Cricket 1898

2 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J a n . 27, 1898. Hornby, for be took seven wickets and showed a great deal of promise as a bowler. Previously to tbis, in 1894, be had come off against a strong side of English professionals and ama­ teurs, and had in consequence of his suc­ cess received a trial in one of the York­ shire District matches. In 1896, soon after he had taken up his position with the Leeds C.C., he began to represent Yorkshire, the county in which he was born. Almost at once he established himself as the fast bowler for which Yorkshire, like every other county, had been anxiously looking. Among his best performances that season were six wickets against Derbyshire for 45, seven for 49 against Warwickshire, eight for 78 against the Australians, and six for 38 against Somerset. For the Leeds club he was almost invariably successful, frequently doing as well with the bat as with the ball. His average for Yorkshire during the season was 485-3 overs, 164 maidens, 1,085 runs, 71 wickets—15'28 runs per wicket; and 19 innings, five times not out, 151 runs—average 10 78 per innings. He bad the honour of heading the York­ shire bowling averages; he would pro­ bably have taken a hundred wickets if it had not been for an illness at the later end of the season. Last year he was third on the list of Yorkshire bowlers, with a good average, but he was some­ what erratic, and probably overworked himself. It must be confessed that from the point of view of a spectator he seems to take a lot out of himself when he bow ls; but an action which looks tiring is sometimes really an easy one. Haigh was born on March 9th, 1872, at Berry Brow in Yorkshire, and learned his cricket at Armitage Bridge. In height he is 5ffc. 7in., and his weight is between 11 and 12 stone. Stephen 24. On the third day they increased their total to 213, Grey 27, Druce 23. Briggs took nine wickets for 84, Wainwright two for 24, Hayward one for 37, Hirst four for 31, and Storer one for 16. Wainwright and Druce went in to make 78, and accomplished their task without being separated. Druce made 46 and Wainwright 31. Ranjitsinhji and Stoddart did not play. M R . STODDART ’S TEAM IN A U S T R A L IA . THE BENDIGO MATCH (XVIII.) ( t e n t h o f t h e t o u r ). Played at Bendigo (Victoria) on Dec. 27, 28, and 29. Mr, Stoddart’s team won by 10 wickets. In the hottest of hot weather, and on a pretty good wicket, the home team batted first. Their innings closed for 150, of which 30 were due to Sarvass. Briggs with five wickets for 54, Hirst four for 17, Hayward three for 7, Wainwright three for 27, and Richardson two for 24, were the successful bowlers. The Englishmen had lost one wicket (MacLaren) for 67 before close of play for the day. There was nothing remarkable about the rest of the innings, except that Mason scored 128. Other men who made runs were Hayward 45 and Storer 47. The innings ended for 286, Hearne being unable to bat on account of a bad finger. When stumps were drawn the home team had put up 93 for eight wickets, Mackay 20, THE SECOND AUSTRALIA MATCH. ELEVENTH OF THE TOUR. Played atMelbourne on January 1, 3, i, and 5. Australia won by an innings and 55 runs. There was plenty of excitement in Australia before the match began; for, in addition to the temporary collapse of Iredale, Gregory, and Kelly from the excessive heat, it was rumoured that Ranjitsinhji would not be able to play on account of trouble with his throat. Moreover, there was much specu­ lation as to whether George Giffen would be asked to play and whether he would accept the invitation if it were given. Eortunately all the invalids were able to take their part in the game, and three of the four greatly distinguished themselves, Iredale scoring 89, Gregory 71, and Ranjitsinhji 71 and 27. Trott won the toss, but as the wickets at Melbourne have a reputation for lasting when the weather is fine this was not regarded by the Englishmen as an unmitigated evil, although they recognised that they had by no means the best of the bargain. The first day’s play was not remarkable, ex­ cept for the success of McLeod, whose place in the team in the first match had been strongly disapproved of by many Australian cricketers. But he had so distinguished himself with the bat at Sydney, that at Melbourne he was sent in first with Darling. He was at the wickets for a few minutes over four hours, during which he played a very steady game— exceptionally steady at first—and had the honour of making a hundred. The other batsmen who went in, Hill, Darling, and Gregory, all played up to their reputa­ tion as careful cricketers, and at the close of the day only 283 runs had been made; on the other hand, only three wickets were down. The two bowlers, Richard­ son and Hearne, on whom the success of England was supposed to chiefly depend, did not take a wicket between them. So far the prospects of the Australians were eminently satisfactory, for it was reason­ able to suppose that, as the English bowlers would be tired, an enormous score would be made when the game was resumed. This expectation was not quite realised; for although Iredale, one of the not-outs, played a splendid game and found in Trctt a partner who could also make a lot of runs the tail curled up somewhat ignominiously. Gre­ gory, who was not out 54 on the previous evening, had not entirely recovered from the effects of the heat which had pros­ trated him, and only increased his score by 17. The only English bowler who can be said to have met with any success was Briggs, whose analysis of three wic­ kets for 96 was by far the best. Richard­ son, Hearne, and Hirst all had about a hundred runs hit off them for only one wicket each, which was, indeed, a sad experience. Although the total of the Australian innings fell far short of what had at one time i eemed probable it was quite big enough to make the home team confident. England had a few minutes’ batting before stumps were drawn, with the result that Mason was promptly bowled by McKibbin. To add to the gloomy outlook the wicket had begun to crack on the second morning of the match, owing to the extreme heat, and Australians predicted that it would soon begin to crumble so much that runs would be obtained with the utmost difficulty. When play began on the third morning the Englishmen, with nine wickets in hand,were498 runs behind ; in the evening they had two wickets in hand and still wanted 209 to be on a level with their opponents. But for a splendid stand by Briggs and Druce for the ninth wicket the outlook would have been even worse, for when Briggs went in the total •was only 224 for eight wickets; thus the partnership produced 87 runs, and was still a going concern when stumps were drawn. The only other batsmen who were seen at their best were Ranjitsinhji and Storer. The former had got within measurable distance of his hundred when he was bowled by Trumble, and Storer played a great game for 51. MacLaren, who made 36, was not at home, and was missed two or three times. The bowling was in marked contrast to that of the Englishmen, but the wicket had by no means improved. The fourth day was a day of disaster. As had been prophesied, the wicket became worse and worse, and before long the only question of interest was whether the Englishmen would save the innings defeat. The long partner­ ship of Briggs and Druce was dissolved almost immediately, and Richardson did nothing. Trumble took the last two wickets, which helped his analysis very considerably—he took four wickets in all for 52, a very fine performance. In the follow on, Mason was again promptly dismissed, and although MacLaren, Ranjitsinhji and Hayward made a big effort to stem the tide, it was evident that the bowlers had the upper hand. Trumble was again in great form, and in Noble the Australians found another bowler who afforded promise of being almost as dangerous on a queer wicket as many of the famous bowlers who pre­ ceded him. One great batsman after another failed to make a stand against the two bowlers, and the end was soon at hand. A ustralia . C. McLeod, b Storer...112 J. Darling, c Hirst, b Briggs .................36 G. Hill, c Storer, b Hayward.................58 S.E. Gregory, b Briggs 71 F. A. Iredale, c Ran- iitsinhji, b Hirst ...89 G. H. S. T r o t t , c W a in w r ig h t, b Briggs .................79 M. A. Noble, b Rich­ ardson ....................17 H. Trumble, c Hirst, b M ason ..................14 J. J. Kelly, c Rich­ ardson, b flearne ... 19 E. Jones, run out ... 7 T.R.McKibbin,not out 2 B 14, w 1, nb 1 .. 16 Total .. 620 N E X T ISSUE , T H U R S D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 24.