Cricket 1886

98 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. MAY G, 1886. Australian cricketers to England in 1884, and his absence was a considerable disap­ pointment to tlieBritish public,who had already heard much of his form from the members of the Hon. Ivo Bligh’s team. Though unsuc­ cessful with the bat, his bowling was of great use to the Victorians when the English pro­ fessionals, under the charge of Shaw and Shrewsbury, made their first appearance in Melbourne on Nov. 14,1884. Two youngsters, Messrs. Bruce and Trumble, in the absence of any of the members of Murdoch’s team, not, as yet, returned from England, were deputed to commence the bowling for Victoria. Both, too, were successful, and though the former’s six wickets were only obtained at an average cost of over 21 runs he was, next to Robertson, the best wicKet-getter on the side. The refusal of most of Murdoch’s party, all indeed but Spofforth, to play against Shrewsbury and his comrades, left places for several new men in the combined team of Australia, and Bruce opposed the Englishmen in the first as well as. the last of the four •matches, in which what was intended to have been a representative eleven of the Colonies took part. These were, indeed, the only two occasions on which he faced the English cricketers, and each time he did good service, obtaining scores of three not out, forty-five, fifteen and thirty- five, or an aggregate of ninety-eight for thrice out. During the Australian season just, over, though not so successful with the ball, Mr. Bruce’s batting was considerably above the average. In the First Intercolonial Mr. H. J. H. Scott (the captain of the Australian Team) and he made 136 before a Victorian wicket fell, and it is worthy of remark that four of the cricketers now here contributed 386 out of 458 got from the bat by Victoria. Mr. Bruce’s 71 on that occasion was an exceptionally good display, emphasising, beyond a doubt, his claims to a place in the Australian Team then being collected for England under the auspices of the Melbourne Club. His first appearance in the team, too, was a fortunate one, as will be seen from the score of the match in another part of the paper. He opened the tour suc­ cessfully at Adelaide with a well-got score of forty-five. Mr. Bruce—who stands 5 ft. 10i in. in his stockings—is a good specimen of the native Victorian. Very active and energetic in £he field, he is every inch a cripketer. His usual position in the field is cover-point, but he can take any other place in the out-field with equal facility and precision. Being ambi­ dextrous lie shines to particular advantage, and being in addition very quick on his feet he certainly has no superior even among Australian cricketers. He is, too, it may be added, a safe catch anywhere. In batting as well as bowling he is left-handed. As a bats­ man he has a very pretty style not always seen with left-handed players. He has the reputation of being a fast run-getter, and has a powerful off-drive peculiar to himself which is very effective. In addition he is very fast between the wickets. Mr. Bruce has had the best bowling record for the Melbourne Club for the last three years, during which period his average has been under twelve runs per wicket. His delivery is not unlike that of Wootton, the Kent player,and at times he gets a lot of work, on to the ball. On several occa­ sions the M.C.C. executive have recognised Mr. Bruce’s performances with bat and ball, and presented him with valuable trophies as souvenirs of his powers. In one match against the Richmond Club (one of the leading clubs about Melbourne) Mr. Bruce took eight wickets for nine runs, and made the top score for his side in both innings. It remains to be seen if .English wickets will suit his st}de of play, but it will be a great disappointment to every one in Australia, where he is a great favourite, if lie does not maintain his reputation. The English cricketers who have visited Australia of late years think very liighly of the Colt, and Scotton, it is well-known, allows that the left-hander can get him at any time. It is generally thought, too, that with three or four weeks’ constant practice in England he cannot fail to become, what all his friends would wish, a first-rate bat on sticky wioketa. Mr, Brii6e is destined for the legal profession. At the pre­ sent time he is articled to a leading firm of solicitors in Melbourne. C ricket of next Thursday will contain a Portrait and Biography of Mr. Me I I w raith , Of the Australian Team. These will be followed by Portraits and Biographies of Messrs. J. W. T rumble and B. J. W a rd ill , (the Manager) also of the Australian Team. T H E P A R S E E C R IC K E T E R S . A cricket match was played on the Esplan­ ade at the Gymkhana ground on April 10, between a combined team of six .Gymkhana and six Parsees v. six Gymkhana and six Parsees, the Parsees being those of the fifteen who have been selected to proceed to England to play against certain cricket clubs in London and other places in the United Kingdom. In the play, the Parsee cricketers distinguished themselves -in every way as excellent bats­ men, bowlers, wicket-keepers and fields­ men. There was a large crowd of spectators, both European and natives, gathered around the ground watching the play. The two teams were captained respectively by Mr.F. D. Gaddum, the old Cantab, and Mr. Wyer. Mr. Gaddum’s side took the first innings, and before Mr. Wyer’s pariy had completed their innings it became dusk, and the game was abandoned, to be concluded at their meeting on April 17. The following is the score M r . G addum ’ s S id e . Dadabhoy,bFramjee 7 Merriman.b Framjee 19 Young, not out......... 4 Macrae,b Macbeth... 3 Gaddum, c Glazel- brook, b Framjee 3 B 7, lb 4 ..........11 Baria, c VVyer.bHar var ................. Dustoor, run out ... Morenas, c and b Harvar .............. Gould, b Major... . Carnegy, b Harvar ... Burjorjee, b Banajee 21 Bhedwar,lbw,bHarvaril Total ..125 Major, b Bhedwar ... 8 Bazonjee,b Bhedwar 6 Rumwalla,cMerriman, b Gaddum .......... 5 M r . W y e r ’ s S id e . Liboowalla,bBhedwar 2 Total . 23 The Parsee team have been using their spare timebeforetheir departurefor sedulouspractice and had a scratch match on April 12 with a combined team. The latter went in first and scored 92, the greatest addition to the score being contributed by H. Harrington and R. Henderson, whose scores were respectively 20 and 35. There was no doubt that but for the stand made by these two the bowling of D. H. Patell would have reduced the score of the combined team to something very much under 92. The late hour their opponents went in prevented them from showing up, but the little which was seen of the batting of the five who handled the willow showed that the coaching they received was not lost on them. C om bined T eam . I irst Innings. H. E, Harrington, lbw, b D. H. Patell 20 J. Mowjee, b D. H. Patell ................. 0 J. Millward, b D. Patell ................. 0 G. F. Chance, b D. Patell .................11 J. Jamsetjee Liboo- walla, b A. Major 10 W. Cruickshank, b D. Patell ................. 0 R. Henderson,c Har­ var, b D. Patell ... 35 E. Hall, b D. Patell 0 P. J. Master, b M. Fram jee................ 6 J. Screwalla, not out 8 E.Jimy.b D.H.Patell 0 Extras................. 2 Total ... 92 B. Baria, hw, b Hen­ derson ................. M. Banajee, b J. M. Patell ................. A. C. Major, c Scre­ walla, d Patell P arsee T eam . First Innings. M- Framjee, not out S. Bhedwar, not out 5 Extras... .......... 2 Total , 30 PARSEE CRICKETERS v. ALL COMERS This match was played on April 14, on the Gymkhana ground, and resulted in a good game. The Parsee Team show’ed good form, and the bowling of Dadabhoy Khumbatta (Kurrachee) proved very useful. A ll C omers . J. M. Patell, c and b Dadabhai................. 0 J. Reporter, run out 3 M. E. Pavri, c Banajee,b Bhedwar 10 M.M.Surti,bDadabhai 0 B.D.Mody.b Dadabhai 6 S. B. Doctor, b B hedw ar................. 0 B. D. Gugrat, b Bhedwar................. 1 M. D. Malegaum, b Dadabhai .......... N. Bapasola, b Bhedwar................. P. Dastur, run out... D. F. Dubash, not out ............... Extras .......... T ota l... P arsee T eam . J. D. Pochkhanavala, b Malegaum ... 2 S. Bhedwar, not out 3 Extras ..........1G Total ... 81 M. Framjee, run out 30 M. P. Banajee, run out 1 P. C. Major, b Pavri 9 D. H. Patell, not out 16 D. Dadabhai, b Doctor ................. 3 B. B. Baria, 1b w, b Doctor ................. 1 A. C. Major, J. M. Morenas and A. R. Liboowalla did not bat. BOWLING ANALYSIS. A ll C omers . B. R. M. W. Dadabhai... 26 15 0 4 P arsee T eam . B R. M. W. . t . M. Patell 42 24 0 0 M.E. Pavri... 60 7 5 1 S. B. Doctor 36 19 0 2 . B. R. M. W. 24 10 0 4 B. R. M. W. J.ReporterlS 9 1 B.D.Modyl2 2 1 Malegaum 24 4 2 J. M. Patell bowled one no-ball. OXFORD UNIVERSITY CLUB. The following is a revised list of the matches to be played by the University C.C. this season. F ixtu res for 1886. May 10,11,12.—The Seniors’ Match May 13,14,15.—The Freshmen’s Match May 17,18,19—The Eleven v. Sixteen Freshmen May 20, 21, 22.—The Eleven v. Next Sixteen May 27,28,29.—Christ Church Ground, Oxford University v. Australians June 3, 4, 5.—Oxford University v. Surrey June 10,11,12.—Oxford University v. Lancashire June 17,18,19.—Perambulators v. Etceteras June 21,22, 23.—Oxford University v. M.M.C. June 28, 29,30.—Manchester, Oxford University v. Lancashire July 1, 2.—Lord’s, Oxford University v. M.C.C. July 5, 6, 7.—Lord’s, Oxford v. Cambridge The University ground in the Parks is now in capital order, and will be open to members for practice during the term from 1.30 to seven o’clock. “ C ricket ” R eading C ases . —In the course of a few days our new Reading Cases will be ready. They will be neatly got up in dark green cloth with gilt lettering and capable of holding four numbers. We shall be pleased to send one per Parcels Post to any secretary for use in Club Room, on receipt of three stamps. Address Manager of this paper, 41, St. Andrew’s Hill, Doctors’ Commons.