Cricket 1890

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron c No. 244. VOL. IX. Registered for Transmission Abroad. THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1890. P R IC E 2 d . DR. J. E. BARRETT. A b a t s m a n of what is known as the stone­ walling order is always, and with good reason, a persona gratissima in any eleven. It is the fashion at times to scoff at cricketers of a purely defensive order. Their play may be a little wearisome, and it is not easy to enthuse while a Scotton, a Hall, or a Barlow is plod­ ding away over after over in the same monotonous style from morn till noon, from noon till dewy eve. Even the recent performance of the great Gunn would perhaps have been enlivened by a slight explosion occasionally, an it were at the risk of upholding an old instead of the establishment of a new record. Ten hours even of the best batsman lacks the variety which is always asso­ ciated with and commonly regarded as the most interesting feature of our national game. Yet scoff as we will, Fabius Cunctator is a practical necessity, and not one of the least important elements of success in a cricket team. The utility of a bats­ man like Alick Bannerman, to in­ stance the most familiar illustration in any reference to Australian cricket, if only as a counterpart to players of a less patient tempera­ ment, to hitters like McDonnell, Mftssie, and Bonnor,has been proved times out of [number in connection with previous teams. It is not, though, of a veteran like Banner­ man that we have now to write. Had Alick come to England again, instead of for some reason or other, perhaps known only to himself, re­ calling the promise he had given to join his tried friend and comrade in many fights, W. L. Murdoch, in all probability there would have been no occasion for the biography of the excellent all-round cricketer who has acted, in a way, as his under­ study. As it is .A B.’s place has been, and will be, worthily filled by the young Victorian, Dr. John Edward Barrett, whose counterfeit present­ ment adorns this page. Born at South Melbourne on Oct. 15, 1866, J. E. B. is the son of a doctor, himself an enthusiastic cricketer. Sent to Wesley College, the nursery of not a few players who subsequently made their mark in Victorian cricket, at an early age he was not long in qualifying for a higher position. A capital display of all-round cricket for Wesley College against the Mel­ bourne Grammar School secured for him the freedom of the South Melbourne Club, a reward of merit only given to youngsters of u doubted promise. Though included at the out et in the second eleven of South Mel­ bourne, before the end of the season he was pr moted into the first team. This step, too, was fully justified, and, indeed, his success bo as a batsman and a bowler was such that he was included in the Fourteen of Victoria selected to oppose the Fourth Austra­ lian Team. Good luck did not attend him in thi his first important match, but he had evi­ dently established hi§ name, to judge by the fact that in the following season the selector of t Victorian teams deemed him worthy of a place in the eleven to represent that Colony against South Australia in Melbourne. It was strang ly enough, though, as a bowler that he first secured a trial in an Inter-colonial fix­ u e. As a bowler, too, he proved a distinct success, and in the match in question he took in all eleven wickets at a cost of eighty runs. Such a promising performance naturally en­ sured him a still higher trial, the highest, inde d, possible to an Australian cricketer. His first appearance for Victoria against New South Wales, however, was a comparative failure, for he only scored nine runs in his two innings, and did nothing with the ball. He represented Mel­ bourne University, too, against the sister University of Sydney in the same year, but with the same ill- success. Applying himself diligently to study he gave up cricket about this time, and the next two years were to all intents a blank in his career as a cricketer. When he re­ turned to work again his bowling had apparently left him. His repu­ tation for the future, in fact, had te be based on his performances as a batsman. A number of good scores brought him once more to the front during the season of 1888-89, and his re-appearance in important matches proved the forerunner of an almost unbroken series |of suc­ cesses. His coolness and judgment were of great service to Victoria in the match against the Australian Team of 1888. Turner and Ferris had dismissed five of the best bats­ men of Victoria when Dr. Barrett went in. The unfavourable state of the game would have tried the mettle of an older hand, but Drys­ dale, another colt, and he were the first of the side to play Turner and Ferris with any confidence, and the Doctor’s not out 40 elicited the highest praise from both sides. A fine innings of 39 under equally trying circumstances for Victoria in the same season against South Aus­ tralia was even a better perform­ ance. Until the third day the latter had all the best of the game, and it was mainly the excellent cricket of Barrett and Horan that enabled the Victorians to gain a most creditable victo y. In both matches against New South Wales he was also successful, and his two scor s of 15 and 32 in the return, on bad wiokets, had much to do with the brilliant victory Victoria was able to claim with only twelve runs to spare. Dr. Barrett’s con­ tinu us success as a batsman was one of the most remarkable features of the last Australian se son. He took part in every one of the