Cricket 1892

88 CRICKET: A WEEKLY EECOED OP THE GAME. MARCH 24, 1892 hander had gradually gone ahead by steady play; but when he had made 18, he skied a ball which Read held beautifully. The innings soon came to a termination. Walter Giffen was in some time for 3, but at last a splendid ball beat him. Blackham followed, and the first ball he had dismissed him lbw. Callaway tipped his first ball up to Grace at point, and Johnny Briggs had secured the hat trick. Then Blackham showed his judgment. The Australians had enough runs to make a victory practically certain. It was still over an hour to time. Dr. Grace had agreed to let Moses have a man to run for him. It was, however, only waste of time if Moses batted, so Blackham kept him back, and in ten minutes’ time Dr. Grace and Abel went on to face the 230 which they were set to win. The wisdom of Blackham’s move soon received demonstration. The Englishmen had fifty minutes to bat, and in that time they lost three wickets for 11 runs. Dr. W . G. Grace was afterwards blamed for going in to bat with Abel, but when ho did so he like everyone else thought the wicket next morning would be sticky and treacher­ ous. Turner and Giffon led off the bowling to Dr. Grace and Abel. The crowd, which numbered 10,000, was intensely excited. Every ball drew forth cheers, every time a fieldsman touched it there were more cheers, and if one got past the batsmen there were yells. Two runs were got and then Abel tried to make a leg hit off Giffen. The ball went into the air and fell into Walter Giffen’s hands, where it stayed. The excitement was unparalleled. Hats were thrown into tho air, umbrellas were smashed, and ladies dashed their parasols on the seats. There was a significant hush, however, as Bean drove Turner for 4. Then there was another shouti The Sussex crack banged a ball in the same over straight to Lyons at mid-on, and the big man held it-. Dr. Grace realised that the wicket was too bad for steady tactics to avail, and &upon the appearance of Stoddart he began to force the going. He sent one back to Giffen like a shot out of a gun, but the crack failed to hold the ball. Dr. Grace cut the next ball to the fence, and 11 went up, but when he snicked the next ball into the wicket-keeper’s hands there was a positive yell. Such a scene has never been seen on the ground before. The air was thick with hats, and for nearly five minutes the cheering lasted. With another quarter of an hour to six o’clock the Englishmen had not an encouraging prospect, but rain came to their assistance, and before Read could bat play was abandoned for the day. F ifth D ay — W edn esd ay , F ebruary 3. The morning was close, warm, and perfectly fine, and the Australians were rather dismayed to find the wicket, which had dried very quickly in the absence of any rain, in splendid condition. M’Leod’s absence was, under the circumstauces, a decided loss to the Austra­ lians, who were left with only two first-class bowlers and a couple of changes. Turner and Giffen led off, Read going out to bat with Stoddart. Both these men, hitters though they are, commenced cautiously, and every run from 11 to 20 had to be run. Then finding tho wicket played truly they began to let out, and Maurice drove Giffen to the boundary and hit him to leg for 2—30 up. Giffen was bowling leg theory, with five men on the on-side, and runs coming too fast, Trott went on at 38. In Melbourne Trott had Read in trouble, and clean bowled him easily. The Surrey man did not play Trott well now, and Lyons nearly reached one in the slips. Stoddart, on the other hand, was not at all troubled by the slows. He smacked a full toss to leg for 4, and then cracked another in the same direction. Again outting Turner for 3, he brought 50 up. Runs were coming at a fair rate, and both batsmen were playing a confident winning game. At 57, Callaway and Giffen took charge of the bowling. With only 3 runs added, Read, no longer able to restrain his inclinations, jumped out to Giffen, and missed the ball, but Blackham, to his own dismay, and amidst oppressive silence, let off the dangerous Surrey smiter. Giffen was now bowling splendidly. Stoddart, however, played him well, and the total reached 64. Read was now opposite the champion, and after being clean beaten once, he drove a ball hard and low back, and Giffen held it. The dismissal of Read gave the Australians new hope. Peel, the next man, would not venture anything, but Stoddart was going like a steam engine, and swept one of Giffen’ s to leg for 4. Callaway sent down several maidens, but at last Stoddart cut him for 3, and Peel drove him to the fence. Peel now took heart of hope, and thought he would make matters lively. He jumped out to hit Giffen to the fence, but missed the ball, and the bails were whipped off in a trice. (Five for 83.) Thus almost the last hope of the Englishmen sacrificed his wicket. W7hile the Middlesex amateur was in the Earl and his men did not lose hope. With the appearance of Lohmann, more lively play than ever was expected. Stoddart in one over of Callaway’s made 12 runs, including two 4’ s for successive leg hits. Lohmann, however, did not hit with such good judgment as the amateur. In fact, Giffen bowled too well for him, and after a few big hits he lifted one into the hands of Bruce, who judged the dropping ball to a nicety. (Six for 117.) M’ Gregor stayed until lunch-time, when ho had made 5, while Stoddart’ s contribution towards 122 was 59. The Australian players were, however, confident to a man. Giffen was bowling better than ever he bowled before, and they knew almost to a certainty that the last four English wickets could not run up 108 runs. Neither could they. The end came a little sooner, however, than most of the most san­ guine expected. For a little while after luncheon all went well with the Englishmen. M’Gregor batted carefully, and so did Stoddart, who seemed to have got set again. The 130 was reached, and with 5 run3 added the game was practically ended by Turner, who had relieved Callaway, bowling Stoddart, the wicket being completely spreadeagled. The excitement was immense, as a victory for Australia was practically assured. Stoddart played a grand game, in which the principal feature was his sound judgment. The end was nigh now. At 140 M’ Gregor’s useful innings was ended by a brilliant catch. He sent the ball hard and high back to the bowler. Giffen jumped, and stopping the ball, knocked it into the air, whence it fell gently into his hands. Attewell never has made many runs against Australians in big matches, and this time he softly patted a ball back to Giffen, thus bagging a brace. Sharpe glanced Turner for 3, and Briggs drove Giffen for 4, but the end came directly after, Trott catching a ball at point. Thus the Australians won by 72 runs. The enthusiasm at the finish was some­ thing to be remembered. The crowd howled and yelled, and cheered themselves hoarse, and it was some ktime before they left the ground. A ustralia . First Innings. Bannerman, c Abel, b Lohm ann....................... 12 Lyons, c Grace, b Loh­ mann ...............................41 Moses. cGrace,bLobmann 29 G. Giffen, c Abel, b Loh­ mann ............................... 6 Turner, c M’Gregor, b Lohmann....................... 15 Bruce, c Bean, b Attewell 15 Trott, b Lohmann .......... 2 M’Leod, c AttewelJ, b Lohmann........................13 W.Giffen.candbLohmann 1 Callaway, run out .......... 1 Blackham, not out .......... 3 Extras........................ 7 Total ...145 Second Innings. cGrace, b Briggs 91 c Grace, b Loh­ mann ......... 134 lbw, b Attewell 49 not out ......... 14 cBriggs.bSharpe 72 c Sharpe, b Loh­ mann .......... 1 c Read, b P eel... 18 b Briggs .......... 3 cGrace, b Briggs 0 lbw, b Briggs ... 0 Extras ... 9 Total ...391 E n g la n d . First Innings. Abel, not out ...332 Dr. W. G. Grace, b Turner 26 Mr.A.E.Stoddart, c Black­ ham, b M’Leod ..........27 Bean, b Giffen .................19 Read, c Turner, b Giffen .. 3 Peel, c Giffen, b Turner... 20 Lohmann, b G iffen..........10 Mr. G. M’ Gregor, lbw, b M’Leod ........................ 3 Briggs, lbw, b T ro tt........ 28 AttewelJ, b Trott .......... 0 Sharpe, c Bannerman, b Giffen...............................26 Extras........................13 Total .................307 Second Innings, c W. Giffen, b G. Glflfen ... 1 c Blackham, b Turner .......... 5 b Turner ..........69 cLyons.b Turner 4 c and b Giffen... 22 et Blackham, b Giffen .......... 6 c Bruce, b Giffen 15 c and b Giffen ... 12 cTrott, b Turner 12 c and b Giffen ... 0 not out .......... 4 Extras ... 6 Total ...156 BOWLING ANALYSIS, A ustralia . First Innings 3 Second Innings B. M. R. W. B. M.R. W. Lobmann ...260 18 58 8 ........... 306 14 84 2 Attewell ...186 20 25 1 ........... 276 24 43 1 Briggs............ 60 2 24 0 .......... 196 8 69 4] Sharpe............ 60 1 31 0 ........... 210 7 PI 1 Peel ... 210 13 49 1 Grace... 93 2 34 0 Stoddart 24 1 12 0 Lohmann bowled one wide. E ngland . First Innings. Second Innings. B. M. R. W. B. M. R. W. Turner........ .222 11 90 2 ... ... 140 7 46 4 M’Leod ,108 6 55 2 G iffen ........ .170 5 88 4 .. . ... 168 10 72 6 Trott ........ . 84 3 42 2 .. . ... 30 0 11 0 Callaway ...102 10 1<) 0 ... . ... 60 6 21 0 SEVENTEENTH MATCH—v. TWENTY OF NEWCASTLE. N e w c a stle , F e b r u a r y 5 a n d 6. This was originally intended to be a two- days’ match, but owing to the rain the Inter­ national match was protracted. It was not begun till Friday, February 5. Newcastle is the second city of New South Wales. Being the centre of the coal industry it has a fairly large population, amongst whose numbers are some capital cricketers. The cricket is played on the turf, which is not always the case in country towns, and consequently the game has made rapid strides in Newcastle. Never­ theless the English Twelve tackled Twenty of the coal men. F ir s t D ay — F r id ay , F e b r u a r y 5. The wicket prepared was a beauty, and when Grace had won the toss the Britishers were delighted. Grace took out Abel with him to open the innings. The little man was very vigorous, although it was mainly two snicks for 4 each that lie got his first 10, but he followed these up with a clean, hard drive for a quartette. He had made 19 out of 26 when he put back a ball which the bowler held. The Doctor meanwhile had only been feeling his way, for with the advent of Bean he lifted a ball over the heads of the people, of whom they were about 3,000 present. With only 39 on the board, two mishaps occurred to the Englishmen. First of all Bean was smartly caught at mid-off, but perhaps that did not matter much, because Bean is clean out of form now ; but Stoddart had hard lines to get caught at point off such a hard, low hit as he made. Read joined his captain, and at once set to work. He was in a hitting humour, and made two or three grand drives, but a couple only gave singles, as they were superbly stopped by Wilson in the long field. Grace hit a fourer to leg, and then smacked a ball over the boundary at long-on, so that out of 32 he had made two 5’s and no less than eighteen singles, most of them from hard hits, which were stopped by men away out on the chains. The Surrey smiter got 5 from a grand straight hit. Runs now came very fast, mostly from singles and NEXT ISSUE APRIL 14