Cricket 1905

m CRtCKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J ra fe 1, 1905. T H E AUSTRA L IANS . THE FIRST TEST MATCH. ( n in th of th e to u r .) Pla 5 'ed at Trent Bridge on May 29, 30 and 31. England won by 213 runs. The Australians must have been somewhat amused when they heard that, despite the long period of dry weather and the consequent tendency of wickets to become fiery even on the best of grounds, England had decided to dispense with the services of a fast bowler at Nottingham. After they had seen a few overs from Cotter the England Selection Committee doubtless realised that they had tempted Providence by not including Brearley in the team, for if Cotter could sometimes make the ball stand on end Brearley could have done the same thing, and, being a bowler of a much higher class, might have taken more wickets. Up to the last moment it was stated that there were hopes of seeing Fry and Hirst in the England team but everybody really knew that it would be impossible for either of the two men to play. Arnold was preferred to Lees, presumably on the reputation which he made in Australia with the M.C.C. team. The Australians left out Gehrs, Howell, Newland and Hopkins. England won the toss and fared badly. Cotter bowled exceedingly short, and on a somewhat fiery wicket the ball frequently rose to a level with the batsman’s head; he seldom bowled a ball of a really good length. One hardly expected to see this sort of bowling in a test match, although the ordinary fast bowler gets most of his wickets by terrifying his opponents, and very few men can rely, like Richardson or Mold, on the excellence of their length. Cotter’s world- renowned yorker put in an appearance early in the game and bowled Hayward with the total at 6, Jones who was never comfortable, played on to leaver at 24, Maclaren was promptly missed in the slips and then caught at the wicket at 40, and at 49 a rising ball from Cotter hit the top of the handle of Jackson’s bat and thence went into the wicket. Meanwhile Tyldesley had been feeling his way with some diffidence, but on the arrival of Bosanquet he began to play with his usual skill and resource. At lunch time he and Bosanquet had taken the total to 98. When the game was resumed Bosanquet was bowled by Laver, who had hardly sent down a loose ball since the game began. Thus half the wickets were down and the outlook was gloomy in the extreme. With the total at 119 two wickets fell, Tyldesley being caught at third man and Jessop bowled for a duck’s egg. Tyldesley’s innings of 56, which had been put together in a little over two hours was of the greatest value, and in some ways it was one of his best efforts. With seven wickets down for 119 on a fast wicket England had not a very hopeful outlook. But Lilley and Rhodes, whose nerves are never upset because their side is in an awkward position when they come to the wickets, played excellent cricket. In the end the total missed the second hundred by two runs. Laver bowled nearly through the innings and was only taken off for a rest. He owed nothing of his success to terror caused by balls which looked as if they might hurt; he beat and puzzled the bats­ men by sheer skill, and proved himself to be a worthy successor to Trumble. When the Aus­ tralians went in it was noticeable that Arnold, who was the bowler whose style approached nearest to that of Laver, was quite ineffective. Duff was splendidly caught, low down at square-leg, when one run had been scored. At 13 Trumper, who was batting with all his old confidence and skill, was obliged to retire on account of a strain in his back received when trying to make a catch at slip—a very great misfortune to his side. Hill and Noble made the bowling look so easy that one wondered more and more, as the runs were piled up, how it came to pass that so many of the English batsmen had failed to do themselves justice. So finely did the two Australians play that they seemetf certain to play out time, when happily for England it occurred to Jackson io put himself on to bowl. He at once kept the batsmen quiet, and not long afterwards he bowled a sensational over. Off the first ball Noble was caught at the wieket; Hill was bowled by the fourth, and Darling was well caught in the slips off the sixth. The partnership between Noble and Hill had produced 106 runs in an hour and three- quarters. Cotter and Armstrong,who made a splendid hit for 6 off Bosanquet over one of the stands, then played out time, the total being 158 for four wickets. On Tuesday morning Cotter showed that he is a greatly improved batsman. From 130 for four wickets the score was taken to 200 before he returned a ball slowly to Jessop. He hit splendidly, and showed all the resource of a great player. As long as he and Armstrong were together the prospects of the Australians were very bright, but the moment they were parted the bowlers began to carry every­ thing before them. The last five wickets (including that of Cotter) fell for 21 runs, and thus, as Trumper was unable to continue his innings, the Australians only had a lead of 25—a position which must have been interesting to those who had severely con­ demned the Englishmen for their disgraceful batting on the previous day. It may be men­ tioned that the one-handed catch in the slips by Jones which disposed of Laver, was mag­ nificent. From the complete rout of the Aus­ tralian tail spectators naturally concluded that the wicket must have deteriorated to an alarming extent, and fears were expressed that England would break down in their second innings. But for once the Australian bowlers were mastered so com­ pletely that at last they had to adopt the tactics of bowling over after over as wide of the wicket as possible—Armstrong at one end and McLeod at the other. Maclaren played one of the very best games of his life. For three hours and forty minutes he played the Australian bowling with delightful ease, making beautiful strokes all round the wicket. After he had made his hundred he scored very rapidly. In his splendid innings of 140 his hits included twenty-two 4’s. Meanwhile Hayward was “ playing for keeps,” never hurrying, never being in difficulties. He and Maclaren put up 145 for the first wicket, and when he was out England was in a most satisfactory position, being 120 runs on with nine wickets in hand. Tyldesley and Maclaren raised the total to 222, Maclaren being then dis­ missed. It was chiefly due to him that England was now in the happy position of being nearly two hundred runs on. But the bowlers had no rest even after Maclaren and Hayward were out, for Tyldesley was in brilliant form, and made five more runs than in the first innings, while Jones scored a very useful 30. So complete a mastery over the bowling had been obtained that when stumps were drawn the England score was 318 for five wickets, Jackson being not out 19, and Rhodes not out 2. It was therefore pretty evident that unless rain came to their assistance the Australians would have to struggle hard to avoid defeat. A little rain fell during the night, but not in sufficient quantity to affect the wicket. Soon after the game was resumed Annstrong began to bowl wide of the leg stump, and it might have been good policy for the batsmen to hit at every ball, as much seemed to depend on the rate at which runs were made. But they kept steadily on, neither of them ever being in difficulties, until at 421 Jackson closed the inn­ ings, the partnership having produced 113 runs in a little over an hour and a half. Armstrong bowled for hours during this innings, and of his fifty-two overs twenty-four were maidens. The Australians had to make 402 in about five hQurs, a task which was exceedingly difficult, but not quite impossible. It was pretty evident from the first that no attempt would be made to get the runs, and at lunch time, after more than half an hour’s play, Darling and Duff, who opened the innings, had only made 21. Half an hour after lunch Duff was caught and bowled, with the total at 62, and there was now no earthly chance that the runs could be made. Consequently the England bowlers were able to lay themselves out to tempt with­ out troubling about whether "they would be hit. Bosanquet was just the man for the circum­ stances, and he had an afternoon which he is never likely to forget. In the course of four overs he dis­ posed of Duff, Noble and Darling for nine runs. With the total at 93 Hill drove a ball hard and high back to him, and an extremely clever catch was the result. When seven more runs had been scored Armstrong was caught at point off Bosanquet, who had now taken five wickets for 25 runs in eight overs. The Australians had still two hours and a-half before them. But although Gregory played with the greatest pluck and steadiness, defeat could not be staved off. Bosanquet was hit about after he had taken his fifth wicket, but this of course did not matter in the very least, and before the inning3 came to an end at ten minutes pist five, he had taken three more wickets, Rhodes also claiming a victim. Trumper was unable to bat—a very great misfortune for the Australians. E ngland . First innings. Second innings. A. O. Jones (Notts), b Laver 4 b Duff............. 30 Hayward (Surrey), b Cotter 5 c Darling,bArm­ strong .....47 Tyldesley (Lancashire), c Duff, b Laver .................56 c and b Duff ... 61 A.O. Maclaren (Lancashire), c Kelly, b Laver ......... 2 c Duff, b Laver...140 Hon. F. S. Jackson (York­ shire), b Cotter................. 0 not out............. 82 B. J. T. Bosanquet (Middle­ sex), b Laver .................27 b Cotter ....... 6 Gunn (J.), (Notts), b Cotter 8 G. L. Jessop (Gloucester­ shire), b Laver................. 0 Lilley (Warvvickshire), c and b Laver .................37 Rhodes(Yorkshire),c Noble, b Laver ........................29 not out..............39 Arnold(Worcestershire),not out...................................... 2 B 21, lb 5 .26 B 11,1b 9, w 1... 21 Total ... .............196 Total (5 wkts)*426 * Innings declared closed A ustralia . First innings. V. T. Trumper (N.S.W.), retired hurt .................13 R. A. Duff (N.S.W.), c Hay­ ward, b J. Gunn .......... I C. Hill (S.A.), b Jackson ... 54 M.A.Noble(N .S.W.),c Lilley, b Jackson........................50 J. Darling (S.A.), c Bosan­ quet, b Jackson .......... 0 W. W. Armstrong (V.), b Rhodes ........................27 A. Cotter (N.S.W.), c and b S. E. Gregory (N.S.W.), Jones, b Jackson ... C. E. Mcl^eod (V.), b Arnold F. Laver (V.), c Jones, b Jackson ................. J. J. Kelly (N.S.W.), not out B 16, lb 2, w 1 Total ... Second innings. absent................. 0 c & b Bosanquet. 25 c & b Bosanquet. 8 st Lilley,b Bosan­ quet ................. 7 b Bosanquet ... 40 c Jackson, b Bosanquet ... 6 b Rhodes ..........18 cArnold,b Bosan­ quet .................51 Ibw, b Bosanquet 13 st Lilley,b Bosan­ quet ................. 5 not out................. 6 Extras ... 9 Total ...181 E ngla? d. First inniugs. Second innings. O. M. R. W. O. M. R. W . Cotter ... 23 2 64 3 ... ... 15 1 39 1 Laver ... 31.3 14 64 7 ... ... 34 7 121 I McLeod ... ... 8 2 19 0 ... ... 28 9 84 0 Armstrong ... 6 3 4 0 .. ... 52 24 67 1 Noble ... ,... 3 0 19 0 ... ... 7 1 31 0 Duff ... ... 15 2 43 2 A u stra lia . First innings. Second innings. O. M. R. W. O. M. R. W. Arnold ... ... 11 2 39 1 ... ... 4 2 7 0 Gunn ... 6 2 27 1 ... .lessop ... ... 7 2 18 1 ... ... 1 0 1 0 Bosanquet ... 7 0 29 0 ... ... 32.4 2 107 8 Rhodes ... ... 18 6 37 1 ... ... 30 8 58 1 Jackson ... ... 14.5 2 52 5 ... ... 5 3 6 0 Rhodes bowled one wide. YORKSHIRE v. WORCESTERSHIRE. Played at Leeds on May 29, 30 and 31. Yorkshire won by 203 runs. In the absence of Hirst, the Hon. F. S. Jackson, Lord Hawke, and Rhodes, the Yorkshlremen did quite as well as could have been expected on Monday, for they scored 323, and then dismissed two of their opponents, including Bowley, for 33. Denton, who wont in first wicket down, was out for 91, when the total was 206; he played excellent cricket for two hour’s and three-quarters. Another fine innings was that of H. Wilkinson, who was acting as captain of the team. He took risks but made no mistakes, and when the last three men were in lie hit with great boldness, finally being run out in an attempt to do the best thing for his side by getting the over. He was at the wickets for an hour and a quarter for his 78. Worcestershire were without H. K. Foster and Arnold. On Tuesday, Cuffe, who had beensent in early overnight played an excellent innings, but received hardly any assistance from the rest of the side, and the consequence was that Worcestershire were 204 runs behind, The Yorkshire captain decided not to make them follow on, but his team did badly in the second innings, Tunnicliffe, who carried his bat for 80, alone offering any effective resistance to the bowling. But although the total was only 157 Yorkshire had such a good lead in the first innings that their opponents had to make 362 runs to win. Of these they had scored 22 for one wicket when stumps were drawn. Yesterday Haigh bowled splendidly. Y orkshire . First innings. Second innings. Grimshaw, c and b Cuffe... 43 b Wilson .......... 1 Rothery, c Gaukrodger, b Wilson............................... 4 b Keene ..... 9 Denton, b Pearson ..........91 b Wilson ..... 0 Tunnicliffe, b Burrows ... 0 not out.................80 Wilkinson (W. H.), b Wil- 80n ...............................16 c Burns,b Bur­ rows 21 Haigh, b Pearson ..........34 b Bird.................. 1 Myers, c Gaukrodger, b c Weldon, b Keene...............................23 Burrows............ 8 H. Wilkinson, run out ... 78 c Gaukrodger, b __ . „ Wilson .......... 3 Higgins, c Cuffe, b Keene 2 b Cuffe ... . 15 Ringrose, b Bird................. 15 b Pearson... . 0 Oyston, not out ................. 2 b Wilson . . 10 B 9, lb 5, 11 b 1 ..........15 B 7, lb 1, w 1 9 Total ..323 Total........ 157