Cricket 1892

10 CRICKET: A WEEKLY EECORD OP THE GAME. JAN. 28, 1882 to C ric k e t readers. The bride, though, has perhaps even a better all-round record. She comes indeed, of a good old cricket stock on the maternal side, through the Grimstons, as well as on the paternal. Her father, Mr. 0 . P. Reid, was in the Harrow eleven, and well- known later on at Oxford. H is ground at “ The Node,” Welwyn, was the scene o f many pleasant matches some years back. That he still retains all his old fondness of the game is shown by his regular attendance at every important match in the London district. C ric k e t has particular reason to offer its con­ gratulations to Mrs. as well as to Mr. Nepean, The editor has had the privilege o f claiming the lady as one o f his con ­ tributors. An ardent enthusiast of cricket herself, she is well mated. Best wishes to both. “ T he best laid schemes o ’ mice and men gang aft agley.” So sang Robert Burns, and so it will be, I suppose, to the end of the verse. The best laid schemes in my case amounted to an intention to do honour to the commencement of the eleventh volume, which begins with the present number, in some special fashion. But the willingness of the spirit has been upset by the weakness of the flesh. The fact is, that the hands of the guiding spirits of this paper have been held hard in “ the grip.” So, under the peculiar circum­ stances, I hope that C ricket readers will, while to our virtues ever kind, be for this once at least “ To our faults a little blind.” C R I C K E T C H I R P S . A lf r e d S h a w is to have a benefit match this season. A n attack of pleurisy prevented Peel from playing for England against Victoria. A C e y l o n team of cricketers has been touring through the Madras Presidency. T he Sydney Mail asserts that “ the best batsman in New South Wales to-day is Harry Donnan.” D u lw ich C. C. —The Annual Dinner of this club will take place at the Holborn Restaurant on Saturday'next. F or Sackville (N.S.W.) v. Sydney Agricul­ tural College on Dec. 5th, S. Tuckerman per­ formed the hat trick. D r. W. G. G r ace scored at the rate of 30 runs per hour in his long innings of 159 (not out) against Victoria. A t Salisbury, South Australia, on Nov, 28th, Gawler scored 298 for six wickets. H. A. 114 and P. W . Begg 113, both not out. T. W. G a r r e t t was prevented by a family bereavement from assisting New South Wales against Lord Sheffield’ s team. T n E Sydney Mail of Dec. 5th contains a biography by “ Anglicanus” and excellent likeness of Dr. W . G. Grace. T h e Australasian of Dee. 5th contains a number of interesting sketches of the England v. Victoria match at Melbourne. T h e Victorian Juniors played the New South Wales Juniors at Sydney on Boxing Day and the following Monday. CR ICKETER S-B est G oods City Agents — b e a r t h is M ark . — A d v t. P a r to n & L e s t e r , 94, Q ueen S^., Ctf fatp b id e . LORD SH E F F IE LD ’S TEAM IN AUSTRALIA . R e p r in t e d from th e Sporting L ife by pe r m issio n . SECOND M A TCH -v. VICTORIA. M e lb o u r n e , N o ve m b e r 27 and 28. On Tuesday, November 24, the day following the conclusion of the match with South Aus­ tralia, Dr. Grace and his merry comrades took express train for Melbourne. Australian cricketers touring in England have not appreciated some of the longer railway journeys, but they did nothing compared to this journey between Adelaide and Melbourne. It is nearly 500 miles in length, and occupies eighteen hours—from 3.30 one afternoon till 9.0 next morning. The first portion of the journey, through the charming Adelaide hills, is enjoyable enough, and the cricketers were delighted with many beautiful glimpses of hill and vale, with the blue ocean in the distance. Tea was taken at Murray Bridge, where the train crosses the longest river in Australia, and didn’ t the travellers just “ tuck-in ! ” Probably at no railway refresh­ ment room in the world can such an excellent spread be obtained. Fresh fish, game, &c., &c., galore, and all for half-a-crown, but only twenty-five minutes in which to dispose of the dainty viands. Leaving the bridge, some remarkable country is passed. It is known as the ninety-mile desert. It is as flat as a pan­ cake, and the line does not detour for miles and miles, but the “ desert” is a delusion. No waste of sand meets the eye, but, what is almost as monotonous, for miles on each side canbe seen nothing but the tops of alow stunted scrub—mallee scrub, which is so common in Australia. The desert passed, Victorian territory is entered, and at the same time comfortable sleeping berths, from which the players emerged to find themselves in Ballarat, the Golden City of Australia, where alluvial gold was first found in Australia, and whither thousands and thousands of adventurous spirits were attracted thirty or forty years ago from the old country, manv to make fortunes, hut some wrecked and ruined. Ballarat passed, Melbourne, the London of Australia, was reached. Melbourne is only forty years old, and its growth has been marvellous. The population is over 400,000 and the city reminds one of the American cities. A busy populace hurries along the wide streets between ten, eleven, and twelve story buildings, whilst cable tramoars glide about in every direction. The place has been dubbed Marvellous Smellbourne on account of the variety and strength of the odour emitted from badly-drained streets and back yards, and in this respect Melbourne is unlike Adelaide, which is one of the best drained and healthiest cities in the world, not even excepting Vienna. When the express train arrived in Melbourne the cricketers were all aweary after their long ride and troubled sleep, broken as it was by numerous stoppages at wayside stations. They were not allowed to rest, however, for on the platform were the president, vice-president, and secretary of the Victorian Cricketers’ Association, and H. F. Boyle, Dr. J. E. Basrett, and other represen­ tative Victorian players. Mr. Best, the president, had his private carriage for Mrs., Miss, and Master Grace, while in two four- horse drags the Englishmen, and those who met them, were ensconced. The Earl of Sheffield, Mr. Haroourt, and Major Dorien were not there, theljp having preferred to go round to Melbourne-.by the mail steamer. Hearty cheers were given for the Englishmen as the drags drove away to the reception rooms of the Association. Mr. Best did the honours of the occasion, and in a humorous speech welcomed the visitors. Dr. Grace, in responding to the inevitable toast, said his team was the best that had ever left England, Later on in the morning a public welcome was extended to the team in the Town Hall. Dr. Grace had to respond again, and he humor­ ously remarked that if he had known he was to do so much talking he would not have left the shores of Old England. The public ceremony finished, the cricketers, as usual, adjourned to the mayor’s parlour. Passing through the council chamber W. G., evidently wearied with the morning’s festivities, threw himself into the inviting mayor’s chair, and a wit improved the occasion by proposing “ Dr. W. G. Grace as first mayor of the cricket field.” The old master was unanimously elected, and, amidst loud laughter, the orders of the day were called on. Then the tourists were allowed to retire to their hotels and lay in a much-needed lunch, preparatory to an afternoon’s practice. F ir st D a y — F r id a y , N ov e m b e r 27. The morning when the match was to be started broke ominously cloudy, and a few light showers of rain fell. By noon, however, the clouds had lifted. The sun shone out, and the weather, as a whole, was glorious. Hundreds of peoplejwere down to seethe start, and during the afternoon the crowd grew and grew until there were 6,000 people there, which is a fine attendance for a Friday. The Englishmen were confident of giving the Victorian team a worse thrashing than the Adelaideans, but their hearts were somewhat burdened by the remembrance of Bobby Peel at home in bed, whither an attack of pleurisy had stretched the bonny Tyke. He is not seriously ill, however. His place in the team was taken by Radcliffe. The Victorian team was weakened by the absence of Jim Phillips, the burly professional who in the English summer plays for M.C.C. and Middlesex, and in the Australian summer for the Australian M.C.C. and Victoria. Dr. Grace has a high opinion of Jim’s ability as an umpire, and the pro. chose that unenviable task in preference to playing. Victorian cricket, especially the bowling, is very weak at the present time,and odds of 3 or 4 to 1 were laid on the Earl’s men winning with an innings to spare. Joyous cries from the Victorians announced that Jack Blackham’s cry of “ Heads” was correct, and a few moments later the Doctor had to lead his men into the field. Bruce, the brilliant left-hander, ’who has improved out of all recognition since he was in England in 1886, and Houston were the first batsmen, and the bowlers were Attewell and Sharpe. A couple of runs were enough to show that the pitch was far from perfection. Both batsmen opened with care. Small hits took the total to 9. Then Bruce skied a ball from Sharpe into the slips, and though he got it into his hands, Attewell could not hold it. This mistake did not cost anything, however, as in Attewell’s next over Bruce played on. Houston got a couple for a neat leg glance, and then a fast off-break clean upset his calculations and his wicket. This was a terribly bad start. Trott and Dr. Barrett, two of the steadiest and the finest defensive batsmen in the colonies, were now together, and it was hoped that they would make the rising wave of adversity pause awhile. Tho Doctor cut Sharpe for 4, Trott meanwhile taking four consecutive maidens from Atte­ well. The stonewaller could not fulfil his mission this match, as he snicked a fast ball from the Surrey bowler, and this time Sharpe held it, and Ross, a dashing big hitter, was bowled for 1, and the record was four for 23, and the faces of the Colonials were long and sad. A very realistic dash was then infused into the opera, Sam Morris, an aboriginal native, and one of the most popular players in Australia, going to help Trott. The pair offered a determined resistance,but runs came painfully slow, Maiden after maiden was sent down, and, as this was not getting the other side out, Briggs replaced Sharpe, and yet the batsmen stayed till luncheon-time, when,as the result of an hour and a half’s play, the result was 35, a slower exhibition than that of the South Australians, who actually made 41 in the same time. tfEXT ISSUE FEBRUARY 25