Cricket 1902

34 8 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A ug . 14 , 1902. ENGLAND v. AUSTRALIA. THE FIFTH MATCH. TWENTY-NINTH OF THE AUSTRALIAN TOUR. Played at theOval on Aug. 11th, 12th& 13th. England won by one wicket. Although by winning two of the “ Test” matches, and drawing two more, the Austra­ lians had succeeded in their chief object of their tour, a great deal of interest was taken in the fifth and last match, and on the first day there was a big crowd, despite the unpromising weather. It is a great pity that the match could not have been played out without the interference of rain, which played a very important part in all the previous matches, but, as usual, the weather came in for consideration. In the unsettled state of the weather it was generally con­ sidered that the side which won the toss would gain a most important advantage, for it would have the opportunity of batting on a slow but easy wicket, whereas the odds were great that the opposing side would either come in for a wicket on which a lot of extra rain had fallen, or would find that it had dried just enough to make the bowling very difficult to play. It was therefore felt to be a fine thing for the Australians when they were successful with the toss. Up to a certain point they did not make the best us} of their advantages, and with the exception of Trumper, the great batsmen of the team did not shev themselves at their best. Even Trumper seemed a little bit stale, and although in his innings of 42 he made many good s'rokes, as he was bound to do, he did not seemas happy as usual in his treat­ ment of awkvard balls. For all that his innings was one of which any man in the world might have bem proud. He and Duff put on 47 for the first wicket and seemed not unlikely to repeat their Manchester success, when a very fine catch atthe wicket on the leg side disposed of Duff. Hirst, who w is first put on to bowl with the total at 45, met with very great success for a time, and when he had bowled his twenty-second ball he had taken three wickets, while only 15 runs had been scored off him. With four men out for 82 —viz. Duff, Hill, Darling, and Tru nper—England seemed to have quite a good thing on half-an-hour before the luncheon interval was taken, but Noble and Gregory kept together until lunch, when the total was 107. After lunch Hirst, who had taken all the wickets so far, again met with success, his fifth victim being Gregory; he had now taken five wickets for 38 runs, but there his good fortune ended. Noble was playing a great game, and Armstrong helped him to add 48 runs to the total in forty-two minutes; but at 174 Armstrong was bowled by Jackson, who also dismissed Noble at 175. Noble’s fine innings was of immense service to his side. Seven wickets were now down for 175, and it did not seem very likely that the total would be much more than a couple of hundred. But Hopkins andTrumble chose this occasion to play their most useful innings of the season, which is not at all the sort of thing generally done in test matches. But there was a good deal of difference in the way in which their runs were made. While Hopkins showed better form than he has hitherto done during the tour, Trumble played one of those innings which make the fielding side wonder whether such luck was ever seen before. Every bowler has at some time or other undergone the same experienceas fell to the lot of the English bowlers on Mon­ day; the ball will go all roundthe wicket with­ out hitting it, the batsmen will be beaten over and over again, but the ball will hit his bat in spite of him, and will sail away as a snick to the boundary. So on Monday Trumble escaped. But the main thing was that he scored 64 not out, andthat his sidepro­ fited enormouslyby his innings,which afterall showed a great number of good points. After Hopkins went at 258, his partnership with Trumble having accounted for 81 runs in an hour and a half, Kelly came in, and after a slow beginning hit very hard for 39. The innings came to a conclusion just before stumps were drawn, and in theunsettled state of the weatheritseemedpractically certainthat the Australians had made themselves secure against defeat. It was also nearly certain that they would have a tricky wicket to bowl on when the Englishmen went in on the next morning. The improbable did not happen, and during the night and earlymorningheavy rain fell, with the result that the Englishmen who batted before lunch had a lively time, moreespeciallyasthelight was sobad that after about half-an-hour’splay there wasapause for forty minutes. A steady game was the order of the day at first, and Maclaren was at the wickets for more than three quarters of an hour for his ten runs, while Hayward was settling himself for twenty minutes before he was bowled without scoring. The first wicket fell at 31, the second at 36, the third at 62. But even worse wa< to come, for the fourth and fifth both fell at 67. Tyldesley played extremely well, but could do very little with the bowling, and indeed no one was at all comfortable. The sixth wicket fell at 83, and although when the time came for luncheon the total had been carried to 94 without further loss, thepDsitionseemedhopelesslybad. Better things were in store when the game was resumed, for the wicket was improving, and Hirst played a very good innings while Braund stonewalled in the most orthodox manner Lockwood also made a useful score, and in the end the follow on was saved by nine runs. When the Australians went in a second time there was excitement for a brief period. Trumper was run oat for two, having misjudged Jessop’s powers of quick return, and Duff bowle.i by Lockwood for six, so that visions of a possible breakdown rose upbefore the spectators. Clement Hill and Darling made a few runs, but at 31 the latter was out, and three wickets were down. A stand was made by Noble and Hill, but both men found the bowling so difficult that runs were only obtained with great slowness. So things went on until the fourth wicket had added 40 runs to the total, when Noble was bowled off his pad by a ball from Braund which he did not attempt to play. At 75 Hill was out after making 34 in an hour and thirty-five minutes. Before stumps were drawn Hop­ kins, Gregory and Saunders had all been dis­ posed of, and the total was 114 for eight wickets, Armstrong being not out 21. Thus Australia, with two wickets in hand, had a lead of 255 runs, and the outlook for England was as nearly as possible hopeless, since it was very evident from the way in which the bowlers had had the upper hand in the after­ noon that the wicket was becoming worse. But it was all in the piece, and while there was life there was hope. Yesterday there was another great crowd, who hadto undergo some curious experiences. Only seven runs were added to the Australian total by the last two batsmen—a fact which was not altogether encouraging to Englishmen, for the wicket was clearly difficult. England now had to make 263 to win with not one chance in a hundred of pulling off the match. Disasters came thick and fast. When the total was five Maclaren played a ball slowly into his wicket and Tyldesley was bowled leg stump. At 10 Palairet was bowled by Saunders, one of the bails hitting Kelly in the eye and causing him considerable pain. Things were just a little better when Jackson and Haywarn were together, but the latter was not comfortable, and left at 31. Four men out, and over two hundred still to be made. Braund stayed for a time while a few runs were made, but the score was only 48 when he too had to retire. Never did bats­ men have to face a more disheartening situation than Jessop, who came in next, twenty minutes before luncheon. With the knowledge that only once in the season had he made a good score against the Australians, who have never made any secret of their belief that, against their bowling, he is as a victim offered up for slaughter, he at once began to hit with vigour. Thirty-nine runs, of which he claimed twenty-nine, were put on before lunch without further mishap, and the total was then 87 for 5. After lunch came the most remarkable cricket seen in the Test matches this season. Jessop was master of the situation. The bowlers who could keep everybody else so quiet were powerless against him, and after being at the wickets for three-quarters of an hour, his score was fifty. There was now no holding him. He madefour successivedrives to the on boundary off Saunders, and a single off the next ball. Armstrong took the place of Saunders, and had fivemenontheboundary, but Jessopmado two 4’s off him. Things were getting most in­ teresting when suddenly the partnership was broken, Jackson, who had been playing a great game, but meeting with some luck in the matter of catches, being caught and bowled by Trumble for 49, an innings which had lasted for an hour and three-quarters, and was of the utmost value. The partner­ ship, which had lasted for sixty-five minutes, had increased the total by 109 runs, of which Jessop claimed 75. Six wickets for 157, and still 106 runs to bemade. No one would have been surprised if the end had soon come, but Hirst is not a nervous man, and he began to score at once. Meanwhile Jessop made 12 off an over of Trumble’s, twice hitting the ball into the pavilion, and then with a fine late cut for four he reached his hundred, amid applause which must have been heard to be realized. Almost immediately afterwards he was caught at short-leg for amagnificent 104, which included a 5 and 17 fours. He had only been batting for an hour and a quarter, and to play such an innings under such dis­ heartening circumstances was a feat of which the like has perhaps never beenseen. While he kwas at the wickets he made all the runs except 35. There were now only three wickets in hand and 76 runs still to be made. With Lockwood as a partner Hirst did practically all the scoring, and presently Lockwood was l.b.w. to Trumble. He had only made two runs but hehadstayed long enough to be very useful. The position, when Lilley came in, was that eight wickets were down and 49 runs were still required. Surely the Australians could not lose, despite the splendid batting which had so altered the appearance of the game ! But Lilley played an excellent innings, whileHirst never missed a chance of scoring. The total rose until but 15 more runs were required, and then Lilley was caught at mid-off by Darling. It was a most trying time for Rhodes, the last man, but he has been in many close things, and though nome of them could compare with what he now had to face, he was quite equal to the occasion. He played the last ball of Trumble’s over. Hirst made a single and Rhodes put Noble through the slips for four. Hirst again made a single, which brought