Cricket 1886

102 CBICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. MAY 6,1686. T H E F IF T H A U S T R A L I A N T E A M FIRST MATCH. — v. FIFTEEN OF AUSTRALIA. (Continued from page 83.) There was a very small attendance at the Oval,.Adelaide, on March 23, to witness the conclusion of this match. The Eleven were obliged to leave at 4-30, and owing to the long stand made by the Fifteen the match was not finished. The Australians had an hour and a half to make the required 154 runs in, and they attempted to get them in the time by going in for big hitting. This policy resulted in 6good wickets falling for 102, and on paper the match looks to have been left very open, but there is no doubt the cracks threw away their wickets in the attempt to win the game before they were called upon to leave. Play started at 11 o’clock, and it was half­ past 2 o’clock before the Fifteen were disposed of for 330. Lewis increased his score to 60, and Trott made 40 by good play, but the rest of the batting does not call for any remark. Giffen again bowled remarkably well, and he obtained 9 wickets for 123 runs. Palmer was also very difficult to play on the last day, but his 4 wickets cost 96 runs. At 3 o’clock Bruce and Jarvis went in on behalf of the Eleven, and they hit at everything. Twenty runs were made in ten minutes, and then Jarvis was out. Bruce soon followed, but Jones refused to sacrifice his wicket in the hope of winning the match, and he remained not out when play ceased. Scott and Bonnor both made some fine drives during their short career; but they each lost their wickets through trying to hit, and, eventually, when 6 wickets were down for 102 the game was drawn. Score and analysis follow A ustralian E leven . First Innings. W. Bruce,b Musgrove ... 45 H. J. H. Scott, c Trott, b M usgrove........................14 S. P. Jones, ru n ou t..........76 G. Giffen, b Lyons ......... 37 G. J. Bonnor, c Phillips, b M usgrove........................31 G. E. Palmer, c and b T r o t t ...............................58 A. H. Jarvis, c Musgrove, b Jones ........................52 J. Mcllwraith, b Phillips 38 J. McC. Blackham, not out ...............................37 T. Garrett,bPhillips ... 8 E. Evans, b Phillips ... 9 B 8 ,lb 3 ,w l,n b 2 ... 14 Second Innings, b P hillips..........16 b Phillips ... not out b Jones ..........12 cHouston.bTrott 10 c and b Jones ... 4 c Ross, b Trott 0 B ... Total .................422 Total ...102 C ombined F ifteen . First Innings. Second Innings. R. Houston, st Jarvis, b Palmer ........................18 c Jones, b Giffen 55 J Lyons, c Jarvis, b Palmer ........................ 0 cGiffen,bGarrett 18 H. Blinman, b Evans ... 59 b Giffen ..........23 P. Lewis, b Evans ..........69 c Scott, b Giffen 60 J. Noel, b Giffen................. 2 b Giffen .......... 2 F. T. Harcus, c Scott, b E vans............................... 11 b Giffen ............23 H.Trott, c Giffen, b Palmer 16 b P alm er..........40 W. Jones, b Palmer ..........16 lbw, b Giffen ... 5 C. Ross, c Palmer, b Giffen 0 cGiffen,bPaimer 8 J. Darling, c Jarvis, b Palmer ... ... 16 b P a lm e r.......... 0 lt.Bruce,cEvans,b^ .mer 3 b Palmer ..........11 J. W. Stow, b Giffen ... ,.. 13 notout ..........18 J. E. Gooden, b Giffen ... 4 b Giffen ..........19 .T. Phillips, not out .......... 3 cGarrett,bGiffen 19 J. Musgrove, c Garrett, b G iffen ............................... 0 st Blackham, b Giffen .......... 0 B 8,1 b 2, n b 5 ..........15B10,lb 17,nb2 29 Total ................. 245 Total ... 330 BOWLING ANALYSIS. A ustralian E leven , First Innings. Second Innings. B. R. M. W . B. R. M. W. T rott.......... 17686 15 1 .......... 15 7 2 2 Musgrove...228 123 15 3 Phillips 15773 8 3 .......... 92 47 8 2 Noel .......... 72 41 2 0 Jones.......... 10829 11 1 ........ . 80 45 3 2 Lyons ... 13634 17 1 Houston ... 2016 0 0 Bruce.......... 16 6 1 0 C om bined F ifte en * First Innings. Second Innings. B. R. M. W. B. R. M. W. Giffen 208 84 19 5 .......... 367 127 36 9 Palmer 228 90 21 6 ..........248 96 24 4 Garrett 44 14 5 0 ..........146 35 16 1 Evans 88 28 12 3 .......... 52 12 9 0 Jones 16 11 0 0 ......... 16 7 1 0 Bonnor 4 3 0 0 .......... 16 9 2 0 Bruce 24 15 1 0 T he following comments on the play of the Eleven are from the Adelaide Observer :— “ Spofforth, who may be expected to do great service in the bowling department at home, was not on view last week; and of the trundlers who were tried Giffen certainly showed him­ self the best. The Norwood crack has been in great form with the ball all the season, andhis record shows that the name of “ Sunday bowler” cannot now be correctly applied to him. It is nothing for a common-place bats­ man to hit him, but, unlike most bowlers, he does not mind this in the least, because no man hits him often without giving a chance. Some bowlers seem to lose form directly they are hit to the chains a few times, but with Giffenit is different. With the great work he gets on the ball, and the variety he can depend upon im­ parting to his bowling, the end soon comes when he can induce the opposing batsman to attempt sensational hitting. Palmer was not seen at his best until the last day of the match, when his leg-break completely non-plussedthe opposing batsmen. The bail which bowled Trott in the second innings must have come across in an extraordinary manner, as the Melbourne man did not think it worth while to offer at it, and was greatly surprised when it disarranged his wicket. Palmer in the two innings obtained 10 wickets for 186, while Giffen secured 14 for 207, and the Norwood crack had very bad luck, some easy chances being missed from his bowling. Great curiosity was evinced to see Evans bowl. In the first innings he took three wickets for 27 rims, but he was too unWell to do much bowling after­ wards. The batsmen seemed to have no diffi­ culty in playing his deliveries, but they hadnot the patience to stick to the steady business,and lost their wickets trying to hit. Bruce, the lefthander, did not shine as a bowler in Adelaide, nor did Jones, while Garrett, though he bowled pretty well, was unable to do much damage on the wioket. For the Eleven, Jones carried off the batting honours, and his form was quite worthy of the reputation he bears. Several members of the Eleven expect to see “ S.P.J.” return with the batting average of the team, and I shall not be surprised if he does. On wet wickets he is said to be quite the best man in the thirteen. In thismatchhe showedany amount of defence, and appeared capable of scoring all round as well as any of his comrades. Scott did not come off in Adelaide, but he made two grand drives in the second innings, and that smack for 5 off Phillips will not be forgotten by those who saw it. Bruce showed good form in each innings, and is evidently a most useful man, while Giffen was as steady as a rock, and he promises to be the stone-waller of the team this trip. Palmer is anotherbatsman in whom patience is strongly developed, and he plays very nice finished cricket, without attempting to be brilliant. Jarvis gave the spectators a rare treat during the time he was at the wickets. While Giffen and Palmer were to­ gether the play was rather wearisome, and the crowd became enthusiastic when the popular Hindmarshman went in and smacked the bowl­ ing about in his best style. His batting, as adis­ play of free all round cricket, was the best exhibited during the eight days, and I hope he may have the luck to get set occasionally on a good dry wicket in England. His cutting was superb, and so was his square-leg hitting, while nearly all his hits on the on side were placed between the fields and brought runs. Another stroke Jarvis makes to perfection is that pretty little tap under the leg, which proves so useful. Thanks to his great wrist power, Jarvis can “ tap ” them to the chains in this way. Bonnor made a few fine hits, and in the first innings he displays! plenty of defence. Great things are expected of*the giant on wet wickets. Mcllwraith did not shine to any great extent, and he certainly did not give me the idea of a “ dashing ” batsman, though I have seen this term applied to him in aMelbourne paper. Here he played a steady safe game, but put any amount of power into his drives. Blackham was as useful as ever, playing a merry if inelegant game, and doubtless he will be as useful as of yore. Garrett is another of the useful sort, andwhen Evans gets into form he will probably show form with the bat as well as the ball. Taken all round the Eleven seem a good batting team, but in the matches where they will be opposed by the cream of the English talent they are bound to f«el the absence of men like Murdoch and McDonnell. Had these two gone home the team would have been the strongest ever sent home, but without them I am just a little afraid about the result of the big matches “ T he present eleven,” wr ites an Australian correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette , “ go under different auspices to any pre­ vious lot, having been selected by our M.C.C., the Melbourne Cricket Club, whose active and courteous secretary, Mr. Wardill, goes with them as manager. Undoubtedly, the first thing that strikes one on looking down the list is the absence of Murdoch; but it is the general opinion here that, although some good men are away, taken allround this is about th e best team that has yet been dispatched. Vic­ toria sends seven—namely, Messrs. Spofforth, Palmer, Blackham, Bruce, Scott, M’llwraith, and Trumble; New South Wales contributes Evans, Jones, Bonnor, and Garrett; while South Australia contributes two good men in Messrs. Jarvis and Giffen. The new men in the combination are Bruce and Trumble, two of this year’s university team, M’llwraith and Evans. Bruce is a left-handed batsman of the most finished style, and one of the most patient bats in the team, while he has at the same time good hitting powers. He bowls well, and fields with great accuracy and dash. He has got a splendid average for his ’varsity this season, and is looked upon as one of the most promis­ ing of Australian cricketers, Trumble is in­ cluded chiefly on account of his bowling; but he has also great sticking powers, and is one of those men who generally make runs when they are most wanted. He wras about the last man chosen, and|then only after much weighing of his claims against two or three others of nearly equal merit, but at the last moment he happened to have an ‘ English’ wicket for a match—tliat is to say, a wet and sticky one— and Trumble played upwhen others failed, and so got the coveted distinction. M’llwraith is the ‘ Massie ’ of the team, and will probably be all or nothing in most matches. He is a very hard hitter, like Bonnor, but, unlike the big man, who calmly stands at his post and with­ out much apparent exertion smites the ball into the far distance, M’llwraith is always run­ ning out to meet the ball, and sometimes one sees him alter his mind and run back again, a very bad cricketing sign. Nevertheless, he makes a score at a prodigious rate, and will bringidown the ‘ gallery ’ more than any other player. Evans, the New South Wales bowler, is probably the new arrival ofjwhom the highest expectations are entertained at home. Un­ like the other new comers, he is not a very young man,and has beenplaying.here for years. He is a bowler something after the style of Alfred Shaw, and, like Shaw,even when he can’t get wickets generally keeps dawn the runs. He is not a bowler with whom liberties can be taken, and everyone here is wishing him a grand success at home. The captain of the team will be either Garrett or Blackham— probably the latter. It is generally understood that Blackham refused to qo unless another competentwicket-keeperwas includedto relieve