Cricket 1888

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. Registered'foiPTrEmamTsflion^Abroad. THURSDAY, MAY 17, 1888. P R IC E 2d. M R . J O H N J A M E S F E R R IS . T h e performances of the Sixth Australian team have »o far entirely falsified the predic­ tions of the Colonial critics, who, when the final selection of the players to visit Eng­ land was made known, ventured to foretell for the combination little short of a series of dis­ asters. Comparisons, too, were not wanting from some of the scribes who pro­ vide the English public with cricket information to prove that the in­ coming team were obviously inferior as a side to some of their prede­ cessors who have done duty for Australia on English grounds. Though the aotual merits of Mr. McDonnell and his comrades have yet, we are inclined to think, to be proved, their record as yet has been, it is gratifying to be able to say, a most creditable one, and one of which those who are mainly respon­ sible for their presence in England at the present time have thoroughly good reason to be proud. Not one of the least satisfactory features of the tour, too, as far as it has gone is to be found in the success which has attended the new members of the party generally. The brilliant success which has re­ warded the team has been, we need hardly point out, mainly due to the exceptional skill of the two men of whom on their Austra­ lian reputations the most was ex­ pected. Messrs. Turner an^ Ferris nave up to the present fully con­ firmed the hopes which their un­ deniably great achievements as bowlers for New South Wales raised in che public m ind over here. As yet, too, Mr. Ferris has shown him ­ self to be able to challenge com­ parison with the bowler whose per­ formances have earned for him the soubriquet of The Terror. In intro­ ducing Mr. Ferris it will interest C r ick et readers to know that he is the junior of the team. Born at Sydney, on May 21, 1867, he will reach his majority on Mon­ day next. Educated at St. Kilda College, in Sydney, there was nothing during his school career to mark him as likely to attain to a brilliant future as a cricketer. It was not until a later date that he began to show any great promise, and the first occasion on which he began to attract any real notice was (luring hjis connection with the Eastern Suburbs C .C ., one of the leading junior clubs of Sydney. Joining subsequently the Belvi- dere Club, of which the great batsman of New South Wales, Mr. H. Moses, is captain, he had better opportunities of displaying his skill as a bowler, opportunities of which he was not slow to avail himself. His association with the Belvideres, with whom he has been prominently identified ever since, brought him well to the front, and his success as a bowler—he has won the bowling average each season he has played with the club—led to his first trial in Intercolonial matches at the end of 1886. This contest was a memorable one, as the occasion on which Mr. P. S. McDonnell made his great score of 239, and Mr. Ferris acquitted himself creditably getting 36, the third highest score, in the first innings, and securing six wickets of Victoria, four in the second innings, for 42 runs. In the return Intercolonial of that season, the bowling of Messrs. Turner and Ferris fairly won the game for New South Wales. The latter, too, was even more successful than his mate, being credited with nine wickets for an average of only 5 runs. The wicket, owing to the rain, was described by Charles Banner- man as the worst he had ever seen,and “ Felix,” the cricket critic of the Australasian, in commenting on the match, speaks of Ferris’s bowling as “ breaking from leg in the most puzzling fashion, sometimes pitching out­ side the leg stump, and passing outside the off-stump by inches.” In the earlier matches played by the two teams just returned from Australia, the English bats- menfound his deliveryvery puzzling. His figures, indeed, were much out of the common, and his bowl­ ing contributed in no small degree to the double victory of New South Wales. Against Shrewsbury’s eleven he was credited with nine wickets for 59 runs, but Mr. Vernon’s men found him equally dangerous, and his bowling at the close of the game, when he took seven wickets for 49 runs, proved a very important factor in the defeat of the Englishmen. So far in England, as already stated, Mr. Ferris has fully upheld the high reputation he has gained in the Colonies, and in the three matches the Australians have pla> ed in Eng­ land he has secured 27 wickets for 240 runs, an average of under 9runs. Mr. Ferris, who is a left-handed batsman as well as a bowler, is about 5ft. in height. Though on the small side, he is sturdily built, and not only does not easily tire, but does not mind being hit, having plenty of pluck. He bowls medium pace, well overhand, and, in addi­ tion, makes full use of his height when bowling. He throws tho ball pretty high, and keeping an excellent length, is verv dangerous, getting, when the wicket helps at all, a great amount of work on. He comes chiefly from the leg-side, but has also an off-break which is at times very effective. In one match against Shrewsbury’s team at Sydney, during last winter, he bowled both the captain and Ulyett with balls of this kind. He has greatly improved, too, as a batsman, and both at Norbury and tho Oval has lately shown himself to be by no means a bad bat- He is very good, in addi-