Cricket 1897

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — Byron. so. 4 6 8 . vox., xvi. THUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1897. p r i c e 2d. M e . LESLIE W. PYE. A few years ago the promising batting in Australia of Clement Hill, then a boy at school, attracted the attention of the world of cricketers, and it was prophesied that the future of the young player would be brilliant in the extreme. It is un­ necessary to remind readers of Cricket that the prophecy has in great part been fulfilled. Last year a new star appeared in Leslie Pye. In his first big match he scored 166, and al­ though his innings wasplayed against Queensland, which is a long way behind the other colonies as regards the strength of its team, the per­ formance was sufficiently notable. All through the season of 1896-7 he had scored consistently well. In 47 inn­ ings (twelve limes not out) he made 2,333 runs, thus aver­ aging 66.65 per innings. He was at the head of the batting averages of his club—Central Cumberland—with 47, not­ withstanding that P. A. Iredale was in the team with him. Again, in bowling he had the best analysis in his club, with 16-52, although in W. Howell he had a brilliant competitor. In the course of the season he scored seven hundreds, viz. :—300 (not out), 188 (not out), 166, 139 (not out), 115, 101, and 101. He was not chosen to play against the more important colonies, andmadehisdebutin intercolonial cricket against Queensland. It was only natural that much interest should have been taken in the early matches played by Pye this season. He has certainly not disappointed those who singled him out as the coming man of Australia, for in his first innings he made 136, on Saturday, October 2nd, and followed this up with 239 on the following Monday. In the first match he was run out and in the second carried his bat. When he scored his 239 he went in first. The total was 93 when at last a wicket fell, and 95 for the second wicket. At this stage of the game J. C. Wilson became his partner, with results which were little anticipated by the opposing team. Before Wilson was out the total had been advanced to 531, the partner­ ship thus producing no less than 436 runs, 195 of which belonged to Wilson. Meanwhile Pye kept steadily on until, with the score at 534 for three wickets, the field announced that they had had enough cricket to last them for some time, and betook themselves to the pavi­ lion, refusing to be comforted or to con­ tinue the game. With reference to this match, “ Short Slip” in the Sydney Mail says : “ In spirit I shake those two Par­ ramatta batsmen, L. W. Pye and J. C. Wilson, by the hand, but what a pity the Hawkesbury district team did not stay and see the fun o u t! In justice to Pye they might just as well have played up for the couple of hours and allowed him the opportunity of estab­ lishing a record. Besides it’s not cricket to ‘ ‘ chuck ” the game because you are not getting wickets or because the other side won’t declare the inningi closed. It is only in such cases as this that there is a chance o f e s ta b lis h in g records. Nevertheless, I am one who is in favour of generous cricket where it is a friendly match. In an Intercolonial engagement it is war to the knife, but in a match of the above description it would be better when all possibility of defeat had passed, not to de­ clare the innings over, but for those who have had a good time of it to retire and let the others have a show. With the chance of this in view players on each side would enter into the game with more good feeling, for it is certainly not conducive to good fellowship, either to sit in the pavilion awaiting the turn that never comes, or to be in the field on a blazing hot day going through your task. There is a lot that may be said on both sides, but generous cricket has my vote.” It is not often that Mr. Pye is able to obtain practice, but on the afternoons of Tuesday and Thursday he generally manages to get a knock at the nets on the ground of the Central Cum­ berland C.C., of which he is, at present, the honorary secretary. By profession he is a chemist, and as his usual hours are from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., it is surprising that he is able to do such good work on the cricket field. He was born on July 6 ,1871,atParramatta, and first played cricket at the Cooerwell Academy, Bowenfels, and at King’s School, Parramatta. But as he could not be persuaded to take much interest in