Cricket 1895

J a n . 31, 1895. CRICKET- A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 11 the Hon. G. H. Reid. (Premier of New South Wales). Jones, the last man, made 11 in three bits off Stoddart, and then Richardson came on, and with a wonder­ ful six-inoh break, broke through Black- ham’s defence. Blackhnm never played a finer innings. He was only at the wickets eighty-five minutes, and hit eight fours. His judgment of short runs was perfect, and it was wonderful that a man of his thirty-nine years should have been able to run as he did. The total reached 586, which is the largest score made in test matches, the next highest being 551, made by the 1884 Australian Eleven at the Oval. Murdoch’s score of 211, made on that occasion, still stands as the individual record. The 586 also takes the record as the highest score made against an English Eleven in Australia, the pre­ vious best, being 473 by South Australia against Vernon’s team at Adelaide in 1887. Richardson was the most success­ ful bowler, but his last two wickets cost 170 runs. The fact of the matter was that, with Lockwood and Humphreys both out of it, Stoddart was sorely per­ plexed to find changes. To Giffen is the chief credit of the great score due, to say nothing of Iredale. They stopped the rot which was fast gaining ground, whereas Gregory made his runs wheu the edge was taken off the bowling. He, however, got the cash; they had to be content with praise. Ward and M*Laren began the English­ men’s iunings to the bowling of J mes and Turner. The former was ineffective, and double figures soon appeared on the board, most of them made by the elder batsman. M'Laren had only made 4, when he made a wretched hit off Turner, and was caught at cover. Stoddart went in, and it could be seen by the caution with which he batted that he felt the weight of responsibility which rested upon his shoulders. Some beautiful square cuts by Woods off the fast bowler put him into the twenties, and at 37 Giffen took the ball from Jones. This change steadied the scoring, and, what was more, secured the wicket of the most dangerous batsman on the side, Stoddart being caught at slip off Giffen. Two for 43, and the Australians delighted. Brown was the next man, and a dangerous snick from his bat passed between Giffen and Jones. Trott, who was a thorn in Brown’s side at Melbourne, was brought on at once vice Turner, and the Yorksbireman was all abroad to the slows. He, how­ ever, scrambled through the first few overs, and then, when his eye was in, cut and drove Trott to the fence in one over. Meanwhile, Ward was cutting like a book, and a long stand seemed to be im­ pending, as both men were batting soundly. Turner relieved Trott, and Ward drove a ball to Lyons at mid-on. The Lancastrian, thinking Lyons, who did not pick ihe ball up, was not likely to run anyone out, called Brown, and gal­ lantly the Tyke responded, but the big South Australian rose to the occasion, and had. the ball back to Blackham like lightning, and down went Brown’s wicket. (Three for 78.) Brockwell went to Ward’s assistance, and as the light was rather bad, the batsmen had to keep their eyes wide open and their bats straight. Giff-n, however, broke through the defence of both of them without striking the wicket,. Jones was put on, but even in the twilight he could not find an open avenue to the wicket, and all the stumps were kept intact until six o'clock. Then Ward was 67, and Brockwell 18, with the total at 130 for three wickets. T h ir d D a y .— M o n d a y , D ecember 17. The interest had not gone out of the match by Monday, when, even though the weather was threatening and mild showers fell during the morning, 11.300 people visited the ground, and £470 7s. 3d. was taken at the gates. Play was re­ sumed at noon, but in ten minutes, with only 7 runs added, a sharp shower drove the players helter-skelter to the Pavilion. Play could not be resumed for an hour, and then the wicket was found to be rather heavy, although not sticky, as might have been expected. The fact was the water had soaked away capitally. Ward, however, when play was resumed, was in a de-perate humour, although he must afterwards have felt sorry when he saw the wicket plaved well. Anyway he tried a big hit off Turner with no more luck than to lift the ball into the hands of Iredale, stationed near the boundary fence at long-on. After lunch Peel joined Brockwell, but with 4 runs to his credit Giffen was allowed to break through his defence. (Five for 149.) Ford went in to help Brockwell, who had been batting with excessive caution. The Surrey crack came to Australia with the reputation of being a smiter, but on this occasion he was the merriest stone- waller until Ford came in and set him an example. The tall left-hander, without doing anything sensational, made the pace, and Brockwell almost kept time with him. Turner gave way to Trott. and he in turn left in Jones. The 200 went up and 211 reached, at which stage in successive overs both batsmen were got rid of by the wicket­ keeper, who first smartly stumped Ford, and then, standing back, caught Brock- well. The Surrey champion played a most valuable innings, and so did Ford At the commencement of the partner­ ship the wicket was none too easy, but, it afterwards played capitally if a trifle slow. Lockwood, who was now pretty well recovered, joined Briggs, and by careful play the score was taken to 252, when Lockwood, who had batted prettily, was caught at slip. A fine stand was now made by Gay and Briggs. The latter, who at first had played Jones gingerly, afterwards played him with ease, while Gay played cautiously and correctly. Giffen, Trott, Turner, Jones and Reedman, all had a try with the ball. Blackham, the captain, received a nasty knock on the thumb, and had to retire just before the finish, M ’Leod, who used to keep wickets for a junior ciub taking the gloves. Blackhaui’s legacy, as he left the field, was for Giffen to take the ball from Turner, and in his first over he sent down a daisy to Briggs, who was the first and only man in the team clean bowled. Briggs played a fine innings—one of the best and most useful he has ever played in Australia. Before Richardson had a chance to score Gav was caught, at, cover, and the innings closed for 325, which left the Englishmen 261 in arrears. Their fine score, for it was a fine score, which proved the all-round strength of the batting, imparted increased interest to the game. The fielding of the Aus­ tralians suffered by comparison with that of the Englishmen. Giffen obtained the best average, and, indeed, he was the only bowler who gave the batsmen any great trouble. F o u r t h D a y .— T u e s d a y , D e c e m b e r 18. The weather was delightful—that is to say. cool and pleasant, which was a wel­ come change after the hotter weather experienced during the opening days of the match. The Australians had to take the field without Blackham, whose hand was hurt on the previous day, and so seriously hurt, that the veteran stumper is not likely to play again for some weeks. Graham filled the gap in the field, and M’ Leod again donned the gloves. Shortly after noon, W*rd and M’Laren came out,, and faced Turner and Jones. Tney both batted with extreme care, and in half an hour only 19 runs went on to the telegraph board. Then Jones came off, as he always does in three or four overs when Giffen is captain, and George went on himself. This change caused the first “ fourer ” of the day to be made, Ward scoring it by hitting Giffen to leg. Twenty minutes’ more slow play and another fourer to Ward, then 44 up, a puzzling slow from Giffen beat M’ Laren, and just struck the bails on top of the middle stump M’Laren batted nicely, although he never got the bowling well in hand. Stoddart joined Ward, and the play was no faster than before. Excepting at Brisbane, the Middlesex crack has played most carefully, and it would seem that he is loth to play his own free game for fear the example might set his followers afire, and lead to their throwing their wickets away. When Ward was 28, he snicked one of Giffen’s, but the wicket-keeper, although he got his hand on to the ball, could not clutch it. All went well until lunch time, when the total was 65, of which Ward’s share was 32, and Stoddart’s 10 . Jones was tried again after lunch, but pitched the ball so short that the batsmen could hook him round to their heart’s content. Giffen was bowling splendidly, but Stoddart’s broke a monotonous spell by hitting twice in one over to the fence. Since lunch the captain had been making more headway than formerley, and when the 100 went up he was 33, while Ward had only made 11 since lunch. Then Ward had a burst, getting, amongst other hits, a three off each bowler. Stoddart added three singles, and then a forward cut put the ball iuto the hands of Giffen at cover. The downfall of Stoddart was rather dispiriting to his comrades, who, when the 100 went up, and the men apparently well set after lunch, looked for a long stand. Of course, as soon as NEXT ISSUE FEBRUARY 28.