Cricket 1888

M R . V E R N O N ’S E N G L IS H T E A M IN A U S T R A L IA . As these lines are written the Orient steamer “ Austral,” with the majority of the team of English cricketers who left Plymouth on the 17th of September last under the charge of Mr. G. F. Vernon, on board, is nearing our shores. By the end of this week, unless any­ thing unforeseen should occur, the party, with the exception of Lord Hawke, Bates (both of whom had to leave their comrades in the colonies), Mr. Vernon, who will follow in a few week’s time, and Mr. Stoddart, whom every C r ic k e t reader will be sorry to hear has joined the football team now on tour in Australia, and will be consequently lost to English cricket this year, should be again with us, and, as far as we know, hale and hearty. In welcoming home the various members of Mr. Vernon’s combination, it is gratifying to be able to write in the highest terms of the manner in which they have, one and all, ac­ quitted themselves, not only on, but off the cricket field, during their absence of over seven months. They have, it is no meaningless phrase, no jnere compliment to say, upheld the reputation and character of English sport in a thoroughly becoming style. The dignity of the greatest of our English games has not suffered in any degree in the hands of Mr. Vernon and his companions. On the contrary, 116 English team has, perhaps, ever more deservedly earned the respect of the Australian public—none- certainly, attained greater popularity. They are fully entitled to, as they know they will reoeive, the warmest thanks of all who take an interest in the well-being and good name of English cricketers. Their actual record is one of which every member of the team has reason to be proud. Their con­ sistent success has been the more gratifying for two reasons. In the first place, it may be honestly admitted that there was some doubt in the minds of those well capable of judging as to the all round capacity of the team. While there was every reason for confidence in the batting and fielding, it was feared that there was hardly a sufficiency of bowling to enable theih to render a thoroughly good account of themselves against the pick of the Colonies on the run-getting wickets which are the rule on the chief cricket grounds of Australia. Then, again, in estimating the general results, it must not be forgotten that for the greater part of the tour practically the team had no reserve men. The enforced return of the captain, Lord Hawke, followed shortly as it was by the serious accident whioh deprived them of one of their most useful all­ round orioketers,Bates, was a doublemisfortune the im portance ot w h ich M rn w t be o v e rra te d I t not only deprived the team of two dangerous batsmen, but, what was perhaps of more account, deprived them of a reliable change bowler, a loss which, by no means over strong in bowling a3 they were might have been serious. The departure of Lord Hawke and Bates, too, reduced Mr. Vernon’s playing force to the bare eleven required, and it cer­ tainly tends to heighten the excellence of their performance that their record should have been so brilliant ai it was. A glance at the statistics of the tour which follow will show that of the twenty-six matches which formed the actual programme only one resulted in a defeat. Mr. Vernon and his trusty mates, amateur and professional, too, have the satis­ faction of knowing this to be a boast which none of their predecessors who have starred in Australia—with the one exception of the excep­ tionally powerful combination which George Parr commanded in 1864, the second under­ taking of the kind, who went through the Colonies without a reverse of any kind—have been able to make. The drawn games were perhaps in some cases not in their favour, but, as a rule, the undecided matches were more for than against them. Of the nine eleven-a-side contests, seven were won,and the one draw—the run-getting return match against South Australia which realised an aggregate of 1,077for thirty wickets—would in all probability have resulted in favour of the English eleven, who wanted 196 to win with a whole innings in hand. The seven wins included two victories over Victoria, the same number over eleven representing Combined Australia, one over the Sixth Aus­ tralian team now approaching England, and One over South Australia, the opening game played on the day following the arrival of the team in Adelaide. The seventh victory was in the return with New South Wales, when the English team had the satisfaction of com­ pletely reversing the result of the previous meeting, and avenging the only reverse of the tour. The brilliant batting of theircaptain,Percy McDonnell, had much to do with the victory 6f the New South Wales eleven, at Sydney, at the end of November, and it is worthy of remark that on the one occasion in which they were defeated the Englishmen were able to register a first innings of 340 runs. The highest total the team made was one of 556, against Eighteen Melbourne Juniors, on the ground of the East Melbourne C lu b ; the lowest, at Goulburn, when they were dis­ missed by Twenty-two of the District in their first innings for an aggregate of 31, the Smallest sum for which an English eleven has been got out in Australia. The largest indi­ vidual soore was recorded in the Melbourne fixture ju st aU u ded to, *n d the oredit of that achievement belongs to Mr. Stoddart. In the earlier part of the tour the Middlesex amateur Was, indeed, in an extraordinary vein for run- getting, and his 285, a performance of greater merit considering that there were eighteen in the field, is entitled to the distinction of the highest innings ever recorded to an English cricketer in the Colonies. Owing to a severe attack of neuralgia, Mr. W . W . Read was not in form, and his ill- success at the outset was the source of considerable disappointment to his many friends at home. As time advanced, though, he settled down into quite his best style, and his brilliant innings in some of the important fixtures during the latter part of the trip had very much to do with the successful record of the side generally. Three of the six scores of pver a hundred made by members of the team ivere from his bat, and it is curious that he should have scored one in each of the three capitals of the Australian colonies, to wit, at Adelaide, Sydney, and Melbourne. It is eminently satisfactory to have to record that this great English batsman fully upheld his high reputation during the winter. His fine average of 65 in representative matches is to be hoped an augury of an equally brilliant record for Surrey during the approaching English season. Mr. Stoddart and Peel were the only two members of the team able to claim an aggregate of over a thousand runs in the twenty-six matches, though Mr. Read was well within touch with 982. Mr. Stoddart, as was ex- E ected of him on Australian wickets, proved imself to be a most dangerous batsman. His aggregate of 1,188 is the best, and his average is a trifle better than that of Mr. Read in all matches. He played in three more innings than the Surrey amateur, but the latter had the benefit of two not outs. Mr. Stoddart’s Style was much appreciated, it is hardly neces­ sary to say, by the Australian critics. His success during the winter only tends to aggra­ vate the universal disappointment among the English public that they will not have a chance of seeing him perform here during the summer. Peel, the fsecond batsman to get into four figures, was the best all round cricketer of the team. This is high praise, no doubt, but it is pnly the due of one of the keenest and most popular players of the day. Bates, in a recent interview with the writer, spoke in the most eulogistic terms of the all-round cricket shown by his Yorkshire comrade while he was in Australia. On his form this winter, Peel is one of the very best oricketers we have in the old country. His figures in batting and bowling speak for themselves, and when, in addition, his excellent fielding is taken into account, the value of his services oan be fully PR ICE 2d. m a n ly to il.”— Byron. THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1888. No. 175. V O L . V n . Registered for Transmission Abroad.