Cricket 1899

230 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME J une 29, 1899 them, was a splendid thing for the game. It is a common saying that in an old country like England it is very difficult to get an idea out of people’s heads, but there is a lot of truth in it. Australians could not help noticing during the visit of Stoddart’s team that your bowlers had become more mechanical, and although they kept a splendid length, had not the variety which our men are obliged to aim at. This was pointed out at the time by both MacLaren and Eanjitsinhji. It seems to me that one of the chief reasons why we beat you in Australia has never been thoroughly appreciated. The first is that several of our bowlers were batsmen, and Trumble, M ‘Leod, and Noble would all have been worth playing for their batting alone, whereas not one of your great bowlers was a bat. The great improvement in Australian cricket has been in batting. I know well enough that Englishmen say that a man cannot be a good bowler without injuring Lis batting, but I cannot think that this is right. With regard to batting in England, cricketers in Australia have been struck by the fact that W .G . still holds his own after all these years, and yet everybody who saw him in his prime says that he is nothing like as good as he used to be. If Englishmen would take my advice you would let us win two out of the next three test matches, and then set your teeth and go for us—you would certainly do that until you had turned us over and sat upon us.” “ What about Australian cricket of the present day F” “ I don’t think that there can be any question that cricket has vastly improved in Australia all round. I don’t mean that our best men are better than the best men of other days, but the generality of cricketers are better men than those who preceded them. The game, moreover, is played every year in a more sportsmanlike manner ; there is less bluffing men out than there used to be, and less appealing. Nowadays, if a man does anything which is considered at all shady, it is so much talked and written about that he is not likely to offend again. Each Australian learns something in England, and when he returns the rising generation reaps the benefit of it. The consequence is that our young batsmen have not to learn as many strokes when they come to England as they had to do in former days, and this is why men like Hill and Trumper have done so well. When I first came to England I should have been hung upon the nearest tree if I had attempted to play such strokes as are made nowadays by all good batsmen. But the strokes nowadays have to be learned if a youngster is to be of any use, and, thanks to example, he has not much to unlearn when he comes to England. It is a curious thing that a miss in the slips was the thing which caused Trumper to be in the team. He had consistently failed in every trial match, until everyone thought that he could only play well against a certain class of bowling. In his second last opportunity he gave a chance before he had scored, but afterwards, by his score of 46, showed clearly enough that he was all right. It was a fortunate miss for us.” “ Are the best wickets of 1899 better than those which you met with on your first visit?” “ They are up-to-date without a doubt, and I think I may say that we all find the good ones as fast even as those at Sydney. In addition to this, the grass does not grow on your grounds as fast as it does with us, with corresponding advantages to the scoring. In Melbourne at the end of a match a score of 300 is as good as one of 390 on the first day, because the grass grows so quickly and is not cut while the game is in progress. I have noticed a great improvement in the umpiring. Perhaps this is because I am getting older, but I think it is because more attention is paid to it. With few exceptions, we always get fair play with no favour, which is as it should be.” “ Do you find that there is the same curio­ sity to see the Australians—at practice and so forth—as there was when you were over here in 1888?” “ I think so. To give you an instance. When we went out to practise at Sheffield, we were at once surrounded by an interested crowd, one of whom caught hold of me and asked, ‘ Which be Hill ? ’ I pointed him out. ‘ Well,’ he replied, ‘ He’s a likely lad,’ and turning to a friend, he said, ‘ They be bonnie lads, these Australians,’ to which the unex­ pected reply was, ‘ So they’d ought to be. Look where they co’ from ! *” “ Spectators on Yorkshire grounds are nearly always interesting and enthusiastic? ” “ They are, indeed. I don’t think that anywhere else you hear such quaint remarks. Once, during the splendid second innings of J. T. Brown, there was a dead silence, which was interrupted by a loud ejaculation from an old gentleman in the crowd, ‘ God bless thee, my lad ! ’ I remember another incident, which was characteristic of the intense anxiety with which every move in the game is watched on Yorkshire grounds. It occurred during my first visit to England. I had made a catch, and directly the next man came in, he hit a ball from Charlie Turner along the ground in my direction, and started for a run, though as it happened he was sent back just in time. At the critical moment when I was in the very act of throw­ ing in the ball, a spectator, unable to contain himself for excitement, yelled out, ‘ Hah ! y o u ---------.’ I needn’t mention the precise expression, which was heard all over the ground, and which so exactly expressed the feelings of a crowd worked up to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, that the relief which was experienced when the batsman got home was followed by a roar of laughter. The mention of enthusiasm reminds me of an incident of which Tom Horan once told me. It happened in Yorkshire in one of the tours when Spofforth was playing. When the Australians were going to the pavilion, after fielding, they had, as usual, to go through a dense crowd, one of whom, amechanic, withthe most dirty of hands, posted himself in front of Spofforth, saying, ‘ I want to shake hands wi’ t’ Demon.’ Spofforth looked at the hands with hesitation, but saw that it was better to humour his admirer, who, after the act was accomplished with proper formality, walked about shewing his hand to an admir­ ing circle, saying, ‘ This is the hand which has been shook by t’ Demon.’ ” While he was at Manchester Mr. Worrall saw Bates, the famous old Yorkshire cricketer. “ He reminded me,” said Mr Worrall, “ of an incident which I had forgotten, and told me of one connected with himself. With regard to the former, Victoria were playing an English eleven. Scotton and hlowers were batting. I bowled a ball to Flowers, who hit it back so hard that Scotton, to get out of the way of it, dropped his bat. As it happened, the ball hit the bat and glanced off to mid-on, who made an easy catch. In the other case, Bates was bowling at Melbourne, when Bonnor went in to bat. You know the sort of slow cock-a-doodle ball that Bates used to bowl. He turned to W . W. Read and asked him to stand in close to Bonnor, who, he said, would be sure to cock up the ball. ‘ But,’ said W . W ., ‘ he would probably kill me,’ and hesitated to go, although, after reflection, he said he would do so. Bates, however, said that it did not matter, but warned him to make ready to rush in as soon as the ball was bowled. The scheme worked. Bonnor seeing nobody near, gently played the ball a little in the air, only to find that W . W . was upon him, and him­ self caught. Bates did the hat trick, getting Percy McDonnell, George Giffen and Bonnor with consecutive balls. The Melbourne Cricket Club presented him with £13 10s.” W. A. B e t t b s w o r t h . A FEW FACTS ABOUT MR. WOR- RALL’S CAREER. He was born at Maryborough on May 12th, 1863, and was chosen to play for Maryborough when 14 years of age ; he scored 41. In the following year he gained a place in the Mary­ borough football team. He afterwards removed to Ballarat, and against Shaw and Shrewsbury’s 1st team scored 67. For Ballarat v. Ivo Bligh’s X I. in 1882-3, he made 52 out of the X V IIl’s total of 226. In 1883 he first played for Victoria. In 1884 he removed to Melbourne, and played for the East Melbourne club. In a match in 1886, for East Melbourne, he obtained seven wickets for 1 run, and at the end of that season he occupied first place in the bowling averages of his club. Possibly his best performance with the ball was for Victoria v. G. F. Vernon’ s X I., at Melbourne, when he got five wickets for 32 runs, delivering 115 balls. Chief scores in first-class matches in Australia: — 103 Victoria v. N. 8. W ........... Sydney .. Jan., 1898 109 Victoria v. N. 8. W ...........Melbourne.. Dec., 1889 101 Victoria v. 8. Australia ...Adelaide ...Dec , 1898 Batting averages for the Carlton club in 1895-6 was as follows :— Inns. Not out. Highest score. Runs. Average. 8 1 417* 767 108*14*2867 His score of 417 not out is the largest score ever made in Australia, and contained three fives and sixty-one fours. It was made on the Carlton ground against Melbourne University. SUNNINGDALE SCHOOL v. ST. GEORGE’ S SCHuOL (W indsor).—Played at Sunningdale on June 21. SUNMINQDALK SCHOOL. P. P. W . Andrews, not out .......................... 45 C. A . L. Payne, c and b Walter ...................10 M. Kemp-Welch, b Thorndikt...................23 G. F. Connal-Rowan, b Walter ........... 0 R. fi. Walker, c Bos- tock, b W alter......... 0 D. C. F. Burton, b Walter ................... 0 R.D.Oxley, c Bostock, b Th orn dik e........... A. H. Mollman, b Walter ................... S. Scrimgeour, b Walter ................... J. Clegg, c Walter, b Thorndike ........... W . G. Pease, b Thorn­ dike ........................... Byes ................... Total S t . G k o b g e ’ d S c h o o l . . . . I l l First innings. A . R. Thorndike, c Connal- Rowan, b Mollmann ... 20 A. P. W . Deane, lbw, b Andrews ................... ... W . G. Edwards, lbw, b A n d re w s .................................... R. A. Walter, c Walker, b b Andrews........................... H. 8. Ross, b Andrews L.O Cane, c Connal-Rowan, b Payne ........................... H. W . Bostock, run out ... M. L. Smith, c Connal- Rowan, b Payne K. F. Roberts, run out C. D. MacCullum, c Payne, b Kemp-W elch................... 3 H. L. Cox, not out ........... 0 Leg-bye ........................... 1 Second inniD gs. c Connal-Kowan, b Mollman ... 0 not out................... 4 b Mollmann 0 b Kemp-W elch... 6 c M ollm in, b Kemp-W elch .. 4 b M ollm an ......... 0 b Mollmann c Payne, b M oll- 9 mann ........... 0 c Clegg, b M oll­ mann ........... Total 40 B3, lb 1, w l... 6 Total(8 wkta) 25