Cricket 1888

A P R IL 26, 1888. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD O F THE GAME, 87 SHREWSBURY AND L IL L Y - W H IT E ’S TEAM. TWENTY-SECOND MATCH—v. SIXTH AUSTRALIAN TEAM. F ir st D ay — F r id a y , M arch 9. The return match against the Sixth Australian eleven was commenced o i the Sydney ground on Friday, March 9. It will be remembered that the Colonials in the first game received a terrible beating by 42 runs and one innings. Since then the Melbourne Club teim beat them on the Melbourne ground by 87 runs. The.team was now slightly altered, Wood and Richardson taking the places of Jarvis and Moses, while Boyle played instead of Burn. This change decidedly weakened the Cornstalks. On the other haud Ulyett was lost to the Englishmen. When at the picnic, after fishing, Ulyett was standing on the deck of the launch with naked feet against some soda water, a bottle burst, and cut his foot. He took very little notice of this, but two days afterwards it showed bad symptoms, and ever since he has been suffering greatly With it; at one time his foot was as big as a gallon measure, but it is now rapidly getting better. All the English team had arrived in Sydney from Bathurst by Thursday evening. For the first time during the season Mr. Smith beat M ’Donnell in the toss, and in magnificent weather, at 12.15, Read and Shrewsbury began batting on a good hard wicket. Although it did not play quite so well as was expected, still it was good enough for anything. Read, as usual, scored freely, and had made 33 out of 45 when a “ yorker’' from Turner (who had been bowling splendidly) scattered his wicket. His hitting was very hard all round. Briggs played carefully for 7, when Turner again distinguished himself. (Two for 61.) Luncheon now intervened. On resuming, Preston joined Shrewsbury, and both men played the fine bowling most care­ fully, till Turner induced the Yorkshireman to slog, and he was well taken by Richardson at long-on. Mr. Newham, after making 4, was given out leg before. Lohmann had no sooner reached the wicket than a wild shout announced that the Notts crack was o u t; he jumped out to drive Turner, but miss-hit it, and was caught at cover-point for a very careful 24. Mr. Docker appeared next, and Lohmann quickly made three 4’s. He had made 16 in all when Blackham secured him from the bowling of Ferris. Six for 98 was a poor look-out for England, but on Mr. Sm ith joining Mr. Docker a ^rand stand was made, and changes of bowling only increased the rate of run-getting. Turner retired in favour of Lyons at 130, Wood relieving Ferris a few runs later. No wicket falling, Trott tried, but was of no use, and at 174 Turner was again £ ut on. This had the desired effect, as Mr. •ocker was immediately stumped from him. It was done in a most lucky manner, the ball bounding from Blackham’s legs back into the wicket. Mr. Docker’s 33 were made by some vigorous hitting, and the runs were of immense value, being made at such a critical oint of the game. Mr. Brann was soon busy, ut let out at a short one from Trott, and was bowled for 13. Pougher saw the downfall of the captain, finally caught and bowled by Turner. This was the second time Mr. Smith had come to the rescue of his side and made a plucky and determined stand when runs were badly wanted. His score of 59 was compiled without the semblance of a chance, and included many boundary hits. He was greatly cheered on retiring. Pilling helped Pougher to increase the score to 212, at which figure the innings closed. Turner took 7 wickets for 72 runs, a fine performance on Buch a wicket. W ith fifty minutes to play Blackham and Jones opposed Briggs and Lohmann. Another wicket had beefl chosen, which, good as the other was, far exceeded it in excellence, and both men took full advantage of it by scoring rapidly. Blackham was rough on Lohmann, quickly hitting him for four 4’s, and Preston was tried. Jones next hit Briggs twice past cover-point for 4, which went to the fence like lightning. Although Pougher tried at Briggs’s end, no wicket fell, 55 runs being totalled, Jones 17 and Blackham 38. The attendance numbered about 1,000. S econd D a y —S aturday , M arch 10. On Saturday, in perfect weather, the game was continued at noon. Up till lunch time play went all in favour of the Australians, who had two wickets down for 134 runs, but after the interval a marvellous change took place, which completely altered the whole game. The most sanguine of the Englishmen did not expect to dismiss them under 300 on such a billiard table, but eight wickets actually fell for the paltry score of 56 runs, leaving the Britishers u ith a lead of 22 runs on the first innings, which at six o’clock had been increased to 123for the loss of only one wioket. The not-outs, Jones and Blackham, began well. Jones quickly added 10, by two fine hits for 4 and a cut for 2. Blackham also was in form, but at 87 lost the company of Jones, clean bowled by Briggs in trying to cut a straight one. His 35 was a perfect exhibition of defence and hard off-hitting. Edwards was next, and Blackham hit Lohmann for four 4’s in succession, also scoring freely from Briggs. Preston was put on just before lunch, E d ­ wards putting a full toss from him into the hands of Mr. Brann at mid-on. (Two for 134, Blackham not out 91). On resuming Preston continued bowling, and Lohmann was sent to the other end. Turner partnered Blackham, but had only made 7 when he was caught at the wicket. Lyons only made a single when Preston bowled him with a very fast yorker. Blackham’s time had now come, as in hitting at Preston he was well caught by Mr. Docker at long-slip. He had never made 100 runs against any English team in his life, and it was hard lines after getting to 97 to again fail to accomplish that coveted number. Probably Blackham has never played a more brilliant innings in his life, and his score included a large proportion of 4*s. M'Donnell and Wood were next associated, and it was evident if the fortunes of the day were to be retrieved the crack hitter must do it. But it was not his day, as after hitting Lohmann three times for 4 each (one an overthrow), he was taken at the wioket. Wood was clean bowled by Pres­ ton, Lohmann serving Richardson the same shortly after. Trott and Ferris were not long together, the latter being run out, and Boyle, who whipped in, after adding 6 was caught by Briggs at cover-point, the innings closing for 190. Preston took four wickets for 38 runs. Lohmann also took four wickets, but they cost 93 runs, so many 4 hits being made from him . Selecting the same wicket, Read and Shrews­ bury again started the batting. Trott de­ livered the first over, which resulted in 3 runs by Shrewsbury. A single by the same bats­ man brought Read in front of Turner, who should have caught and bowled him , but it mattered not, as the Surrey batsman made a wild swipe at a short, straight ball, missed it, and was bowled. Briggs to the rescue, and from this point both batsmen did pretty well as they liked with the bowling, although runs were not made at any great pace, yet, good as the bowling was, they came, neither of the men having the slightest difficulty in defending their wickets against all the Colonial bowlers on such a marvellously perfect pitch. Any­ thing loose was promptly sent to the boundary if it missed the line of fieldsmen, and many hard hits by Briggs unluckily went direct to them. When the stumps were drawn Shrews­ bury had made 53 and Briggs 46, the total standing at 101. About 4,000 spectators wit­ nessed the play. T h ir d D ay — M o n d a y , M arch 12. A fine Sunday and another glorious cricket day on Monday favoured this match. The Australian eleven had a full day’s fielding, mainly due to the magnificent play of Shrewsbury and the valuable assistance given him by Lohmann and Mr. Smith. The Notts man was seen at his very best, and with the exception of a very hard cut low down at point when he had scored 134, the innings was abso­ lutely perfect. He plaj ed all the bowling with the greatest ease, and for a long time Turner and Ferris bowled in wonderful form, as can be guessed when only 42 runs could be made before luncheon, in eighty minutes’ play. It was ten minutes past twelve o’clock when Briggs and Shrewsbury took up their positions, the bowling being entrusted to the two N.S.W. cracks, Ferris and Turner. After playing several balls flukily, besides being missed at the wicket, Briggs h it Turner finely for 4, and snicked him for 3. He was then caught at the wicket, and Mr. Newham, who followed, was soon out leg-before. (Three for 116). Lohmann then joined Shrewsbury, and for a long time nothing could be done with the splendid bowl­ ing, but no wicket falling Trott relieved Ferris. The score at lunch time stood at 143, Shrews­ bury 70, and Lohmann 12. On resuming Loh­ mann drove Turner for 4. Shrewsbury also hit Trott to leg for 4. After a couple of maidens Lohmann made 10 from one over of Turner’s, two 4’s and a 2. The next over pro­ duced 7 more. Trott also got a fair share of punishment just at this period, but at last suc­ ceeded in getting rid of Lohmann by catching him from his own bowling from a hard return low down. (Four for 184). Mr. Docker suc­ ceeded him , and Shrewsbury h it Turner twice for 4, drive and square-leg hit. 30 runs having been made from Turner’s last four overs it was thought time to give him a rest, and Jones went on. Mr. Docker was well caught by Richardson at long-off, and Preston, after driving Jones twice for 4, was taken at the wicket from that bowler. Six for 211 was the state of the game when Mr. Smith joined Shrewsbury, who had just completed his cen­ tury. The play was rather slow, and the cap­ tain did not show such vigorous hitting as in the first innings. Still the score continued to increase, and in spite of several changes of bowling 300 went up at five o’clock. Mr. Smith now received a nasty blow on the mouth by a full pitch glancing upwards from his bat, but after a few minutes’ delay the game again pro­ gressed, and soon after Mr. Smith was caught at the wicket for 40, made by careful play. This partnership had produced 106 runs, and the supporters of the Colonials’ hopes fell to zero. Mr. Brann came next, but was smartly stumped, and Pougher, with Shrewsbury, played out time, the score standing at 355 for eight wickets. Tiie Australians played up pluckily all day and fielded finely, but another good bowler was sadly wanted. The wicket was as perfect as ever. About 1,000 persons witnessed the play. F o u r t h D a y — T u e s d a y , M a r c h 13. Tuesday morning looked very much like change of weather, heavy clouds hanging over Sydney; but before noon it all cleared, and another splendid day allowed the match to be finished on its merits. Shrewsbury has now another to add to his long list of innings over 200 runs, as he was not dismissed till he had made 206. Jones played a grand innings of 134 not out, for the Australian Eleven, show­ ing fine defence and splendid hitting powers. Lohmann bowled remarkably well, taking four wickets for 70 runs, which must be considered a good performance on such a wicket, which held good to the last ball delivered. Shrews­ bury on starting began scoring rapidly, and soon increased his score to 200, but after being in twenty minutes he cut Turner, and was smartly caught at point. (Nine for 386.) Pilling assisted Pougher to pass the 400, when Continued on page 92.