Cricket 1895

F e b . 28, 1895. CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 23 well straight to Lockwood at extra mid- off, and had to return to the Pavilion. The champion played a splendid innings, perfectly defensive, and chanceless for 2 hours and three-quarters—nine for 157. The end seemed to be near, but anyone who speculated probably fell in. Trott gave the Englishmen slight forewarning of what was to come by landing a tempting ball from Lockwood over the chains—a fiver. Then Callawaywiththree cuts and a drive off two of Lockwood’s overs, added 16 to the score. Brockwell had a spell of five maidens broken by Callaway, and at 181 Ford relieved Lockwood. The 200 soon went up, and then a mis-hit by Trott went up to square-leg, but Richard­ son, running from mid-on, just failed to reach the squirming ball. Then Richard­ son came on, and after Callaway had hit a single, Trott drove one straight down the ground. This took the fiieldsmen who were all close in, completely by surprise, and as mid off had to chase the leather, the batsmen were able to run a fiver. Directly Callaway faced Richard­ son a lightning ball upset his calculations. By this time 81 runs had been added to the score. The Englishmen were unfor­ tunate in being deprived of Peel’s bowling duringthe greater portion of the afternoon. The fielding, while high-class, was not absolutely perfect, for which the extreme heat must be held accountable. Richard­ son was the only bowler who was trouble­ some. He was able to make the ball do something, which is more than most medium pace bowlers can do on the Adelaide Oval wickets, and his fine per­ formance has raised him immensely in the estimation of Australians. The Englishmen had ten minutes to bat, and in that time Briggs made 4 and M'Laren 1. S e c o n d D a y .— S a t u r d a y , J a n u a r y 12. The weather on Saturday morning was, if anything, more unpleasant than on Friday, as, with a change threatening, it was close and muggy. This, no doubt, affected the attendance somewhat, yet there were over 9,000 people on the ground, £455 12s. 3d. being taken at the gates. Considering that the population of Adelaide is only one quarter that of either Sydney or Melbourne, the attend­ ance of 9,000 is?larger in proportion than the 24,000 of Sydney or the 22,000 of Melbourne. The Englishmen were of the same opinion as the Australians, that the wicket would not wear well, as there was not enough moisture in it, and, for fear of making it crumble, Stoddart ordered the iron roller to be only put once up and down over it. The cricket which followed was of an extraordinary character. Before Briggs (4) and M ‘Laren (1) continued their innings speculations were made as to the total which would be reached. The popular tip was 350, and the Englishmen themselves thought their aggregate would reach about that num­ ber. The Australians, however, were hopeful, for the reason that there were so many clever fieldsmen in the eleven, of holding their opponents, to well under 300 .while Blackham, who is seldom optimistic, gave them under 200 , After Albert Trott had bowled one over to let Giffen change ends, the attack was left in the hands of Giffen and Callaway, the former bowling with a strong breeze at his back. Briggs got two 4’s off Trott for cuts, the first one just touching Harry’s outstretched hand at extra slip. Four maidens followed, and then a splendid ball from Callaway took Briggs’s off stump. Stoddart now sent in Brock­ well, who has been going in later, and the Surrey crack started with a 4 to square-leg off Giffen, following it with a cut to the chains. He reached a dozen quickly. Callaway up to this time had bowled six maidens, but a piece of mis- fielding by Harry gave M ‘Laren a single off him. If Harry had let the ball pass him on purpose the effect from an Englishman’s point of view could not have been more disastrous. Brockwell made a fine hit which looked like a fourer until Harry, at mid- on, sprang into the air and came down to terra firma with the ball in his right hand—a brilliant catch. This was bad luck for Brockwell, as the stroke was a really good one. (Two for 31.) Ward now appeared, and the scoring was slow, Giffen bothering both batsmen. When M ‘Laren was 13 he was caught at the wickets by Jarvis off Callaway. He admitted that he touched the wicket, but Mr. Leary gave him not out. In an hour Callaway had bowled 12 overs for 9 maidens, 3 singles, and 2 wickets—a great feat. At last, off his thirteenth over, M'Laren got a fourer for a square-leg hit. With the total of 49, Ward let out at a tempting ball from Giffen, and hit it straight into the hands of Bruce at long field on, and in them it rested. Stoddart came in, and soon fell to a fast and straight one from Giffen, to the great delight of the' crowd. This was not the last wicket which fell before lunch. M ’Laren, who was batting beautifully, greeted Brown by hitting him to leg for 2 and 4; but a wild hit at the last ball of the over brought him to grief, the ball, which rose only a few inches, passing under the bat and taking the leg stump, making five wickets down for 56, the crowd were delighted, the Englishmen depressed. Brown and Peel were partners after luncheon, and the latter made a bad stroke at a bad ball from Callaway, which took the wicket. (Six for 64.) Callaway up to this period had bowled four wickets for 14 runs, and to his deadly accurate bowling the success of the Australians was mainly due. Ford went in, and when he had made 2 , drove a ball hard to Worrall, which that fieldsman, whose work all the afternoon was remark­ ably brilliant, misjudged. Brown con­ tinued to score, and Ford having reached 10, made 4 off each bowler, and brought the century in sight. The total reached 111, when Ford drove a ball straight to Worrall, and this time that fields­ man did not make a slip. Lock­ wood filled the gap, and lashed out to make a leg hit. Up it soared over Worrall’s head at mid-off, and the fields­ man turning half round, ran a long way, and made a splendid catch. The excite­ ment as to whether the follow on would be saved was now intense. Philipson, however, soon put all doubts at rest by a few determined strokes, but at 124 he lifted a ball to the long field, and Gregory made a nice catch. One over sufficed for Richardson, who was finely caught by Worrall at mid-off with his left hand. The innings occupied two hours and fifty minutes, and the display was extremely disappointing. With two hours to bat, Harry Trott and Bruce started to the bowling of Peel and Richardson, and the fifth ball of the former’s first over was played by Trott on to his wicket. (1—0—0.) The weather had now become cooler, but the wind had gone round to a direction which meant that there would be no rain. Giffen, however, was anxious, and played with unusual freedom to get as many runs up as possible. He made 24 quickly, and then, with the total at 44, was beauti­ fully caught at slip by Ford, who reached from his great height and snapped up the ball, which was back cut very hard, about six inches from the ground—a catch worthy of Lohmann. Iredale joined Bruce, and slowly the score rose to 69. Then Brockwell and Lockwood were put on, and straightaway 13 came off one of Brockwell’s overs. Bruce was now going strongly. He began upon Lockwood by driving him for 4. The next ball he cut to the boundary, and the next drove for 3. Then Iredale knocked two successive balls to the gate—19 off the over. Bruce made his last 21 in less than ten minutes, and the pace killed him. He became reckless, and when Briggs went on hit the first ball which was sent down to allure him straight to Brockwell on the boundary at square-leg. The left-hander was at the wickets an hour and fifty minutes. Bruce’s graceful style and easy yet forceful strokes pleased the crowd immensely. His hits included eleven 4’s. (Three for 142.) Darling went in at ten minutes to six, and having made 3 was caught by Philipson standing back. Stumps were then drawn with the score at 145 for four wickets. Iredale was 31 not out. T h ir d D a y .— M o n d a y , J a n u a r y 14. There was again a capital attendance, £390 being taken at the gates. No rain fell between Saturday night and Mon­ day morning, but the weather had be­ come much cooler and pleasanter. Ire­ dale took out Gregory as a companion, and they faced the bowling of Richard­ son and Peel. Directly he faced Peel, Iredale, having made 42, drove a ball sharply back, but the bowler did not convert the chance into a catch. Iredale was cutting beautifully. One hard stroke was stopped by Lockwood at cover, but it split the top of one of his fingers, and he had to return to the dressing-room, his place in the field being temporarily taken by Albert Trott. Iredale, who was bat­ ting beautifully, reached the century. Gregory made 20 runs rapidly, and Jarvis, who had been cutting brilliantly, put a ( Continued onpage 26J W A i i c W - ’d t.