Cricket 1905

CR ICK ET , A W E E K LY RECO RD OF T H E GAM E. MAY 4, 1905. l i i s S i t e l — t— >!©) ( = * = S S S f c 1 1 1 rA pgei!c ^==$ 0 $— J| 1 /i *oc» j l l f “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. no. 686. v o l . x x i v . THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1905. p r i c e aa. interest than has ever been taken in the first appearance of any other Australian bowler, many of the greatest of whom (including Spoft'orth among them) have come over with no reputation to speak of, and have not attracted any particular attention until they have done some astonishing performance, while the merits of others have been known to a I A. COTTER. nicety. It will be a vast disappointment to all of us if Cotter does not turn out to be something quite out of the common; if he proves to be a star among bowlers he will have a triumphant progress which Mr. Spofforth or 0. T. B. Turner might envy. In a few weeks, perhaps in a few days, we shall all have made up our minds as to his abilities. In the meantime, let us see what some of his critics have to say about him. First let us take Mr. B. J. T. Bosanquet’s remarks in his favour. “ His action is a bit slow, but he has plenty of pace, a sure foothold on any wicket, and can generally make the ball get up in a disconcerting fashion. It is strange to Englishmen to see a fast bowler begin the bowling when the wicket is thoroughly wet; but in Australia the ground is so hard under­ neath that a fast bowler is almost unplayable under such conditions. Cotter cer­ tainly was ; he got a footing where Rhodes was unable to, and made the ball fly tre­ mendously. It was generally chest high, and frequently over one’s head.” And again: “ Taking a moderately long run, with a beautiful free- swinging, natural arm-move ment, right - hand — more round-arm than straight over, he gets a great pace on the ball. Cotter is certainly a bowler of promise, and de­ cidedly useful on ‘ fiery ’ pitches. The very natural­ ness of his style ensures a more than ordinary accuracy of pitch about his deliveries.” As a set-off to this here is a comment by “ Felix” (Tom Horan), who is notoriously one of the best critics in Australia. “ I am not so gratified with the inclusion of Cotter, for his bowling on the Melbourne ground was, without doubt, some of the poorest, tear-a-way fast bowling I have ever seen. Still, it may have been an off-day with him—very much off.” On the other hand L. 0. S. Poidevin, a good judge of the game, who has seen Cotter bowl during the past Australian season, says: “ He is inclined to deliver slightly round rather than straight over, but, nevertheless, he appears to .have the knack of making the ball rise uncommonly high and straight from the pitch on hard wickets. He ‘ runs ’ well within himself, SOME NOTES ABOU T A . COTTER. WITH THE OPINIONS OP SOME OP HIS CRITICS. Decidedly, the dark horse of the Australian team is Cotter. We know what to expect of Trumper, Hill, Noble, Duff, and the other players who have visited England before ; we know that Gehrs must be a fine bats­ man, and that Newland must be a pretty good wicket keeper, but of Cotter we know very little. It may be doubted whether any Austra­ lian chosen entirely for his bowling has ever come over to England with a reputation which has given rise to so much discussion. According to his detractors, who are confined to Australia, he is but a class above a club bowler; his enthusiastic ad­ mirers, among whom are some of the members of the M. C. C. Australian team, seem to consider him as far superior to Mr. Spofforth. The probability is that he is good — very good — much above the average, but not as great as the greatest Australian bowlers. But whether they damn him with faint praise or laud him to the skies, his critics are unanimously agreed that Cotter is an exceptionally fast bowler. Even if nothing had been said or written on that point, the frequent remarks in Australian papers to the effect that a batsman was hit by a ball from him on the el­ bow or on the nose, or wher­ ever it might be, would show pretty conclusively that great pace had something to do with the knocks. Accordingly it may be that the mere novelty of the thing (for fast bowling seems nowadays to be a lost art in England) will inspire English cricketers with an amount of respect and awe which will be very useful to a new­ comer. It is certain that Cotter’s first appearance in a first-class match in England will be watched with a greater