Cricket 1888

I ’EB. 23t 1888. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 25 response. Just at this period of the year cricketers will be taking stock of their cricketing “ goods and chattels,” and a small contribution from their outfit “ never will be missed ’’ :— To T h e E d it o b or “ C k ic k et .” W ill you kindly allow me to appeal in your valuable paper in aid of our Cricket Club, which is for the benefit of the boys who attend the Notting Dale Ragged School. Now that the season is fast approaching for this popular astime we should feel obliged for any cast-off ats, balls, or any cricketing gear that richer clubs could bestow towards giving the boys a chance of enjoying themselves at a game of cricket on Wormwood Scrubbs in summer evenings. Any contributions or gifts of things for the club will be most thankfully received by,—Yours faithfully, W . R. B eakcboft , 25, Edbrooke Road, Harrow Road, Paddington. I n a letter under date of Jan. 9, a trust­ worthy Australian correspondent gives me his impression that neither of the English teams now in the Colonies is likely to be a financial success. The Melbourne Club, he thinks, is, in all probability, in for a heavy loss over Mr. Vernon’s party, but as the Shrewsbury-Lillywhite combina­ tion has some big games in Sydney, there is just a chance that they may pull through. The Australian public was, he adds, everywhere very sorry that Lord Hawke was obliged to return to England, as the captain had made himself very popular in the Colonies. Mr. C. A. Smith seems to have made himself a great favourite with all classes. Mr. Vernon's team, he states, are expected to return home in the Orient steamer “ Austral,” due to leave Adelaide on March 18, and in this event should be with us by the end of April. The date for the departure of Lillywhite’s team had not been settled when my informant wrote. There was some talk at the time of a New Zealand trip for them. My correspondent men­ tions the rumour current in Sydney at the time his letter left, that Shrewsbury did not intend to return home with his team. T h e iEolian Club, which has of late years had its head-quarters at Dulwich, has just completed the twenty-first year of its existence. It is satisfactory, too, to be able to add that the Club comes of age with good prospects, having a balance in hand, and a strong list of matches for the season of 1888. The jEoliaus are to cele­ brate their annual dinner at the Holborn Eestaurant on Saturday, March 3. T h e brilliant batting of the two South Australians, G. Giffen and C. G. Godfrey, m the second innings of the match be­ tween eleven of that colony and Mr. Vernon’s team, on the Adelaide Oval on Dec. 27, stands out in bold relief as one of the best, if not the very best perform­ ance recorded against an English team in Australia. The South Australians, I may add, had no fewer than 238 runs to get to avoid defeat in an innings when they went in a second time, and thanks en­ tirely to the two batsmen named, who added as many as 192 runs while they were together, the requisite number were got for the loss of only one wicket. The innings, too, did not terminate until 493 had been reached, and as only, in the absence of W . Waldron through a death in the family, ten men batted, the achievement was the more creditable. I believe I am right in stating that this total is the largest as yet recorded against an English eleven in Australia. The South Australians have reason to be the more gratified with this display, as this was only the second occasion on which South Australia had met an English team on even terms. T h o u g h not the highest innings he has ever made, George Giffen’s score of 203 is his best record so far in an important match. He was batting altogether, it will be of interest to know, eight hours and fifty minutes, and during all this long period he never gavewhat could be classed as an easy chance. His long score was composed of fourteen 4’s, ten 3’s, thirty- one 2’s, and fifty-five singles. In local matches Giffen has made several big scores. The best of these was in Novem­ ber, 1884, when playing for the Norwoods, he was responsible for 209 not out against the Kensington Club. While Godfrey was with Giffen 192 runs were accumu­ lated. This is, according to the Adelaide Observer, the third largest number made in South Australia for the fall of a wicket, and the largest in a first-class match. The same paper adds that the South Australian Association has decided to recognise Giffen’sfine performance by the presentation of a handsome silver shield, suitably inscribed. I t will be of interest to London cricketers to learn that the Surbiton Cricket Club has removed from its old ground at Long Ditton, to the field adjoining. The new enclosure has been carefully laid, and as the quality of the turf put down is very fine, there is every reason to hope that visiting teams will, in the coming season, find the Surbiton pitch one of the very best in the neighbourhood of London. In every detail, the new ground will be superior to its predecessor. It is most pleasantly situated, well away from the railway line (which was one of the chief objections to the Surbitonians’ old quarters), and is only about three- quarters of a mile from Surbiton station in the direction of Thames Ditton. The field is of about twelve acres in area, and ofthese six and a half have been re-turfed. Several lawn-tennis courts have also been laid, and, in addition to the old pavilion, a new building with every accommodation for members and their lady friends will be erected in the course of the ensuing season. No effort will in fact be spared to make the ground as attractive to residents and visitors, as it is sure to be to cricketers generally. N ot very long since, if I remember rightly, it was only two months, I called attention to the favourable impres­ sion made on the leading Australian critics by the promising all-round cricket of Hugh Trumble, a younger brother of J. W . of that name who was over here with the last Australian team in 1886. The youngster, it is satisfactory to be able to add, made a very successful debut in Inter-colonial matches at Melbourne last Christmastide, and, indeed, in the first innings of New South Wales he was remarkably effective. He bowled un­ changed from the pavilion end, and secured seven of the ten wickets at an expense ofonly 52 runs. “ He is a natural bowler,” says one of the chief cricket writers of Victoria, “ possessing the advan­ tage of great height, and though he has yet a deal to learn, being comparatively inexperienced, it is highly probable that he will speedily develop into one of the best players in Australia.” “ H e makes good use of his great height,” says another account, “ bowls with an easy delivery, and is very sure in the field, besides being a good bat. I am very much mistaken if this representative of the Trumble family will, when a little more matured, fall far short of his brother, and I need not add that if this expectation be realised, he will be one of the best all-round players in Australia.” Still another expert’s opinion: “ He stands about 6ft. 3in. high, just about the same as Spofforth. His delivery is decidedly awkward from the batsman’s standpoint, as being bowled well over, the ball ccmes down from an unusual altitude. Trumble has not yet attained his majority, so that there is plenty of time for him to improve.” T h e performances of Moses and Turner in batting and bowling respectively against the Englishmen during this winter have been so remarkably fine that the following comments by “ Felix,” the critic of the Australasian newspaper, of Melbourne, cannot fail to be of interest to English C r ic k e t readers :— Moses, in the four games against the Englishmen, has scored 0, 78 (not out), 68 , 77, 15 (not out), 58, and 10‘J. This gives five com­ pleted innings for an aggi egate of 405, or an average of 81 runs per innings. When it is taken into consideration that he has had to meet the best bowling England can produce, supported by fielding of the very highest class, and that in more than one instance his runs have been made on a bowler’s wicket, it is safe to assert that Moses has legitimately won the right to be regarded as by far the most reliable batsman in the colonies at the present time. He is, in my opinion, the best left-handed batsman in the world, and has the happy knack of being able to adapt his play Jo suit any pitch. As a batsman on English grounds he would be invaluable, and for the sake of: Australian cricket it is to be hoped that he will make one of the Australian Eleven now being organised. Turner’sfigures against the Englishmen read thus for the four matches played Balls. Runs. Maidens. Wickets. 76 21 10 4 148 23 23 6 271 117 23 7 33 21 3 0 311 106 36 7 124 40 12 2 135 35 19 8 184 40 26 , 8 NEXT ISSUE, MARCH 29.