Cricket 1890

14 Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron * Registered for Transmission Abroad, THURSDAY, MARCH- 27, 1890. MR. P. C. CHAR L T ON . I t will not be the fault of the manager, H. F. Boyle, or of those who share with him the responsibility of the seventh visit of Austra­ lian cricketers to England,.if the team which left Melbourne thirteen days ago for the Old Country should fail to interest the publio here.Several prominent identities in former trips, will, it is needless to add, be greatly missed. G. Giffen’s refusal, after a virtual acceptance, contingent only on the promise of the two crack bowlers of 1888, Turner and Ferris, has proved a bitter disappointment. In the absence of its best all-round player, no combination, of course, can be said £o be thoroughly representative of Australian cricket. "Without the familiar figures of Percy McDonnell and Alick Bannerman, the coming team will seem at first, perhaps, a little strange. On recent form, too, the presence of such an attractive batsman as W. Bruce, as well as of Harry Moses, whose brilliant performances during the last two or three seasons for NewjSouth Wales have stamped him as one of the .most consistent and reliable run- getters in the Colonies, would, no .doubt, teed to give a more favour­ able imprfession of .the team among the general body of] English cricketers. - On the other hand, we are not certain that the inclusion of even so many young players, new though they may be to English grounds, will not fully compensate for the absence of the majority of those who have come to be regarded as almost essential to an Australian team. Though there have been, of course, some notable exceptions, as a general rule a first visit to England has not been prejudicial to a reputation won in the Colonies. In many instances, on the contrary, the new experience has been dis­ tinctly beneficial, and the opportuni­ ties of continuous practice during the tour have proved of inestimable value in developing the latent talent of the batsman or the innate skillof the bowler. Whatever may be the issue, the promoters of this year’s Australian trip, whether it be by accident or design, we are inclined to think, are not altogether unwise in testing the capacities of several youngsters who have proved their abilities unmistakably at home. As far as we know of the composition of the team, through the medium of Beuter’s gether he delivered 3,173 balls for 932 runs, and his 92 wickets were got at an average cost of a little over ten runs. It was against Shrewsbury and Lillywhite’s team that he really first made his mark. His bowling for the Eighteen Juniors of New South Wales at Sydney early in March of 1888 was, indeed, so good as to make a most favourable impression on the English players. Lillywhite in par­ ticular wrote in high terms o f his ability, as the following remarks his on the match will show. The bowling of Charlton was very good, his seven wickets costing 61 runs, and I am greatly mistaken if he hasn’t a big future before him as a bowler. He is fully six feet high and comes well over, bowling several paces with a knack of getting a rather fast ball at times to slip across with the arm. This excellent performance pre­ sumably closed Charlton’s career as a junior cricketer, for the next sea­ son saw him a full blown senior. His introduction to the Belvidere Club, too, was attendedwith success, and, indeed, he not only won the badges for bowling average and for best fielding, but was also third in batting with an excellent average of thirty-eight. For New South Wales against the Australian Eleven, in addition to’a score of fifty runs, he took six wickets, and his first inter­ colonial (against*Victoria at Mel­ bourne) was even more successful, as he won the trophy for the best bowling average. His best perform­ ance of the season, though, was for New South Wales against Fifteen of Queensland. The match was played at Brisbane, and besides taking ten wickets for 88 runs he made 24 runs in the first innings, though, owing to an injury, only able to bat with his lett hand. Through­ out this winter he has bowled with consistent success, and at the present time there are few more thoroughly raliable bowlers in the Colonies. The manager of the Australian team is confident that Charlton will prove his reputation as an all-round cricketer over here. Several of our cricketers who have visited New South Wales during the last few years have also formed a high estimate of his bowling, and as this is not the only depart­ ment in which he excels there is every reason to believe that he will make his mark on English grounds. Our portrait is from a photograph by -larell & Co., of Sydney. telegrams, it will include no less than six new to England. Charlton and S. Gregory of New South Wales, H. Trumble, J. E. Barrett, and F. H. Walters of Viotoria, and K. Burn of Tasmania, have none of them, at least, figured in any of the six previous Australian teams. Charlton’s reputation stands high as an all­ round cricketer in the colonies at the present time. His firstOpportunity of bringing him­ self into notice was during his early connec­ tion with the Ivanhoe C.C. of Sydney. The Ivanhoes were one of the best junior teams of New South Wales, and during the period from 1884 to 1887 Charlton monopolised the batting, bowling and fielding trophies, averag­ ing twenty-six runs with the bat and five with the ball. Throughout the season of 1887-88 he bowled with remarkable success. Alto