Cricket 1888

2 82 CRICKET j A WEEKLY RECORD OE THE 'GAME* j u l y 19, K388. was one feature in this match that must be recorded, and that was the brilliant cover- point fielding of Mr. B. A. Cunningham, which was admitted by keen judges such as Messrs. E. J. C. Studd and G-. N. Wyatt and many others to be the finest fielding they had witnessed for a long while, to which, as a final, both I and my old friend and brother umpire, Tom Hearne, say ditto. T he following puzzle has been sent me by an old correspondent and well-known cricket authority, who will be easily re­ cognised under his initials, “ A.G.Gr.” A C r ic k e t C u r io s it y f r o m N e w S o u t h W a l e s . —The cricket editor of the S y d n e y M a i l recently had to deoide the following question:—“ In a country match the ball begins to burst, and, no other ball being available, the match is continued with it; the batsman attempts to play a ball which just strikes the side of his bat and tnen parts in two pieoes; one strikes the wicket, knocking the bails off, the other goes into the wicket- keeper’s hands. Is the batsman out ?” The Editor fenced with the question thus :—“ We do not remember such a case coming up before. The part of the ball which struck the wicket would, of course, reach it before the other part went into the wicket-keeper’s hands, and, under the circumstances, we think that the batsman should be given out as bowled; but, in view of the fact that the ball burst at the critical moment, we simply give this as an opinion, not as a positive statement.” The E oint, although hardly likely to occur in a rst-class match, is worthy of considejation, if only from a dialectic point of view, by a looker-on from the pavilion benches. The editor, avoiding the direct question “ Is the batsman out,” answers his correspondent as if he had asked “ Is the batsman out ‘ bowled ’ or *caught ’ ?” Even on this point it is by no means clear that the opinion expressed is correct, for it is quite open to doubt whether the part of the ball which hit the wicket did not hit the ground and roll slowly into the wicket, or jump up into'the airbefore knocking the bails off, and so arrive at its destination after the rival half had reached the hands of the wicket-keeper. But the question is “ Is the batsman out ?” It may be advanced that he is, because he was bowled with one half of the ball, and caught with the other. But surely this will not hold water, for a batsman cannot be out in two ways, The point would be easier of decision if the inside of the ball had been caught by coverpoint and the skin by point, for then the batsman would have been caught, the entirety of the ball being held before touching the ground, and the score- sheet might show “ c Shuter andW. W. Read, b Lohmann.” But when we have to deal with a cricket ball in twopieces, enough points may occur to one to engender a nightmare. The ball might burst immediately after leaving the bowler’s hand; the batsman might hit the inside for four, and be bowled out with the skin. Would he score four, or would his innings be terminated ? We should say that unless the batsman is disposed of in one way by the entirety of the ball, he is not out. But enough; points like these, coupled with the past weather, are calculated to rile the most phlegmatic of cricketers. PRINCIPAL MATCHES FOR NEXT WEEK. T h u r s d a y , J u l y 19: Lord’s, M.C.C. and G. v. Notts—Kennington Oval, Surrey v. Middlesex — Brighton, Sussex v. Australians—Leicester, Leicestershire v. Warwickshire—Manchester, Lancashire v.Yorkshire—Moreton-in-Marsh,Glou­ cestershire v. Kent. F r id a y , J u l y 20 : Taunton, Somersetshire v. Staffordshire-Worcester, Wor­ cestershire v. Herefordshire - Iinry, Gentlemen of Bury v. I’arsees. M o n d a y . J u l y 2 3 : Lord’s, M.C.C. and G. r. North and East Riding—Becken­ ham. Surrey v. Kent -Leyton, Australians v. Past and Present of Cambridge—Liverpool, Gentlemen of Liverpool v. Parsees—Manchester, Lancashire v. Derbyshire—Sheffield, Yorkshire v. Notts. T H E S IX T H A U S T R A L IA N T E A M . THE TWENTIETH MATCH—»v. AN ENGLAND ELEVEN. The matches between the Gentlemen and Players at the Oval, and Yorkshire and Gen­ tlemen of Scotland at Edinburgh, prevented Mr. A. H. Heath, the Hon. Sec. of the Stafford­ shire County Club, from getting a very strong side to meet the Australians at Stoke on Thursday last. There was a fair amount of* bowling with Attewell, Pougher, Flowers, and Chatterton, but the batting was very moderate, and, as will be seen, no one made any show against Turner and Ferris, who bowled for the secondmatchinsuccessionunchangedthrough­ out. Owing to heavy rain the wicket was very soft on Thursday, but at three o’clock, though the umpires were of opinion that it was not yet fit to play on, a commencement was made. The Australians were lucky enough to win the toss, and at the end of the day had made 201 for eight wickets. McDonnell and Bonnor both hit in their best form, though each had a life very early in his innings. Worrall and Ferris, too, both scored freely, and their partnership, which ended on Friday morning, resulted in a very useful addition of 52 runs. On Friday as the wicket dried under the sun it became unplayable, and Turner, who shared the bowling with Ferris, made such good use of his opportunity that the England team were all out in an hour and ten minutes for twenty-eight, of which the first two batsmen were responsible for twenty. The innings was remarkable for two reasons. Turner, it will be seen, took all the wickets (nine) which fell to the bowler, and Scotton went in first and carried out his bat, two very rare occurrences in important matches. In the follow on Sootton was again seen to advantage. Going in first he was fifth out at 44, having made 29 in the match, the highest aggregate on the side. Just at the close Mr. Richardson hit with considerable freedom, but there was little excitement as the game stood. ^ In fact, from the first the result was never in doubt, and the victory of the Australians, who at the finish were an innings and 135 runs to the good, was practically assured. Turner and Ferris, as beforeremarked, bowled throughout the match. The former was credited with thirteen wickets at an expense of 48 runs. A u s t r a l ia n s . J. M’C. Blackham, b Pougher.................23 P. S. M’Donnell, c Heath, b Flowers... 52 H. Trott, c Heath, b Flowers ................. 6 G.J.Ponnor, c Heath, b Flowers...................38 J. D. Edwards, c M’Gregor.bPougher 10 C. T. B. Turner, c R i c h a r d s o n , b Flowers ... ... 0 A. H. Jarvis, run out 18 H.F. Boyle, c Heath, b Pougher .......... 0 J.Worrall.stM’Gregor, b Attewell ..........36 J.J. Ferris,bPougher 30 J. J. Lyons, not out 20 B ........................ 9 Total ...242 A n E n g l a n d E l e v e n . First Innings. Second Innings. Mr. A. H. Heath, b Turner 11 b Turner ... 6 Scotton, not out... ;......... 9 b Ferris ... ... 20 Chatterton, b Turner ... 6 c Turner, b Ferris ... ... 2 D. H. Brownfield, rufi out 0 b Ferris .,. ... 4 Painter, b Turner .......... 4 c Bonnor, b Turner ... 5 Flowers, lbw, b Turner ... 2 c Blackhaim, b Ferris ... ... 5 Mr.G. M’Gregor, b Turner 0 bTurner ... ... 1 Attewell, b Turner.......... 0 c Bonnor, b Ferris ... 0 Pougher, lbw, b Turner... 2 c Blackham, b Ferris ... ... 6 Richardson, b Turner ... 0 b Ferris ... 15 Briscoe, b Turner .......... 0 not out ... 4 B 7,1b 3, nb 1 11 Total ......... ... 28 Total ... 79 Attewell Pougher 13riscoe BOWLING ANALYSIS. A u s t r a l ia n s . O. M. li. W. ...2'.3 8 54 1 ...47 21 84 4 ...24 12 28 0 A n E n g l a n d E l e v e n . First Innings. Second Innings. O. M. R. W. O. M. R. W. Turner......... 17,1 10 15 9 .......... 31 14 33 4 Ferris ...17 12 13 0 .......... 33.211 35 G Turner bowled a no*batl. O. M. R. W. Flowers ..28 10 52 4 Chatter­ ton ... 4 0 15 0 ENGLAND v. AUSTRALIA. The Australian team gained a most credit­ able victory in the first of their three fixtures against picked elevens of England, at Lord’s on Tuesday, winning by 61 runs. Turner and Ferris, sinoe their arrival in England, have so thoroughly upheld their Colonial reputation as two of the most effective bowlers of this or any other age on sticky wickets, that it was generally felt that the chances of England would be greatly improved if the game could be played on a ground fairly favourable for run-getting. Any such hopes were, however, effectually dispelled by the persistent rainfall of Sunday, and it is to be regretted, in the interests of a satisfactory test of the respective merits of the two teams, that the weather should have interfered to make the issue, in a very great measure, the result of the toss. The selection of the English eleven by the sub-committee of the Marylebone Club had given, it must be stated, anything but satis­ faction. Circumstances, however, necessitated two important changes at the last moment. Mr. Shuter’s inability to play allowed Abel, whose omission from the team after his con­ sistently brilliant form this season was gener­ ally disapproved, to play after all, while Attewell, who, with so many other first-class bowlers available, was really not wanted, was removed, those interested thinking that a hitter would be more useful. Had time allowed, in all probability Sugg would, we understand, have been played, but Mr. T. C. O’Brien, being available and on the spot, was utilised to fill Attewell’s place. The wicket was so wet at noon on Monday, that it was determined not to start until after luncheon, and as it was the weather did not then look very hopeful for a commencement at all. However, it did hold up, and soon after three o’clock the English eleven turned out to field, the Australian captain having been fortunate enough to win the toss, a huge advantage as the ground was. McDonnell and Bannerman, as usual, opened the batting to the bowling of Lohmann and Peel, and in the course of six overs the latter and Trotc, who followed, were dismissed for onlythree runs. McDonnell and Bonnor were now together, and each had a life (Bonnor directly he came in) in the long- field before the latter was caught. After making 22 out of 32, MoDonnell was also finely caught, and then came a useful stand by Blackham and Woods, who raised the score from 32 to 65. When the ninth wicket fell the total was 82, but Edwards and Ferris gave the English bowlers considerable trouble, and 34 were added before the latter was caught at the wicket, Edwards taking out his bat for a most useful as wellascreditable 21 . Aftertheusualin­ tervalMr.Grace and Abel opened the batting for England, Turner and Ferris, as usual, sharing the bowling. Neither batsman was at home, and when play ceased for the day the score was only eighteen with Abel, Barnes, and Lohmann all out. In the state of the ground it was certain that the scoring would be very low on Tuesday, and the wicket was, in fact, altogether unplayable. Between 11.30 and 4.25 twenty-seven wickets fell for an aggre­ gate of 157, giving an average ,'of under six runs to each batsman. Under such circum­ stances elaborate details are unnecessary. In fifty-five minutes the seven remainingwickets in England’s first innings fell for an addition of 35 runs, of which Briggs contributed 17. Turner took fi\M 3 wickets for 27 runs, but the Australians found Peel and Lohmann as diffi­ cult when they went in again, and the score was only eighteen or 81 on when the seventh wicket fell. England’s chances then were hopeful, but as in the first innings, Ferris proved of great use to his side. Turner made exactly one half of the next twenjty-four, and