we have reserved for the completion of the series. His name is now as familiar over every quar­ ter of the globe where the English lan­ guage is spoken as that of the cricketer who has been for so many years recognised as the pride of our native cricket. No higher x^raise can perhaps be bestowed on the subject of our present sketch than to describe him as the W . G. Grace of Aus­ tralia. As an all-round player our English Champion would have, even now perhaps, the best of the comparison. When in the zenith of his fame W. G. too would have been the more successful as a batsman. In batting though just now it may safely be said that the Australian captain has no superior, few, if any, equals, and he is quite the cricket hero of the hour. Australia too has reason to be proud of him as of native production. He was born at Sandhurst, in Victoria, on the 18th of October, 1855, and is consequently now close on the completion of his twenty-seventh year. He was educated at St. Kilda, near Mel­ bourne, but there his connection with Victoria ceased. Migrating to Sydney when fourteen years old, his career as a cricketer may fairly he said to have been begun as it has continued solely in New South Wales. His first public appear­ ance was on behalf of the Warwick Club of Sydney. He soon though transferred his attentions to the Albert Club in the same city, and of this he is still a member. His first match of importance was for the Albert Eleven against Tasmania, and a favourable deb<U it was, as he scored 57 not .out in excellent style. It was to his ability though as a wicket-keeper rather than a batsman that he owed his advance at this early period of his career. He was not twenty years of age when he took part in his first Inter-colonial match. His debftt for New South Wales was well chosen, for it was on the memorable occasion, Dec., 1875, when the Colony—mainly through the effective bowling of E v a n s— obtained a decisive victory hy an innings and one run. Neither of his two first Inter-colonials found him at all successful with the bat, and in neither was he able to claim even double figures. It was still his proficiency as a wicket­ he improved in the American matches on the homo­ ward journey, and the few engagements in Australia which remained to complete the programme found him in such increased form that he was able to boast the highest average of close on thirty runs for twelve innings. From that time his position as the best batsman in the colonies has been secured. His brilliant innings of 153 for the first Australian Eleven against Fifteen of Victoria was admittedly the best dis­ play of batting ever seen on the Melbourne ground. Blackham's superiority at the wicket induced Murdoch to devote all his energies to improvement as a batsman, and his suceesses since that time have been numerous, many of his performances brilliant in the extreme. His reputation was so clearly established iu 1879 that he was chosen to be captain of the second Australian team, which came to England in 1880. His splendid batting through that tour will be well remembered here. Of his great performance in the memor­ able match between England aud Aus­ tralia at the Oval, it is unnecessary to say much. No better display of batting than that of his, when he scored 158 not out against the best bowling of England, has ever been seen. It was an innings that will never be forgotten, and so proud were the Australian residents in London of this grand exploit that they presented him with a massive silver loving cup. His aggregate for the whole of that tour was 2,465 runs for 105 innings, or an average of over 25 runs. Last season in Australia his batting records were even more sensational. His long score in the Inter-colonial match just before his departure for England was a most extra­ ordinary performance. From any point of view, whether as a display of physical power or an exhibition of nerve and unwearing patience, his score of 321 on that occasion cannot be over-praised. This score is the highest ever made in the colonies, and, though intrinsically a better innings, only second in point of number in a match of importance to Mr. W . G. Grace’s 344 for M.C.C. v. Kent in 1876. For this exceptional record he was pre­ sented with a valuable gold watch in addition to a 50 guinea cup for the highest score in the Inter­ colonial matches of the season. At Suez, on the way to England, he was elected captain of the Aus­ tralian team just leaving our shores. He has good reason indeed to be thoroughly proud not only of his own individual scores, but of the continuous keeper that gave him prominence, and his ability in this position was clearly shown in the match between New South Wales and Lillywhite’s English E leven during the season of 1876-7. At this time opinions were divided as to the relative merits of Blackham and Murdoch at the sticks, and his selec­ tion to form one of the first Australian eleven to visit England in 1878was greatly due to his skill in this particular post. During the early part of that tour he occasionally took the wicket and with some success. Charles Bannerman was then admittedly the premier batsman of Australia. Murdoch’s talents had not yet developed, and his record in England was not a brilliant one, his average for 62 innings being under thirteen runs. These figures