Cricket 1882

306 CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. s e p t. 28, i m . run of success which has followed the team. His batting has not deteriorated, on the contrary, his powers have been further developed. Space pre­ vents us doing more than calling attention to two of his best innings, his 286 not out against Sussex at Brighton, and his 107 not out against Orleans Club, the latter a wonderful display of cautious aud plucky batting under the most unfavourable condi­ tions. In point of science Murdoch has no equal as a batsman. His play all round is correct and sound. His defence is excellent, his driving clean; his drives in the England match of 1880 were the perfection of timing. He cuts, too, with great brilliance as well as precision. He is possessed of iron nerve; no matter what the condition of the ground or the state of the game he plays with the same ease and confidence. In the field he is safe anywhere, and in the positionhe has taken in the pre­ sent tour—point—has been very useful. The extra­ ordinary success too which has greeted the team speakshighlyforhisabilityasacaptain. Inthisoffice he has shown considerable judgment and discretion. Murdoch lives at Cootamundra, in New South Wales, and now practises the profession of a solicitor there. He is 5ft. lOin. in height, and weighs about 12st. 31bs, ( TH E T H IR D A U S T R A L IA N TE AM . T h e completion of the very heavy programme of the Australian team enables us now to take a com­ prehensive glance at the cricket they have shown during their tour. On their arrival here we ven­ tured to predict that they would not only be found superior to the best of our County teams, but that our representative English elevens would have some trouble to beat the full strength of players at Mur. doch's disposal when they had played enough to get thoroughly well together. We have from the first consistently pointed out the fallacy of under­ rating their undoubted abilities at every point of the game. The brilliant success which has greeted their efforts shows how correct was our estimate of their merits. In our opening number on May 10, though we were a little doubtful of their bowling after the way in which it had been punished by some of Shaw’s English team just prior to their de­ parture from Australia, we pointed out their all­ round strength. Their play throughout has not only justified, but far surpassed our expectations, and it would be only wilful blindness that can fail to see their superiority in many ways over some of the best of our English cricket. The record of the tour is an exceptionally fine one. Out of thirty- eight matches they can claim no less than twenty- three victories against only |four defeats. Hamp­ shire, judiciously perhaps, did not have an engagement with them, but with this one exception they beat every County team of any pretensions—- certainly all those coming in the category of first- class Counties. Of the three matches against representative English elevens they won two and lost one. They beat avery strong team of the Gen­ tlemen by more than an innings, and singularly were defeated even more decisively by certainly not the full strength of the Players. Their victory over a thoroughly representative eleven of England by seven runs will not soon be forgotten. The English eleven lost it when they apparently had the game well in hand, and no excuses can minimise the Aus­ tralian success. Exceptionally good bowling triumphed at the close over half-hearted batting. Any analysis of this match would be incomplete without the acknowledgment that Palmer, who, after Spofforth, is undoubtedly the best bowler in the Australian team, was too lame to take part in the game. In addition to their defeat by the Players they were beaten by Cambridge University and the North of England, in each case easily, as well as by a mixed eleven of Past and Present Cantabs, this time by only twenty runs. They were favoured by more than a fair share of luck no doubt. Mur- doohwas exceptionally fortunate in winning the toss, and with the bad light generally prevalent late in the afternoon on our English grounds there wss a great advantage in going in first anywhere. Eight timesin succession he had the choice of innings, and on the whole, in this respect, the Australians were greatly favoured. In some other ways, too, they were lucky. Time just saved them from a certain defeat at the Orleans Club, and in all probability had the game been played out at Lord’s they would have had to succumb to M.C.C. and Ground. Against these may fairly be taken into account some of their best performances. Their score of 643 against Sussex at Brighton is the highest made in England in a good match. No one too will gainsay the plucky way in which they more than once saved themselves from certain defeat. Were examples wanting it would only be necessary to point to the matches at the Orleans Club, and at Scarborough against I Zingari. On the latter occasion they turned what appeared to be a sure defeat into a draw entirely in their favour. Glancing carefully at the play of the team through­ out the tour, in our opinion there is little now to choose between the pick of English and Australian cricket. Their batting has shown a perceptible im­ provement with each visit. No unprejudiced critic though would even now go so far as to argue that it is equal in style to the best of our English batting. Murdoch is better than ever ; than this there can be no higher praise. With the exception of Mr. W. G. Grace, whom we still account the prince of English cricketers, in batting he has no superior, hardly any equal, in England. His play under all conditions of grounds has been equally brilliant. His style is by far the best on the Australian side. His batting is scrupulously correct. His cutting is very smart, his defence excellent, and that he has lost none of the pluck which nearly pulled the team of 1880 through, in the memorable match with England at the Oval he proved more than once, notably in the third match of the tour at the Orleans Club. With his exception, the batting was more the result of good eye and judgment than neat style. Horan, who was, for some reason unknown, left out of the match with the Gentlemen, played some fine innings, and quite justified his reputation as only second to Murdoch among Colonial batsmen. His defence is good, and he hits well at times, but his style is not taking. Massie, whom the Australians feared would hardly sustain his reputation on our slow English grounds, proved himself throughout a brilliant hitter. He rarely failed to make a good score, but some of his performances were quite sensational. The best display of hitting during the whole season was his first innings in tho opening match at Oxford. On that occasion he scored 206 out of 265 runs in three hours. Bannerman was quite the Barlow of the team. The most useful batsman to go in first, especially with one of so different a style as Massie, he never forsook a strictly defensive game. At Chichester he was in the whole of the first and part of the second day, at Scarborough he wentin on the second afternoon and was not out on the following night. McDonnell was so ill on the voyage home that it was feared he would never see England. Dur­ ing the earlier matches he was unable to play, and on the whole was not seen at his best. More than once though he showed fine cricket. He hits with great resolution, and on his Australian form of last year, had he been in full health, would have been sure to have had a good average. Blackham’s style showed no more polish than on his previous visits. His plucky batting was very useful though on several occasions, and generally his wicket was a difficult one to get. Palmer, who was reported to be one of the most improved batsmen in the team, failed to come up to expectations. He was unable to play in the later matches, but when he did bat was a disap­ pointment. Bonnor several times hit with extraor­ dinary success. His best performances were against amateurs, and mostly against slow bowling. His seventy-four against the Gentlemen was a good display of hitting. Against the Cantabs at Portsmouth he made sixty-six in forty-five minutes, at Scarborough, against the Zingari, one hundred aud twenty-two out of one hundred and sixty-seven in an hour and three-quarters. Giffen and Jones ^id not quite fulfil the hopes raised by their home reputation. Gillen at times played good, free cricket, but he did not seem to be at home on the slow grounds here. The same remark will more forcibly apply to Jones, the youngest member of the team, who did not iu any way justify the expecta­ tions from his brilliant record of last season in the Colonies. Of the remaining batsmen little need be said. Garrett’s hitting on a few occasions was use­ ful at the close of the innings. Boyle was not at all successful, and Spofforth of little use with the bat. Fielding has always been one of the best features of the Australian cricket we have seen in England. In this respect the team was even better perhaps than either of its predecessors. Blackham’s wicket- keeping was as safe and unpretentious as ever, equal to the best we have. Bannerman fielded brilliantly, never making amistake. Boyle, in his special posi­ tion of short mid-on, showed all his old pluck. The whole team fielded up well, and the three new mem­ bers of the party, Massie, Giffen, and Jones, all deserve high praise for their efficiency in the field. In bowling, the eleven w «e stronger than either of the two previous teams. At the outset it was feared that Spofforth would hardly be as deadly as before. He had had no practice last season in Australia, and in some of the earlier matches he was not so successful as was hoped. When he got fairly into practice again, though, his bowling was as remarkable for accuracy as it nas ever been. His pitch was unerring, his judgment in altering his pace marked. He bowled at times a little slower than in either of the two previous visits, but some of his performances were extraordinary. He fairly won the match with England, and we class him as superior to any bowler we have. In justice to the team, it must be mentioned that in most of the later matches they lost the services of Palmer, who is the best slow bowler in Australia. In some of the earlier games he was very successful, notably against Sussex, but he was not in the best of health, and his com­ parative ill-success is thus capable of explanation. Garrett proved himself a thoroughly reliable bowler. He was always straight, of a good length, and knew well how to tempt a batsman to hit. Boyle’s bowling was singularly deceptive. He looked easy, but his length was remarkably accurate, and was very difficult to score from. In fielding his own bowling he is without an equal. His foremost position in the averages, too, is the more creditable, as he. is the oldest member of the team. To make a general comparison of English and Australian cricket, as wo saw it this season, it is our opinion that there is very little to choose between the best English and Australian elevens. In batting and fielding there is, perhaps, little dis­ parity. It is a little singular that the Australians, used as they are to fast grounds, should have been so successful on our slow wickets. In bowling though they have a decided advantage over the best of our English teams. On a hard and true wicket there was not wanting evidence, notably at Man­ chester, that a representative eleven ought to beat them. Wherever though there was anything to help their bowling, they were able to do more than hold their own. In Spofforth, Garrett, Palmer, and Boyle they had a quartette of bowlers equal to any we can produce, and it is this department of English cricket that sadly needs strengthening. They had a very heavy programme to get through. Excepting for one brief respite of three days, from the 10th of May to the 26th of September they had no rest. Under the circumstances their record is one of which they have good reason to be proud, and English cricketers everywhere will congratulate them heartily on their well-earned triumphs. T he C anadian C r ic k e t F ie ld . — A weekly Record and Review of Canadian Cricket. Published every Wednesday during season except May and September, when there will be only two issues. Advertisements and Subscriptions will be received at the office of “ C b jck e t,” the London Agency.— Advt, ‘