Cricket 1899

J uly 6, 1899. C R IC K E T ; A W E E K L Y R E C O R D O F T H E G A M E . 249 ENGLAND y . AUSTRALIA. THE THIRD MATCH. S IX T E E N T H M A T C H O F T H E A U S T R A L IA N T O U R . Played at Leeds on June 29, 30 and July 1. Abandoned. Disappointing in the extieme was tbe result of this match to everybody except, perhaps, the Australians, who may not have been particularly sorry that rain prevented any play from taking place on Saturday. It cannot be said that the choice of the Er gland team was such as to meet with universal approval, and an impression teems to be about that the old committees who each chose the team for their own ground knew what was likely to be the best eleven for the ground far better than an outside committee. It was distinctly a bold experiment to play J. T. Hearne, inasmuch as he had been out of foim with the ball for a m onth; in the second innings he did the hat trick, but in the first he was very expensive and quite unsuccessful. The choice of Your g was another matter—he had teen doing well, and in a time of panic it was doubtless advisable to try experiments,— he very decidedly justified his inclusion in the team. Despite the baa luck which followed England all through the match, the Australians were outplayed, and but for the sad accident which depiived England of the services of Briggs after the first day’s play they would in all probability have teen beaten before the rain came. "When the Australians had still afew iuns to make before they could draw level, with only four wickets in hand, it seemed all up with them, and it was then that the absence of Bripgs began to be very severely felt—for when once Young ana Hearne -were knocked off there was no great bowler left—for neither Jackson nor Hayward can be considered as a great bowler at the present moment. Rain fell very heavily in Yorkshire on the night before the match, and it was pretty evident when the game began that the bowlers were far more likely to distir guish them­ selves than the batsmen. 'When the Australians went in the wicket was between the two extremes of very difficult and very easy, but, with the exception of W orrall, Trumble, and H ill, the batsmen were al­ together unable to adapt themselves to the altered conditions; after playing on so many fast wickets they could not time the ball at all well. On this occasion Darling altered bis order, sending in Kelly and W orrall. The former was morally bowled by Briggs before being caught off him without scoring. Noble, anxious to break his duck, wss run out, and Gregory was caught at the wicket—all three men failing to score. As W orrall also gave a chance in the slips -when he had scored three it was very evident that something would have to be done if a startling collapse were to be avoided. It was well that Bill, who now came in to join Worrall, is never upset by the state of the game. He settled down as though he had come to stay, leaving Worrall to make nearly all the runs—W orrall was in very great form, playing exactly the game which was required. If he had not already maae his reputation as one of the finest bats in the team, his perfoimance on Thursday would have convinced everybody that he was a great cricketer. He did not hit at everything in a haphazard manner, but whenever there was ibe slightest opening he made use of it. 1 hanks almost entirely to him the score was mounting up to respect­ able proportions, but when he was almost within sight of his hundred he under-estimated the cleverness o f W. G. Quaife as a fieldsman and was run ou t- it was a splendid piece of work by Quaife, but it would nave been useless if Lilley had not given the finishing touches to it by taking the ball, which was thrown in wide, and putting down the wicket in record time. W orrall had been tatting for an hour and a quarter for his 76, which was made out of a total of 95, so that he scored at the rate o f exactly four runs to one by his partners. There were now four wickets down, and there were still plenty o f good batsmen to go in. But no one else ever got anything like a command over the bowling, and although Hill crntinued to play excellent cricket, and Darling looked as if he might make some runs, the latter was out at 114. Trumper began well, but was bowled at 131, and six wickets were down. This was not so bad, for if the tail had played up to its reputation a score of two hundred might easily have been made, for B ill was still in and looked as if he meant to stay. Immediately after ^ c h e o n Hill was out for a characteristic 34, and although Trumble kept up his wicket the end sron Young,w ho had bowled admirably all the lime inat he was on, finishing up in great style. Briggs also bowled very well indeed, but Jackson and Be»>rne, »ne only other men who were tried, were both dis­ appointing. It was generally agreed that the Aus­ tralians ought to have made more runs, for the wicket was at its best—such as it was—when they were in. Jfrom the way in which MacLaren and Brown began the England innings it looked as if runs might be made pretty easily by men who made up their minds to take certain risks, but when 27 had been put up in twenty minutes MacLaren was out. Much was hoped o f Ranjitsinhji, who had been in such magnificent form ; and although he was not quite comfortable at first, he made two beautiful boundary hits off Noble, and seemed set when he was caught at mid-off—two for 38. A t 53 Brown, after playing very sound cricket for an hour, was caught off his glove from a rising ball. The wick et was now becoming more and more difficult, and no particular surprise would have been felt if Ec gland had collapsed. Ihere was a good deal of curiosity to see how W . G. Quaife would shape against the Australian bowling, although it was hardly a fair test for any man. But Quaife was as cool and collected as if he had been at practice. Tbe Australians made the most desperate efforts to secure his wicket, the fieldsmen crowding round him in a way which was calculated to unnerve a iy m a n ; it had no effect on Quaife, who occasionally marked a square inch or two where a ball might be placed without touching any o f the field, and thereby made a few runs. Meanwhile Jackson, who had agreed at the eleventh hour to play, after announcing that for private reasons he would be unable to assist England, was bowled by Trumble for nine, and Fry bad come in. From this time the prospects of England began to look up. When the partnership began, the total was 69 for four wickets; at the end of the day it was 119, ard the two men were still in. There was a very striking contrast in their styles. Quaife, who is not to be flurried by any bowler, whether he be Australian or English, kept on his way, and scored at about the rate of ten rims an hour, while Fry played a deter- nined game, not hesitating to walk out to the bowling occasionally, and it is hardly necessary to say that the field did not crowd too closely round him. Thus at the end of the first day’s play the advantage decidedly rested with England, despite the fact that they had a tail which was not likely to do much in the way of scoring. ButonThursdaynightBriggswastaken ill and could take no further part in the match ; he is not a great batsman, but he is a man who on a queer wicktt is often very useful, and his loss was greatly felt. On Friday morning there was a startling altera­ tion in the appearance of the game, try and Quaife both being out without adding to their score. Six wickets for 119—in the absence of Biiggs it was prac­ tically seven for 119—was a very different thing from four for 119, and there were now only Hayward and Lilley who could possibly be depended on to make any runs. It was indeed a time to test the mettJe of a man. Haywaid and Lilley were however equal to the occasion. They defied the attack of the Austra­ lians for an hour and forty minutes, during which they brought the total up by about a hundred. Both men played wonderfully good cricket, and although Hay­ ward was missed once or twice, it must not be forgotten that the wicket was entirely in favour of the bowlers. Heame and Young collapsed with promptitude, and B a} ward was left to carry his bat. Trumble bowled with great success and with much judgment. England had now a l°ad of 48, which but for the absence of Briggs might have been turned to excellent use. For a time it seemed that Briggs would not be missed, for after 34 of the runs had been hit off without loss by Worrall and Darling ti e spectators were treated to some sensational cricket. W orrall was very finely caught in the country by Tyldesley, who was fleldiDg in the place of Bnggs, and then Btarne had a brief moment of brilliant triumph. He bowled Clement B ill for a duck with tie third ball of an over. Off the next ball Gregory was caught by M aclaren in the slips, and off the last ball of the over Noble was also caught in the slips by Banjitsinbji. The appearance of the game was thus absolutely altered in a minute. W hen, directly after­ wards, Darling skied a tall to Fry, who clung to it like a leech, the Australians were in a parlous state, for with half their wickets down they were still nine runs behind, and an innings defeat was within the bounds of possibility. W hat would have happened if Briggs had been playing can only be imagined, but as it was the next two men, Trumper and Kelly, who, like Hayward and Lilley in the morning, had to go in at a desperately trying time, wore down the bowling of Hearne and Young, with the result that the only reserves who could be called upon were Hayward, Jackson, and, as a dernier ressirt, J. T. >rown. Steadily and surely the two batsmen felt their way, until when they had been in for an hour, during which they increased the total by 58, the Austialians could breath again. It may be mentioned that the first change was not made until the total was 82, which was perhaps a little late in the day. Trumble, who is in particuJarly fine form all round just now. came in and played a remarkably good game, and Laver, who has not been lucky during the tour, showed plainly enough, by an excellent innings of 45, that the selecting committee knew what they were about when they selected him. Too much praise cannot be given to the way in which Trumper, Kelly, '1 rumble and Laver pulled the match out of the fire. They went in when the game was very greatly in favour of England, and when they were all out their side had a chance—it may not have been a great one, but it was a distinct chance—of winning. England had to make 177 to win, with twenty minutes before them before stumps were drawn on the second day. Nothing was more likely, in the peculiar state of the wicket, than that two or three wickets would fall, but although Jones made the ball get up in a startling manner, Brown and Quaife held their own, and knocked off 19 of the runs, leaving their side in a very satisfactory position indeed. Unfortunately rain fell at various times on Saturday, and the match had to be abandoned. A ustraiia . First innings. Second innings. J. W orrall, run out ...........76 c sub.,b Young... 16 J. J. Kelly, c Fry, b Briggs 0 c Lilley, b Hay­ w ard...................33 M. A . Noble, run out........... 0 c Ranjitsinhji, b Heame ........... 0 S. E. Gregory, c Lilley, b Hearne.................................. 0 c MacLaren, b Hearne ........... 0 C. Hill, cLilley, b Young... 34 b Heame ........... 0 J. J. Darling, c Young, b B riggs................................... 9 c Fry, b Young... 16 V . Trumper, b Young ... 12 c Ranjitsinhji, b Jack son ...........32 H. Trumble, not o u t ...........20 run out .............56 F. Laver, st Lilley, b Briggs 7 c Lilley,b Hearne 45 E. Jones, b Young ........... 5 c Brown, b Hay­ ward ................... 2 W F.Howell, c Ranjitsinbji, b Young ........................... 7 not out................... 2 Byes ........................... 2 Bl7,lb3,w l,nbl 22 Total ................... 172 T o ta l.......224 E ngland . J. T. Brown, sen., c Hayward, not out ... 40 Trumble, b N oble... 27 Lilley,cHill,bTrumble 55 A . C. MacLaren, c and J.T.Hearne,bTrumble 3 b Trumble ... ... 9 Young, c Kelly, b K. 8. Banjitsinhji, c T ru m b le................... 0 Worrall, b Noble ... 11 Briggs, absent, ill ... 0 W . G. Quaife, b Jones 20 B 3, lb 5 ........ 8 F.ri.Jackson,bTrumble 9 — C. B. Fry, b Noble ... 88 Total ................220 Second innings J. T. Brown, not out, 14 ; W . G. Quaife, not out, 1 ; leg-byes, 4.—Total (no wkt.), 19. A u stralia. First innings. Second innings. O. M. R. W . O. M. R. W . Hearne ........... 23 5 69 1 ............ 31*3 12 50 4 Briggs ... ... 30 11 53 3 ............ Young ........... 19*1 11 30 4 ............ 25 6 72 2 Jack son ........... 5 1 18 0 .............11 6 13 1 Brown ... 7 0 22 0 Hayward 10 1 45 2 Young bowled one no-ball and one wide. E ngland . First innings. Second innings. O. M. R. W . O .M .R .W . Trumble ...........39’3 16 60 5 ............ N o b le .................. 42 17 82 3 ............ 3 1 8 0 H ow ell................... 13 3 29 0 ............ Jones ................... 21 9 34 1 ............ 4 2 7 0 Laver ................... 3 1 7 0 ........... HAMPSHIRE v. SURREY. Played at Southampton on June 29 and 30 and July 1. Hampshire won by six wickets. The absence from the Surrey team of Hayward, who was playing for England at Leeds, and also of Brockwell and Richardson, who would have only been too glad to play for England instead of being in­ terested spectators, and a remarkable innings by M ajor Poore, were the main causes of the defeat of Surrey five minutes before time. There was a reason­ able chance on Saturday afternoon that Surrey might be saved from defeat by the arrival of rain, which has this season come in a very opportune manner to the rescue of some o f the sides which have been opposed to Surrey. Even when the rain, after frequently interrupting the play, refused to do anything more for the visitors, it was by no means certain that Hamp­ shire would make the 94 runs required o f them in the hour and a half at their disposal; but the home team went to work with a will, and not finding any bowling good enough to keep them very quiet, just managed to gain the victory. When Surrey went in first on Thursday they began their innings in a way whith was even more disastrous than that of the Australians at Leeds, for seven wickets fell for 44—there was nothing radically wrong with the wicket, but the batsmen were quite unable to understand its pace. A t the finish o f the game Abel and Stonor began a partnership which placed their side on a much better footing. They both played carefully, and in the course of an hour and a quarter they put on 70 runs. Abel played a very sound game, and Stonor, although he was unsteady for a time, showed that he had a lot of cricket in him. Afterwards Nice and W ood played lively cricket for the last wfrcket, and when the innings closed there was nothing very disheartening about the score. A t the close of the day it even looked as if it would be quite large enough, for Hampshire had lost