Cricket 1907

CRICKET I A WEEKLY RECORD OF TH E GAME. NOV. 28, 1907. “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — Byron. no. 768. vox., xxvi. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1907. pbice aa A CHAT ABOUT MR. H. F. BOYLE. Mr. Henry Frederick Boyle, one of the most historia figures in the whole history of Australian cricket, died at Bendigo, in Victoria, on Thursday last. On August 30 th he underwent an operation in a private hospital, and made so good a recovery that his com­ plete restoration to health se em e d a s s u r e d . On September 21st he was present in Melbourne at the great football match for the premiership, and he then appeared to be so well that it was anticipated he would be strong enough to start on a trip to Tasmania a week or two later. Early in October, however, he suf­ fered a relapse, and his medical attendant advised him not to think of travel­ ling until his condition improved. Instead of mend­ ing, however, he grew gradually weaker and on the 21st inst. passed away at the house of his brother- in-law, Mr. McColl. H. F. Boyle was bom at Sydney on December lOtb, 1847, but when only three years old left his native place and settled in Victoria, the State with which bis name will always be associ­ ated. As a small boy he showed considerable aptitude for the game and he was but fifteen years of age when, in 1862-3, he took part in his first great match —for X X II. of Sandhurst against the Victoria inter­ state team. Although so y o u n g h e p e r f o r m e d excellently, taking four wickets for nine runs in the first innings and four for eleven in the second. During the next few years he accomplished many fine performances with both b it and ball, but it was not until March, 1872, that he was chosen to represent Victoria against New South Wales. The match was played at Mel­ bourne, and he marked the occasion of his debut in first-class cricket by making the second highest score (27) on the side; he did not have an opportunity of dis­ tinguishing himself with the ball, as F. E. Allan, “ the bowler of a century,” and Sam Cosstick obtained all the wickets between them at so reasonable a cost that Victoria won by an innings and 26 runs, although their total amounted to only 161. In December, 1873, he played for the first time against an English tile, appearing for XV . of Victoria against “ W .G.’s ” team. In the two innings he obtained four wickets for 25 runs, and had the satisfaction of being the first Australiin to upset the stumps of the Leviathan; the score- sheet reads—“ W. O. Qrace, b Boyle, 33; not out, 51.” In 1874 he settled in Melbourne and joined the Etst Mel­ bourne C.C., with which he was destined to be intimately associated for many years. During the next few seasons, without accomplishing anything extra­ ordinary—he was always steady rather than brilliant —he proved himself a very useful all-round man, and when the idea of sending a team to England in 1878 was mooted he was one of the first men thought of in connection with the trip. The tour of 1878 marked the beginning of a new epoch in Boyle’s career. Our visitors had to piny through a very wet summer, but the slow wickets suited their bowlers to perfection, Boyle iu particular proving far more deadly than he had ever been in Melbourne or Sydney. He did not take part in the opening match of the tour —at Trent Bridge, when Nottinghamshire won by an innings—but a week later he appeared at Lord’s against the M.O.C. in the historic match which may be said to mark the com­ mencement of the history of modern cricket. When Englishmen first heard that it was proposed to send an Australian team over here they treated the affair as a joke; the tourists landed in Liverpool almost unnoticed, and when they fell such easy prey to Notts, the result was taken as a matter of course. Hence, when the side took the field at Lord’s a decisive victory for the M.C.C.—a very strong side—was gener­ ally expected. It has been said that at the commencement of the home team’s first innings a famous player, seeing that the Australians’ field was not set in quite the ordinary manner, offered a few suggestions to the captain (D. W. Gregory) whic'i, however, were not ac ed upon