Cricket 1886

APRIL 22, 1886. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 67 C R ICK E T IN A U S T R A L IA . INTER-COLONIAL MATCH. VICTORIA v. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. T he ninth intercolonial match between teams representingthe above colonies was commenced on the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, March 11. Unfortunatelyneither sidehad its full strength. At the last moment South Australia was robbed of the services of four of its best bats­ men—W. Giffen, A. Slight, Watling, and Noel—a quartet which it would be hard to beat. On the other hand, the Victorians were not by anymeans represented by theirstrongest side, though the team included four members of the Australian Eleven. Neither Bonnor, Spofforth, Scott, nor Palmer, among others, could play, and the team was in fact far from representative. The weather on the first day was all that could be desired, and the attendance numbered 1,500. Jarvis was elected captain of the local team, and when fortune favoured him in the spinning of the coin those present looked forward to a fine display of batting on the splendid wicket prepared by Checkett. As will be seen below, however, they were doomed to disappointment, the whole eleven being disposed of for 171.. Prior to the game being started Jarvis tried to arrange with the Victorian captain for six balls to the over instead of four, but Blackham refused to consent to the proposal. Giffen and Lyons were the first to represent South Australia, the bowling being entrusted to Trumble and Bruce. The batsmen soon made themselves at home, though no liberties were to be taken, and with the score at 23 Phillips relieved Bruce. The score steadily advanced till only 1 was wanted to hoist the half-century, and then Gilfen foolishly threw his wicket away. He went out for a big hit off Phillips, and was clean bowled. He had played faultless cricket for his 20, and looked well set when he made his mistake. After the adjournment for lunch Lyons played a ball up from Trumble, andwas neatly taken by Ross at point. Lyons showed fair form while he was at the wickets, but Trumble stuck him up two or three times. Two for 49 did not look rosy for South Austra­ lia, but when Jarvis was sent back to the pavilion without the score being increased, the hopes of her supporters dropped to zero. The wicket-keeper was given out as being caught at the wickets by the local umpire, and though the batsman seemed to think otherwise, all the fieldsmen are of one mind that the decision was a correct one. Godfrey and Blinman raised the score to 74 before the latter was unfortunately run out. Knill, soon after he partnered the South Adelaide man, gave a very hot chance to Bruce at mid-off, which was not held. He then played very free cricket, and being ably assisted by Godfrey the score mounted to 111, when Trott, who had taken Trumble’s place at the northern crease, clean beat him with a ball that broke right round his legs. Evan shaped wretchedly, but Kemp on joining his club companion made matters lively, and they quickly added 30 to the score before Godfrey was run out through being a little too eager. Godfrey showed the best cricket of the day for his 38, and it was a slice of bad luck to have .his wicket thrown away. His last 19 runs were all singles. Kemp followed shortly afterwards with awell-earned 25, including four chainers. Phillips andWil­ kinson helped to raise the total to 171, the former favouring the onlookers with a streaky display, when they both fell victims to Trott. Taking the batting on the whole it was by no means creditable. Trott, who came on late, earned the .bowling honours, securing the excellent average of 4 wiokets for 26 runs off 104 balls. He has a very awkward leg break, which proved too _much for the local men. Phillips also bowled very well, and though Trumble’s average does not read first-class he deserves credit for-his performance, as he trundled with rather bad luck. The fielding was not brilliant as a whole, but there were exceptions. Blackham at the wickets could not have been beaten, while Houston, Trott, Barnard, and Ross were very smart. Slight did a lot of work, but he made mistakes. With half an hour to bat Bruce and Slight went to the wickets. By steady cricket they advanced the score to 36, and then Bruce, who had not appeared at home to Giffen, was clean bowled. The attendance on the second day was about the same as on its predecessor, but the Stand was very empty, and if it had not been that the Show must have kept many away, we should be forced to the conclusion that Adelaideans are losing their taste for good cricket. The weather was bright and fine, but there was a strong wind blowing from the south, and the dust was an annoyance to both players and spectators. Soon after 12 o’clocfc the ground was cleared and at a quarter past the game was resumed. The Victorians began well, but after Slight and Mcllwraith had been disposed of Giffen was in the ascendant for some time and five good men were out for 117. Trott and Blackham then made a stand, but after the captain left Giffen was again to the fore, and being well backed up by the field he securedthe last four men very cheaply, and the innings was over for 187. Trott was the hero of the Victorian innings, his 54 not out being a really good performance. He was at the wickets two hours and did not give a chance. Slight’s 42 was marred by the easy chance he gave Lyons in the long field, but Houston made no mistake during his stay, and Blackhain’s lively 23 was also free from faults Giffen again proved himself a head and shoulders above the rest of the bowlers, and his performance on the second day was one of the best he has ever accomplished. From first to last he was not changed, and he came out with the splendid analysis of 278 balls, 91 runs, 22 maidens, and 9 wickets. The most noticeable feature in connection with Giffen’s bowling was the splendid judgment he displayed. Time after time he induced men to hit with successful results, the only man who refused to be tempted into offering a catch to the field being Trott. Turner bowled well, though he nevergot awicket, and Phillips, though rather expensive, succeeded in sending back one good man. The fielding of the South Australians was remarkably good. There Were several mulls, certainly, and one or two chances of a run out were missed, but, on the other hand, Lyons was .the only man who dropped a chance, and Giffen, Godfrey, Blinman, Kemp, and Wilkin­ son all distinguished themselves by making remarkably good catches. Giffen’s catch when he took Mcllwraith off his own bowling was a splendid effort, and so was Godfrey’s dismissal of Lewis. Blinman quite made up for his failure with the bat by the splendid work he did at mid-off, and Knill, Giffen, God­ frey, Kemp, and Phillips were all very good in their respective places, though several doubtful returns were made. Jarvis had very little opportunity behind the wickets. The wicket again played perfectly, and it looked like lasting through the four days. The score and analysis up to the end of the second day will be found below. S outh A u stralia . G. Giffen, b Phillips 20 J. Lyons, c Boss, b Trumble.................29 A. H. Jarvis, c Black­ ham, b Phillips ... 0 H. Blinman, run out 14 C. Godfrey, run out 38 W. Knill, b Trott ... 22 L. W. Evan, b Trott 2 ' C.Kemp,c Blackham, b Bruce .................25 A.Wilkinson, b Trott 10 E.G . Phillips c Bar­ nard, b Trott.......... 9 T. Turner, not out... 0 W ........................ 3 Total ..172 In the second innings A. K. Jarvis scored, c Trott, b Phillips, 13, J. Lyons, c Bruce, b Phillips, 23, H. Blinman, b Trumble 1, G. Giffen (not out) 25, C. Godfrey (not out) 11 ; w 1— Total(forthree wickets) 74. W. Bruce, b Giffen 13 J. Slight, c Wilkin­ son, b Giffen......... 42 R. Houston, c Turner, b Giffen ................ 28 J. M’llwraith, c and b Giffen ................. 7 H. Trott, not out ... 54 W. Trumble, b Phil­ lips ........................ 8 J. M’C. Blackham, b Giffen .................23 V ictoria . P. Lewis, c Godfrey, b Giffen ................. 2 C. Ross, c Kemp, b Giffen ................. 2 Barnard, c Godfrey, b Giffen ... ........ . 1 J. Phillips, c Blin­ man, b Giffen ... 5 B ........................ 2 Total ...187 A BOWLING ANALYSIS. v h S outh A ustralia . '-'vHAr * - First Innings. B. It. M. W.[ B. R. M. W. Trnmble 188 GO23 1 i Phillips ...184 56 19 2 Bruce ... 56 21 7 1 [ Trott ...104 26 10 4 Bruce bowled 3 wides. V ictoria . B. R. M. W.f B. R. M. W. Giffen ...278 91 21 9 ! Turner ...128 35 15 0 Wilkinson 32 14 1 0 : Phillips...116 45 13 1 T he Adelaide Observer gives the following details of the matches played between these colonies:— The first match was played at Adelaide on November 7,1874,11 against 18, and resulted in a victory for Victoria by 15 runs. The Victorian team included J. Phillips (captain), Alexander, Gaggin, Horan, C. Allee, Sam Cosstick, and M. Murphy, who won the batting trophy with 13 and 25 runs. For South Australia H. Lynn was highest scorer with 13 and 11. Andrew Scott bowled very well indeed, getting 9 of the Victorian wickets in the two innings for 77 runs. Cosstick and Horan rattled down the South Australian wickets too fast altogether. A. R. Lungley captained the South Australians. The second match was played at Adelaide on February 7, 1876, and again 11 of Victoria opposed 18 of South Australia. This time fortune favoured South Australia with the result of a win for its representatives by an innings and 70 runs. The Victorian team was in charge of John Conway, the manager of the first Australian team which visited England, and included J. Slight, Kendall, Morey, and others. The Victorians could score only 29 and 51, or 80 for the two innings, and the 150 made by South Australia left a substantial majority. Louis Giles was the Tmtting hero of the match, and his 47 is spoken of with pardonable pride even to this day. He also distinguished himself in the field by making a magnificent high one-handed catch at long-on, thus disposing of J. Slight. The other scorers were S. Cope 22, S. Morcom 18, and E. G. Phillips 17. In bowling W. O. Whitridge scored the remarkable average of 8 wickets for 10 runs in the first, and 3 for 14 in the second, and T. N. Cole 4 for 26. J. E. Goodfellow also bowled well. The only double figure scorer for Victoria was L. Woolfe with 17in the second innings. The third match was played at Melbourne on November 12,1880. This was the first time that the two colonies had met upon even terms, and as was expected, Victoria showed her superiority in every department of the game, and gained a victory by 7 wickets. For Victoria Horan scored 113 and 18 not out, F. Baker 83, Campbell 55 and 24 not out, and Coulthard 31. South Australia could raise only 77 in the first innings, but at the second attempt reached 314. G. Giffen contributed 63, W. Slight 11 and 55, H. A. Gooden 49, Jesse Hide 48, F. King 28 not out in the second, and W. Bullougli 26 not out in the first. The fourth game was played at Adelaide on April 1, 1881, again level handed, and Victoria won by 151«runs. Boyle scored 108 and 23, McShane 58, B. Terry 30, and Coulthard 28. For South Australia J. Noel led the way with 52, W. Knill 26, W. Slight 31 and 13, J. E. Gooden 18, H. Blinman 13, and G. Giffen 10 in each innings. In the second innings Boyle and McShane put South Australia out for 51 runs. The fifth match was played at Adelaide in March, 1882, and this time tl:e South Austra-