Cricket 1886

FEB. 25, 1886. CRICKET A WEEKLY EECORD OF THE GAME. 29 jeeringly, “ Toss ’em np, old man, and let ’em slop you, and then you’ll have a show.’* But then his captain may have despaired of getting a wicket, and put him on just to keep down the scoring till the day’s play was over, or some other bowler rested. Boyle has shown English audiences what a man may do with itch and straightness on a rotten wicket, and e has never been considered oomparable to Evans in the colonies. Evans makes also some astonishing one-handed catches, but his batting has been very inferior of late. He would, however, probably make long strides in this department if he gets, which he has not done for years, regular practice. By all accounts Jones is in much better form this season than he was when in Eng­ land, or, indeed, ever before. He and Garrett have been the mainstays of New South Wales. Massie, Murdoch, and A. Bannerman did not play in the Inter-colonial match on Boxing I)ay, and Spofforth had changed sides to Victoria, but Bonnor had returned to New South Wales, and MacDonnell had emigrated thither. The names I have before me from the S. and D. are Blackham, Palmer, Spofforth, Horan, Bruce, Giffen, Walters, Trumble, Jarvis, Mcllwraith, Evans (doubtful), and I gather from the Australian papers that Scott may perhaps be induced to come. The weak­ est men in the list of certainties I take to be Walters and, in spite of his former achieve­ ments, that fine fellow Tommy Horan. For they are not such all-round men as the rest. Horan has taken a good many wiokets in hi« time, but he cannot fairly be classed as a bowler, and whatever he may be at a catch, he is stiff at covering a fast ball along the ground. Nor, if one may trust the popular verdict in the colonies, is his batting this season what it was. Neither is Walters, con­ fident batsman that he is, an all-round man in the sense that Bruce and Trumble are, or a phenomenal punisher like Mcllwraith. Mcllwraith, if he preserves his Australian form, will be an arch-favourite with the crowd, which dearly loves to see two short steps over the crease, and a ball over the chains. His modus operandi , when he has his eye in, is that of the famous English slogger of Cam­ bridge renown, viz., stepping out at every­ thing, and when he finds his ball too good for unishment, hopping back and ramming his at down on it. This may not be graceful cricket, but it is inspiriting to see the long field busy. Some idea of Mcllwraith’s scoring this season may be gathered from his 143 in the M.C.C. against the E.M.C.C. (the two crack clubs), 133 for Victoria against New SouthWales, 125 for the M.C.C. eleven against the Victorian eleven. Jarvis, the burly South Australian wicket­ keeper of a former Australian eleven, is in better form than ever this year, both before the wicket and behind it. After scoring very heavily in his own colony, he made 77 not out for the M.C.C. Eleven (Fifth Australian Eleven) against the Victorian Eleven, and snapped up seven wickets in the two innings. The Federal Australian says, “ Jarvis in his best form, however, runs a neck and neok race with Blackham (who was Captain, and had placed Jarvis behind the wiokets through­ out the match), by whom he is only beaten from the. fact that the former has his off days while Blackham can always be depended upon.” Anyone can see the advantage of having a spare first-class wicket-keeper in a team which is precluded by its distance from its base from reinforcements, and Jarvis is a fine punishing batsman with excellent defence now. Blackham, Palmer, Spofforth, and Giffen are too fresh in the memories of the British cricket-going public to need notice here; and I have touched upon all the others except Bruce and Trumble; a most important couple, for two more promising young cricketers Australia never produced. . Bruce is little more than a boy—a tall fellow ln the Shakespearian sense as well as in the modern. He is a thoroughly all-round man, tnough he made his reputation at first as a bowler. He is a left-handed bowler of con­ siderable pace and with a puzzling delivery— one of those bowlers who have a disagreeable habit of finding a treacherous spot in the pitch, and then making the ball go through all kinds of gymnastics as it rises. He won his spurs in the cup match for the McLean Cup, played between M.C.C. and Richmond (Vic­ toria) a few years ago, in which his bowling won Melbourne the match. He has done equally great things for this club in batting, on one occasion making over 300 for them in an innings. He is now a first-class batsman, a most consistent scorer, and the most graceful left-handed bat in the oolonies, with a beautiful quick, wristy action. In the Inter-Colonial match on Boxing Day he went in first for Victoria, and scored 70. He and Scott put on 136 for the fall of the first wicket. As a fields­ man he is particularly fallacious to the bats­ man, because he has an unobtrusive way of not taking up his final position until after the batsman has taken his survey of the field. For instance, if he is placed at point, though he may be standing an ordinary distance out while the batsman is looking round, as soon as the striker is intent on playing the ball, he is very adroit in sneaking up for a chance ef “ taking the ball off the edge ef the bat,” as cricketers call it—in the way that the veteran T. J. D. Kelly has snapped up so many Bnglish batsmen in the varieus elevens whieh nave visited Australia. Trumble is the most sterling of erieketers, a most thoroughly sound ana reliable man, always to be looked to for runs or wickets. There is no fiukiness about him : he makes his runs beeause he is an excellent batsman, and takes his wiekets because he is an excellent bowler. Although quite young he haa been a pillar of strength to three different clubs. His defection has materially weakened the South Melbourne Club, and it does him eredit instead of discredit, for he only left the South Melbourners to join the newly constituted elub of his University—a most promising new club, whieh made between four and five hundred runs against a strong M.C.C. team, with Blaokham behind the wiekets, and Spofforth, Palmer, and Bruce bowling. To sum up, I see no reason why, if Seott comes, the fifth Australian Eleven should not do as well as any of its predecessors, especially if Garrett, Jones, and Evans are also available. It is sincerely to be hoped—apart from the question of material strength—that these last three will come, for without them, now that Spofforth is a Victorian, the team as given in last week’s Illustrated Sporting and Dramatie News will only represent two colonies, Giffen and Jarvis hailing from South Australia, and the others from Victoria. It should take a very representative English eleven to beat a team with such elements of strength as a couple of wicket-keepers like Blacknam and Jarvis, bowlers like Spofforth, Palmer, Giffen, Bruce, Evans, Garrett, Trumble, and Jones (Scott and Horan at a pinoh); and batsmen like Scott, Blaekham, Horan, Giffen, Bruce, Palmer, Mellwraith, Trumble and Jarvis. Except that one cannot enumerate a whole eleven thus, it is invidious really not to add the names ef Walters, Garrett, and Jones, and Spofforth is a dangerous slogger. In batting, as I said above, Evans is a dark herse. He has done nothing with the bat for years, but then he is a born crieketer, with the heart of a lion, so thero is no saying what practice might do for him. All Australians would rejoioe to see him eome to the front in an English tour, for his has been the right arm of New South Wales in many a doubtful fray. P. B. W. S laden . —Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. T hb Annual Smoking Concert of the Law Club will be held at the Freemasons’ Tavern, on Friday next, at 8.30 p.m. Mr, J. A. Uiffe will be in the chair. At a publio dinner held reecntly at Tunbridge, a handsome sterling silver tea and coffee service, suitably inscribed, was presented to Mr. Tom Pawley, one of the honorary secretaries of the Town Cricket Club, on the occasion of his marriage, as a token of respect and regard. In the course of some compli­ mentary speeches satisfaction was expressed that county cricket was again brought back to Tunbridge mainly through the instrumentality of Mr. Pawley. J am bs Lillywhite’s Cbicketers’ Annual fo r 1886.—This winter the Annual, or the red book, as it has been generally called for pur­ poses of distinction, has seen the light under a peculiarly favourable combination of circum­ stances. “ Wisden’s Almanack,” usually the first in the field, is unusually late in putting in an appearance, though the delay, we believe is in a great measure attributable to accidents over which the publishers have certainly had no control—no less than the illness of the com- iler. In addition the retirement of a formida- le competitor, in the old favourite “ The Cricketers’ Companion,” with its familiargreen cover—has left the Annual practically without a rival, so that the fifteenth issue marks an important era in its existenoe. The fusion of the two Lillywhites should be, in one respect, te the general advantage of cricketers. So far as ean be judged from the first specimen of the amalgamation the Annual is likely to benefit considerably by the transfer of some writers who helped to make the Companion attractive. A well-known contributor to the latter has now enrolled himself in the service of the Bed Lillywhite, the Rev. A. F. E. Forman, whose comments on Public School oricket in the past have been so popular with readers of the old guide. This time Mr. For­ man was rather at a disadvantage, and the time placed at his disposal was hardly sufficient to enable him to treat the subject as carefully and exhaustively as he could have wished. Still he takes such hearty interest in every detail of School cricket that his remarks, practical as they are, will be read with pleasure by cricketers of all classes. The article deals exhaustively with the game at all the leading Schools, and no one knows better how to handle this particular question. James Lillywhite’s account of the Tour of the English Professionals in Australia last winter, too, will be interesting, particularly just now when the publicmind iseager in anticipationof the arrival of the Australian Team, many of whom figured prominently against the Englishmen of whose doings Lillywhite is the chronicler. A short sketch of Cricket in America shows how the game has advanced, under great difficulties, on that continent auring the last few years. “ Incog,” as usual, deals fully and critically with the more important features of last season. His analysis of cricket and cricketers is thoroughly impartial, and his deductions will meet with general approval. An excellent photograph of the Yorkshire Eleven of 1885 constitutes the frontispiece. The second part of the book is devoted entirely to statistics, of whieh there is no lack. The doings of the Marylebone Club, the Counties, the Universi­ ties,andthe Public Schools,are all recorded with eritical oomments, and certainly no featuro which can interest Public School cricketers is wanting. Of averages there is abundance, and, indeed, of figures of all kinds, in addition to notes on leading players—Amateurs and Pro­ fessionals. The chapter, “ A Few L0030 Strings,” is particularly interesting, devoted as it is to the many curious incidents which occur every season. That the Annual is quite up to the average of the most successful of its predecessors will be generally admitted. In our opinion it shows a distinct advance on many of the fourteen previous issues, and we anticipate a still further improvement in the future. C bicket C hat . —The third issue of this popular little annual is in the press, and will be ready shortly. The publishers are Wright to Co., 41, St. Andrew’s Hill, London, E.C. Next Issao March 35