Cricket 1896

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. no. 411 . vol. xv. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1896. price 2 a. T. R. M cK IB B IN . Public opinion has already satisfied itself that the weakness of the coming Australian Team will be in its bowling. The voice of the people is the voice of God, so it is said, and it may be that public opinion is right. That remains to be seen, of course. One thing is certain, that any doubts which may exist as to the chances of the ninth Aus­ tralian Team take, and reason­ ably, that direction. The want of a Spofforth, a Palmer, a Turner or a Ferris—a Turner or a Ferris that is at their best —has been the weak point of the later combinations which have represented Australia in this country. Small wonder then that the English public is troubled in its mind as to the probabilities of the coming team in this particular line. England has spelt disaster for at least one bowler with a deservedly high reputation at home. Names will readily occur without the need of special mention, which might be invidious. On the other hand, it is easy to point to at least one bowler who has been infinit ely more successful on English than on Australian wickets. Here it is that the glorious uncertainty of the games comes in. No one can, with any degree of confidence, venture a forecast of the measure of success that is to attend the bowlers who are visiting England for the first time this year. Qififen we know, Trumble we know, H. Trott we know. But of the rest we may ask who are ye ? Mindful of the success of fast bowlers on English wickets, the Selection Committee have no doubt acted wisely in including in the team not only one but two bowlers of more than ordinary pace. Jones, the South Australian, and C. J. Eady, the Tasmanian giant, are both unknown quantities as yet. But speculation in this direction, after all, centres mostly in the young bowler who has been so successful this season for New South Wales. Even last winter, T. B. McKibbin was an experiment in Australian cricket. It was only in the later matches against Mr. Stoddart’s Teams, if we remember rightly, that he was thought worthy of a T . R. M c K ibbin . From a Photograph by P. G, Poulsen, Queen Street, Brisbane , trial at all. Still, though only a partial success, it is well to recall that there were critics sanguine enough to predict great things in the future for him. How he has j ustified their confidence this winter the records of the intercolonial matches in which New South Wales defeated Victoria and South Australia in turn, are the best evidence. It was his bowling at the close of the match against Victoria that really determined the result in favour of New South Wales. In the second innings of Victoria he bowled 237 balls for 93 runs and eight wickets. No better judge of cricket is to be found in Australia or elsewhere than ‘ Felix,’ the nom de plume, under which T. Horan, the old Victorian cricketer veiled, if it no longer veils his identity. And this is the deliberate opinion of ‘ Felix,’ expressed after seeing McKibbin throughout the course of the Intercolonial match between New South Wales and Victoria. “ The special factor in the presentSydneywin isthe howling ofMcKibbin in the second innings of Victoria. Bowling to the best batting end, hemaintained an ex­ cellent length, and broke back at times to such an extent that he beat not only the batsman, but also the wicket-keeper. It would seem, indeed, that George Giffen made no error of judgment last season when he told me that in McKibbin Australia had a bowler who, with sound coaching, would turn out a ‘ star.’ It is true that he failed in the final test match, but if in that match he had kept the length which, with his break, brought disaster to our men to-day, Brown and Ward, good as they are, would not have made the runs hand over fist as they did in that famous encounter. It is beyond doubt that McKibbin can do more with the ball from either side than any other bowler in either team, and judging by the way Jack Harry and others shaped at him, he has a knack of disguising his delivery, so that sometimes when you expect an off-break, the ball comes from leg, and vice versa. George Giffen told me this after the match in Sydney when McKibbin wrought such sad havoc amongst the wheatfielders; but asI saw McKibbin only in the test match, when he was so severely slated, I was not in a position to say whether George was right or wrong. In this match, however, the impression left upon my mind is distinctly thatGeurge Giffen made no mistake in asserting that JSfcKibbin NEXT ISSUE, THURSDAY, MARCH 26th.