Cricket 1895

F eb . 28, 1895. CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE CAME. 19 down the runs, when Turner the terror and the lengthy Hugh Trumble were quite ineffective. In the three first-class matches played in America Giffen did fairly well with the bat, his 62 in one of the games against the Philadelphians being his highest score; but his bowling did not come off. And now I will give the promised table of his performances in Australia during the past few seasons, in strict chrono­ logical order:— 1st Season. Match. At. inns. 1887-8 ....... S.A. v. Vernon’s X I ....................... Adelaide............... 37* ' 6 166 3 135 85 52 B atting . S.A. v. Vernon’s X I ....................... Adelaido..... S.A. y. Victoria .............................. Adelaide..... 1888-9 ....... S.A. y. Sixth Aust. X I ................... Adelaide...... S.A. v. Victoria ............................... Melbourne.. 1889-9 0....... S.A. v. Victoria ............................... Adelaide... S.A. v. N .S.W ................................... Sydney ..... 1890-1 . . S.A. v. N.S.W . S.A. v. Victoria A delaido............. 21 , Melbourne........... 237 1891-2 ...... S.A. v. Victoria ............................... Adelaide............... 271 S.A. v. Lord Sheffield’s X I ........... Adelaide.............. 27 Aust. y. Lord Sheffield’s X I ......... Melbourne.......... 2 S.A. v. N .S.W ................................... Sydney .............. 120 Aust. y. Lord Sheffield’s X I ......... Sydney ............. 6 Aust. v. Lord Sheffield’s X I ......... Adelaide............!! 5 1892-3 ....... S.A. v. N .S.W ................................ .. Adelaide............... 75 S.A. v. Victoria .............................. Melbourne........... 32 S.A. y. N .S.W ................................... Sydney .............. 31 S.A. v. Victoria .............................. Adelaido.............. 43 1893-4 ....... S.A. v. N .S.W ................................... Adelaide.............. 47 S.A. y. Victoria ............................. . Melbourne........... 24 S.A. v. N .S.W ................................... Sydney ............... 7 S.A. v. Victoria ............................... Adelaide.............. 29 1894-5 ....... S.A. v. Stoddart’s XI. . Adelaide.. 3.A . v. Victoria .............................. Adelaide.... Aust. v. Stoddart’s X I ................... Sydney ... Aust. v. Stoddart’s X I .................. Melbourne, S.A. y. N.S W ................................... Adelaide... Aust. v. Stoddart’s X I ................... Adelaide............... ^ Aust. v. Stoddart’s X I ................... Sydney .............. 8 64 94* 161 32 3 2nd inns. 81 203 35* 19 9 32 1 1 49 27 10 92 4 181 205 103 22 89* 58* 41 43 B owling . Overs. Runs. W . 107-1 90 58-2 63-3 82-2 92*1 70 923 76-2 76 41 23 66-3 56-2 51*1 115*5 733 72 89 23 54*5 34 63-4 76 59-5 118 78-2 91-3 156 8 185 5 125 14 126 159 212 137 160 192 166 152 83 150 160 154 127 235 117 177 223 147 239 155 186 — 46 7 12 16 7 3 12 10 2 11 8 2 11 Comment upon such figures as these seems almost superfluous. But a few remarks must be made. The 271 and 16 wickets for 166 runs v. Victoria in 1891-2 is, I should imagine, about the best all­ round performance ever recorded. Almost as good was its immediate predecessor— 237 and 12 for 192. Altogether, from the beginning of the season 1887-8 to the middle of that of 1894-5, Giffen has made, v. Victoria, 1,609 runs in fourteen com­ pleted innings—an average of all but 115; and has taken 108 wickets for 1,779 runs, or about 16J each. He has shared during these eight seasons in some remarkable stands. When that 203 was made against Mr. Vernon’s XI., Godfrey helped him to put on 192 for the second wicket (still the record stand against English bowling in Aus­ tralia) ; and his brother Walter aided him to add just 100 for the fifth. Lyons and he put on 244 for the second wicket at oydney in 1891-2. Iredale and he added 171 for the fourth, and Gregory and he ^9 for the fifth, in the remarkable match at Sydney just before Christmas. And a tew weeks earlier he and Darling had made 173 for the fourth in the first umings, and he and Reedman 126 for the lourth in the second, for their colony against Stoddart’s merry men. The following are his complete batting and bowling figures in first-class matches up to the 3rd of January this year, when 8econd test match was ended. The 1fi1gur?s are not deluded, since (as ne table will show) the details of them yet to hand are incomplete. BATTING. Not Aver- Top In America Inns. outs. Runs. age. Scores InAustr“ a(to-a 6 0 120 24 62 1.89B!............ 79 8 3760 60-60 271 ' ngland.................... 221 15 4619 22-87 180 BOWLING. Balls. Runs. ‘Wokts. Avar. In America ........... 229 149 4 37-1 In Australia ........... 13966 5836 307 19'S In England ........... 16860 7650 415 18'180 (I have thought it best to give the number of balls rather than the number of overs, since of the latter some were of four, some of five, and some of six balls.) The grand totals work out a t :— Batting:—285 completed innings ; 8,499 runs : average 29*234. Bowling 81,056 balls; 13,635 runs ; 726 wickets ; average 18-567. Perhaps it would be wrong to omit to mention the disagreeable incident at Adelaide four or five years ago, when Giffen refused to go ou* when ordered by the umpire. From what I have heard of it, my own opinion is that the umpire’s decision was a wrong one. Nevertheless, it was a great pity that a man holding so prominent a position in the world of cricket as does George Giffen should set the bad example of rebelling against an umpire's decision. However, since Australian cricketers have agreed to let bygones be bygones in this matter, no more need be said. The great characteristic of Giffen’s batting is its safeness. Not that he is a defensive player of the Bannerman, Bar- low, Scotton, Hall, or even of the Gunn- Shrewsbury type. On the contrary, he knows how to hit with the best, and on occasion has shown himself able to keep pace with even so redoubtable a slogger as Jack Lyons. But he wields a very wide bat, and at his best his defence is almost perfection, while his strokes are many and varied. He has never yet in a first-class match earned the spectacles. As a bowler he can keep up an end for almost any length of time without tiring, and, indeed, is occasionally apt to do so when a change is desirable. Even on the best wickets he seems to be able to get on some break, and there is no doubt that his bowling looks much simpler to the spectator than to the batsman. He does not forget that he has ten men to help him, and with a smart field will get wickets by catches on grounds good, bad, or indifferent. When he chooses he is a fieldsman above reproach, and some of his saves and catches from his own bowling have been little short of marvellous. Altogether, he is assuredly the greatest all-round cricketer of the present day; and, though it is unlikely that we shall ever see him in England again, I, for one, hope that for the sake of the game down under it will be long ere he carries out the intention of retiring from first-class cricket at which he hinted after the Englishmen’s first big match. He ought certainly to keep on until he has placed to his credit the thousand wickets and ten thousand runs of which at present only the great Doctor, Johnny Briggs, Barlow, and Flowers can boast. THE TWELFTH ENGLISH TEAM IN AUSTRALIA . Continued from Cricket of Jan. 31st, TENTH MATCH.—v. AUSTRALIA.. F ir st D a y .— S a t u r d a y , D ecember 29. The second of the five test matches between England and Australia was begun on the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Saturday, December 29fch. On the previous afternoon a severe thunder­ storm passed over Melbourne, and saturated the ground, although a heavy tarpaulin covering protected it to some slight extent. The wicket was just in that condition that the captain who won the toss would not know what to do. Seeing that there was to be no play for two days, the captains agreed before they tossed that the wicket should be rolled immediately after the conclusion of the day’s play, so that any inequalities in the ground might be rolled out before they dried in. Two powerful elevens faced each other. Bruce, Trumble, Coningham, and Jarvis replaced Beedman, Jones, M ‘Leod, and Blackham. Great interest was taken in the game, and over 15,000 persons watched the match. Giffen won the toss, and after anxious consultation with his comrades, who were divided in opinion, sent the Englishmen to bat at half-past twelve. M'Laren and Ward were the first batsmen, and Coningham opened the ball to the former. The first ball M ‘Laren reached forward to, and potted it up to Trott at point. (1—0— 0 .) Stoddart went in, and batted with ex­ ceeding care for ten minutes. He had five balls from Turner and eleven from Coningham without scoring off one of them. Then he suddenly began to let out, and three hits over the heads of the in-field gave him 5—two 2’s and a single. The innings had now lasted twenty minutes for 13 runs, Ward, like his captain, batting very carefully. Stoddart crept into double figures, and then tried NEXT ISSUE MARCH 28.