Cricket 1907

S e p t. 19, 1907. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 419 CRICKET BALLS IlMfROVEDMAKE-KEEPTHEIRSHAPE LASLONCERf MPRWEDMAKE-KEEPTHEIR SHAPE-LASTLONCERl lOfe1 DEMON D R IV ER S ___ARE OUTAND OUT THE BEST. OTHER GRADES 7-6-5/3-4'e-4-'-3/a-3'-2/6 lOfe GEO. 6. BUSSEY& CO., LTD, 36 & 38, Queen Victoria St., LONDON. Manufactory : Timber Mills : PEOKHAM, S.E. ELMSWELL, SUFFOLK. AT THE SIGN OF THE WICKET. By F. 8 . AsHLBY-CoopaR. Cricket in Australia can boast a very con­ siderable antiquity, for the game is known to have been played in New South Wales during the first decade of the nineteenth century. It was necessarily very primitive cricket in those days, and even when, a-quarter of a century later, matches began to be played between the Military and Civilians the grounds still partook very much of the Grampian Hills, and all the bowling was still of the old- fashioned under-hand variety. Mountford Clarkson was one of the leading lights in the Australian cricket world of that time, and at his public-house, at the corner of Elizabeth and Park-streets, the players frequently met to fight their battles o’er again and to make arrangements for future campaigns. Is a portrait of Clarkson in existence? If so, it should be given a place of honour in the beautiful pavilion on the Sydney ground. In his time matches were played on the north­ west portion of Hyde Park, then known as the Race-course. When cricket first took place there cannot be stated definitely, but it is known that a game was played on the ground as far back as 1826. The bats used for the occasion were made of cedar, and the stumps of lance-wood. Two of the earliest clubs in the State to gain more than a local reputation jwere the Australian and Victoria C.C., for in January, 1843, we hear of two of the players belonging to the former being “ barred” in matches—a mode of proceduie which can hardly have encouraged young cricketers. Great excitement was caused during the match at Sydney on March 7, 1843, between the two clubs mentioned owing to one of the Australian players, the late R. Still, attempting to introduce round-armed bowling. The Australian C.C. made 120 and 143 (Clarkson 9 and 70 not out), and the Victoria C.C. 49 and 74. Mr. Still’ s bowling was very fast, “ but the ground being very rough and hard made it quite dangerous to stand against, and many of the V.C.C. were crippled. The umpires, under­ standing very little of the game, omitted to call this unfair bowling until late in the game. It will not be allowed another time, but we hope fair round- arm bowling will be introduced into the colony.” In 1851 the game in New South Wales received a great impetus through the arrival there of George Gilbert and W . G. Rees, cousins of the Graces. Soon after the pair had settled down they played a single-wicket match against Harry Hilliard, who still survives, and Vaughan, then the two best men out there, and won in a very easy manner. Gil­ bert, in fact, was in for three days and then knocked his wicket down, no declaration of the innings then being permissible. Five years later —in 1856, to wit — a new era dawned for Australian cricket, as on March 26th of that year the first match between New South Wales and Victoria was commenced at Melbourne, the game resulting from a chal­ lenge issued by the latter to play any eleven in Australasia. Matches had previously taken place between Victoria and Tasmania, but for all practical purposes first-class cricket in Australia may be said to date from March 26th, 1856. There was no grass on the ground in those days, and all the men played with their boots off, some in their naked feet and some with their stockings on. The scoring was low, as may be judged from the fact that, although New South Wales required only 15 runs to win, they lost seven wickets before they were made. Victoria appears to have been somewhat behind New South Wales in taking to the game, for, according to tradition, it was not until 1838 that the first wicket was pitched in the State by D. G. M ’ Arthur and Isaac Hind, at the foot of the late Batman’ s Hill. The stumps and bails were improvised for the occasion from the ti-ti tree, which grew so plentifully on the banks of the river in those times, but it has been recorded that there was really a genuine bat and ball, which were tenderly looked after during the summer season, and greased and laid up in lavender during the winter, there not being others to be had in the State ! Gradually, however, a demand sprang up for bats, balls, and stumps, and so a supply was obtained from Hobart, and, this having been done, the Melbourne C.C. was founded. McVitie was the first secretary, and among the original members were Messrs. D.S. Campbell, D. G. M ’Arthur, G. Cavenagh, Marsden, Webster, and Powlett. As time passed, other clubs came into existence, and it was one of these latter—the Brighton C.C.— which possessed in Coleman the player who introduced round-armed bowling into Victoria. The first inter-State match ever played was against Tasmania at Launceston in February, 1851, and arose from a challenge sent by Victoria in February, 1850, to the then newly-formed club at Launceston. The challenge was accepted, and the match would have been played in March, 1850, had not the gentleman deputed to forward the acceptance forgotten to post the letter in time. The challenge of Victoria was repeated in 1851, and the match referred to above was the result. The Tasmanian Eleven, which won by three wickets, con­ sisted of five players from Launceston, three from Hobart, and one each from the Perth, Longford, and Westbury Clubs. In 1853 Governor Latrobe presented the Melbourne C.C. with the beautiful ground they still possess. It was some time before good wickets could be obtained there, but in 1859, Tom W ray, the then secretary, to the horror of many of the leading cricketers, ploughed the land,j and, by a good mixture of rich black soil and manure with the original poor loam and plenty of English rye-grass, caused the ground to be fit for play by the com­ mencement of the following season. Strange though it may appear, judging by the development of the game in the respective States, cricket seems to have been played in West Australia as early as in South Australia. The first recorded match contested in West Australia appears to have been that played at Perth on May 11, 1846, between the Perth Club and Eleven Tradesmen and Mechanics of Perth. The Swan River Nfws stated— “ The playing appears to have been fair, and the Perth Club were declared the winners.” In the early ’forties a olub, called the Adelaide, existed in South Australia, but records of its early matches have not been preserved. Certain it is, however, that in 1846 the late John Cocker formed the Kent and Sussex Club. Cocker, who had played in the Kent Eleven before leaving England, was no mean cricketer, and was the life and soul of the South Australian cricketing world. The ground of the Kent and Sussex C.C. was at the foot of what is now known as Stanley Street, in North Adelaide. About 1850 and 1852 respectively the South Aus­ tralian and Union Clubs were founded, and, as Cocker’ s powers waned, became fit antagonists for the Kent and Sussex C.C., which had, hitherto, been almost invincible