Cricket 1899

J une 22, 1899. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 217 ENGLAND y . AUSTRALIA. THE SECOND MATCH. TW E LFTH OF THE AUSTRALIAN TOUR. Played at Lord’s on June 15, 16 and 17. Australia won by ten wickets. Doubt as to the ability of our bowlers to give a good account o f themselves was felt by almost every Englishman before the match began, but the rock on which we split was hidden from our eyes. Our bowling might be weak, our fielding not as brilliant as that of the Australians, but our battiDg at least was beyond reproach. So we all thought, and so we shall all con­ tinue to think until we have something more than the result of a single match to go upon. But whether the wicket had been a little too well watered, as in the Kent v. Middlesex match on the previous three days, or whether the pace of the wicket deceived the batsman, or whether an unlucky start had the effect of creating a—but perhaps it is better not to enquire too particularly into the reasons fcr the col­ lapse in the first innings, which was without doubt at the bottom of the mischief. From the time that Banjitsinhji and Fry were out England was playing a defending game instead of an attacking one as in former days ; it could be seen at every point of the game except in wicket-keeping. W hen England won the toss a large score was anticipated, and if anyone thought of the fiasco which took place three years ago in the same match, when the Australians collapsed before Hearne and Richardson for 53, he brushed the recollection aside as a thing of no moment. Fry and MacLaren went to the wickets. The former has been tried ihis year and not found w anting; the latter was playing on his reputation alone, for it was his first appearance of the season in a big match. "When four runs were on the board he was bowled neck and crop by Jones, and the number of “ I told you so’s ” which passed round the ground could almost be calculated. Two experiments had been made, and the first one was a failure—so far. Of course there was nothing in the downfall of the first batsman for four—such things often happen when the total amounts to four or five hundred—but when Ranjitsinhji, who was in brilliant form just before the match, was out at 14 to a clever catch by Jones, who ran more than half way up the wicket to get to the ball, things began to look bad. The Aus­ tralians now began to see their way before them. Much depended on whether a stand was made for the next wicket, and as Fry was still in, and Townsend, who came to join him, had been making a lot of runs in recent matches, there seemed no reason why the threatened collapse should not be averted. But at 20 Townsend was neatly stumped, and the debacle was in full swing. Spectators began to breathe wht n Fry and Jackson Retmed at home, but Fry went at 44, Hayward at 45, and Tyldesley at 66. Six wickets down ! It was not quite as bad a look out as it was for the Australians in 1896, but it was none the less unpleasant. It was a cheerful time for Jessop, who had never played in an England and Australia match, to go to the wickets, more especially when he knew well enough that he was experiment number two; but he was game, and after being a little uneasy for a few minutes he settled down to keep Jackson com­ pany, although he was content to make runs slowly at first. When, however, he had warmed to his work he amply vindicated the wisdom of the committee in selecting him. For the first and only time during the innings the bowling was collared. Both men played excellent cricket, and both made runs quickly until when lunch time came the score had been taken to 147, which, with four wickets still in hand, was not altogether hopeless. The break in the innings, how­ ever, did its work, and at 161 Jessop was out for 67, which had been put together in 65 minutes, the long- to-be-remembered partnership having produced i*5 runs. Unhappily Jackson followed Jessop soon after­ wards ; he had made a noble stand, which will never be forgotten. After this the end soon came. Although a total of 206 was not likely to be nearly enough, the Australians did not begin their innings in a very promising way, for they lost Darling, Worrall and Gregory for 57. There the success o f the England team ended. Clement Hill, who had by this time played himself in, was joined by Noble, and for the rest of the day the two men were masters of the situation. MacLaren might change his bowling and E lace his field, but luck was not in the way of the ome team, whose fielding moreover was not perfect. Hilljplayed beautiful cricket, and Noble looked as safe as a house. They had come to stay, and when stumps were drawn the total was only 50 behind that of Eng­ land, seven wickets being still in hand. It was decidedly a cheerless outlook for England when the game was resumed. The two not outs again settled down comfortably, and in such a leisurely manner as to pointto avery longpartnership indeed,althoughit came to an end Booner than was expected, having produced 130 in two hours and a quarter. Noble’s 54 was an invaluable innings made just at the right time, and it was just as well that he was notallowed to stay any longer. The representative of Young Australia now appeared in the person of Trumper. Hill was at that exasperating stage of his innings when you never know whether he is going for his hundred or his two hundred, and from the way in which Trumper took charge of the bowling soon after he went in it looked as if he was going to take a leaf out of Hill’s book. The two boys—they are not much more than boys— against whim Englishmen at present cannot place two other boys as a balance, although we are keeping our eye on a few youngsters who may in a year or two astonish our friends from the Antipodes, made the bowling look remarkably cheap. They went on and on with a certainty which was eminently dis­ quieting, for they never looked in the least like getting out. Suffice it to say that Hill did not reach his second hundred, that his 135 was made in four hours by cricket of the best kind, and that 82 runs were put on during the partnership. When Hill went there were five wickets down for 271, and this welcome relief left England in no desperate position. But the bowling was worn out, the fielding not as brilliant as it might have been, Trumper was still very much at home, and the tail showed no unseemly haste in getting out, nor, for the matter of that, in making rims. But in the course of the afterncon the innings was brought to a conclusion. Like Hill, Trumper did not succeed in making his 2C0, but this may have been because he could find no one to stay with him long enough. As it was he was at the wickets for three hours and a-quarter for his 135. It was a very greatfeatto accomplish during his firstvisit to England, and it was indeed a fortunate chance which led to his being included in the team. The innings finished for 421, which was after all nothing remarkable in the way of big totals, for although Jones frequently made the ball get up, there was no Englishman who could take advantage of any defect which there may have teen in the wicket. Mead bowled with great accuracy, and with a little luck ought to have had a good average ; but he seemed to “ serve them all up out of the same box,” like so many English bowlers. Townsend had a much better analysis than any Australian bowler except Jones—but we wanted a Jones very badly. Although the Australians had a lead of over 200 on the first innings, it did not by any means follow that they were going to win the match, for it could not be imagined for a moment thatEngland would fail to do itself justice in the second innings. Alas ! Fry, Banjitsinhji and Townsend were again all out innext to no time—alloutfor23—threeinsignificant runs more than were obtained for three wickets in the first innings. Bayward gave a chance before he had scored, and if it had been taken goodness knows what would have happened. But^he survi\ed, and with Jackson, who again played beautiful cricket, put some heart into the game. All went well until the last five minutes, when, to the sorrow of the spectators, Jacks >n was caught and bowled by Trumble. This was the crowning calamity. Four wickets were now down for 94, and matters were in a desperate con­ dition. Even now the match might be pulled out of the fire if all the other men happened to come off—and, indeed, why should they not 1 On Saturday morning MacLaren—experiment N o. 1—went to the wicket with Hayward. When the innings closed he was still there. He never looked like getting out, never made a bad stroke, and played an absolutely perfect up-hill game. It is not too much to say that he played the most remarkable innings of the match, notwithstanding that no fault could be found with the cricket of Hill, Trumper, or Jackson Nor could the cricket played by Hayward be forgotten. W hile he was in with MacLaren the bowling seemed simple, and everybody wondered. When he went for a splendid innings of 77 it once more seemed very difficult—always excepting when MacLaren had to deal with it. The tail collapsed, but the innings defeat was avoided, for as soon as MacLaren saw that the game could not be saved, he promptly set to work to at least save the innings defeat, and in this he was successful. In this innings Jones was not the destructive agent, but as each of the other bowlers did what was required of him, this did not much matter. W hen Darling felt that a change was needed he tried another bowler, more often than otherwise with success. But there are still three more matches, and such a curious game is cricket that he may even have to go on himself before they are over. W ho shall say 1 E n g lan d . First innings. C.B.Fry, c Trumble, b Jones 13 A. C. MacLaren, b Jones ... 4 K.S.Banjitsinhji,c&b Jones 8 C. L. Townsend, st Kelly, b H ow ell................................... 5 F. S. Jackson, b Jones ... 73 Hayward, b Noble ........... 1 Tyldesley ,c Darling, b Jones 14 G. L. Jessop, o Trumper, b Trumble .......................... 61 Lilley, not out ...................19 Mead, b Jones ................... 7 Bhodes, b Jones .................. 2 B 2, lb 6, w 1 ........... 9 A u str a l ia . J.Worrall ,c Hayward, b B hodes......................18 J. Darling, c Banjit­ sinhji, b Bhodes ... 9 C. Hill, c Fry, b Town­ send ......................... 135 S.E. Gregory, c Lilley, b Jessop ......................15 M. A. Noble, c Lilley, b Bhodes......................54 V . Trnmper, notout.. 136 J. J. Kelly, c Lilley, b M ead.......................... 9 H. Trumble, c Lilley, b Jessop ...................24 F. Laver, b Townsend 0 E. Jem s, c Mead, b Townsend.................. 17 W .P. Howell, b Jessop 0 Lb 4, n b l ........... 5 Total ...421 Second innings:—J. Worrall, net out, 11; J. Dar]ir g, not cut, 17.—Total (no wicket), ?8. E n g la n d . Fiist innings. O. M. R. W . Jores E owell ... N olle ... Trumble... 36 1 11 14 4 . 15 7 15 7 ... 43 1 ... 39 1 ... 27 1 ... Laver Howell bowled a wide. Second innings. O. M. B .W . 36 15 76 3 SI 12 67 1 19*4 8 i7 2 15 6 20 1 16 4 36 3 A u st r a l ia . O. M. B. W . Jessop................... 37*1 10 105 3 ........... M ea d ................... 53 24 91 1 ........... Bhodts ...........39 14 1C8 3 ........... Jackson ........... 18 6 31 0 ........... Townsend......... 15 1 50 3 ........... Banjitsinhji ... 2 0 6 0 ........... H a }w a rd .......... 6 0 25 0 ........... Mead delivered one no-ball. O. M . B. W . 6 0 19 0 SUNNINGDALE SCHOOL v. WOODCOTE HOUSE.—Played at W oodcote House on June 14. S u n n in g d a le First Innings. P. P. W . Andrews, c W hit­ ing, b Fraser ................... C. A. L. Payne, c Croys- dale, b Fraser ................... G.F.Connal-Bowan.bFraser M. Kemp-Welch, b Whiting B. B. Walker, b W hiting... D. C. F. Burton, c Croys- dale, b Fraser ................... R. D. Oxley, b Fraser . A . H. Mollmann, run out... 8. Sciimgeour, not out J. Clegg, c Mathews, b Whiting ........................... P. Lyle, cbiffard,b Whiting B yes................................... S chool . Second innings. 2 cHeaton,bW arntrll 19 b Fraser ...........14 0 cMartyn,bHeaton 51 0 b Fraser ...........32 8 cWhiting.bFraser 0 5 b Fraser ...... 3 4 b He aton ..... 1 5 b W h itin g..... 17 6 cFrastr,bWhiting 23 0 not out ........... 7 1 b W h itin * ..... 0 3 B 6, lb 1 ... 7 Total... Total ...166 W oodcotk H ouse . G.Giffard,bMi)llmann 14 R. Heaton, c Oxley, b Mollmann ........... 4 R. M. Fraser, b Payne 12 R. Whiting, b Payne... 2 H.Martyn,bM ollmann 7 D. R. Warner, b Paj ne 0 J. Fraser, b Mollmann 5 S. Burt, b Payne........... 2 Second inninge: G. Gitfard, c Connal-Bowan, b Payne, 0 ; R. Beaton, b Mollmann, 1 ; R. M. Fraser, not out, 2; B 1, lb 1, w 1,3—Total (2 wkts), 6. P. Croysdale, b Mtill- m a tn ................................ E. Mathews, not out P. Shaw-Smith, b Payne ................... B 3, nb 1 ........... Total 62 Total .........206 Second innings. b Jones ........... not out................. ) c Noble, b Howell 0 b Jones ........... 8 c and b Trumble 37 cTrumble,bLaver 77 cGregory,b Laver 4 cTrumble,bLaver 4 b Jones ...............12 lbw, b Noble ... 0 c andb Noble ... 2 B 2, lb 2............ 4 T ota l............240 HAMPSTEAD v. PALLING SW ICK .—Played at Hampstead on June 14. H am pste a d . First innings. Second innings. W . F. Hancock, b Roberts 3 b B ate...................14 F. Bowley, c Collins, b Boberts ........................... 8 st Luxmore, b Bowstead ... 5 W . T. Danby, b Boberts ...1 5 cClay,b Bowstead l H. C. McNeill, b Boberts ... 12 n otou t...................65 T. M. Farmilce, c Bate, b Boberts ........................... 4 c and b Bate ... 1 J. C. Toller, c Slater, b Roberts ........................... 1 b Bryce ...........22 L. Holland, b Collins...........18 c Lockyer,b Pryce 2 G. A. S. Bickson, c Bow­ stead, b Lockner ...........15 not out ............. 1 D. MacGrcgor, b Collins... 0 E. L. Marsden, b Collins 6 G. L. Jeffery, not out ... 0 Extras...........................24 Extras............. 13 Total................. 1C6 Total (6 wkts) 124 P a llin g sw ic k . J. Bowstead, c Toller, |C. C. Boberts.b Toller 21 b Marsden ...........29 P. H. Slater, c and b Marsden ................... A. F. C. Luxmore, c Bickson, b Holland 6 H. V. Bate, b Marsden 3 E. A. Collins, c Mac Neill, b Marsden ... 2 J. C. Clay, b Holland 0 R. M . Lockner, | Toller ................... 4 8 B. A . Carter, not out 9 F. H . Price, b Marsden 0 J.Tristram.b Marsden 0 Extras ... 22 Total