Cricket 1903

A pril 30, 1903. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. batsmen at the pinch for their State. The collective achievements of New South Wales are excellent, but in these big matches the batting has not been as sound as it was during the previous two or three seasons. R. A. Duff, Victor Trumper, M. A. Noble, and K. N. Hickson all showed very high-class cricket. Of the others, Charles Gregory was not the most prolific run-getter, but in the home matches his first innings against Victoria (on a bowler’s wicket) as a display of batsmanship was superior to anything shown by anyone save the four mentioned above. Mackenzie got 77 at Adelaide and 50 at Sydney against South Australia, but did very little against Victoria. Hopkins also got 69 here against South Australia, but did nothing else, being out of form or stale after his hard work of the English tour. Pye failed to show anything like his best club form; Ebsworth in his first appearance in these matches did not succeed, and J. J. Kelly, as batsman, did nothing. The New South Wales batting, it will be generally admitted, was most uneven, some of the men being brilliant in the extreme, some reaching the other ex­ treme. R. A. Duff played the follow­ ing innings: 94, 18, 102, 66, 132, 132 and 39. M. A. Noble : 108, 52*, 0, 60, 17, 3, and 103*. V. Trumper: 10, 2, 51, 22, 178, 130, and 0. Hickson took part in only two matches, and his 89 not out stands as the highest on record by any New South Wales batsman in his first match against Victoria. In other matches of note, which do not come under the heading of the Sheffield Shield Competition, Hickson’s cricket was equally sound, for he made 39 and 50 against Queensland and 68 not out and 18 against the Australians by batting that promises highly for the future. As a fielding combination New South Wales has proved a peculiar mixture. Some of the men have done magnificent work, some, while good on the ground, have rarely been happy when catching. Summed up, the ground work has been superb, but in catching the side went from fair to bad to worse. It is prob­ ably not too much to say that so many chances were dropped at Sydney in the the Victorian match that, were it not that the Victorians, contrary to their usual form at Sydney, also dropped a few, the match must have been lost through this weakness. One does not often see such brilliant ground fielding and faulty catching by the same team in the same match. Kelly’s wicket - keeping was beautiful, and in effectiveness could not be surpassed. Tiumper, Hopkins, Noble, C. Gregory, and Duff were excellent all round. The eleven needs at least one nrst-class slip. The New South Wales bowling proved more deadly than expected. At Ade­ laide and Melbourne the things accom­ plished in this department were really great. On the Sydney wicket—much more difficult for the bowlers, especially within recent years—their work was, on the whole, very fine, and where big totals were made the fielding and not the bowling failed. Howell comes out at the h ead o f th e averages, h is a ch ievem en ts in th e o u t m atch es b e in g g re a t. I n th e S y d n e y m atch es M c B e th w as m ost relia ble, a n d o n th e fo rm o f h is season, it is q u estion a b le if A u stra lia at th e p resen t m om en t possesses a m ore relia b le b o w le r o n a g o o d w ick et. P y e ’ s le g th e o ry w as u sefu l in a ll th e m a tc h e s ; h e com es o u t fo u rth o n th e list o f b o w le rs o f a ll th e S tates, an d o n ly six oth ers ca p tu red m ore w ick ets. H o p k in s d id n o t b o w l m u ch . M . A . N o b le d id n o t sen d th em d o w n w ith h is o ld fire a n d s w in g ; still his re co rd is n o th in g lik e w h a t it sh o u ld b e, o w in g to m issed ch an ces. A n d w h e n the w ick et g a v e th e slig h te st assistance to th e b a ll h e w a s fa r m ore d a n g e ro u s than o f o ld . M . A . N . w a s a n u n d o u b te d su c­ cess as ca p tain . BATTING IN SHEFFIELD SHIELD COMPE­ TITION. NEW SOUTH WALES. No. Times Most of not Total in an inns. out. runs. inns. Aver. R. A. Duff ............ 7 ... 0 ... 683 ... 132 ... 83 28 M. A. Noble............ 7 ... 2 ... 313 ... 108 ... 68 60 V. Trumper............ 7 ... 0 ... 393 ... 178 ... 5614 R. N. Hickson ... 3 ... 1 ... 108... 89, „. 54 00 A.C.K.Mackenzie 7 ... 0 ... 16S ... 77 ... 23 71 C. Gregory ...... 7 ... 0 ... 119 ... 37 ... 17-00 A. J. Hopkins .. 7 ... 0 ... 117 ... 69 .. 16 71 L. W . Pye .......... 6 ... 1 ... 69 ... 25*... 13-80 W. P. Howell ... 7 ... 2 ... 36 ... 13 ... 7'20 N. Ebsworth.......... 4 ... 0 ... 25 ... 19 ... 6 25 J. J. Kelly .......... 7 ... 2 ... 22 ... 9 ... 4 40 A. McBeth ............ 6 ... 2 ... 14... 10... 3 50 VICTORIA. W. W. Armstrong 8 ... 0 ... 358 ... 118 ... 44-75 W . Bruce ............. 2 .. 0 ... 86... 48 ... 43 00 M. E llis................... B.. 0 ... 222 ... 118 ... 37 00 F. Layer ............. 8 ... 1 ... 241 ... 61 ... 34'42 P. McAlister ... 8 ... 0 ...2 7 5 ... 84 ... 3437 E. E. Bean ........ 2 ... 1 ... 30 ... 30*... 30 00 T. Hastings.......... 6 ... 1 .. 141 ... 106 ... 28 20 H. Graham........... 8 ... 0 ... 225 ... 59 ... 28 12 D. Noonan .......... 6 ... 1 ... 133 ... 54 ... 26 60 J. H. Stuckey ... 6 ... 0 ... 118 ... 63 ... 19 66 D. Mailer .......... 6 ... 1 ... 97 ... 49 ... 19 40 B. J. Tuckwell ... 2 ... 0 ... 28... 27 ... 14 00 F. B. Collins.......... 8 ... 1 ... 41 ... 17 ... 5-85 T. S. Wame.......... 4 ...- 0 .. 22... 20... 5'EO J. V. Saunders ... 6 ... 1 ... 14 .. 5 ... 2'80 E. Monfries.......... 2 ... 1 ... 0 ... 0 ... — SOUTH AUSTRALIA. G. Giffen .......... 4 ... 1 ... 224 ... 97*... 74 66 F. T. Hack ............. 8 ... 0 ... 324 ... 88 ... 40 50 C. Hill .................... 8 ... 0 ... 201 ... 124 ... 25 12 N. Claxton ............. 8 ... 0 ... 199 ... 80 .. 24-87 J. C. Reedman ... 8 ... 0 ... 172 ... 42 ... 21 50 J. F. Travers ... 8 ... 3 ... 105 ... 41 ... 21-00 C. Jennings............ 4 ... 1 ... 63 ... 20 ... 17-66 W. Thamm............. 2 .. 1 ... 17... 9 ... 17 00 A. Gehrs ........ 8 ... 0 ... 128 ... 6J ... 16 00 P. M. Newland ... 6 ... 1 ... 65 ... 31 ... 13-00 E. Jones ........ 6 ... 0 ... 79 ... 34 ... 18-16 R. Waters ........ 6 ... 1 ... 62 ... S9*... 12-40 H. R. Kirkwood... 8 ... 0 ... 85... 44 ... 10 62 F. Jarvis ........ 2 ... 0 ... 12 ... 12 ... 6'00 W. A. Hewer ... 2 ... 0 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 00 BOWLING IN SHEFFIELD SHIELD COMPETITION. O. M. R, W . Ayer. W. P. Howell ... 213 ... 78 ... 467 ... 26 ... 17 96 A. McBeth ......193 ... 72 ... 421 ... 21 ... 20 04 L. W . Pye ......... 160 ... 40 ... 335 ... 15 ... 22 33 V. Trumper ......... 38 ... 9 .. 89 ... 3 ... 29 66 A J. Hopkins ... 44 ... 6 ... 132 .. 4 ... 33 00 M. A. N oble......... 128 ... 42 ... 273 ... 7 ... 39 00 VICTORIA. J. V. Saunders ... 152 ... 24 ... 458 ... 20 ... 22-Bo F. B. Collins........ 139 ... 22 ... 43j ... 19 ... 28 06 W . W . Armstrong 167 ... 42 ... 849 ... 15 ... 23 26 F. Laver................ 155 ... 84 ... 400 ... 12 ... 3383 M. Ellis ................ 29 ... 10 ... 89 ... 2 ... 49-50 T. S. Wame ......... 14 ... 0 ... 76 ... 1 ... 76 00 H. Graham ........... 3 ... 1 ... 8 ... 0 ... — W. Bruce................. 3-3 0 .. 26 ... 0 ... — E. E. Bean .......... 8 ... 1 ... 28 ... 0 ... — SOOTH AUSTRALIA. G. Giffen................ 102 ... 20 ... 275 ... 16 ... 17 18 J. C. Reedman ... 63 ... 9 ... 162 ... 7 ... 23 14 H. R. Kirkwood ... 69 ... 11 ... 222 ... 8 ... 2776 J. F. Travers......... 227 ... 48 ... 687 ... 19 .. 30 89 N. Claxton ......... 67 ... 6 ... 219 ... 6 ... 33’60 E. Jones................ 134 ... 32 ... 436 ... 10 ... 43 60 B. Waters .......... 67 ... 16... 160 ... 3 ... 53’33 W. A. Hewer.......... 3 ... 0 ... 21 ... 0 ... — C. Hill ................. 3 ... 0 ... 26 ... 0 ... — F. Jarvis................. 23 ... 4 ... 61 ... 0 ... — F. T. Hack bowled one ball (four wides). S I R J O H N M A D D E N ’S S P E E C H . At the recent dinner given by the Melbourne C.C. to the English cricketers, Sir John Madden, the Chief Justice of Victoria, in the course of a humorous speech in proposing the team, said :— Hitherto English teams had only been able to see New Zealand in a fragmentary and rushing way, but this time the position was reversed. New Zealand wanted a team of their own, and they got a hot one. The visit originated, he understood, in a sugges­ tion by Major Wardill to the New Zealand Council that they should write to Lord Hawke to send a team—and their only regret was that they could not welcome Lord Hawke as a member of that team. While they regretted his absence, they recognised the triumph of Warner’s safe cure for those ambitions which had troubled New Zealand. (Laughter.) Mr. Warner led an ever-victor­ ious army, who had played New Zealand in all weathers, on all wickets, and licked them most thoroughly. Perhaps it was a little cruel that New Zealand, at the beginning of its ambition, had such a set-back, but they would rise superior to it, like true cricketers, and retrieve it some other day. They were told that Mr. Warner had a good side, and they liked him all the more in that he put on no “ side” about it. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Warner was himself not only a cricketer but a cricket missionary. He had taken teams to the West Indies, America, South Africa, and, above all other places, to Portu­ gal, but what he found to beat in Portugal it was difficult to conjecture, though they felt quite sure that whatever it was he beat it. (Laughter.) He was a missionary rather after the fashion of Mahomet than the gentleman of Timbuctoo, for his method of conquest was to ram the cricket Koran down his opponents’ throats. (Cheers.) Mr. Burnup had already made six centuries in a season, and so rivalled Abel with­ out getting nearer Cain than handling a useful cane-handled bat. (Laughter.) York­ shire was the only County that had beaten the last Australian Eleven, and for that defeat Mr. Taylor was largely responsible. Here, again, they liked him all the better for it. (Cheers.) Mr. Dowson they knew now was a good batsman, and his bowling figures were by no means low. (Loud laughter from the cricketers.) In fact, they all played like Englishmen. J. C. LOVELL’S X I. y. HON. ARTILLERY CO.—Played at Tulse Hill on April 25. J. C. L o v e l l ’ s X I. C. H. Mountain, b J. Cole ........................ 16 L. Lovell, b Bonser .. 0 H. N. Ring, c Collins b B orser ..................... o J. P. Candler, b Bonser 12 W. H. Golds, b Barker 32 H. West, o Sharpe, b J. Coles ................. 3 G. A. Ring, b Barker 0 W. J. Parsons, run out E. D. Lovell, c Watts, b Barker................. C. L. Ring, not ou t... S. H. Flindt, c Sharpe, b Barker................. B 14,lb 4 .......... Total ...102 H on . A b tillir y C o . A. J. Adams, c Golds, b Flindt .................42 H. J. Sharpe, b G. A. R in g ........................ 36 G. A. K. Smith, b G. A. R in * ......................... e R. C. Cole, b Candler 11 J. D. H. Watts, b Ring 1 K. E. M. Barker, b Candler ................. 7 H. J. Bonoer, not out 12 J. A . Darke, c and b Flindt .................15 A. D. Collins, c C. l ! Ring, b G. A. Ring 10 R. C. Wakefield, b Flindt ................. g J. F. Cole, b Flindt... 24 Byes ................. 16 Total ...186