Cricket 1903

A pril 16, 1903. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 69 not yet appeared. Mr. P. K. May may, however, prove of use to the side, and Mr. G. H. Hadfield, who has performed great things for the Sutton Club, gives much promise of future excellence. CRICKET IN AUSTRALIA. B y F r a n k I kedai . e . From the Daily Mail. The cricket season in Australia of 1902-3 has closed. The last State match—that between Victoria and South Australia—terminated at the Adelaide Oval on March 5th. The result cf the series of contests leaves New South Wales in front as the premier State, they having defeated both the ether States in the two matches in which they met. Though Victoria played up well in both the matches against the premier State, there could be no com­ parison in the calibre of the teams. New South Wales undoubtedly had the liner side, and apart from the fact that Trumper played with them, the men were consistently good all through, the fielding and bowling were uniformly fine, and Kelly has rarely, if ever, shown better form behind the wickets. Victoria possessed a very fair side, but the bowling lacked the valuable help of Hugh Trumble, who, according to report, has decided to play no more cricket. His place in Victorian, and indeed in Austra­ lian, cricket has yet to befilled. Worrall, too, was an absentee. Always a thorn in the side of New South Wales, Victoria lost an able and capable hitter through his unfortunate retirement. The gaps left by the defection of these players were not adequately filled, and Victoria at no period of the season were a formidable side. Graham made a welcome reappearance and batted well, but his dash has left him. He has degenerated into a batsman of the steady order ; in fact, this remark can be applied to all Victorian batsmen at present. Great hopes were centred in Collins as a bowler, and though he had his days of success, he cannot be said to possess any of the ability of Trumble. A v e t e r a n ’ s v ig o u r . The South Australian side has been an interesting one owing to the number of new faces in it. Some of them have made very fair impressions, notably the batsmen. Gehrs and Jennings are young players of more than ordinary merit. The former has especially done well, and great hopes are entertained of him. Of course, much depended upon Hill, who is still the mainstay of the side. It cannot be said that Hill improved on his reputation. In fact, like some other members of the Australian eleven, he was palpably stale. The duties, too, of captaincy brought their worries to him. In spite, however, of the absence of large scores from Hill’s bat, the side on more than one occasion made good fights with their more heavily armoured oppo­ nents. The want of a really good bowler on the side was the chief source of weak­ ness. Jones’s bowling appears to have lost all its sting. The veteran George Giffen wound up the season in great style, doing wonders with both bat and ball against Victoria in the last match. Strange as it may seem, there are occasions even now when Giffen bowls really well, and players, especially those meeting him for the first time, find great cifficulty in timing that slow, dropping ball which made him a famous bowler as far back as 1882. Another Giffen would be a welcome addition to the batting or bowling strength of Australian cricket. Of players individually and the season as a whole the play has been more than interesting. The sensations have been left to the mother-State, the spectators on two occasions on the Sydney ground being treated to magnificent displays of cricket by Trumper and Duff. In the return match with South Aus­ tralia these two established an Australian record for Australian batsmen for the first wicket by scoring over three hun­ dred*, though the distinction of compiling the record for the first wicket in Aus­ tralia by allbitsmen rests with MacLaren and Hayward, who scored 314 for England against New South Wales during Maclaren’s last tour, on the same ground in 1902. A little later, in the return match against Victoria, both Trumper and Duff again succeeded in establishing a huge score for the first wicket. In both these matches the play of both batsmen was very fine and marked with brilliancy and an absence of bad strokes. The even rate at which both men scored was very marked, and clearly showed that Duff had benefited con­ siderably by his English experience. Trumper’s play in all his innings was of such a dashing character that his cricket alone was sufficient to attract the large attendances which were the feature of the matches, especially in Sydney. PLAYJtBS OF PROMISE. The matches, apart from the batting of Duff and Trumper, were interesting, some very fine performances b( ing chroni­ cled by other players, notably the nine wickets of Howell for 52 runs against Victoria at Melbourne, and a fine bowl­ ing performance of Armstrong in the same match. This player also batted freely throughout the season, and was clearly an improved player. Hickson, a colt only eighteen years of age and standing over six feet in height, made a splendid entry into first-class cricket. He scored well against the Australian Eleven, and in his first match against Victoria he made 89 not out at a critical time in the second innings. He is peculiarly a forcing player, and his best stroke is the drive. A good hitter, and endowed with plenty of grit, he is a welcome addition to the ranks of brilliant players. Should he show improved form next season, it is more than likely that we shall see him figuring in the test matches against the next English team. Noble and McAlister also had good seasons with the bat, but Noble had a poor season with the ball. *The number was 298.— E d ., Cricket. The next English team will, I am sure, find some new faces pitted against them when they play out here. The younger generation of cricketers in Aus­ tralia just now belong to the “ interesting” order of players, and it seems that the reign of the “ stonewaller ” is over so far as Australia is concerned. We have no new and great bowler coming along to take Trumble’s place, nor has any fast bowler arisen to take Jones’s. Our chief hopes rest in the doings of McBeth, a left-hander much after the style of Voung, of Essex, who has made a great advance this season, and in Collins, a young bowler, who bowls really well when the wickets give him any assist­ ance. He is a tall, slim chap, and takes a fairly long run when delivering the ball. He bowls at medium pace, with a slow and fast ball intermixed. Hickson and Gehr have both made interesting debuts. The outlook in Australia for the future is hopeful, but we have yet to fill three places left vacant by the absence of Trumble, Darling and Jones. RESULTS OF INTER-STATE MATCHES Played, 35; Victoria, 22; South Australia, 13. Nov., 1874. At Adelaide, Victoria won by 15 runs. Feb., 1876. At Adelaide, South Australia won by an innings and 69 runs. Nov., 1880. At Melbourne, Victoria won by 8 wickets and 1 run. April, 1881. At Adelaide, Victoria won by 151 runs. March, 1832. At Adelaide, South Australia won by 31 runs. March, 18S3. At Melbourne, Victoria won by an innings and 93 runs. March, 1884. At Adelaide. Victoria won by 4 wickets. Jan., 1885. At Melbourne. South Australia won by 53 runs. March, 1866. At Adelaide, South Australia won by 41 runs. Feb., 1887. At Melbourne, Victoria won by 144 runs. Feb., 1888. At Adelaide. South Australia won by an innings and 113 runs. Dec., 1888. At Melbourne, Victoria won by 15 runs. Dec., 1869. At Ade’aide, Victoria won ty 18 runs. Jan., 1891. At Melbourne, wouth Australia won by an innings and 62 runs. Nov., 1891. At Adelaide, 8outh Australia won by an innings and 161 runs. Jan., 1893. At Melbourne, Victoria won by 6 wickets. March, 1893. At Adelaide, Victoria won by 5 wickets. Jan. 1894. At Melbourne, South Australia won by 74 runs. March, 1894. At Adelaide. South Australia won by 58 runs. Dee.,lS94. At Adelaide, South Australia won by 10 wickets. Feb., 1895. At Melbourne.Victoria won by 10wickets Nov., 1895. At Adelaide, Victoria won by 64 runs. Feb., Ifc96. At Melbourne, South Australia won by 10 wickets. Jan., 1897. At Melbourne, Victoria won by 49 runs. Feb.-Mar., 1897. At Adelaide, South Australia won by an innings and 70 runs. Nov., 1697. At Adelaide, South Australia won by 9 wicketp. Feb., 1698. At Melbourne, Victoria won by 26 runs. Nov., 1898. At Adelaide. Victoria won by 296 runs. Jan., 1899. At Melbourne, Victoria won by an innings and 218 runs. Nov., 1899. At Adelaide, Victoria won by 246 runs. Jan., 1S00. At Melbourne, Victoria won by 181 runs. Nov., 1900. At Adelaide, Victoria won by 8 tickets. Jan., 1901. At Melbourne, Victoria won by 238 runs. Nov., 1902. At Melbourne, Victoria won by 5 wickets Feb.-Mar., 1903. At Adelaide, Victoria won by 35 runs. SUMMARY. V ic t o r ia .— 16,001 runs for 574 wickets; average per wicket, 26 13. S o u th A u s t r a l ia .— 13,849 runs for 577 wickets ; average per wicket, 240.).