Cricket 1893

26 CRICKET: A WEEKLY EECORD OF THE GAME. FEB. 28,1893 of satisfying themselves by personal ex­ perience of his undoubted capacity as a batsman. As a matter of fact, Moses is a partner in a large business requiring great attention, and has not been able to see his way to spare the time to come home. Moreover, his leg has re­ cently given way on more than one important occasion. Not so very long ago, indeed, this caused him so much trouble as to lead to the rumour that he had made up his mind to retire definitely from the game. I am inclined to think, even if the wish be father to the thought, that the report was perhaps a little too previous. T h a t a prophet sometimes receives his full share of honour in his own country was shown by the influential gathering o f sportsmen of different classes who attended at the Castle Assembly Rooms, Richmond, on the 6th of this month, on the occasion of the presentation of the testimonial to Edwin Ash. In an enu­ meration of his many good services to cricket during the evening, there was one important omission. By some accident no reference was made to the fact that he had served on the Committee of the Surrey County C.C. for several years. And if not actually identified with any of the teams which have visited this country, he has generally found some opportunity, as a Surrey man, to give them a kindly welcome. The enthusiastic reception he had himself at Richmond on the sixth at the hands of such a representative gathering, with the Duke of Teck as its mouthpiece was only a fitting tribute to a lifetime of unselfish work in the cause of sport. I t has now been definitely settled that Maurice Read is to have the proceeds of the match between England and Australia which is to be played at the Oval on August 14 and two following days for his benefit. Few professionals have deserved better of the entire cricket community, and as the cricket public is by no means forgetful he is sure to have his reward. What I may term the new dispensation of professional cricket may in a great measure be traced to his personal example. At all events the commencement of it was contempo­ raneous with his appearance on the cricket field. A great favourite, and deservedly so, with Australian as well as English cricketers, the test match is a particularly happy selection for the pur­ pose of his benefit. T h e recent death of Fred Wild removes another of the Eleven which kept Notts in the premiership of County Cricket so well in the seventies. A contemporary of AlfredShaw,Morley,Oscroft,BignallLecky and other good all-round players, he con tributed, and in no small degree, to uphold the high reputation of the county. He has followed several of that team to the un­ known land. At times an effective bats­ man, he was also of service as a wicket­ keeper, though hardly in the front rank. He was many years in the employ of the Marylebone Club as a ground bowler. In that capacity, too, he was much respected. C r ic k e t readers who follow the game in Australia at all closely will be pleased, I am sure, to have some particulars of the style of Pierce, the youngster who made such a promising debut as a bowler for New South Wales against Yictoria, in the recent Inter-colonial match at Melbourne. “ Felix,” the critic of the Australasian, one of the most capable of critics, does not at all events “ damn him with faint praise,” as the following comments will show : “ Pierce, whose success in South Australia had invested his method of bowling with a considerable amount of interest, was not put on right away, for there were two left-handers in, and Pierce himself tells me that he does not like bowling to left-handers, especially, he added, ‘ of the Bruce order.’ Siill he had to go on, and it gives me genuine pleasure to set. down that I like his style very much indeed. If you make ‘ Bobby ’ Peel a right-hander you have Pierce almost to a T. He is a bit slow in the air, but makes pace from the pitch, with a good leg break. He kept a pretty good length, and sent down some straight ones a bit faster than his leg breaks. In all he took six wickets for 102 runs off 257 balls, and had it not been for him it is certain that the Victorian total of 375 would have been largely augmented.” H. G raham , the young player who has this winter forced his way into the front rank of Australian cricket, is not, it may be added, an untried man, though the present season is practically his first in the highest class of matches. Since his introduction to Pennant matches in 1889 he has generally been successful, and even last winter his average for these contests was 58. Besides being an im­ proving and very dangerous bat he is a brilliant field, and the members of Lord Sheffield’s team will not be likely to have forgotten the marvellous fielding he showed as a substitute against them in their last match with Victoria. W h en he was quite a boy, at the Grammar School, at Berwick, Graham seems to have satisfied some of the old parliamentary hands that he had a pro­ mising future as a cricketer. His double performance against South Australia and New South Wales, too, would seem to fully justify the high opinion expressed of his easy and confident style by some of the best judges. The following in reference to his fine performance at the end of the South Australian match may be taken as the opinion of an expert— I could bestow a whole chapter of praise upon Graham, and swell the chapter into a volume without, in the least, exaggerating the merit of his splendid display for 86 (not out). It was a genuine treat to witness from start to finish, and the ease and finish of his style delighted everybody. Now and then he reminds one strongly of Harry Trott, and I have pleasure in stating that I do not remem­ ber any colt so worthy of high mention as this brilliant little batsman from the Hill. “ Approbation from Sir Hubert Stan­ ley ” indeed ! In view of the appearance of the Eighth Australian, team it will be of interest to many, no doubt, to be in possession of the doings of the chief of the thirteen players who will constitute the full strength of the company in Inter­ colonial matches this winter. They will be found in the following table— BA TTIN G AVERAGES. Times Most in Inns, not out Buns. an Inns. Aver. G. H. S. Trott 4 ... 1 .. 175 .. 70* ... 68.1 C.T.B. Turner 1 ... 0 .. 63 .. 62 ... 62 H. Graham ... 3 ... 1 .. 123 .. 80* ... 61.1 W. Eruce 4 ... 0 .. 173 ... 128 ... 43.1 G. Giffen G ... o .. 244 ... 92 ... 40.4 J. J. Lyons ... 6 ... 0 .. . 2C8 ... 124 .. 84.4 A. H. Jarvis... 6 ... 1 ... 146 ... 66* ... 29.1 A. C. Banner- man ........... 5 ... 0 .. 87 ... 30 ... 17.2 S. E. Gregory 5 ... 0 .. 74 ... 41 ... 14.4 H. Trumble ... 4 ... 1 .. 41 ... 31* ... 13.2 R. M cLeod ... 2 ... 0 .. 20 ... 14 ... 10 BOW LING AVERAGES. Overs. Mans. Runs. W kts. Aver. C. T. B. T u rn er..,. 324 ... 20 ..,. 106 ., i o ... 10.6 H. Trum ble... .... 954 ... 69 ..,. 221 .,.. 15 .,.. 14.11 B. M cL eod.......... . 1.019 ... 77 ..,. 235 ... 11 ... 21.4 W . Bruce ... .... 174 ... 9 ..„ 69 .... 3 .... 23. G . Giffen ......... ,.1,569 . 91 ... 524 ... 23 ... 23.18 G. H. S. T rott ... 294 ... 7 .. 140 ..,. 2 .,.. 70. S. E. Gregory ... 96 ... 3 .... 36 .. .. 0 .,.. — J. J. Lyons ... ... 60 . .. 3 .. 18 ., .. 0 . .. — K . B u rn , who was over here with the last Australian team, had the satisfaction of establishing anew record for Tasmanian cricket on January 7, at Hobart. The match was between the Wellington and Derwent Clubs, and the former’s innings was productive of a double first. Burn’s 262 not out, not only beat the previous best, G. H. Bailey’s 229, by 33 and a not out, but Wellington’s aggregate of 543 was also a record. Burn and Sams while they were together put on 297 runs, another notable performance,for the eighth wicket. Burn’s performance seems to have evoked great enthusiasm, for he was carried shoulder high to the pavilion at the close of the innings. T he Hon. J. Collier is painting a full length portrait of A. N. Hornby for the Blaokburn Arts Gallery, the gift of the Lancashire Captain’s brother, W . H. Hornby.