Cricket 1883

MAUCH 16, 1883. CRICKET; A "WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 23 against most excellent bowling and perfect fielding. Eight wickets were now down for 132, and the end was evidently near. This was the more apparent when at 139 Garrett, who hid been joined by Palmer, came oai at Bates and hit him up to long-off, where the catch was cleverly taken by Barnes—(nine for 139). Spof- forfch, the last man, came in and the “ demon ” played with a confidence which would have done credit to severalof tho3 3 b itsmjn who had preceded him. H j co.n.nenceI by driving Bar- low straight for 4, and in the samabjwler’s next over he made two grand drives in succession for 4 each, the ball bounding back from the Pavilion fence. The score had reached 153 when Palmer stepped out to Bates, and drove him very hard to mid-off, where G. B. Studd effected a splendid catch. The match thus terminate 1 in favour of the English Eleven by an innings aul 27 runs. Upon retiring to the Pavilion the English Eleven were called out in turn by thi spectators, and loudly cheered, the Hon. Ivo Bligh being exceedingly well received. Bites, for his splendid bowling performance, came in for special applause. After the match, the teams met in the Pavilion, when the healths of both were drunk in champagne. The Hon. Ivo Bligh, in re­ sponding, said that bath his tea n and hinnelf were delighted with th3 reception accorded them, and the kind congratulations expressed on all sides made him think th it he was actu illy in the committee room at Lord’s, iustead of on the Melbourne Cricket Gro in 1. Mr. Murdoch, in responding for himself and team, said th it he congratulated the English Eleven on th3ir victory, but, at the same time, hoped to reverse the verdict at the matc'a to be played at Sydney, and his frijnis o u ld depend that the best exertions would bj u sedin order to sup­ port the credit of A isSralia in the cricket fiell. E nglish E leven . Barlow, b Palmer.. . . 1 1 Mr. C.T.Studd, b Palmar li Mr. 0. F. H. Leslie, ran oat.....................................51 Mr.A. G. Steel,c M j D ou - nell, b Giffea .. . . 3 3 Mr. W. W. Rjad, c anl b Palmer ....................75 Barnes, bGiffea .. .. 3J xMr. E. F. S. Tylecite, b Giffen ....................0 Hoa. Ivo Bligh,b Giffea 0 Batas,c II)raa bPalm3r 55 Mr. G. B. Stud I, b Palmer .................... I Mjrley, m t oit .. .. 0 B, ....................13 A ustralian E leven . .291 H. H. Massie, b Barlow . . 1 1 c C. T. S ta ll, bBi r- A. C. Bannerman,b Babes . . 1 1 W. L. Mardoch, not oat .. 13 T. Horan, cand b Barnes .. 3 P. S. McDonnell, b Bite3 .. 3 G. Giflfen, c and b Bites .. 0 G. J. Boanor.c Bead, b Baie j 0 J. M. Blackhatn, bBirnej .. 5 T. W. Girrett, b Bates .. 10 G. E. Palmer, b Bates .. 7 F. R. Spafforth, b Bato3 .. 0 B, Ac....................................10 lo w ..........................10 c Bligh, b Bate).. .. 11 b Bates.........................17 c Morley, b Batai .. 15 b Bites......................... 15 c Bligh, b Bates .. 19 c M >rlay, b B irlo .v .. 31 b Barlo y ........... 6 T j Barnes, b Bates .. 6 c G. B. Stuld, b Bates 4 not o a t.........................11 B ...................................1 153 111 BO VLIKGr ANALYSIS. E n JLIS-I ELSIES. O. M R VV. O. I. R. V. E. Sjnfbrth 31 11 57 0 T. W. Garrett 31 1J 33 0 <*• E. Pllm jr . .65-3 23 103 5 G. Griffjn .. 49 13 8J i Palmer bowled three no*bal)s and Spjfforfch one. AUiTtlACiIAN ELEVEN. F irstlnnin^i. S 330 1 I I m inj*. _ O. M R. W . O. M. R V. C. T. S tu ll .. 4 1 2k 0 J p rle y .................. J j .............................................. 2 0 7 0 "*novr...................Ji l i 3 1 ............................... 31 6 67 3 5 ir*93................... 23 7 32 2 ............................3 1 4 0 ...................2 5-2 It 28 7 ............................. 35 11 71 7 Morley bowled a no-ball. T je Milbni.rn'. Arjus h i! th3 following practical remarks on tlie victory of the English team, in this match : The result of the second of the three matches between the Australian and the English Elevens appears to have taken the public and the players also by an unaffected surprise. As Mr. Murdoch’s Eleven won the ? l'3t game with nine wickets to spare, it seems incomprehensible to many that the Hon. Ivo lyo Bligh’s team should this time be hailed victors with an innings andj twenty-seven runs to the good. Yet the match is simply but one of a thousand illustrations of the impossibility of predicting the issue of a game between two elevens which are about equal in strength. We had aa abundance of instances of the kind in the career of the Australian Eleven in England. The three most important matches the Eleven played were against the Gentlemen of England, the Players of England, and the Combined Gentlemen and Players, at the Oval. They defeated the Gentlemen with an innings to spare; they were as easily defeated by the Players, and they just snatched a victory from the united team. Thus in no instance did the result of the one leading match indicate the ter- mnation of the other. A small thing suffices t } turn the scale, and to turn it altogether. In the present instance it may be pleaded that the English Eleven enjoyed the smiles of fortune to some extent. It was a distinct advantage to bat upon a day when the sunshine was brilliant and the ground fast, whereas the Australians had cloudy skies and a ground upon which heavy rain had fallen. But while allowing for this circumstance, there is not a shadow of a doubt that the team which was mest fit for the contest won. The English Eleven has worked into brilliant form. It is no exaggeration to say that such fielding as they exhibited has never been seen on an Australian ground before, and the bowling was of the first class also. Every nerve was strained by the Eleven. The players were strung up to concert pitch. On the other hand, the perform­ ance of the Australian team conveyed the im­ pression that the men had underrated their foes somewhat ; had not practised to the last; had not set their every thought upon winning as had their opponents. The general impression was that their form was below their best. This criticism may be unjust, but it is a fact that among the experts such remarks were freely indulged in. And there can be no doubt what ever of the circumstance, that the Hon. Ivo Bligh’s eleven worked hard for their victory, and that, brilliant as it is, they fairly earned it. The concluding match remains to be played, and cricketers will hope that, at Sydney as here, the palm will go to the team which, by fitnes3 and merit, may deserve the final triumph. The Melbourne Age has the following very im­ partial criticism on the play of the two elevens : —Bates was beyond all doubt the lion of the match, and the young Yorkshireman has indeed done yeoman service for his country’s prestige in the cricket field. In addition to his score of 55, which was marred only by one chance, he secured no less thin fourteen wickets for 102 runs, his share yesterday being seven for 74, and on Saturday seven for 28. Barlow was his assistant throughout nearly the whole of the seeond innings, and a right useful one he proved. Although Barlow only captured three wickets for 67 runs, he bowled splendidly, anl with abominably bad luck. That the Australians were unfortunate in losing the toss there can be no doubt, just as they were lucky in winning it in the first match. That throughout the three days they were a long way below their usual form is equally certain, for in batting and fielding especially there was a marked falling off from the brilliancy which has on all previous occasions characterised the champions’ play. Horan on the first day fielded perhaps better than he ever did before, showing continued and amazing dexterity. This was, however, un­ fortunately quite nullified by the two glaring mistakes that he made during the afternoon. It is quite a new experience to have to record that Blackham behind the wickets was not quite himself, but such was the case in the match just finished. The one man who dis­ tinguished himself in the field was Bannerman, who is one of tho3erare but invaluable cricketers to whom good or bad luck makes little or no difference. As to the Australians’ batting, its failure has been ascribed to the w.^kei assisting the bow iing of Pates to an unusual degree. The excuse is quite an im aginary one, and the brilliancy o f B ales' wonderful perform ance should not be tarnished by s icli assertions. It has been sta tid that the fast of nearly all the wickets being got at on 3 en 1is p 03itive proof that “ there is som ething in it,” wnerea3 in the last match Palmer secured his w ickets at the end which was universally adm itted to play splendidly, and even the “ d em on ” could not s u ccre l on the other, w hich really was “ doing a little.” The collapse n o doubt was so rem arkable that all sorts of explanations are perhaps excusable, but beyond ascribing it to the proverbial uncertainty of the gam e no other explanation can be made than that it was one of these “ fro3ts” which, in the very best m atches, have often occurred before and will do again. Although the result, bracketed side by side w ith past records, b y no meaus proves the Australians inferior to their opponents, it is fair to admit that on this occasion at least the bowling fairly beat the batting, and that the winners, by playing very m uch superior cricket to that displayed by the vanquished team , thoroughly deserved their sp'.eudil victory. T he A ustralhn s, have, how ­ ever, probably been con vinced of the correct­ ness of the advice tendered them before, that it was foolish to risk m eeting such a pow erful batting team with only four bow lers. It can never of course be know n w hat effect B oy le’s in olusion in the team m ight have had. H is absence necessitated Palmer being worked al­ m ost to a standstill, sim ply because M urdoch, know ing his team ’s weakness, dared not take him off. T he first m atch was a lu ck y pull through, w ell played and won no doubt, but still fortunate in that another bow ler was not required. E ncouraged probably by their suc­ cess, the m atch com m ittee repeated their m is­ take, aud the result of the m atch has been m ore disastrous to them than the previous one was to their opponents. T he on ly unpleasant feature in the m atch was a cow ard ly attem pt m ade by a sm all knot of roughs to prevent Barnes catching Garrett, b y jeering at the fieldm an as he was preparing fo r the catch. B ut that these sm all souled fellows were al one in their unm anly behaviour was clearly evinced b y the hearty, even boister- ou3 way in which the mass of spectators cheered the w inners. E very m ember of the team was called forth on to the pavilion b ilc o n y and cherred to the echo, B ates, of course, com ing in for a great ovation. M r. B ligh was so im ­ pressed b y th is generous treatm ent that he d e­ clared to his friends inside that a finer acknow ­ ledgm ent of victory , could not have been accorded an E a ;lish te itn by E nglish people on E nglish ground. E N G L ISH E L E V E N v. M U RDO CH 'S A U S T R A L IA N E L E V E N . T h e th ird contest betw een the above teams was comm enced on th e ground of the N ew South W ales Cricketing Association, M oore Park, Sydney, on Friday, January 26. T he 26th of January is called here A nniversary Day, as being the date upon w hich tin C olony of N ew South Wale3 was founded, now nearly 100 years ago. Besides the cricket m atch in question (the day being regarded as a public holiday), there was a large regatta on the Parramatta Kiver, a good day’s risin g provided at the B m d w ick Course, and num erous picnic p irties, which visited many of t ie numberless no.iks a id corners of the h an l- sorne harbour of Port Jackson. N otw ithstanding all these counter-attractioas fo r pleasure seekers, they failed to detract from the interest takeniu the A nglo-A ustralian cricket m atch, the attendance at w hich was the largest ever witnessed at the M oore P ark G round. The P avilion reserves were closely p ick ed with spectators, w hilst the (To be continued on page 27.)