Cricket 1902

CRICKET, AUG, 28, 1902. i s f-__ >}»}(.__ 1—}&!—*: --- 3 — J0i— ii 1 ill r if xV/flfe - I,^7- -4 L / £?. IfcuHiiniinnni j i j • u ! ® 'km j8 « $ r ' F---- 3|e|CZZ9— 1 “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. wo. 013 . v o l . x x i . THU RSDAY , AUG . 2 8 , 1 9 0 2 . CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. MR. W. L. MURDOCH. Whether the place taken by Mr. Murdoch as incontestably the greatest of Australian batsmen is to be usurped in the course of time by Victor Trumper, the greatest of modern Australian batsmen, remains to be seen, for a man’s final position among cricketers must rest upon what he has done in many seasons, and not in a few. But whatever happens in the future, Mr. Murdoch will stand second to Dr. Grace amongbatsmen who had their career previous to the twen­ tieth century. What is more he still holds his own as one of the greatest batsmen of the present generation. In point of style he has, and has always had, few equals, and no superiors. Younger players who in a few years time will be the great men of the day watch his methods carefully, and always learn something from him which will not be forgotten. He makes no fancy strokes, but can appreciate theminothers. This is not the place in which to tell of his many wonderful performances, firstly in Aus­ tralia, then for the Austra­ lians in England, later for Sussex, and of recent years for the M.C.C. and London County. It is enough to repeat that he has always been considered as second only to Dr. W. G. Grace. With his experience ’ as captain of Australian teams, and as a county captain who since he came to England has played against each new team when it came over, he is eminently qualified to form a judgment as to the strength of any Australian team. Of the present Australian team, Mr. Murdoch said, “ When the names of the players who were coming to England were first announced, I knew that in batting and fielding the team would be very strong, but I must admit that I was very much afraid that the bowling would be sadly lacking in quality and variety. Arm­ strong, Hopkins and Saunders were, of course, unknown quantities to me as b owlers. But the oldermembers of the team have done so well, and these have so often proved themselves most useful, that the whole combinationis exceptionally strong. MB. W . L . MURDOCH. ( From, a photo by A . Pickering , Leicester.J Nevertheless, I honestly think that the present team is not as strong as either that of 1882 or 1884. In saying this I naturally lay myself open to a charge of being partial, since I was a member of both those teams. But I base my reasons for thinking that the 1882 and 1884 teams were stronger on the fact that we had to contend against W.G. when he was almost at his best, and also against other famous players who, in my opinion, have not been replaced. You must re­ member that W.G. is still to be classed in the very first flight of players, and it stands to reason that no man at 54 can be as good as he was twenty years previously. This seems to me the only way in which a comparison can be made, and in any case the present team has proved itself to be far stronger than any other team since 1884.” Mr. Murdoch thinks very highly indeed of Trumper. “ He is magnificent,” he said. “ I was astonished when I read one or two criticisms in Australian papers before the tour began saying that he ought to be left out of the team on his form. Every man has his season off, and simply be­ cause Trumper did not make hundreds in inter-colonial matches, it was proposed to leave him out. But his performances in England in his first tour (in 1899) were so wonderfully good—and I can assure you that it is a tremendous trial fora young player in his first tour—that he was certain to come on. His fielding was so brilliant that he was worth playing for that alone.” “ What did you think of him wheny, u first saw him in 1899 ? ” “ I really thought that he was a batsman of uncommon attainments. A man who is an old player can always spot a youngster who has a bit of class in him, even if he does very little. You may for the first time see two men batting. One of them comes with a good reputation and makes 40 or 60 runs, and yet you know that unless some extraordinary change occurs in his play he will never be a great cricketer. The other man comes with no reputation at all, makes 15 or 16 runs and perhaps gives a chance or two, and yet you know that he has just that little