Cricket 1896

2 2 0 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J une 18, 1896. THE AUSTRALIANS. TH E M .C .C M A T C H . (T H E T E N T H OF T H E T O U R .) Played at Lord’s on June 11 and 12 . M.C.C. won by an innings and 18 runs. This match will go down to history as one of the most remarkable ever played by Australians in England. The good foitune which had attended all their previous efforts suddenly abandoned them, and when they went into bat, after fielding out to a long innings by the M.C.C., they had to face overwhelming odds. To add to their troubles, George Giffen, whose bowling might have been of the greatest use to them, was obliged to retire through illness after being in the field a short time, while his batting was lost to his side altogether. A t the beginning of the game it did not appear to be a serious disadvantage to lose the toss, for the wicket, which was greatly affected by the rain, might vnder some circumstances have improved. When Dr. Grace and K . 8. Ranjitsinhji were out without doing much, there was nothing which foreshadowed a long score. It was noticeable that both men, after a few experiments, tried to force the game, and to hit when it was possible, and all the other men who made runs adopted the same policy. The great stand of the innings was made by Jackson and Stoddart, who both know how to combine hitting with defence on a wicket which is all in favour of the bowlers. A mistake or two in the field made considerable difference, but the number of times that a man has made 60 against brilliant bowling on a bowler’s wicket without making risky strokes may be easily counted on the fingers. A t lunch time the score was 137 for three wickets. Stoddart was out ten minutes before this for a great innings of 54. He was not always comfortable—nobody could have been comfortable against such bowling—but he played exactly the right game, and it came off. In the ten minutes after Stoddart’s dismissal Gunn made 16runs. Mr. Jackson was not out 31. When the game was resumed it was soon seen that runs were more difficult to get, and that the bowlers were likely to rapidly put an end to the innings. The scoring became slower, but each man hit when there seemed the least chance of success. Trumble was bowling splendidly, and McKibbin was anything but easy. After increasing his score to 54, Jackson was well caught and bowled by Trumble in trying to make a drive, and he had thoroughly earned the enthusiastic applause which he received as he walked to the pavilion. Gunn soon followed him. The first part of his innings was excellent, but he was frequently in difficulty at the end, for the bowling became better and better. People in the crowd who had been talking of a total of three and even four hundred now became silent, and good judges doubted whether the 200 would even go up. A rot seemed about to set in, for Davidson and MacGregor, after being very much ^t sea, were soon out, and Mr. Marchant had a very bad five minutes before he realised that the only thing for him to do was to play the bold game for which he is noted. He began to hit with discretion, and finding that it paid he made some fine strokes, without, perhaps, always knowing exactly where the ball was going. But the great thing was to make runs, and he made 20—and very valuable they were. Neither Attewell nor Hearne ever looked like making a stand, and although Pougher carried his bat after being in a long time for 9, it was not an innings which made one feel particularly proud of one’s country. It was the opinion of many good judges of cricket that the Australians would have very great difficulty in saving the follow on, for it was evident that the wicket had gradually been getting worse. Graham took the first over from Heame, and though all the balls were well pitched, the batsman played them easily and prettily. Attewell from the nursery end did not seem to trouble Kelly, and there was nothing whatever to show that a remarkable collapse was imminent. W ith the total at eight, Graham played on ; he was beaten by a ball of Heame’s, which kept low and came off the pitch very quickly. The cap­ tain came in and seemed quite at home, though he could not get the ball away. A t 14 he was bowled by Hearne. Gregory seemed very uncomfortable with Hearne, and was bowled at the same total. This was bad for the Australians, but there was no reason to suppose that a fair score would not be made. Kelly had all this time been playing with a very straight bat. When he made another four off Attewell, who never seemed to trouble the batsmen, Pougher was put on with the most astonishing results. The total was 18 for three wickets, all of which .fell to Heame, when he took the ball, and when the innings closed it was 18 for nine wickets. Off his first ball Pougher caught and bowled Kelly very well indeed with his right hand ; with his second he bowled Hill, who seemed quite bewildered when he saw what had happened. By this time it began to dawn on the spectators that something out of the common was likely to happen, and the excitement became great. Iredale did not look like staying long, and no one was surprised when he was bowled by H< arne, who had now taken four wickets for four runs. Only three more wickeis still remained (for Giffen was unable to bat), and these three were dis­ posed of in Pougher’s next over, with the total still at 18. Thus, six wickets went down without a run being scored, and for, perhaps, the only time in the history of Australian teams, an old-fashioned rot had set in. It is true that Pougher and Heame bowled admirably ; not a single poor ball was sent down by either bowler, but there was a want of decision about the batting, which is quite foreign to Australian teams. It was a great pity that Giffen could not bat, for he is one of the two men in the team who are the most likely to rise to the occasion however desperate the situation may be. It was not to be supposed that in the follow-on the Australians would come a crop­ per a second time, but after losing two good wickets for 25 before stumps were drawn, they lost four more for a.n addition of eight runs on the following morning. Hearne had taken all the six wickets for 15 rang. Then came a change; Gregory was missed by Heame at slip, and the long desired stand was made. The wicket was improving, and Gregory played very sound cricket, while his partner, Darling, was content to keep up his wicket. A t 62 Gregory went for a very pretty, but slowly made, 28. Seven wickets for 62. It now seemed that the game was over, and many people went away, but the finest stand of the match was to come, and from 62 the score was taken to 174 by Eady and Darling. The two Aus­ tralians both took a very long time to play themselves in, but when they had once become settled they showed some extremely good cricket. But their splendid effort did not avail to save the innings defeat, for after Eady had left for 42, Darling soon followed him, having made a most valuable 76; it would have been pleasing to everyone if he could have succeeded in carrying his bat. Heame, who was kept on for no less than 50 overs, became ob­ viously tired, but he took all the wickets for only 73 runs—a very fine performance. The want of a powerful hitter or two in the team can never have been more severely felt by the Australians, but they may be trusted to show that they possess men who can play a bold game, if another occasion should arise, when boldness is necessary. M.C.C. a n d G rou n d . W . G. Grace, b Trum­ ble ..........................15 A. E. Stoddart, st Kelly, b T rott.........54 K. S. Ranjitsinhji, b Trumble .................. 7 F. S. Jackson, c and b Trumble ..................51 Gunn, b McKibbin ... 39 G. M a c G r e g o r , b Trumble .................. 0 Davidson, b Trumble 0 F. Marchant, b Mc­ Kibbin .................. 20 Pougher, not out ... 9 A t t e w e ll (W .), b Trumble .................. 7 Hearne (J. T.), b Mc­ Kibbin .................. 1 B 13, lb 2, nb 1... 16 Total ..219 A u s tr a lia n s . First innings. J. J, Kelly, c and b Pougher 8 H. Graham, b Heame ... 4 G. H. S. Trott, b Heame ... 6 Second innings. S. E. Gregory, b Hearne F. A . Iredale, b Hearne C. Hill, b Pougher H. Trumble, b Pougher J. Darling, not out C. J. Eady, b Pougher T. R. McKibbin, c Davidson, b Pougher .......................... G. Giffen, absent................... Extras.......................... b Hearne b Heame c MacGregor, Hearne ... . c MacGregor, Heame ... , b Heame ... . b Heame ... . b Heame ... . c Stoddart, Heame 0 c Grace, b Hearne 42 0 not out........... 0 absent ........... 0 B 9, lb 2 Total ...........18 M.C.C. a n d G rou n d . Total..........183 O. M.R. W . Trumble ... 34 8 84 6 Giffen ... 9 0 22 0 McKibbin 19.2 2 51 3 Trott Eady O. M. R. W . 13 1 35 1 8 2 11 0 McKibbin bowled one no-ball. A u stralian s . First innings. O. M. Heame ... Attewell... Pougher... R. W . 4 4 .. 14 0 .. 0 5 ......... Jackson Davidson.. Grace......... Second innings. O. M. R. W . .. 50.3 22 73 9 SURREY v. HAMPSHIRE. Played at the Oval on June 11 and 12 . Surrey won by an innings and 114 runs. It is probable that the Hampshire captain thought he had done a great service to his side in winning the toss, and thus being able to take first knock; but, as it happened, the wicket, unlike most other wickets in the country on Thursday last, improved all day. It was never absolutely difficult, for although the bowlers could get some woik on, the ball came pretty easily off the pitch. At the same time, until the last two hours, it was utv^r very easy, while on the Friday it did not keep up its rate of improvement, but perhaps became worse. Although his usual bowlers met with a fair amount of success, Mr. Key made several changes, and each new bowler proved more successful than his predecessor. Lockwood had a particularly fine analysis. Except Barton and Mr. Robson, none of the Hampshire men scored double figures, and a total of 58, even had it been made on the worst of wickets, would not have been enough to offer any chance of victory over Suirey The Surrey batting was unequal. Brockwell again did well, and really seems at last to have played himself into his old form, but Abel, who just lately has done but little, Holland and Hayward, as well as Brockwell, were all out for 52. A t this period Lockwood and Mr. W alter Read came together, and a long stand was made, which practically decided the match. Mr. Read has often largely added to his total of runs when he has played against .Hampshire bowling, and although his form for some little time had been such as to tend to dis­ courage him, he once more showed that he can still make runs. After Lockwood left for a good 33, another long stand was made when Mr. Read was joined by Lohmann, who, by the prettiest cricket in the match, rapidly overtook his partner’s score. At the end of the day Mr. Read was not out 68, and Lohmann not out 52. On Friday the bowlers at once began to puzzle the batsmen, and the innings was soon over for 244. Baldwin bowled admirably. In the Hampshire second innings Mr. Key again changed his bowlers occasionally, although wickets were fall­ ing fast, and again his policy met with great success. H a m p s h ir e . “ T h e N in th A u s t r a lia n T o u r ” is a neat little book, containing excellent portraits and biographies of the Australians and their Manager, together with notes about other Australian cricket. It is published at a penny at the offices of Cricket , 168, Upper Thames Street. Another useful book, published at this office at sixpence, is “ Surrey Cricket and Cricketers,” by the Rev. 11. S. Holmes. “ The Surrey Eleven in 1895” i8 published at 3d. by Merritt & Hatcher, 168, Upper Thames Street, and there can be no question as to its cheapness, First innings. Second innings C. Robson, c and b Lohmann 10 c and b Hayward 7 H. F. Ward, b Hayward ... 3 b Lockwood 9 Barton, c Abel, b Lockwood 25 b Richardson ... 1 W ebb, b R ichardson........... 7 E. R. Bradford, b Richard­ b Richardson ... 0 son.......................................... 0 c W o o d , b Richardson ... Bacon, run out .................. 4 c Brockwell, b Richardson ... 9 D. A . Steele, c W ood, b Abel 1 c Richardson, b Lohmann 19 Soar, b Lohmann.................. 3 c Ayres, b Lock­ wood ................. 5 W ootton, b Lockwood ... 0 R. Bencraft (capt.)* b Lock­ b Lohmann 1 wood .................................. 1 b Lockwood 7 Baldwin, not o u t .................. 3 not out ........... 1 Leg-bye ... ... 1 Lb 4, nb 1 ... 5 Total .................. 58 Total ........... 72 S u r r e y . Brockwell, c W ebb, b Lohmann, not out ... 69 S oar.......................... 29 K. J. Key (capt,), b Abel, c Soar, b BaldBaldwin ................... 0 win .......................... 4 Ayres, b Soar ........... 9 Holland, run out 7 Richardson,b Baldwin 1 Hayward, ht wkt, b W ood, c Robson, b Baldwin .................. 4 Baldwin ................... 10 Lockwood, c Soar, b B 4, nb 2 ........... 6 W ootton .................. 36 — W .W .Read,b Baldwin 69 Total ........... 214 H am psh ire . First innings. Second innings. O. M. R. W . O. M. B. W . Lohmann .. 16 7 22 2 ... ... 8 3 9 2 Hayward 11 6 18 1 ... ... 8 1 14 1 Richardson . 13 8 14 2 ... ... 13 4 30 4 Abel ......... 7 5 3 1 Lockwood .. 52 2 5 3 ... ... 122 5 14 3 Hayward bowled one no-ball. S u r r e y .— First innings. O. M .R.W . I O. M. R. W . Baldwin ... 46‘3 16 114 6 Soar ... 40 20 54 2 Wootton ... 26 7 58 1 1Ward ... 6 2 12 0 W ootton and Soar bowled one no-ball each. C RICKET Report Sheets, lOd. per dozen, post free. Order of Going-In Cards, 7d. per dozen, post free. West’s Pocket Scoring Book, 1/2 each, post free.—To be obtained at the Office of Cricket , 168, Upper Thames Street, London, E.C.