Cricket 1885

JAN. 29, 1885. CRICKET j A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 9 procedure in this particular case was neither, to say the least of it, in good taste, nor even politic. Of th6 monetary disagreements which have arisen between the English and Australian cricketers I prefer to say nothing, except that they can only be deplored by all true sportsmen. The quarrel, to quote from The Rivals, “ is a very pretty quarrel as it stands ; we should only spoil it by trying to ex­ plain it.” I d o not remember, in my many notices of fast scoring, having to re­ cord such a performance as was credited to the Melbourne Club, in a match on Nov. 24, against a Sand­ hurst team, at Sandhurst. Three of the Australians, just returned from England, H. F. Boyle, J. M. Black- ham, and G. E . Palmer, represented the Melbourne Club, and a pleasant outing they had. Boyle, who, by the way, is a native of Sandhurst, made himself very unpleasant to the locals, scoring 155 not out in an hour and three quarters, while Blackliam con­ tributed 79 and Palmer 71. J. Law- lor, though, was the principal sub­ scriber with 189, and when play ceased only seven wickets had fallen for 607 runs. In evidence of the rate of the scoring, I may state that the runs were got in five hours, an average of over 120 an hour. I think this would be a case in which, in the event of a return match, Lord Harris’ proposal to give the side losing the toss in the first, the choice in the second would be very acceptable. S h a k e s p e a r e tells us that “ com­ parisons are odorous.” No doubt they are at times, but it is equally certain that there are occasions on which they are instructive. In illustration of different styles of batting a valued correspondent in Adelaide sends me some interesting details respecting the play in the re­ cent match between Shaw’ s team and Murdoch’s Australian eleven in that city. Percy McDonnell, as the score will show, made 124 out of a total of 243 for the Australians in their first innings,one of the finest,I should fancy, of the many brilliant displays ever given by the young Victorian. These runs were made in three hours, or at the rate of over forty an hour. As a contrast, on the following day Scotton was at the wickets for five hours for seventy-one not out, and as he took an hour to make eleven runs on the third morning he was altogether at the wickets six hours for eighty-two runs. Barnes, too, was batting in all four hours-and-a-quarter for his 134. Scotton is evidently bent on main­ taining his reputation as a sticker against the Australian team. It will be remembered he was at the wickets over eight hours for ninety runs at tbe Oval last August, for England against Australia. At Huddersfield his score of 134 only occupied six hours. A c co rd in g - to all accounts there seems to be little chance that Spof- forth will be able to play in any of the important matches in Australia this winter. It was, I believe, his intention to resume his station life directly on his return. On reaching Adelaide, though, he heard of tlie death of his brother-in-law, some three hundred miles North West of Sydney, and immediately started off to join his sister. He could not, therefore, have been able under any circumstances to play for the Austra­ lians against Shaw’s team at Adelaide. It is said that he was desirous of playing in the Intercolonial match, and also for a Combined Australian team against the English players. Later advices, though, seem to suggest that his participation in these encounters was very doubtful, and I have just heard that he had definitely refused for the former. I r e g r e t to have to record the death of an old friend, Arthur William Cursham, an amateur who a few years ago occupied a prominent position in Midland cricket. He played for Notts, the county of his birth, in 1876, and a few years later vv'as found occa­ sionally in the elevens of Derbyshire, where he resided. He was a capital hitter, an excellent field, and with better opportunities and more prac­ tice might have developed into a very useful player. He was better known, though, as a footballer, re­ presenting England in more than one International match, and retaining his form so well as to be chosen to oppose Scotland as recently as March, 1883. T h r o u g h no fault of his own, I believe, his prospects in life had been considerably reduced, and when it was found that he intended to leave the country to settle perma- nent'y in Florida a testimonial insti­ tuted by the Notts Football Club, of which he had been for years an active member, produced such a ready re­ sponse that over £200 was collected, substantial evidence of the esteem in which he was held by all classes. Of the large number of athletes of dif­ ferent kinds whose personal acquain­ tance I have been able to claim I can conscientiously say that I have known no keener or more genuine sportsman, none fairer, more liberal, or more tolerant in all his ideas than was Arthur Cursham. Those who enjoyed his friendship, as I am pleased to re­ member I did, have reason to lament the loss of a thoroughly good teilow, unassuming and without pretence, but warm-hearted in all liis notions, in­ tensely loyal to everything bearing the impress of real sport. He died on Christmas Eve, at Wilford—named, I presume after his native village— in Florida, of malarial fever. T he continuous success which has attended Shaw and his comrades in tbe Colonies will be a matter of general satisfaction to all who take interest in the maintenance of the high reputation always enjoyed by English cricketers. I must candidly confess that I did not estimate them so highly as they have been rated on their Colonial form by the Australian press, and I can not quite agree with the inference that they are the best team that have ever visited the Antipodes. In the match against Murdoch’s Eleven at Adelaide it must be remembered that not only were Spofforth and Midwinter absent, but Bannerman was disabled, and Murdoch, who had, I believe, not practised since his return home, and Giffen, were altogether unfit. The composition of the Australian teams in subsequent matches remains to be seen, but from information received the English players do not seem to have been much put to it in the earlier contests. S t il l the most hypercritical judge could hardly fail to award the un­ stinted praise they so thoroughly de­ serve for their excellent all-round cricket. Asyet they have carried every­ thing before them, and improving, as they are sure to do, there seems to be every chance that they will return home unbeaten. Barnes’ consistently high scoring is the more satisfactory after his comparative failure, mainly from ill-health, with the Hon. Ivo Bligh’s team. I must confess, too, to a feeling of particular gratification at the success of Peel, who, though only chosen as a reserve, when it was found that Barlow positively would Next issue of Cricket Feb. 26-