Cricket 1907

S e p t. 12, 1907. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OE THE GAME. 403 - — -----------------------------------------------------—— C R ICK ET S IMf ROVEDMAKE- KEEPTHEIRSHAPE-LAS■' LONGER] I l/V D EM O N DR IV ER S I f\ r \\J6 ARE OUTAND OUT THE BEST. \\JO ^ ■ > > ^ PTHERGRADES 7 ^^S '3 -A-'6-A-'-3'6-3'-2'6~2'- iiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirc^TflLoGuE-oNAppL|cA7|oN-'[ij GEO, G. BUSSEY & GO,, LTD , , 36 & 38, Queen Victoria St., LONDON. Manvfactory : Timber Mills: PEOKHAM, 8.E. ELMSWELL, SUFFOLK. AT THE SIGN OF THE WICKET. By F. S. Ashlby-Coopbk. A t Scarborough yesterday the South Africans brought to a conclusion a tour which is destined to form a red-letter mark in their cricketing annals. When they last visited Eagland, in 1904, they certainly proved themselves to be a good side, but had anybody then suggested that they should be pitted against the full strength of England he would have been ridiculed. They showed very good form even tlen , but did little to fore­ shadow the great improvement which was to take place so quickly. Between the end of that tour, iu September, 1904, and the arrival of the M.C.C.’s team in South Africa iu December, 1905, the Colonials’ cricket hadincreased in strength over fifty per cent., the consequence being that the Englishmen were over­ whelmed in the Test matches, and de­ feated on four occasions out of five. Even then the critics over here were practically unanimous in attributing the results to the matting wickets, though they naturally recognised the fact that South African cricket must have im­ proved to some extent. How great the improvement was, however, they failed to grasp, although all the Englishmen who made the trip spoke of their opponents’ skill in the highest terms. When the South Africans arrived over here this season the greatest interest was evinced in the form tbey displayed during their preliminary practice, for they had expressed the desire to meet England on level terms, and it had been arranged that three Test matches should take place. Englishmen characteristically im­ agined tbemselves immune from defeat iu such struggles, for probably r.ot one person in a thousand for a moment believed that the S juth Africans cju ld iu any way be compared favourably with tie Australians. And yet, within the space of a few short weeks, it was every­ where recognised that in the tourists we had a band of cricketers in our midst thoroughly worthy of being matched agaiLst our best. For some time, in fact, their bowlers created almost a panic, aud the Test matches were looked forward to with as much interest as though the Australians were to be our opponents, and certainly with at least as much trepidation. As it happened, only one of the three great games could be finished, and that, played on a ruined wicket at Leeds, was won by England. At Lord’s the South Africans held the worst position when the game was aban­ doned, whilst at the Oval a very even match was seen. The tourists were very unfortunate, for all three games were interrupted by rain, and they lost the toss every time. It was their bow ling to which the South Africans’ victories were primarily due. The novel character of th ir attack for some time enabled them to carry everything before them, and it was only on a very few occasions indeed that any­ thing like a mastery was obtained over i*’. The mainstays have been Schwarz and Yogler, each of whom has obtained ever 100 wickets at small cost, the former indeed, heading the whole of the first- class averages. A t the present time their attack is probably stronger than would be that of any representative English or Australian team placed in the field against them. Their ability to bow l an off- break with an apparently leg-break ac'ion is greater than that of any English player. Schwarz, who has been the success of the tour, keeps a far better length than Boeanquet, who originated the stj le of attack, but he is said to lose his length if he attempts to bowl leg- breaks, and that he is, on that account, practically an off break bowler and nothing more. Vogler and Faulkner, on the other hand, can break both ways with the same action, the latter being only a triflj less deadly than Schwarz and Vogler. The “ off-break leg-break” bowling may perhaps occasionally cause the batting to be a little slow, but the play is always interesting. Even if they did not win the rubber iu the Test matches, the South Afrieins can certainly claim to have taught Englishmen some­ thing about bowling. Piaying, as they did, three times against the full strength of Eagland, it was but natural that comparisons should be instituted between the South A fricw s and the Australians, and iu being j udged so highly the former have little, if indeed any, the worst of the argument. The South Africans, at the moment, are clearly far stronger in bow ling than the Aus­ tralians, but they are far behind the latter in their ability to get rues on a bad wicket. This weakness was the only failing of the side, but it was not altogether unexpected and was certainly quite excusable, seeing that in their own country they iuvariably play on matting u p;n which the ball always comes along at a uniform p ice. As Mr. Schwarz pointed out in the last issue of Cricket, there were some memb irs cf the side who had never seen a grass wicket uutil arriving in this country, and, this being so, it is surely not surprising that the players should be found wanting when plaj ing under difficult conditious which are unknown in their own land. A ll the members of the team can bat, and bat well, but there is no batsman of such outstanding ability as Trumper, Mackay, Noble, or H ill. Had they enjoyed a season of hard wickets they would undoubtedly have made some large scores, for tney are incomparably better on fast wickets than on slow. White, from whom so much was ex­ pected, was very disappointing, doing little until the third week of August, when he came out of his shell witn an innings of 162 against Gloucestershire— the largest score hit either for or against the side. Nourse exceeded the hundred three times, but, after all that had been said about him, was scarcely the success anticipated : he was, however, a tower of strength to the side, more than once playing a good innings when no one else could do anything with the bow ling