Cricket 1902

82 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A p r i l 24, 1902. Noble and he, as many Cricket readers will remember, got the Englishmen out in the second innings on an excellent wicket for 99. They bowled unchanged, and Saunders had the better of the figures, his five wickets costing eleven runs less than the five which fell to Noble. In the next match against the Englishmen, which was in the following week for Victoria, he did not come off in the first innings. In the second he was unable to bowl owing to an accident, haviDg fractured his right collar bone in trying to make a catch. This lost him his place in the fifth test match, and brought his cricket to a premature close for the season. It is satisfactory to learn that his arm has recovered during the voyage, and there is every reason to hope that he will be seen at his best. Whatever may be his success here his bowling has great possi­ bilities, and his early performances are bound to excite general interest. By some of the critics in Australia he is regarded as the best left-hand slow bowler Australian cricket hasproduced sincepoor J. J. Ferris. Whether they have overrated his abilities remains to be seen. In delivering the ball, according to a Sydney critic, he starts his run three or four yards on the right hand side of the umpire, runs diagonally in front of him and across to the crease. According to all accounts he mixes his bowling with skill and gener­ ally keeps a good length. As a batsman he is apparently not likely to give much trouble, to judge by the fact that in first-class cricket last season he only scored 24 runs in seven completed innings. It will be of interest to the statisticians at all events to know that he was born in February, 1875. REVIEW OF THE SEASON IN AUSTRALIA. From the Adelaide Observer. N o t e . —In this review the Englishmen and Australians are considered together instead of separately. Individual performances with bat and ball always form the subject for a few words. Hill has not had quite so brilliant a season as in 1897-8, when with 1,196 tuds up he averaged 66 . This year he is alone in gain­ ing the distinction of making 1,000 runs, and three years ago he had as companions in the feat Maclaren andRanjitsinhji. The English captain would doubtless have repeated his performance had he been to the wickets as often as Hill, and he stands in the proud position of top of the averages, with figuie^ showing an advance on his 1897-8 effort. No better scoring batsman has ever visited us, and on the Sydney ground he is really a marvel. Three of his four centuries were made there. Between the two stand Warne and Poidevin, two men who are struggling hard for permanent positions in the elevens of their respective states. Fifth on the list stands CJaxton, who has had a brilliant open­ ing to w’hat we all hope is to be a long and successful interstate and international career. ]ll-health and want of acumen by selectors have combined to keep him in the background until now, hut he has proved himself beyond I the shadow of a doubt, and as he is not far i into the twenties South Australia can fairly add another batsman to her scanty list. Syd Gregory has given the “ go-by” to those who were dolefully saying that he was nearly done Close to him is Iredale, and it is hard to believe that this fine batsman has finally leit the top ranks. At his age he should not have, and his scores show that he has not lost his skill. Hayward and Tyldesley may be bracketed together. The success of the former was, given good health, fairly well assured, and he has come right up to expecta­ tions. With the Lancastrian there was the question of adaptation to new conditions and he took some.time to get into his stride. What a treat it was to watch him make runs ! He is an ideal batsman, and he will prove a troublous thorn in the Australian side at home. In the next division down thebatting we have half a dozen players who have done yeomen service, and in it there is the man whom many people thought was a certainty for the Australian Eleven. Laver’s position in both tables justify the opinions of his friends and admirers. Next comes Braund, whose pluck and energy on the cricket field, as well as his manly personal qualities, estab­ lished him a prime favourite with all Austra­ lians. He was the strongest allround man in the English combination. No situation ever came amiss to him, and woe betide the bats­ man who gave him a catch and bowl, or a snick in the slips. Some of the catches he brought off in the latter position were little short of marvellous. Trumper has had apoor season (for 'Jlumper), but Howell has im- ] roved as a clean hitter. Darling scarcely did himself justice, and probably Noble’s bow'ling affected his batting. Quaife showed us the solid face of the bat on nearly every occasion. Four more South Australians are in the next lot—Kirkwood, a dashing bat, whose first season has been so successful that he may be regarded as a regular member of the team; Reedman, as sound as ever; G.fifen, rejuvenated and agile as a youngster; and Leak, whose steady batting forced him to the front. Glancing further down, Jarvis is noted as having done better than in 1900- 1901. The bowlers and failures begin to assirt themselves hereabouts, prominent among them being Jessop and A. O. Jones. They disappointed every one, and probably no one more than themselves. The batting table is footed by an unfortunate Victorian, who had a most dismal experience. Four times he went to bat, twice he was run out, and the fate was so dead against him that he failed utterly. An Englishman leads thebowleisas afellow - countryman (and county man) tops the batting. Barnes has a fine record, but through his breakdown he missed many of the hard dry pitches which it would have been his lot to bowIon had his knee not given way. In point of figures Noble has a gtod lead on '1rumble, but the Welchman was not so consistent throughout as his tall colleague, and 1 don’t think he is really three runs a wicket better than Trumble. Giffen owes his position to the 13 for 93 he got against the Englishmen at the opening of their tour. His other four wickets cost 234 runs. Hay­ ward is not the bowler that Blythe is, but three cheap wickets in the last match pushed him forward. The Kent representative did much better than was prophesied by “ those who know.” Collins, Laver, and McLeod proved useful to Victoria, and Saunders, after striking form, put in splendid work. He is the best handler of the ball that Melbourne has turned out for a long time. McBeth, with more opportunities, gave evidence of his skill, and it is a pity negotiations were not satisfactorily concluded for his rem oval to this state. G u n n , after the th ird test m atch w as m ore lik e th e bow ler w e have read o f. W ith out T ravers I really don ’ t know w here S ou th A u stralia w ould have been. H e proved a tow er o f strength to his side. B rau n d, w ith his accurate le g - breaks, secured b y fa r th e largest num ber o f w ickets that fell to one individ u al, and he has tau gh t us a valuable lesson in th e w ay o f com bin in g tw ist and len gth . K erm od e, the S yd n ey grou n d b ow ler, did w ell in his trials. T h en fo llo w th e m en w h o w ou ld probab ly rather have th eir b o w lin g averages represent their w ork w ith the bat. BATTING AVERAGES. No. Times Most of not Total in an inns, out runs. inns. Aver. A. C. Maclaren ........... 16 ...0 ... 929 ...167 .. 58 96 T. Warne (V.) ........... 4 ...1 ... 170 ... 89 .. 56*66 L.O.S.Poidevin(N.S.W ) 6 ... 1 ... 282 .. 151*.. 66*40 C. Hill (S.A.).................. 20 ...0 ...1035 ...107 ...51*75 N. Claxton (S.A.).......... 4 ...0 ... 187 ... 83 ...46-75 S. E. Gregory (N.S.W .) 18 ... 1 ... 778 ...182 ...45 76 T. H ayw a rd................... 19 ...1 ... 701 ...174 ...31*91 F. A. Iredale (N.S.W .) 6 ...0 ... 231 ... 83 ...38-50 J. T. Tyldesley .............. 19 ... 0 ...696 ...142.. 36 63 W . Armstrong (V.) ... 15 ... 4 ...S83 ...137...34 81 F. Laver (V .)................. 12 ...8 ... 307 ...105*..,34-11 R. A. Duff (N.S.W .) ... 16 ...1 ... 488 ...104 ...32-53 F. T. Hack (8.A.) ... 8 ...0 ... 256 ...110 ...32*C0 C. Gregory (N.S.W .) ... 10 ...0 ... 303 ... 87 ...30-30 P. McAlister (V.).......... 10 ...1 ... 261 ...100*...29-00 L. C. Braund.................. 19 ...5 ... 404 .. 103*...28-85 V. Trumper (N.S.W .) .. 18 ...0 ... 486 ... 73 .. 27-00 W . P. Howell (N.S.W .) 13 ...2 ... 296 ... 67 ...26-90 H. Graham (V.) ........... 4 ...0 ... 103 ... 37 ...25-75 J. Darlmg (T.) ........... 6 ...0 ... 154 ... 69 ...25*66 M. A. Noble (N.S.W .)... 17 ...0 ... 430 ... 74 .. 25'29 W . G. Q uaife................. 18 ...1 ... 430 ... 68 ...25-29 H . P. Kirkwood (S.A.) 8 ...0 ... 201 ... 67 ...25-12 J. C. Reedman (S.A ) .. 10 ...0 ... 250 ... 53 .. 25 00 J. H. Stuckey (V.) ... 10 ...0 ... 246 ...130 ...24-60 G. Giffen (S.A.) ........... 6 ...0 ... 145 ... 50 ...24*16 A . J. Hopkins (N S.W .) 13 ...0 ... 307 ...117 ...28*61 J. J. Kelly (N.S.W .) ... 14 ...4 ... 234 ... 77 ...23-40 E. H. Leek (8 .A )........... 6 ...0 ... 138 ... 68 ...23*00 A. A. Lilley .................. 18 ...0 ... 406 ... 84 .. 22*65 H . Trumble (V.) ........... 11 ...2 ... 201 ... 62*.. 22 33 C. M cG ah ey...................12 ... 2 ... 210 ... 57 .. 21*00 J. Worrall (V.) ........... 10 ...0 ... 207 ..106 . 20 70 F. Jarvis (S.A.) ........... 10 ...0 ... 206 ... 80 ...20-60 G. L. J essop ................... 18 ...0 ... 359 ... 87 ...19 94 G. R. Clarke (N.S.W ).. 9 ...1 ... 1*25 ... 25 ...15*62 J. McKenzie (S.A.) ... 8 ...1 ... 105 ... 37 ...15*00 J. V. Saunders (V.) ... 9 ...2 ... 37 ... 22 ... 5 28 A. McBeth (N.S.W .) ... 8 ...3 ... 24 ... 15*... 4'80 F. Collins (V.) ........... 7 ...1 ... 26 ... 9 ... 4 33 W . Carlton (V.) ........... 4 ...0 ... 0 ... 0 ... 0’00 * Signifies not out. BOWLING AVERAGES. Overs, Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. S. F. Barnes ... 285 4 ... 51 ...f76 ... 41...16 48 M .A . Noble (NSW)347 4 ...118 ... 838 ... 47 ...17*82 G. Giffen (S.A.) ... 97*5 ... 18 ... 327 ... 17 ...19-23 H. Trumble (V.) .. 3261 ...109 ... 702 ... 34 ...20 58 T. Hayward ........... 71*0 ... 18 .. 208... 10 .. 20 80 C. Blythe .................. 298 5 .. 103 ... 711... 34 .. 20*91 F. Collins (V .)...........123-0 ... 28 ... 355... 16 ...22*18 F. Laver (V.) ...........191*2 ... 50 ... 455... 20 ...22 75 C. McGahey ........... 61*4 ... 12 ... 165... 7 ...23*57 C. E. McLeod (V.) .. 240*2 ... 65 ... 558.. 23 ...24 26 A . McBeth (N.S.W .) 236*0 ... 77 ... 559... 23 ...24-30 J. V. Saunders (V.).. 270*0 ... 72 ... 691... 28 .. 24*67 J. Gunn ..................807*1 ... 94 ... 769.. 29 ...26*51 J. Travers (S.A.) .. 264*0 ... 86 ... 603... 22 .. 27*40 L. C. Braund .......... 623 4 ...147 .. 1779 ... 62 ...28*69 A . Kermode (N.S.W .) 89 0 ... 18 ... 261 ... 9 ...29-00 W . Armstrong (V.)... 68 5 ... 18 ... 155 ... 5 ...31*00 G. L. Jessop .......... 129 0 ... 30 ... 397 ... 12 .. 33*08 W . P. Howell (NSW)365*2 .. 112 ... 768 ... 23 ...33*17 G.R.C.Clarke (NSW)220*5 ... 51 ... 653 ... 19 ...34-36 F. Jarvis (8.A.) ... 80’0 ... 21 ... 268 ... 7 ...88*28 A.J. Hopkins (NSW) 137*0 ... 34 ... 425 ... 11 ...38*63 E. Jones (S.A.) .. 260*0 ... (0 ... 741. 18 ...41*16 V . Trumper (NSW.) 111*4 ... 27 ... 318... 7 .. 45*42 A. O. Jones ........... 52*0 ... 8 .. 161 ... 3 .. 53*66 Cricket of April 10th contains a handsome coloured supplement, 30 ins. by 20 ins., suit­ able for hanging up in pavilions and club houses. The sheet comprised the R evised L ist of P rincipal F ixtures , a picture of L ord ’ s C ricket G round , excellent photo group of A. C. MacLaren’s Team, and M. A. Noble, J. Darling, G. L. Jessop, and Rhodes. Copies of this issue can still be had, post free 3d., by applying direct to Cricket Office, 168, Upper Thames Street, E.C.