Cricket 1895

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — Byron . Roistered for Transmission Abroad. THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1895. p r i c e ad. “ J I M ” PH ILLIPS. Though the subject of this sketch can hardly lay claim to the successes with bat and ball which exalt beyond their fellows a Grace or a Richardson in the present or a Grace and a Shaw in the past, yet in one, if not in two, phases of cricket life he may claim equally to surpass contemporaries and foregoera alike. To no one else has it been given to be recognised while in the prime of active service in the field, as the most reliable and trustworthy umpire in one cricket hemisphere and one of the first few in another, and by no one else has a quarter of a million miles been travelled merely in passing from one sphere of cricket employment to another. And for these incidents of his career alone he is one of the most interesting personages in cricket of to - day, and some account of him and his doings from trustworthy sources will be read no doubt with pleasure by very many. Where Phillips was born deponent saith with­ out exactness—as seven cities contended that they were the birthplace of Homer, so, many localities have been put forward as having the been place where our subject first sawlight. But it is understood that if anyone is certain on this point it is Phillips himself, and that he does not feel anxious to authen­ ticate one story or another in particular. However, the date of his birth was 1st September, 1860, without doubt, so that he is now rapidly approaching the conclusion of the first half of the average innings. He spent his early years in a country well adapted to the development of the physical faculties, the bush in Victoria, and the open air, and natural way of life without the surroundings of town gaieties, have certainly produced in him a grand athlete. Standing just six feet in his stockings, he has a remarkable develop­ ment of chest, measuring forty-six an I a half inches over the bare skin, and weighing at present, having just recovered from a short illness, 15 st. 7 lbs. His normal weight is about sixteen stone, but he has weighed as much as 17 st. 10 lbs. In the cricket world he first came prominently into notice by playing with the Stawell 1st XI, and for other dubs in the Wimmera District of North West Victoria, in 1880, his dis­ tinction being gained as a bowler. Two years later his fame had spread and he was «ngaged as a professional by the East Mel­ bourne C.C., and in the following year he received a further recognition of his ability by being appointed by the Melbourne C.C. as their senior ground bowler, an appoint­ ment he has ever since held. Though he was recognised as a good bowler with great control over the ball and excellent length, he bad no opportunity of playing in any important club fixture until 1886, when in a match between Melbourne and East Mel­ bourne C.C.’s he was requisitioned at the last moment, and on a first-class wicket took six wickets for seventy runs. At one period of this match he had secured the first five wickets for fifteen runs. This was a performance which obtained for him a place in Inter­ colonial cricket, for a few weeks later we find him in the Victorian team against South Australia. He justified his selection by obtaining two wickets for fifty-six and five for eighty-five. The following week he played for the next fifteen of Australia against the 1886 Anglo - Australian tea-n just before their departure for Eng­ land, and secured the best bowling average on his side for which he was awarded a valuable tiophy. In ’8) E. Elliot, who was at that time the leading' umpire in Australia, died, and Phillips, though only 25 years of age, was selected as his suc­ cessor, and he umpired in the most important fixtures of the season ’86-87. His businesslike method no doubt further in­ creased the estimation in which he was held, so that when the Hon. M. B. (now Lord) Hawke’s team went out in the following year, ’87-88, Phillips was se­ cured to travel with the team through the Colonies as assistant manager and umpire. In this year, 1888, he first came to England and at once found an engagement with theMarylebone Club, and, as seems to be the custom with every organisation which is fortunate enough to obtain his assistance, there has been no break in his employ­ ment at head-quarters. The winter of England proved too trying for the man bred in the warmer climate of Victoria, and, yearly since, he has joined us and left us with the swallow. So that he is now passing through his seventeenth successive summer. In ’90-91 he was very successful in Australia as a bowler, and in the following season his batting was worthy of notice, his best innings being 85 for Victoria against New South Wales. He also scored 45 and 21 not out for fifteen of Melbourne C.C. against Lord Sheffield’s eleven, besiles twice exceed­ ing the century in club matches ; his average for the season being 48 runs per innings. It is worthy of note that in Australia Phillips is universally regarded as the best length bowler, though in England he bowls a good JAMES PHILLIPS. From n Photo by R. W. Thomas , Cheapside.