Cricket 1905

450 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Nov. 30, 1905. which may be right or may be wrong, no harm would be done, but it is notorious that the moment a man is no-balled for throwing there is much shaking of heads and many remarks to the effect that “ I always thought his action was a little suspicious.” Yet, knowing this, Phillips resolutely set him­ self to carry out what he considered his duties, and even his greatest enemies must feel that a man who could under­ take such a task, despite the consequences, was worthy to be classed among the bravest men of the empire. Although he has gained his greatest fame as an umpire, Phillips has distin­ guished himself on the cricket field, both as a bowler and a batsman. As a bowler he had much subtlety, and even when his increasing size made it difficult fcr him to do himself justice in the field, he could still bowl a ball which puzzled even the best of batsmen. His pitch was very accurate, and be was untiring. As a batsman he was not very attractive to watch, but was sound in his methods and frequently made useful scores. He had done very well indeed in Australia before he joined the staff of the M.C.C. in 1888, and although when he became qualified for Middlesex he played for the C-iunty until 1897, his abilities as an umpire were so noticeable that his cricket gradually ceased to attract attention. For some years after he came to England he went to Australia in the winter, con­ tinuing to play for his colony, Victoria. W. A. B e ttk sw o b th . D A R L IN G on t h e A U S T R A L IA N TOUR . The following report of an interview with Darling, tne Australian captain, is taken from the Adelaide Register :— PERTH, Uctober 17th. On hoard the K.M.S. China, which ar­ rived from England to-day, were J. Darling, captain of the Australian Eleven, and S. E. Gregory, W. Howell, and J. J. Kelly. “ Looking for the ashes?” Darling was asked by a pressman as the cricket captain was seen gazing over the Bhip’s rails. “ No ; unfortunately we left them behind us,” said Darling, with a smile. “ That damps our homecoming, as otherwise we had a most successful tour. To lose only three out of 38 matches is not a bad record is it P” “ You had the worst of luck in the tests, did you not?” —“ Yes, there is no denying we had. We would never have lo»t the first test match had not Trumper hurt his back when he had made 13 and was forced to retire. After that we were practically play­ ing with only ten men. When he got hurt we were in a winning position, aud if he could have gone on batting, the match was bound to have been a draw, and most probably a win. Then in the second match at Lord’s the Englishmen had eight hours’ play on a splendid wicket, but it rained during the night, and next day when we commenced our innings the wicket was wet and tricky. I reckon, considering the state of the wicket, the score we made—180—was the finest performance in any of the test matches. There can be no question that, with even luck, though we1 would have lost the rubber, we would have won two of the tests. So far as the county matches are con­ cerned we only, of course, lost to Essex, and our fellows had been travelling by boat all night, and, of course, were not in the best condition for play. Altogether I think we did very well. Take the last match at Scarborough. That was practically a test match, and we would have won if it had been finished.” “ What about the p'ayers ? ”—“ Well, Armstrong is the most improved player in the team, both in bowling and and batting. He has increased his variety of strokes, and is using his strength more, while he has not lost his great defence. Trumper and Hill both did well, although they failed in the big matches. Hill’s innings of 181 at Scar­ borough against Thornton’s teamis one of the best he has played. I don’t think that, except that he is a bit slow at starting, he has gone off at all. Gehrs hardly came up to expectations, but Newland never had a chance, as his hands were considerably knocked about right at the commencement of the tour. In fact, both he and Kelly suffered greatly in this respect. Kelly kept wickets splendidly—never better in his life— even though some of the time he was suffer­ ing from an injured finger. There was some discussion before we went away regarding the inclusion of Gregory in the team, but if the critics could have seen him fielding they would have withdrawn all that they had ever said. At cover point he was simply_unsur- passable, and never fielded better than he did during the tour. His inclusion was fully justified by the runs he saved in every match. Speaking generally, our fielding was not so good as it might have been, but on the whole we beat the Englishmen in that department. There o n be no question about that.” ‘ 1Laver was a bit of a surprise, was he not?—“ No. His fine play was no surprise to us. If he had not been chosen asmanager he would have been picked as a player. The plan of having a manager who can also play if called upon should have been tried long ago. It is no use taking a manager who is of no service in the field. I would like to say that Laver is one of the most successful managers I have travelled with, besides being exceedingly popular with the players.” “ How were you received? ” —“ Very well indeed. We were treated right royally, and we were more popular if anything with the crowd than the Englishmen, simply, I sup­ pose, because they liked fast scoring.” “ What about the finances?” — “ I think perhaps they are about up to the average, bnt no doubt some of the tours have turned out better in that respect.” “ No,” said the cricketer ’ “ There is no truth in the report that Gehrs received an offer to stay at home. I don’t know how such a report got about, as there was not the slightest hint of any such offer. In fact, none of our fellows were approached on the matter of throwing in their lot with any of the county elevens.” “ When will the next English Eleven visit Australia?” —“ It is j ust likely that a team will come out next summer, and Jaekson, who is undoubtedly the finest hat in England, is mentioned as a likely captain. If he accepts the position Maclaren will come out also, but I doubt very much if he will come under anyone else.” “ I would like to say,” said the captain, “ that this team was the happiest lot of fellows ever I travelled with. There was absolutely no kicking over the ropes, and no disagreements either on or off the field. We worked together well, and certainly cannot attribute our failure to bring back the ashes to any quarrelling among ourselves.” AN AM E R IC AN OP IN ION . Cricket is not a popular game in America, because the American tempera­ ment cannot sit under, much less eDj oy, a contest which requires three days to dfcide. Quick action and speedy verdict are what he wants—the sprint race, the runner put out at first base, the half-back shoved over the goal line, the victory won before he leaves his seat. Yet what deep gratification is there to the sportsman in the contemplation of cricket and its American players ! Here, indeed, is the game of spjrtsmen, the game of high ideals, the gi>ma in which ourtesy to the opponent is of even greater consideration than triumph over him, the game of sport for spc r u’s sake, the game of gentle­ men. And I use the word “ gentlemen ” in its broad sense, in its real sense which covers the man of heart, and not the man of clothes. This is the amateur’ s game par excellence, the one yet unsullied by the mad frenzy for winning, the one yet unaff.cted by legislators having an eye single to present season chances of their own clubs, the one in which the sportsman may grow o'.d and be a player still. What a comforting, happy thought that we have yet a gome which has not had all the fun of play legislated out of it! If this is the result of its unpopularity let us cherish cricket, and pray God that it may never become more popular. — Outing. CR ICK E T IN IN D IA . BANGALORE v. MADRAS. Played at Bangalore on October 27 and 28. B angalore G ym khana . Major R.U.Hayes,lbw, I) Twiss .................10 MajorH.E.C.B.Nepean, hit wicket, b More 11 K. Rid path, c Ross, b Twiss ... v ... 11 Capt.Standage,bMore 8 Leith-Ross, not out... 11 Extras ........ 21 P. L. Moore, b Collyer 47 Capt. J. B. Barstow, b Twiss.......................... 20 B.Jayaram.cCopeland, b Collyer ... ..........152 Capt.Munn.b Stephen­ son ...........................22 K E. Cooper, c Collyer, b Stephenson........ 123 G.J.G.llanson,b Twiss 11 Maprap. P. W. Partridge, c and b Standa.ije ... ................. 1 F. II. A. Stephenson, c More, b Standage........................28 MajorTwis<,Ibw, b Jayaram 13 Total ...450 c Mimn,b Cooper 41 W. J. More, b Standage E. R. R<ss, b Mumi ... 27 lbw, b Hanson c Jayaram, Cooper ... b Cooper ... c Jayaram, Standage b. 7 12 66 Corpl.Copeland.b Standage 3 cNepean.bCooper 17 H. N. Collyer, run out ... 10 b Cooper ..........11 E.W. (3. Bradfield, c Cooper, c Javarain, b b .layarain...35 Cooper ......... 4 J.G.Tait,c More,b Standage 18 not out .........12 C. (5. Clarke, b Jayaram ... 0 notout ... ... 0 G. V. Scovell, not out............ 1 did not bat ... 0 Extras ..........12 Extias... ... 21 More T\vUs Total .................173 Total (8 wkts)203 B angalore G ym khana . B. R. M. \V. ... ‘J'.) 70 3 2 Partridge 1)0 96 1 4 Clarke Stephenson 102 102 2 2 Collyer ... 66 72 0 2 M adras . First innings. B. R. M. W B. R. M.W. '18 46 0 0 12 15 0 0 Bradfield.. 24 28 0 0 Standage . Barstow Cooper Munn... . Jayaram . 108 51 2 42 IS2 0 ... 42 28 0 0 ... 42 300 1 ... 02 34 1 3 ... Ilunsjn ... Nepean ... Ridpath ... Leith-Ross Second innings. B. R. M. \V. ... 06 42 2 1 120 44 6 6 ... 25 6 1 0 ... 42 28 1 0 ... 06 38 2 1 ... 18 13 0 0 ... 18 5 1 0 ... 12 3 1 0