Cricket 1889

CRICKET: A WEEKLY EECOEI) OF THE GAME. MAE. 21, 1889. much surprised to view the complete collapse of their representatives. The innings was a virtual procession, one man alone (Hutchinson) offering any resistance during the first ten wickets, when he fell a victim to the first ball of the underhander Grieve, having played an excellent uphill 21, of sterling cricket. The remaining half of the batsmen followed the same road as their predecessors, and at the close of the innings, the board showed the meagre total of 69, leaving the Englishmen victors in a single innings, with three runs to spare. Bowling honours were divided, Briggs and Smith getting the first ten wickets—five each—for 17 and 22 runs respectively. Grieve and Fothergill also secured five wickets each, at a cost of only 10 runs to the former and 15 to the latter. P ietermaritzburg . First Innings. F» F. Crauford, lbw, b Smith............... ......... 8 S. Robinson, b Briggs ... 0 R. Nicholson, run out ... 0 R. P. Spurway, b Briggs... *28 P. Hutchinson, b Smith... 7 G. W. Sweeney, b Briggs 1 S. Harte Davis, c and b Briggs............................. 5 H. W. Tanner, b Smith ... 0 H. Marwood, b Briggs ... 1 G. Mason, c Hearne, b Smith............................. 4 Second Innings. b Smith ......... 0 c and b Smith... 3 b Smith ......... 4 b Smith ......... 4 b Grieve .........21 b Briggs ......... 0 c Fothergill, b Briggs ......... 1 b Smith ......... 0 b Fothergill ... 4 c Bowden, b Briggs ......... 2 b Fothergill ... 0 b Briggs ......... 0 J. Windham, b Smith ... 0 W.M. Lamplough, run out 0 J. A. Masson, c Bowden, b Briggs...................... ... 1 b Grieve ... C. Hime, b Smith ......... Q b Fothergill A. Birchmore, st Wood, b Briggs............................. 0 b Fothergill J. Borain, b Fothergill ...15 b Briggs ... Dr. Henderson, c Read, b Briggs............................ 5 b Grieve ... J.P.Cunningham, b Briggs 0 b Grieve ... H. Miller, b Briggs ......... 1 b Grieve ... E. Harrison, st Wood, b Briggs............................ W.M.Henderson,c Hearne, b Fothergill ......... ... 5 run out E. Turnbull, not out ... 0 notout Extras...................... 4 Extras... c Wood, b Foth­ ergill ......... 3 Total ................92 E nglish T eam . Total Abel, c Hutchinson, b Hime ............... 48 Ulyett, b Nicholson 22 M. Read, c Spurway, b Hutchinson ... 2G Hearne, hw., b Hime 18 Mr. M. P. Bowden, c Marwood, b Hime 8 Wood, run o u t......... 0 Briggs, hw, b Hime... 1 Mr. C. A. Smith, c Borain, b Hime Mr. B. A. F. Grieve, c and b H im e......... Hon C. J. Coventry, c Henderson, b Nicholson ......... Fothergill, not out... Extras............... Total ......... 1 17 BOWLING ANALYSIS. P ietermaritzburg . First Innings. Second Innings. O. M. R. W. O. M. 14. W. Briggs ......... 41 2734 11 ............ 25 16 17 5 Smith ......... 37 15 52 6 ............ 26 16 22 5 Fothergill ... 4 3 2 2 ............ 10.3 7 15 5 Grieve 11 5 lu 5 Having journeyed from Kimlerley to Johannesburg for three days by coacli, our crioketers fondly imagined that the back of our heavy travelling was broken ; that it was not so they were shown very forcibly last Saturday, when another coach journey had to be under­ taken down here from the Transvaal. The team was divided up into detachments, some going the shorter road through the Orange Free States by Harrismith, the rest via New­ castle, in order to see Majuba Hill and Lang’s Neck The former party in their coach started at five o’clock on Saturday morning and were comparatively fortunate in their hours and roads, reaching Vaal River in time for some five hours’ refreshing sleep, .and Harrismith on the Sunday night with another five hours’ rest. Between that and Ladysmith they met with a check—well-known to the African traveller—the “ coming down” of a river, in the middle of which they stuck fast for four mortal hours, till a team of sixteen oxen was procured, and the coach landed safely on the opposite bank. This difficulty was, however, slight compared with the woes of the division who had elected to see the scenes of the fighting in the Boer War. The Newcastle coach started seven hours late, owing to the breaking down of mails, and the consequent necessity of travelling through­ out the night was an experience which they express no anxiety to renew. The roads were rocky and full of holes, and only by the flashes of lightning playing round were they enabled to distinguish road from veldt, again and again the excessive joltings of the coach tell­ ing its occupants tiiat the road was some­ where to the left or the right. Their desti­ nation for the night, Standerton, consequently was not reached till breakfast time the follow­ ing morning. D urban , F ebruary 14. In my last letter stress of time caused me to break off in the journey from Johannesburg to Natal—that dreadful journey which will live long in our memories. I fancy I told how, being eight hours late in starting, we were obliged to travel all night in pitchy dark­ ness, save for flashes of lightning to show us the road, from which we found ourselves fre­ quently straying—how the next morning we escaped by about six or eight inches from being upset into a “ donga,” the name given to the water-worn pits which abound in the veldt, when we discovered one of our drivers speech­ lessly “ Hoodman,” and the other fast asleep— how we then had to conduct the driving of our team of ten horses ourselves. About noon the second day—viz., Sunday—we found ourselves nearing some mountains, and a fellow- passenger pointed out a corner of Majuba Hill above the rest, but it was three o’clock before we were in Natal, and an hour later, after lunch, we were ascending Lang’s Neck, with Majuba Hill towering above us on the right. Majuba stands clear away on the south of the range of hills we ha 1 befDre seen, joined to them only by a couple of low ridges, very precip­ itous. It seems incredible that our red­ coats should have been dislodged by a handful of Boers equal, some say fewer, in numbers to themselves ; but it is curiously formed, having a series of terraces, by means of which the Boers protected, or rather hid themselves from our men, who were posted in a basin, some 150 yards across, at the top. Reaching the top of Lang’s Neck we got a lovely view of Natal below us, the beauty of which, how­ ever, was marred by the presence of Colley’s grave below us on the right, and on the slopes to our left the graves of our poor fellows who fell at Lang’s Neck. Again, passing under Majuba Hill we were enabled to get a good view of its more rugged side down which our men were driven by the Boers. Glad, how­ ever, to turn our backs upon scenes which were not calculated to call up happy remin­ iscences, we welcomed the appearance of Mount Prospect, where we found a good dinner awaiting us. But we had yet another battlefield to pass over—Ingogo height. This, however, we did not reach till dark, so that we were unable to take in the position satis­ factorily ; but one thing we realised too keenly, and that was that the road was absolutely the very worst of any we had travelled over yet—up and down steep hills, and literally strewn with large boulders, over which we were bumped mercilessly, till our heads and every joint of our bodies ached again. Our relief on reaching Newcastle at 11.30 that night beggars description —we had taken eight hours doing the last thirty-three miles. Four hours’ refreshing sleep, and we were bowling merrily along over roads very different from those of the preceding day. During the morning we passed many ox waggons—slowly working their way up to Johannesburg—but the nature of their loads seemed limited to tramway rails, Pommery champagne, and Worcester sauce. At* three o’clock in the afternoon we hailed with delight the sight of Uand’s Laagte Station, the farthest point north to which the Natal Railway has at present reached. Here we very soon were comfortably seated in a reserved carriage, and just in time to escape a heavy thunderstorm. An hour and a half travelling brought us down to Ladysmith, where we were soon joined by the rest of our team, who had come down thiough the Orange Free State in Harrismith, and had had the misfortune to stick in the middle of the Vaal River for four or five hours, and had to secure a team of oxen to haul them out. The country from Ladysmith to Pieter­ maritzburg was extremely beautiful, a remark­ able change to the monotonous undulations of the Transvaal, but the majority were not in a mood inclined for admiring scenery, and indulged in what sleep could be got till Pieter­ maritzburg was reached at four o’clock the next morning. TENTH MATCH—v. FIFTEEN OF NATAL. Following up their victory in the opening match at Pietermaritzburg, Major Warton’s team, which is now strengthened by the arrival of Ulyett, proceeded toiuflict a similar defeat upon fifteen representatives of Natal Colony. Cool weather still continued, and a grey light predominated throughout the match, which was characteristic chiefly for the poor show of batting of the local men and the smart fielding of the Britishers, which was much admired. The ground, as I said in my last letter, is what is termed here “ shuffled;” plain, sandy soil, devoid of grass and rolled hard, and rain, though rendering it soft for a time on the surface, very quickly drains through. Xhis we found to be the case on the Saturday morning when we arrived on the ground, after rain had been falling steadily all the morning, and we were enabled to make a start shortly after twelve o’clock. Smith won the toss, and the Englishmen commenced batting on the ordinary matting wicket with Abel and Ulyett to the attacks of Kempis (left-handed) and Madden (right). Abel soon lost his companion, who was bowled off his pad for 5. (One for 15.) Briggs joined Abel, and the two midgets put up 60 before the last comer skied a ball which the bowler held, and retired fora dashing 23. (Two for 60). Read met with a slice of bad luck; hitting a trifle too soon for a leg ball, he was secured by longstop, when 14 stood to his credit. This example was followed by Abel with a like result, and the steady little batsman retired for 28. (Four for 85.) The bowlers now steadied down, and began to make use of the heavy ground under the matting, Madden, in particular, bowling a good length. This bowler hails from Durban, and bears with Kempis the reputation of being a dangerous bowler. The latter is left-handed, with a good break from leg—frequently attempts an off-break to the detriment of his length. He gets a great many wickets in local matches, and was successful against the Englishmen. Bowden joinedHearne at the fall of the fourth wicket but did not appear at home, and after one or two lucky hits was beaten by Madden. (Five for 111.) Wood received a summary dismissal—(six for 118)—but Smith and Hearne were together some time till the latter was prettily caught at point by Lamport, the score showing 131 for 7 wickets (last man 21). M’Master stayed and saw his skipper beaten by a good ball from Kempis, Smith having played a good and useful 26. (Eight for 157.) A few runs later M’Master was sent back by a beautiful bailer irom Kempis, the same bowler dismissing Fothergill, the whipper in. the innings thus closing for 176, Madden and Kempis having divided the honours of the attack—Madden four for 63 and Kempis four for 53. The light had been anything but good all day and was now worse, and to this perhaps mustbe attributed the disastrous start made by the Natal men, for in the short time that remained, no less than six wickets fell for 7 runs only, and amongst the six men gone were two of the best batsmen on the side, viz., Spurway and Davey, Briggs having been answerable for the dismissal of four wickets. NEXT ISSUE, APEIL 18.