Cricket 1899

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — Byron. Ho. 5 0 0 . VO L . X V I I I . THURSDAY, JANUAEY 26, 18S9 P R IC E 2d. MR. VICTOR TRUMPER, Two years ago the name of Victor Trumper, who is a clerk in ths Civil Service, was quite unknown to the greater number oi cricketers ; to day he is recognised as being one of the best of present day batsmen in Austi aVa. When it is remembered that it was as recently as the season of 1897- 98 that he made his debut in inter­ colonial matches, it will be generally adm it!el that his progress has been rapid in­ deed. His scores for that season in matches played to decide which colony should become the possessor of the Sheffield shield were as follows : Against South Aus­ tralia, at Adelaide, 48 and 13 ; against Victoria, at Sydney, 12 and 12 ; and in the return with South Australia, 68 and 7. These scores, although they were good for a man new to first-class cricket, were nothing out of the ordi­ nary, and certainly did not lead one to suppose that the compiler of them would shortly afterwards challenge comparison with the best o f A u s tr a lia n b a tsm en . Trumper’s scores in eleven a-side matches against Mr. Stoddart’s team were p oor— five and nought, four not out and twenty-three. But it was his batting for the Pad­ dington Club which first began to attract the atten­ tion of cricketers. His record for the club during the season of 1897-98 was eight innings, three times not out, highest score one hundred and ninety-one not out, total runsone thousand and twenty- one, average two hundred and fou r ! His scores were as follows :— 82, 123, 125, 85, 120 not out, 191 not out, 133 and 162 not out. This is, without much doubt, a record average for eight innings, although Noble, with an average of 429 for four innings (three times not out), may possi­ bly exceed it. Trumper’s batting for Paddington during that season recalls to memory the doings of J. Swift, who, for the Yarra Burg Club, near Mel­ bourne, in 1877-78, played innings of 121, 109, 142, 114, and 144 not out, in five consecutive matches. A. C. Banner- man, the famous “ barndoor” batsman, had also a season of club cricket in Aus­ tralia in 1881-82 which was remark­ able ; he made five separate hundreds in MR. VICTOR TRUMPER. {From a Photo by Kerry & Co., 308, George Street , Sydney, N. the course of eight innings, including two in one match, which was, to say the least of it, a little hard on the opposing side. On March 5th, 1898, Trumper (191 not out) and A. C. Mackenzie (137) made 248 runs for the first wicket of Paddington v. Burwood, at Sydney, and from the fact that the first two hundred runs were obtained in ninety minutes, it may be gathered that Trumper is a pretty fast scorer. H e has, moreover, a great variety of strokes, and his timing of the ball is reported to be excellent. His great score of 292 not out in the recent match between New Sm th Wales and Tasmania has only been twice exceeded in first-class cricket in Australia, each time for New South Wales. The record is, as everybody knows, W . L. Murdoch’s memorable 321 against Victoria, at Sydney, February 10h , 11th, 12th, and 13th, 1882, whilst the second best score is credited to H . Moses, who compiled 297 not out against Victoria, at Sydney, January 26th, 27th, and 28th, 1888. To lovers of statistics it may be interesting to note that in the match already alluded to— New South Wales v. Tas­ mania—Trumper (292 net out) and F. A. Iredale (196) established a record partner­ ship for the sixth wicket in first-class Australian matches by adding 258 runs while they were together, thus eclipsing the previous best which was held by Iredale and H . Donnan for New South Wales v. Victoria, at Melbourne. But although Trumper has only quite recently become known to English cricketers, Australians had kept their eye on him some time, although he is still only just over twenty-one years of age—he was born at Sydney on November 2nd, 1877. Even when he was at the Sydney Grammar School he was famous, in a select circle, as a batsman of uncommon promise, for he frequently made hundreds, and almost invariably headed the aver­ ages. H e began to play for the Pad­ dington C. C. in 1896, and in his first season did so well that he was third in the averages with nine innings (twice not out), highest score 48—Total 149, average 21'28. It was a vast step from 21 to 203 in the follow ing season, although the S. W .)