Cricket 1896

J an . 30, 1896. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 3 BETWEEN THE INNINGS. Though this is the off-season so far as English cricket is concerned, there is no lack of subject-matter for my causerie this month. Statistics of the past season, reports galore of comity meetings, scores of matches in the colonies, still cheer the heart of the cricket enthusiast when he opens his Sporting Life or Sportsman in the morning. To me, in this winter time, with the past season months behind and the coming season still months ahead, the score of a first-class match but recently played comes by way of a veritable bonne bouche, and when, the other day, I noticed the heading ‘ ‘ Cricket in Australia: New South Wales v. Queensland,” I was keen to see what our friends “ down under ” were doing. And I find that the game in question had been notable in more than one respect. Big scores were made in it by two men, one of whom was a complete, and the other a comparative, failure when visiting England. P. H. Walters, who had been expected to prove one of the best, batsmen of the 1890 team, did practically nothing during the whole tour ; while Coningham by no means came up to anticipations in 1893. In this match Walters (who has recently left the hotel he formerly ran in Melbourne for one in Sydney), playing his first game for New South Wales, scored an innings of 150; while Coning­ ham not only made 151 (of a total of 257 from the bat) in the first innings of Queensland, but also scored 51 when his side followed on. As he took five of the eleven New South Wales wickets which fell, he fully maintained his reputation as Queensland’s best man and one of the finest all-round players in Australia Whether he will have a look in for a place in the team for England is another question. He has an unfortunate temper which renders him anything but amenable to authority, and the clashing which might ensue between him and so auto­ cratic a captain as George Giffen would be undoubtedly bad for the morale of the team. It is not easy to forget, either, that regrettable incident at Brisbane a year or so back, when, in disgust at being no-balled, he deliberately threw the ball at the English captain’s wicket. Only two other players known over here were engaged in the match (though the veteran Boyle, who is now a Queens­ lander by adoption, was announced to play)—PercyMcDonnell and Sid Gregory, to wit. Both met with some measure of success, Gregory making 43 in his one innings; while the captain of the losers played a first innings of 65. McDonnell stands alone among Australian cricketers in having played for three colonies. Bonnor, Coningham, Walters, and some few others of less note have represented two, but no other has played for three. Victoria was McDonnell’s first love ; and it was owing to a quarrel which took place in 1884-5 between certain members of Murdoch’s Third Team and the V.C.A., brought about by the men’s refusal to play for their colony against Shaw and Shrewsbury’s eleven, that McDonnell (as I did Bonnor also) left Melbourne for |Sydney, and thenceforth played for New South Wales. At the end of the season that followed the return of the 1888 team (which he captained) to Australia, McDonnell announced his intention to re­ tire from first-class cricket in order to devotecloserattention to business. Shortly afterwards he was given the managership of the Brisbane branch of his bank ; and when St'iddart’s men tackled Queensland early in their tour McDonnell made his re-appearance in first-clas-s cricket as captain of the Bananalanders. (Between 1888-9 and 1894-5 he had, if I remember rightly, however, played in one first-class match—the return between New South Wales and Lord Sheffield’s team.) To no one of the three colonies though does P.S. owe the allegiance of birth, for he was born in Kensington. This was the fourth match on even terms between the two colonies. I know that some lists make mention of such a match in or about 1884 ; but after close inquiry I find that this was only an exhi­ bition match arranged to fill up time after a game at Brisbane between X I. of N.S.W. and XV . of Queensland, so that it cannot rank seriously. The real matches between the sides (excluding from con­ sideration those in which the younger colony played more than eleven men) began in April, 1893, when a somewhat weak N.S.W. eleven was narrowly beaten by 14 runs at Brisbane. A year later, in a close match at Sydney, the tables were turned, the home side winning by two wickets. Last season the Queenslanders, though falling an easy prey to the prowess of Stoddart and his men, made a fairly good fight against their neighbours, being beaten by six wickets only. All three of these were small-score matches, the highest total made in them being Queens­ land’s 246 at Sydney in 1894. The match finished on the 17th ult. was of quite another sort, 1,070 runs being scored in it for 31 wickets. Comment on the South Australia v. Victoria match at Adelaide is somewhat out of date by this time ; but I may just refer to the fine form displayed by Harry —he played an innings of 107 and took six wickets cheaply—which makes him a very likely candidate for the Anglo- Aus­ tralian team. If I mistake not, Harry is a wicket-keeper, as well as a batsman, a bowler, and a really fine field. I wonder whether he and young Hill would be class enough to share between them the wicket- keeping of the team ? Opinion in Ade­ laide, I am told, points to Jarvis’s visiting England again. But unfortunately Jarvis, if hisforminl893isany criterion, useful bat though he is at home, can’t or won’t make runs on English wickets. Blackham has retired now ; but Victoria has two other wicket-keepers—Percy Lewis, who has played a good deal of inter-colonial cricket, and Johns of the University team, who kept well against Stoddart’s eleven late last season. The New South Wales man, Kelly, is reported very smart; but he is not a run-getter. On the whole, I am disposed to think that the work of choosing the team will involve considerable difficulty. The last four or fiveplaces will have to befilled from among nearly three times as many candi­ dates—a condition of things which will surely result in some growling. I suppose it is now fairly certain that Turner and Bruce will not come. Excluding them, there are still a couple of dozen or more players who have claims worthy of con­ sideration. One may fairly divide them into three classes, thus:— Certainties .—George Giffen, G. H. S. Trott, S. E. Gregory, J. J. Lyons, P. A. Iredale, J. Darling, Clement Hill, H. Graham, and A. E. Trott. Probables. — H. Trumble, Charles M ’Leod, C. J. Eady, A. H. Jarvis, and T. R. M’Kibbin or W. Howell. Possibles. —A. Coningham, J. Harry, J. E. Reedman, H. Donnan, A. C. K. MacKenzie, E. Jones, A. C. Bannerman, R. W. M’Leod, P. Laver, J. J. Kelly and C. Johns. I have it on good authority that the statement as to Lyons having said that he might not be inclined to join the team is untrue. Trumble is sure to be asked; the only question is if he will be able to accept. The inclusion of Bannerman’s name may occasion some surprise. Two seasons ago he made only 11 runs in four innings in the inter-colonials ; last, season he did not play first- class cricket at all, and got few runs even in ordinary games. But this season he appears to have quite recovered his old form ; and, though he dues not care about representing his colony, has expressed his willingness to go to England again if wanted. Re­ membering his great scores in the past, the selectors can scarcely pass over such an offer without consideration. Mac­ Kenzie, who has been spoken of more than once when former teams were being chosen, is a really good batsman. He scored 76 and 21 v. Queensland, and has just recently played innings of 213 and 155 in important club matches in Sydney. Laver played an innings of 352 in a Melbourne pennant match early in 1893, and thus secured the Australian record from Bruce, only to have it snatched from him during the next season by young Clem. Hill. He has also done very well indeed in the inter-colonials, his steadiness proving distinctly valuable on more than one occasion, while he can hit when he likes. Donnan has, too, been consistently successful in these games, and is said to be “ the moral” of Billy Murdoch in point of style. He has scarcely yet had full justice done him. Jones is a tremendously fast bowler, but the expensive average which he invariably has to show would lead one to doubt his ability to keep a length, even had one no other reasons for doubt. He may very likely come ; but I doubt his doing much on our wickets. Reedman is a dashing bat who generally gets runs, and is said to have the safest pair of hands in Australia — high praise when one remembers the skill, activity and pluck of Alec Bannerman, Sid Gregory, Harry Boyle and others. Most of the men I have mentioned have been showing fine form so far during this Australian season. Hugh Trumble made centuries in three successive matches NEXT ISSUE, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27th,