Cricket 1884

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. No. 50. VOL. III. Registered for Transmission Abroad. THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1884. PRICE 2d. E . E VAN S , O f N ew S outh W ales . T h e thoughtful kindness of a far distant reader of C k ick e t, in forwarding the photograph from which the accompanying engraving has been made, enables us to gratify the frequently expressed wish of a large number of readers of this paper. The general regret expressed throughout the Australian press on the departure of each colonial team for England, at the absence of Evans, universally described as “ the best all-round cricketer in the colonies,” has indeed familiarised his name to the majority of those who take an interest in the national game in this country. The members of most of the English teams which have visited Australia during the last two years have also testified, generally, so highly to his merits as a player, that our only regret is the delay which has necessarily occurred in the addition of his portrait to our gallerv of distinguished cricketers. Edwin Evans is a New South Welshman by every tie. He was born on Emu Plains, near Penrith, on March 6th, 1849, and, as far as we know, with the cricket of New South Wales he has always been identified. We have no details of his earlier play, and ouv first record of his doings is on the occasion of his debut in an Inter-Colonial match. This was at Sydney, in March, 1875, and his all-round cricket in that contest had very much to do with the victory of New South Wales.D . Gregory, Spofforth, J. Coates, B. B. Cooper, Horan, Boyle, Slight, Blackham, Midwinter and Conway, all of them known in England, took part in the s?me match. The best record on either side, though, was that of Evans, and in addition to two capital scores of and 31 not out, he did a fine bowling per­ formance in the second innings of Victoria, de­ livering 120 balls for 25 runs and 6 wickets, liie successive victories which fell to New South Wales in the next few years were in a great measure due to his effective bowling, and in 1876—7—8 his achievements were remarkable. In the first of these years Spofforth and he bowled unchanged throughout both innings of Victoria, and his ten wickets only cost 52 runs. Just at this time he must indeed have been in brilliant all-round form, and in the winter of 1876—7 he showed very fine cricket against James Lillywhite’s team, so much so, that the late Janies Southerton, than whom no better judge; of the game ever existed, expressed to the writer of this sketch the opinion that he was, perhaps, with one exception the best all­ round cricketer he had ever seen. Not to men­ tion his performances in the Inter­ colonial matches of the two suc­ ceeding years, his success against Lord Harris’ team on the Colonial wickets of January and February, 1878 was marked, and it is interest­ ing to quote the opinion of Lord Harris. His remarks on Evans ap­ peared in “ James Lillywhite’s An­ nual,” 1880, and his estimate of the New South Welshman was almost as high as that of Southerton. “ Evans, in my opinion, is certainly the best bowler we met in Australia— very high action, faster than Alfred Shaw—greater accuracy, with alter­ ation of pace and pitch, and a de­ cided work from the off. He is, besides, a very steady bat, sure catchy and first-rate field, and is certainly the best all-round cricketer in the Colonies.” Evans was one of the earliest invited to join the First Australian Team, which visited EnglandJ in 1878, but professional duties prevented his leaving the Colonies. He took seven out of ten wickets in the second innings of Shaw and Shrewsbury’s Team, at Sydney, for New South Wales, and was also one of the Eleven of Aus­ tralia in both the matches against the English players in the early part of 1882. During the last few sea­ sons his duties up country have pre­ vented his enjoyment of the same practice as the majority of the lead­ ing Australian players, and he has had to undertake long journeys in order to participate in the chief matches for which he has been chosen. As a consequence his bat­ ting has not had a fair chance, but in bowling he is still very effective, if not quite as deadly as of old, and in fielding he has no superior. That he is still one of the foremost cricketers in the Colonies was shown by his inclusion in the combined eleven of Australia Next Issue of CRICKET will be published Thursday- February 28.