Cricket 1902

A u g . 14, 1902. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 341 AUSTRALIANS WHO HAVE PLAYED IN ENGLISH CRICKET. Not content with having frequently beaten us at the game we taught them, the Austra­ lians have sent us several men who have played no inconsiderable part on the wider stage of English first-class cricket. Some have increased their fame by so doing; others have gained no fresh laurels ; but a glance at the records of first-class cricket for the last twelve years or more will show anyone who is interested in the game that the element of Australian born or bred men in English county teams has grown gradually till it has to be taken into consideration by everyone who pays any attention to cricket. It will be remembered that not so very long ago some exception was taken to the action of the M.C.C. in employing certain professionals from Austral a upon their staff of ground bowlers. The most famous name among theamateurs is, of course, that of Mr. W. L. Murdoch, perhaps the greatest bat Australia has yet produced, though some may prefer Clement Hill or Victor Trumper. He is the hero of a big innings of 321 for New South Wales v. Victoria in 1882, also of the highest individual score ever made in a test mutch—211 for the 1884 XI. against England at the Oval. In 1893 he first played for Sussex, which team he captained, and promptly proved himself an immense acquisition. Retiring from that leam in 1899, he has since played for the London County C.C., and has shown that though he is now approaching seven and forty, he is still a man to be reckoned with by bowlers. Mr. F. R. Spofforth was in his time one of the world’s greatest bowlers. It is of course solely through his doings with the Australian teams that he became famous, but after settling down in England he appeared several times for Derbyshire, and even occasionally took part in representative cricket at the Scarborough Festival until after the season of 1897. Standing six feet three, and sending down a fast ball which he could make break both ways, hewas indeed a “ demon ” bowler. Australia can claim a particularly capable athlete in Mr. S. M. J. Woods. While a freshman at Cambridge, he assisted the 1888 Australian team in several matches; he obtained his Blue in that year, and captained the Cambridge eleven in 1890. He and Mr. (now the Hon.) F. S. Jackson were in 1897 the heroes of an uncommon performance, bowling unchanged for Gentlemen v. Players at Lord’s, lt is perhaps unnecessary to re­ capitulate his maLy other brilliant perfor­ mances. Latterly his towling has not been so good, but he is still a grand hitter, and especially fond of the Oval. He isimmensely popular, and has been with many teams on tour. He is an old International Rugby forward. Mr. J. J. Ferris was a great bowler here in 1888 and 1890, with C. T. B. Turner as his partner. His averages in those two seasons were 14*23 and 13’43 ; on each visit he took over 200 wickets. When, however, he repre­ sented Gloucestershire, which he did from 1892 to 1895, he, like so many others, de­ veloped his batting at the expense of his bowling. But it is not to be denied that as a bowler he was of considerable service to his county. He returned to Australia before his death, which took place at Durban, South Africa, in the autumn of 1900, whilst he was on active service. It is a pity that Sussexdidnot longer enjoy the services of Mr. G. L. Wilson. Represen­ ting Oxford against Cambridge in 1890 and 1891, he also batted brilliantly for the county upon numerous occasions. Against Oxford University in June 1895, at Brighton, he and Marlow made 303 for the first wicket, scoring respectively 174 and 130. In May 1893 on the same ground, against Gloucestershire, he and Bean wi nt in first and made 217 before being parted. He made 105 and Bean 120. He was, I believe, much handicapped at various times by ill-health. Three other Australian cricket Blues are the Rev. P. S. Waddy and Messrs. C. W. Rock and E. R. de 1ittle. Waddy played for Oxford in 1896 and 1897, his all-round form being extremely useful. Rock was in the Cambridge teams of 1885 and 1886, and also appeared for Warwickshire, then a second- class county ; de Little was one of the Cam­ bridge bowlers of 1889. The name of Mr. L. O. S. Poidevin brings us to the present season. During the Australian season of 1901-2 he was extremely successful in inter-state crickct and against Maclaren’s team, but, contrary to some expectations, was not included in the team for England. Coming over here on his own account, he has proved a useful recruit to the London County club. He was one of the five men who scored hundreds for New South Wales when they made the record total of 918 against South Australia in January 1901. Turning to the professionals, the first to be considered is W. Midwinter. Coming over here with the 1880 team, he showed himself a very capable bat, and subsequently played for Gloucestershire. For the M.C.C. v. Leicestershire in June 1882, he and Barnes added 454, of which he made 187. He died in 1890. Albert E. Trott, disappointed of a place in the 1896 Australian team, came overhere and was given a place on the M.C.C. ground staff, which enabled him to qualify for Middlesex. He did some sensational things as a bowler for the M.C.C. in minor matches in 1897. He has been of immense use to Middlesex, being a very resourceful bowler, a fine field, and a dashing hitter. He went with Lord Hawke’s team to South Africa in the winter of 1898-9, andhecured the splendid bowling average of 9-67. Roche also qualified for Middlesex by beginning on the M.C.C. staff. 1hough handicapped by being minus two fingers on his bowling hand, he could get a great deal of spin on the ball, and did plenty of bowling for his county in 1899 and 1900. He and Mr. R. W. Nicholls are the heroes of the record stand for the last wicket, namely 230 for Middlesex v. Kent, at Lord’s, in June 1899. Roche made 74 not out, and his partner 154. During a few gensons in the latter half of the last decade, the M.C.C. staff included two Victorians in llarry and O’Halloran. Both made occasional appearances in first-class cricket. I do not suggest that this list is a full one, Enough nanushave, however, been brought forward to demonstrate the truth of my initial statement conccrning the steady growth of an Australian element in Et glish cricket. F. C. M. R ic h a r d s . T B E ELEVE N TH A U S T R L IA N TOU K , 1902. Pri<e One Pe ny < ont»ii-iug portraits and biographies c f the players. Full details o f a 1 the Test Matches from 1877, and a list o f players who have taken part in previous touis Copies can be obtained at ail the leading county •ricket grounds, bookstalls, or post free, ljd , Cricket Office, 168, Upper Tham es Street, E.C. NOTES FROM SCOTLAND. (B y O ur S pecial C orrespondent .) C. T. Mannes has so far been the only Scottish cricketer this year to reach a thousand runw, which he did in the end o f July. This feat is considered a great one in Scotland, where a batsman has seldom more than twenty innings in a single season. “ C. T . M .” is in gr«-at f jrm this year and has three centuries to his credit, while 700 o f his thousand runs were m ade in his last dozen innings. H is perform ance is all the m ore noteworthy in that it was accom plished in a season in which bowlers’ wickets have predom i­ nated. A nd yet C. T . Mannes was not considered good enough to represent Scotland against the A us­ tralians ! Other Scottish cricketers likely to reach their thou«and runs this teas n are Joe Anderson (Perthshire) and W . R . Sharp (Forfarshire), both of whom have previously perform t d the feat. The H eyw ood (Lancashire) C.C. began their Scottish tour by playing the Stirling County Club at Stirling on the 4th and 6th. before a good attendance, Stirling, w ho were not at full strength, started batt­ ing in spirited fashion, W . YVi’son and J . H . O ir so rin g freely off A lec W at on of Lancashire fam e. Shortly after 60 appeared, W . W ilson was sent back for a vigorous 40, aud at bl J. H . Orr had to leave for a well-com piled 32. S. Scott (38) and G S. Orr (i9) played good cricket and four wickets were down for 133, but a collapse etsued and all were dismissed for 145. J. M ellowdew had live for 22 and A lec W atson tw o for 29. H eyw ood began \ ad y, 1<sing a couple o f wickets under 16. T. M ellowdew (28) aud v\hitehead (35), however, m ade a fine stand and carried the score to 77. Five were dow n for 94, but on stum ps being drawn for the day H eyw ood, w ith four wickets available, were only 9 behind. H eavy rain next m orning caused the Stirling bowlers to be handi­ capped by a wet ta il. The Heyw ood tail ” smote vigorously, and thanks chiefly to A . Eastwood (42) and A lec Watson (26 not out), the v is o r s ’ total reached 210. Hallas (T .) had seven wickets for 68. Stirling, 65 behind, replied very tamely and all were dism issed for a century. J. H . Orr played very good cricket for 36—the one redeem ing feature o f the Stirling innings. F. W atson had four for 30 and J. M ellowdew three for 23. H eyw ood required 36 to win, which they did by 8 wickets. On the 8th the B ey w ood C.C ( ngaged the Forfar­ shire club at Broughty Ferry, a he visiting team batted flrot on a very true wicket, and although the bowlers kept a good Ungth, a separation was not effected till 47, of which 29 came from the bat of G. Kersbaw, tbe retiring batsman. Three other wickets soon fell, but F . W atson played in fine style and received useful assistance from A . Eastw ood (21). W hen F. W atson was eventually dismissed he had a very good 66 to his credit. Alec W atson (29 not out) and T . li. Parke indulged in hard hitting, and with the score at 203 for eight, H eyw ood applied the closure. Forfar­ shire did not open ausp ciously. tLe flrst wicket fa llicg at 4. By cautious tactics W . R . Sharp and HiggiLg- raised the score to 36, when the form er had to leave for a correct innings o f 23, and Higgins, when one ie.-s, was obliged to follow suit. The next three wickets were quickly accounted for, m aking six down for 53. J. Sharp and F. J. Grimond then became associated, and aU the efforts of the H eyw ood bowlers to dislodge ihem were fruitless. W heu the 100 was hoisted, stumps and the m atch were dr awn, Forfar­ shire b citg 10 >behind w ith four wickets to fall. F . J. G rim ond aud J . Sharp were both unconquered with invaluable scores o f 32 and .4 respectively. F. W atson was H eyw ooo’s m ost successful bowler with four for 28. Stirling was the venue of the return match tetw een Perthshire and Stirlingshire in the County Champion­ ship on tbe 9th. The hom e team occupit d the wickets first, but quickly lost tw o of tht ir p ayers, J. H . O ir for tn ce ooii g little. H is brother, G. S., however, was in good form , and did m ost of the scoring, but was not well tacked up by his partners, the good quality o f the Perthshire attack being responsible for this. G. S. Orr, when dis­ missed, was credited with a good 22, the top score. J. Gillies (17) and L . C. Gray m ade a stand for the eighth wicket, but with their diamisral the Stirliogshiie venture scon terminated for 87. Bow l­ ing for Perthshire K. M acG regor-M itch ;11 had five for 35 and Smith iD .) a like num ber o f wickets for 4 >. Joe Anderson aud R. M ac3regor-M itchell made a g o-d beginning, 10 th playing fine cricket for 14and 19 respectively. W . Lovat-Fraser of M trchiston also did well for 16, but the next four wickets fell cheaply and Stiiliugshire had still had a chance o f victory. W ith w . M ’D onald and A . L atto in partnership Perthshire’s prospects brightened. A fier Latto’s departure for 13 an exciting finish took place, Perthshire winning by the narrow m argin o f 8 luns. Hallas (T .), whose I enefit it was, tow led very well for {Stirlingshire and had six for 35. T H E F IR S T T H O U SA N D RU NS scored this season were m ade w ith the “ Guv’ n o r” Eat, and all the runs scored by R . A bel for the last Six Ykabs have been made with the “ G uv’n o b ” Bat. (Advt.)