Cricket 1896

F jsb . 27, 1896. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 25 compiling more runs than they them­ selves, or the two English teams which preceded them, have ever made against a South African combination ; secondly, by scoring two “ centuries ” in one innings; thirdly, by producing the highest individual score made by any English cricketer in South Africa; and fourthly, by making the highest aggregate for the City Oval. It was an eventful match for South African cricket. T he end of the old year witnessed the establishment of another new record in South Australia. Saturday, December 21, saw the best score for the first wicket in South Australian cricket outdone after standing for nearly twelve years. The Glen Osmond eleven had been scoring well throughout the year, but on the day named they outdid all their previous performances. Two of their batsmen— Marshall and Dunstan—went in first against Hindmarsh on the day named in connection with the Adelaide Association, and by hard hitting and quick scoring they rattled up 308 in two and a half hours. This is the more marvellous when if is stated that every hit was run out, as there are fewboundaries in outside matches in Adelaide. The previous first-wicket re­ cord was 291, made at Gawler. Two South Australian partnerships have produced more runs—Hiscock and Evan 314 for the second wicket for Adelaide v. Hind­ marsh in 1891, and Giffen and Gooden 345 runs for the fourth wicket in the same year. Both batsinen were dismissed before play was concluded—Marshall for 103, and Dunstan for 132. T he English cricketers in South Africa had a peculiar experience during their stay in Johannesburg. Permission was given them to visit the Doornkop battle­ field, and the occasion was utilised to picnic on the scene of the disaster to Dr. Jameson’s followers. But their return was not so agreeable. Passing through Florida, the party was stopped by the Mining Commissioner. After being questioned they were allowed to depart, but had to walk to Maraisburg, as the driver of the wagonette refused to take them on without the permission of the police. They reached town just in time to catch the Natal train, and left amid the cheers of a large crowd assembled to see them off. T he President of the Marylebone Club has recently added another to his many responsibilities in the shape of a seat on the Board of the London Chatham and Dover Railway. His father became a a director of the L.C. and D.R. after holding the Governorship of Madras. History is therefore only repeating itself in Lord Harris occupying the same position on his retirement from a high office as Governor of Bombay, to wit. In a recent number of Cricket I called attention to the remarkably good fortune of the captain of the Glenalg C.C. in the possession of a coin which rarely failed. The other side of the picture was presented in the Adelaide Observer in one of its later numbers of 1895. The Adelaide Railway Club has a captain whose luck has been pretty well out this season. At all events, his team up to the end of the year had played eleven matches, and on every occasion “ bar on e” the captain had lost the toss. No wonder that their summary, so far, showed nine drawn games and only two wins. T he Morning Post of Friday last is responsible for the following announce­ ment :— “ A marriage has been arranged between L. W. North Hickley, son of the late Thomas Allen Hickley, of Walton-on-Thames, and Sybil Louise, second daughter of George Haward Trollope, of Fairmile Hatch, Cob- ham.” Cricket, it is hardly necessary to represent, has been well represent in both families. Mr. North Hickley was, if he is not now, hon. sec. of the Oatlands Park Club. T he match between Mr. J. R. Wood’s Eleven and the Melbourne Club, in which C. J. Eady, the Tasmanian cricketer, showed such excellent all round form as practically to assure his position in the Australian team for England, was also interesting to Cricket readers from the fact that, J. J. Ferris was also making one of his earliest appearances after his return from England. The Melbourne Club had fairly good bowling with Hugh Trumble as well as R. and C. McLeod on the side, and J. J. Ferris, who went in first had to be content with a score of seventeen. His bowling did not seem to trouble the Melbourne batsmen very much, as while Eady dismissed four batsmen for seventy-four, Ferris only got one and at a cost of a hundred runs. Against Geelong, for Mr. Wood’s team the latter was more successful. There he made 42 in addition of taking two wickets. E a d y ’ s all round cricket was decidedly the feature of the particular match. Going in first wicket down he carried out his bat for 156, out of a total of 301 from the bat. He was at the wickets altogether five hours and forty minutes, and his play all round left a very favourable impres­ sion on the best critics in Australia. This is what Felix, our old friend F. Horan, unless he has given up writing the Cricket Notes for the Australasia newspaper, thinks of him as a bowler. I had the pleasure of a few from Eady at the practice nets the other evening writes Felix. He is not so fast a bowler as Jones, of Adelaide, but he can last longer, and keeps a very good length. On a wicket that aided him at all 1think Eady wouldbe very trouble­ some indeed. The way in which he sent the stumps of Percy Lewis and George Vautin flying was worth watching. Eady batted soundly, and most favourably impressed Harry Musgrove and others who were watching him. A ccordin g to the announcements which have reached this side, the Ninth Australian team are to leave Adelaide for England in the Orient Steamer “ Cuzco,” on the eighteenth of next month. The official notice that has reached me, states that they are likely to reach England on the 27th of April. A recent cablegram from Australia states that Mr. Harry Mus­ grove has decided not to come with the team as Manager, but I have no know­ ledge of his withdrawal, which he seems from latest advices to have recon­ sidered. The team will in all proba­ bility have their preliminary practice on Mitcham Green. The executive of the Mitcham Club have sent them a hearty invitation to this effect. The Austra­ lasian Cricket Council has wisely decided to instruct the Selection Committee, which consists of W. Bruce, T. W. Garrett and G. Giffen, to select a fourteen match to accompany the team. The highest total in a match in England for the last fourteen years has been th e 920 of the Orleans Club against Rickling Green, at Rickling Green. It remains so still, though Australia went one better, or to be precise four better, on the 8th of this month. Though there has been some heavy scoring in Australia during the present season, all was outdone by the performance of the Carlton team against Melbourne University, on Saturday, February 8th. Their total reached 924, and of these J. Worrall, a member of the Sixth Australian team which visited England in 1888, if I remember rightly, scored 415 not out. A t the same time, I do not quite see how this 924 of Carlton can fairly be cabled the highest authenticated total on record. Exception, I know, has been taken on this side to the admission of the huge score of 1238, made at Pyrmont, Sydney, somewhere early in the eighties. The contending clubs were Ulster and Macquarie, and the match lasted four afternoons. Still I have myself a distinct recollection of the verification of the record in the Sydney Mail some years ago. Moreover it is vouched for by one of the most painstaking of cricket statisticians, Mr. F. J. Ironside, for whose capacity I can myself vouch. Anyhow, I think it worth while to reproduce the score as I saw it first in Mr. F. J. Ironside’s Austra­ lian Cricketing Handbook, published in 1882 Ulster v. Macquarie Club, played at Sydney.—J. Flynn, 249; H. Brown, 147 ; T. Flynn, 94 ; G. Mullens, ‘247 ; B. Brown, 25; J Williams, 0; T. Williams, 1; J. White, 178; T. Leaky, 3; M. Brereton, 186; R. Gibson, 8 ; extras, 100. Total.—1,238. No date, it will be seen, is given. I f not an actual best for Australian Cricket, the match between the Burwood and Paddington Clubs, at Sydney, on December 21st, produced a record which has not, at all events, been equalled in England. So far, in only three cases have four batsmen got a hundred in the same innings in English Cricket, in none has a fifth. But in the match referred to above Paddington did acheive this per­ formance. The score, which is well NEXT ISSUE THURSDAY, MARCH 26th.