Cricket 1887

APRIL 14, 1887 CRICKET : TH E EN G L ISH C R IC K E T E R S IN A U S T R A L IA . B y O ne op the T eam . From the Sporting Life. Reprinted by permission. TWENTY-FOURTH MATCH.—v, NEW SOUTH WALES. Rain fell in showers during the whole of Thursday, Feb. 17, and heavily till noon the following day. The rival teams put in their appearance a little before noon, but on examining the ground it was found to be in a very wet state, and it was decided not to commence till after luncheon. Shrewsbury won the toss, and sent the New South Wales men in to bat. This was done on the chance of fine weather setting in, as, according to all calculations, the wicket on Monday would be hard and true. It was a quarter to three when the English players took the field, M’Donnell and A. Bannerman quickly following them. Lohmann and Briggs commenced the bowling. A brace to leg, and a single in the same over from Lohmann by Bannerman opened the proceed­ ings. After this M’Donnell did all the scoring, a spanking leg hit from Lohmann going for 4. The score had reached 16, when Bannerman pulled one on from the Surrey trundler, and the players ran for shelter, a smart shower stopping play for thirty minutes. On resuming the batsmen for a time had it all their own way. The ball was very greasy, and cut through easily, till from a bad short ball of Lohmann’s the N.S.W. captain was splendidly caught at point by Shrewsbury. This was good luck for the men from the Old Country, as the retiring batsman, with his great power of hitting, on such a wicket would have scored rapidly. Allen and Jones were now partners. The former scored freely, hitting Lohmann twice for 4 and Briggs for 3. After a few singles 40 appeared on the board, and Allen then hit Lohmann for 4—a splendid straight drive—adding 2 more in the same over. Barlow now relieved Briggs, and soon after Bates tried at Lohmann’s end. Allen, however, continued to hit freely, and the score had reached 66 before a well-judged catch by Gunn close to the fence at long-off, from the bowling of Bates, sent Allen to the Pavilion for a freely hit 41. The retiring batsman received an ovation for his excellent cricket. Cottam, a colt, next appeared, and also commenced scoring freely, though he soon lost Jones, caught at point for a dozen. Garrett came next, and a brace of 2’s by Cottam from Barlow, with a leg hit for 4 by the same batsman from Bates, brought up 80. Briggs again bowled in place of his county mate, and at 91 Sherwin caught Garrett from him. Turner followed, while Cottam hit Briggs to leg for 4, and Turner sent Bates to the fence for 4 more. At 101, Lohmann again went on. Though the wicket was beginning to play queerly, the English bowling was not good enough to take advantage of this, and the score chiefly by snicks rose to 122. A long hop from Lohmann was landed safely in the hands of Wood at short-leg, and directly after Cottam was bowled by Briggs in trying to pull a straight half volley. His 29 showed promise of future excellence. Moses, who from stress of business arrived late on the ground, came next, and with Richardson carried the 3core to 134. A splendid drive by the former from Briggs for 4 was immediately revenged by the little Lancashire man clean bowling him, and the stumps were drawn for the day. The Eng­ lishmen sadly missed the bowling of Barnes, who was stiU unable to play, and taking a fair view of the four men who did the English trundling, it could only be classed as very moderate indeed. R. Wood, who was playing in place of Barnes, hails from Lancashire, and is now engaged on the Melbourne Ground. The attendance was not more than 800, and the day a miserable one. Saturday, Feb. 19, was a real cricket day, the sun shining out beautifully. Ferris joined Richardson, the not out of Friday, and sent Briggs to leg for 3, but was then caught by Wood at long-slip from a full pitch of Lohmann’s. Wales, a new wicket-keeper, made 1, when he pulled Lohmann on, the innings closing for 141. A fresh wicket was chosen and well rolled, but the bright sun­ shine was doing its work, and it was very treacherous. Shrewsbury and Bates first occupied the debatable ground, Ferris and Turner bowling. A bye came from the first over, and a single followed by Bates. Four maidens were then sent down, when a serious disaster befell the Britishers, Turner bowling Shrewsbury. Barlow came next, and several byes followed. Bates then hit Ferris to leg for 2, and drove him to the on for 4. With 16 on the board the extras and Bates were equal, each being 8. Barlow was in dreadful form, and for many overs could not touch a ball with his bat, but Bates was doing wonders on the difficult ground. No big hits were made, but entirely by the York- shireman’s exertions 30 appeared. When the bowlers changed ends Barlow looked as if every ball must be his last, but by good luck he managed to escape. Garrett tried one over before luncheon, but Bates drove the first ball for 4, the second for 2, and the last for a single, the score at the adjournment standing at 42 (Bates 34, and the rest sundries). At a quarter- past two o’clock the play recommenced, Ferris again sharing the bowling with Turner. Barlow’s play did not improve. Bates added 7 more to the total, when, to the relief of every one, Turner clean bowled Barlow, who had been in for a full hour without scoring. Scofton joined Bates, and after the latter had hit Ferris for 2, a splendid ball from Turner clean bowled the left-hander, while Maurice Read, who followed, was dispatched with another beauty. The record was now certainly an unprecedented one, the telegraph-board showing a line of circular figures to the names of Shrewsbury, Barlow, Scotton, and Read, with 43 to the credit of Bates, who had got all the runs from the bat. Eight byes made the total 51, Turner having bowled all four of the batsmen out. Gunn saw Bates add three more, when a great cheer announced that another Englishman besides Bates had at last scored, Gunn hitting Ferris to the off for 2. Bates then drove Ferris for 2, and Gunn hit Turner smartly to the off for 3. This brought Bates in front of Turner, and from a bad, short ball, which hung considerably, he was well caught and bowled with one hand. His 48 was made in his usual fearless style, and certainly saved the side from downright dis­ grace. Five were now down for 62, and the dreaded follow-on saved. Lohmann, who was all abroad at Turner, helped Gunn to raise the score to 72, when Ferris clean bowled the Notts man. Briggs came in, and Lohmann was the next to depart, clean bowled by Turner. Flowers followed, but the irresistible Turner scattered his stumps. Wood joined Briggs, and the little man hit Ferris twice for 2. Garrett now relieved Ferris, and from his first delivery Briggs was out leg before, having just reached double figures. (Nine for 92). On Sherwin joining Wood, the latter, who had been playing well, began to hit, and hopes were entertained that the century would be reached. When only one was wanted, how­ ever, Sherwin could not stand a warm one from the demon, Turner, who shattered his wicket, the innings closing for 42 less than their opponents’ score. At a quarter-past four the Australians started their second innings. Moses and Richardson, were the first to go in, Briggs and A WEEKLY RECORB OF THE ---------- 1 -------- -------- — GAME. 59 Barlow commencing the bowling. Barlow was all abroad, and after Moses had hit him twice for 4, he was removed for Lohmann. This, though, was no improvement, as the Surrey man could not bowl anything but full pitches and long hops. Flowers tried, but he was as bad, allowing himself to be pulled at pleasure by the batsmen. Briggs again went on, but was no use, and Maurice Read had to take the leather, Wood soon after taking the ball from Bates, who had sent down a few expensive overs. At length a smart piece of fielding ran Richardson out with 25 to his credit. (One for 75). Bannerman now came in, and Read hit his wicket, though not hard enough to knock a bail off. This was good luck for the Colonial, who had another piece of fortune by Sherwin failing to run him out —a very easy chance. When stumps were drawn for the day the’ local champions had lost but one wicket for 87, or 129 on. The attendance was about 6,000. It would be almost impossible to over-praise Turner for his splendid bowling. He took eight wickets for 32 runs—seven bowled, and the other caught and bowled. Bates states that he never saw any bowler break so much as he did from so fast a pace. Granting the ground was entirely in favour of bowling, yet to see a powerful batting side like the English­ men go down one after the other, clean bowled like a lot of schoolboys, must be a plain proof that something extraordinary was taking f lace. Indeed, the batsmen were not only owled, but many balls besides that just missed the wicket completely beat the batsmen. For 1 hour 20 min. did the New South Wales men bowl before a single run was scored from them, except by Bates, who hit up 46 in that time, whioh with 8 extras made the total 54—an unparalleledperformance, I should say, and one which should be placed on the list of remark­ able events at cricket. But what can be said of the English bowling? No words can paint it bad enough. With a wicket fully as much in favour of bowlers as that on which Turner had caused such havoc, they were powerless. Not one of the recognised bowlers of the team could pitch a ball within many feet of a good length. Had they been able to have done so, it is more than likely that the N.S.W. innings would have closed for about the amount already made for the loss of one wicket only. Barnes being absent was a sore handicap indeed, as the pitch was just suitable for his pace, none of the others bowling fast enough to make the batsmen play out, while such rubbish has hardly ever been seen probably in a first-class match. The weather looking fine, and the prospect of good hard wickets on Monday and Tuesday rosy, the Englishmen still thought they had a fair chance of winning thematch. Their hopes, however, fell to zero on Sunday, as a sudden change taking place in the night, rain began before the dawn, and fell in torrents all day, so that a dry ground was then impossible. Rain continued till half-past ten on Monday morning (Feb. 21), when it cleared, and at twelve o’clock, although very wet, the game was resumed. Briggs took up the bowling assisted by Barlow, but nothing could be done with the batsmen, and the score rose steadily, the ball cutting through easily on the wet wicket. At 108 Bates relieved Barlow, and at 112 Briggs retired in favour of Lohmann. Bannerman hit the new bowler for 4, and Moses sent Bates for a similar amount. (120 up.) Once more Bannerman sent Lohmann to square-leg for 4, and at 129 Flowers tried. The separation, however, camefromLohmann, who clean bowled Moses for a fine innings of 73. The batsman was deservedly cheered on retiring. Allen was well caught and bowled from a hard return before troubling the scorers. Jones came next, but lost Banner­ man, caught at point for a patient 24. The wicket was now playing badly, and Turner