Cricket 1887

“ Toge ther joined in cricket’s man ly toil.” — Byron. Regi»tered\or^TrauSuigtou Abroad. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1887. PBICB 2d. really prom in ently before the pu blie. T h e com pletion o f that season found h im at the head o f th e N orw ood batting tables, w ith an average o f 28 for nine innings, and these figures he im proved in the follow in g w inter, his five innings show in g an average o f 32. B y this tim e he had, indeed, gained a forem ost place am ong the cricketers o f South A ustralia. H e form ed one of the eleven selected to re­ present th e Colonies against the A ustralian team then being organised to visit E ngland, and that m atch, played on the grou n d o f the M elbourne C lub in January, 1884, was in reality his first appearance in a contest of any great im p ortan ce. T w o m onths later he also represented South A ustralia against the A u s­ tralian team for E ngland, but h is best show o f th e season w as in the Internation al m atch against V ictoria a m on th later. On th at o cca ­ sion he played v e ry good cricket to th e tune o f 109 runs in the m atch, and his second score o f 89 w as a rem arkably fine display, w ith ou t the shadow o f a chance. D uring 1834-85 he had an average o f 42 fo r eigh t in n in gs in clu b cricket, and it w as a season of som e im portan ce to him , if on ly fo r the fa ct that it w as productive o f the first innings of three figures he had ever m ade — one o f 126 for h is ow n club, the N orw oods. In 1885-86, as w ell as last season, h is batting w as very successful, th ou gh the la t­ ter w as by far th e m ost brilliant as yet record ed to h im . H is average during the last A u stralian sum m er w as 51 for eight innings, and tw ice during 1887 he gained the d is tin c­ tion of three figures (101 and 113), both o f them sound innings. In add ition , for South A ustralia against F ifteen o f B allarat, at B allarat, he show ed exceedingly good cricket, and h ad obtained 107 runs w hen he w as obliged to retire. So far this season, he has show n h im self in an excellen t vein for run-getting, and th ou gh unlucky enough to be run ou t in each innings in the m atch betw een South A ustralia and M r. V ern o n ’ s E n glish team in O ctober, has been scoring w ith consistent success. A s a batsm an W alter G iffen is decidedly above the average. T h ough lie can h it w ell if occasion requires, defence is his strong point, and he w atches the ball too carefully fo r the m ajority of bow lers. H e is n ot like his elder brother, a proficient w ith the ball, but in th e field he is in the first flight am on g A ustralian cricketers. “ In th e co u n try ” h e has few , if any superiors in the C olonies, and his return to the w icket is singularly accurate. W h eth er he should be fortun ate enough to be am ong those chosen to visit E n glan d next su m ­ m er under the C aptain cy of P ercy M cD on n ell or not, his position in A u stralian cricket is sufficiently h igh to ju stify th e assurance that his pre­ sentation here w ill be received w ith general satisfaction by E n g lish cricketers. T he H on. M . B . H aw ke (21), M r. Stoddart (45), and M r. O ’B rien (60)—or 126of the 155 got from the b at—played fo r the G overnm ent H ouse v. B ohem ians, in M elbourne, on N ovem ber 8 MR. WA L T ER FRANK GIFFEN. T h o u g h opin ion s apparently differ to gom e extent on h is qualifications fo r a place in a thoroughly representative eleven o f the A ustralian Colonies, it ie w ithin ou r ow n know ledge that M r. W. F. G iLen is on the official list o f those from w hom w ill be selected th e team to do du ty for G reater B ritain on the cricket grounds of th e Old C ou ntry during the course o f the next cricket season. T h ose w ho have had any acquaintan ce w ith the fine ali- round p layer w ho did such excel­ lent service w ith the A ustralian cricketers w h o visited E n gland in 1884 and 1886, do n ot need to ba told that th e subject of the present notice is a broth er of M r. G . Giffen, the cricketer p a r excellence of South A u stralia. The likeness is, indeed, so rem arkable that no one could m istake the relationship betw een th e pair. L ik e his elder brother, too, M r. W. F. G iffen was not on ly born and bred at A delaide, but received the w hole of h is train ­ ing in crick et w ithin the lim its of the City. B orn on th e 10th of Septem ber, 1863, he has passed over tw en ty-fou r years in the C olony o f South Australia. C on­ sidering th e high reputation en ­ joyed by h is brother, it is not surprising to learn th at he be­ g in to dem onstrate his abilities as a cricketer o f prom ise at an early age. H e was quite a you n g­ ster, indeed, w hen he first m ade his m ark fo r the R oyal Park, one o f the ju n ior clu bs of A delaide, and he had n ot, as yet, com pleted his fifteenth year w hen he w as p ro­ m oted to m em bership o f th e N or­ w ood Club, w h ich has fo r m any years occu p ied a position second to Done am on g the cricket organisa­ tion s of South Australia. A n ap­ prenticesh ip of a couple o f seasons w ith th e secon d eleven of th e N or­ w oods proved sufficient to establish his capabilities as a cricketer, and his prom otion to the first team was only a ju st recognition of the nam e h e had gained am ong the juniors. T h ou gh h is in trod u ction to sen ior crJ ;ket wras n ot at first attended w ith any m a rl i 3 success, he steadily m ade his w ay to th e frovt; It was not, in fact, till his third season w ith th e first o f the N orw oods (1882-83^ that ha earn* H E X T IS SU E , JANUABY 3 9,