Cricket 1897

D ec. 30, 1897. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 471 jammer.” Once, on the old Albert ground, I tried to pull a fast full toss from Spoff.—result, broken stump, which was mounted in silver and presented to the great bowler as a memento of his feat. I think I heard Nat Thompson first call Spoff. the “ demon ” before he went to England, but others say that Spoff. called himself the “ demon” after that memorable sensational match against Marylebone Club and Ground at Lord’s in 1878. Whether he christened himself the “ demon ” or not, he certainly was a “ demon” bowler. Yet in that sensa­ tional match Harry Boyle had actually the better average, getting nine for 17 against Spoff’s 10 for 20. Just after that match started the Hon. A. Lyttelton said to one of the Australians that he would like to make a suggestion or two to the Australian captain about placing the field, his opinion being that the men could be a good deal better placed than they were in the opening match, which he went down to see, against Notts, who won by an innings and 14. After the M.C.C. match, Dave Gregory went up to the Cambridge crack and said, “ I believe you wished to see me on the subject of placing cur field.” “ Oh, jes, I did,” replied the famous batsman, “ but never mind now, you seem to know quite as much as, if not more, than we know about placing a field.” How the crowds at every railway station flattened their noses against the windows of the carriages to see old Spoff. after that match. “ Which be demon ? ” was the cry at every wayside stopping, and the crowds that gathered round the pubs in villages of Yorkshire and Lancashire to have a peep at him were something to be remembered. His bowling figures in England aggre­ gate thus:—20,313 balls, 8,107 runs, 619 wickets; average, 12'48 runs per wicket. In intercolonial matches Spoff. did not come out with results nearly so good as those of the renowned Ted Evans, who in the opinion of Lord Harris, during his tour here in 1878, was second to no bowler then living. Spoff.’s figures for New South Wales are 2,252 balls, 1,057 runs, 208 maidens, 49 wickets, average, 21-57 ; while Evans has 5.206 balls, 1,436 runs, 667 maidens, 107 wickets, average, 1342. Evans had a perfect length with a nice breakback, and could last all day, his staying power not being surpassed even by “ Spoff” himself. On sticky wickets he was not nearly so destructive as “ the demon.” The cricket-fields of the world have never produced a more genial, thorough man than Ted 15vans, whom “ Augur ” used to delight to term “ one of nature’s noblemen.” It was the splendid skill and success of these two noted bowlers that enabled New South Wales to turn the tables on Victoria after a series of severe reverses lasting for years. Perhaps the finest bit of bowling ever chronicled in the history of cricket was done by “ Spoff” in 1882, when, against the pick of England, he wound up with the following remarkable analysis :— ...w w2w. .w. That is 44 balls, 2 runs, 10 maidens, 4 wickets. In delivering those 44 balls, he pitched almost every one within a circle of about a foot in diameter, each ball having a breakback that took the Hon. Alfred Lyttelton and A. P. Lucas, two of the finest batsmen in the world, all they knew to stop. Such precision, I need hardly say, was the outcome only of con­ stant practice, allied to perfect command, resulting from matured experience and keen study of the art of bowling. There is truth in the statement of the Hon. R. H. Lyttelton that “ Spoff” used to study night after night how to get English batsmen out. He and W. L. Murdoch, as a ru'e, chummed together, and Billy used often to say, “ Spoff has got a new plan to-day, and says it will come off all right if he doesn’t meet a cross-eyed woman.” If the plan didn’t come off “ Spcff ” would say, “ Well, you know, I met that cross-eyed woman, and what could I do after that?” Many a time have I seen him, on a fast true wicket, standing and examining earnestly the spot where a length-ball should go. After the examination he would shake his head and say, “ Oh ! for just one pint of water to pour on that spot; couldn’t any­ body get me a pint of water.” I believe honestly that there never was a bowler who had a more whole-hearted liking for his work as a bowler than “ the demon,” and so long as cricket lasts so long will his* name stand celebrated, not only as one of the greatest bowlers that ever lived, but as the one bowler who first struck downright dismay into the hearts of English batsmen, and by his remarka­ ble feats raised Australian cricket at a bound to such an eminence that the old folks at home declared the Australian kangaroo equal to the British lion on the glorious fields of cricket. My friend Billy Martin has been writing to The Argus about left-handed bowlers, and I agree with him that they should be well looked after and encouraged wherever met. Many batsmen feel very much less at home to left-handers than right-handers. Even Charlie Turner at his best never made one feel so uncomfortable as Jack Perris did, and Tom Kendall at his best made me more ill at ease than Jack Ferris did. Tom was a real clinker, and after a performance of his against Lillywhite’s team on the Mel­ bourne ground I heard Jim Lillywhite say “ A grand bowler is Kendall; if he went to England the best county there would run after him.” But Tom never went to England, more’s the pity. Fine command, easy delivery, with break from either side, and varying at will from fast to slow, he was a perfect gem when in true form, and though I have been bowled by many a good ball, I never was bowled by a better one than Tom Kendall got me with in a cup match on a perfect wicket at East Melbourne twenty years ago. It was a fast ball, came with his arm, pitched on the blind spot, passed over the right shoulder of the blade, hit the brass of the off stu-t p, and sent the bail twelve or fifteen yards away. I have never for­ gotten that ball, and would not if I lived for a thousand years. Next to Frank Allan I would place Tom Kendall in the list of Australian left-hi n led bowlers, and third would come the late J. Coates, of New South Wales, who was a capital bowler, and caused disaster to many a Victorian batsman, as his fine figures testify:—1 881 balls, 660 runs, 197 maidens, 58 wickets, average 11'37. The one great bowler who has beaten Spoff. both in England and Australia is CharIieTurner,the “ Terror.” By the way, I believe, it was I who gave him the soubriquet of the “ Terror” in the columns of The Australasian years ago, after a great achievement by him iu Sydney. In England, in all his engagements, he has the following magnificent record ;— 24,140 balls, 8,341 runs, 678 wickets, average 12’30, being a fraction better than the Demon. On a bowler’s wicket bis breakback was so fast that he was almost unplayable, and once in Sydney I saw him bowl Barlow, the Lancastrian stonewaller, with such a breakback that Barlow exclaimed, “ I was never before bowled with a ball that broke so much or so fast.” Like Spoff, Charlie Turner's name will be famous for all time in the world of cricket, and my own opinion is that if he had gone home in 1896 he would have acquitted himself in a manner worthy of the splendid reputation he had so deservedly earned on many a hard- fought field during preceding tours of Australian teams in the old country. Hughie Trumble is another of our fine bowlers, and though he has been before the public for a good many seasons with capital records he crowned all his prior able work by winning the plaudits of all England and Australia by his grand work in England in 1896, when despite injuries, he performed like a star from start to finish of that tour. What rendered his marked successes all the more pleasing both to himself and friends was that iu the season prior to departure he was clean out of form. In England his figures in the aggregate are:—13,006 balls,5,483runs,321 wickets, average 17 08. I hear that George Giffen intends for the future to discard bowling and devote his attention in the main to batting. Well, if it be so, he can, at all events, say that he has sent down a few, j ust a few, in his time, and performed some startling feats. Perhaj s if he had kept himself on a bit longer now and then he might have got a wicket or two more, but let that pass. As one who has batted against him many a time I have no hesitation in saying that he is one of the world’s great bowlers, and that a few years back no bowler—with the exception of Alfred Shaw and Spoff—could more successfully deceive a batsman in the flight. In England the great South Australian has bowled thus :—21 155 balls, 9,889 runs, 532 wickefs, average, 18 58. My opinion of the new star, Tom M’Kibbin, is well-known to readers of The Australasian that I need not repeat it, but I might add that, great a bowler as he is, I believe he has not reached the zenith of his fame, for with a more lengthened experience will come better command of pitch, pace, and break, just as it did with Spcff., Turner, and other great bowlers. N E X T ISSUE, THUR SDAY , J A N U A R Y 27.