Cricket 1908

8 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 30, 1908. NOTICE TO OUK READERS. Six numbers are published during the Winter, from October to March inclusive, as follows:— No. 7G7.—THURSDAY, OCT. 31. No. 768.—THURSDAY, NOV. 28. No. 769.—THURSDAY, DEO. 19. No. 770.—THURSDAY, JAN. 30. No. 771.—THURSDAY, FEB. 27. No. 772.—THURSDAY, MARCH 26. The above series sent post free to any part of the world for Is. 3d. ■ Cricket is the only paper in the world solely devoted to the game. Weekly, April to September. Monthly, October to March. T erms of S ubscription :— 6 /- per annum. 7/- post free abroad. Payable in advance. All communications to be sent direct to the Offices of Cricket, 168, Upper Thames Street, London, E.C. C r ic k e t : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.O. THURSDAY , JANU ARY 30 th , 1908. $ a t o l t o n The abstract and brief chronicle of the time.— Hamlet. T h e Test match at Melbourne pro­ duced a splendid finish, the side taking the fourth innings, as was the case at Sydney, making almost 300 runs and proving successful by a narrow margin. A t Melbourne the Englishmen required 39 runs to win when Fielder went in, last man, and joined Barnes. It speaks volumes for the nerve of the men that they succeeded in making the number, for on no previous occasion in a match between Englind and Australia had so great a feat been accomplished by the last pair available. The classic instance of the kind concerns the Gentlemen v. Players match at Lords’ in 1877, in which W. S. Patterson and G. F. Grace made 46 together and pulled off the game for the Gentlemen b y a wicket. A l t h o u g h there was such a splendid finish, and Hutchings made a threa- figure score in characteristic fashion, the match will perhaps be remembered as much on account of the tediously slow scoring as for any other reason. The game lasted six days and produced 1,327 runs for the loss of 39 w ickets:— 1st day .. 255 runs for 7 wickets 2nd day ... 257 6 „ 3rd day .. 232 7 4th day ..2 6 4 „ 7 „ 5th day .. 196 7 „ 6th day .. 123 5 „ As many as 91,388 spectators paid to witness the play, the receipts amounting to £4,070 —figures which m ight well have bi en considerably less had the play not been so curiously slow. A t the end of the second day England were in a most satisfactory position, having scored 246 for three wickets in reply to a total of 266. Twenty-four hours later, ow ing to a fine first-wicket stand by Trumper and Noble, the sides were practically “ all square,” and this fact caused the Star to scintillate thus : How doe 8 the Test Match resemble the Druce mystery ? — Because “ England’s Lead,” which we were crowing about yester­ day, can’t be found, and the ashes seem to be Australia’s. A t Adelaide the Englishmen, after appearing at one time to have the game in hand, lost b y 245 runs. The chief cause of the hesvy reverse was the stand of 243 for the eighth wicket by Hartigan and H ill, wliich will cause the match to be memorable. Hartigan, making his first appearance in a match of such im­ portance, scored 116, but the success of H ill was even more remarkable. The latter, ow ing to illness, was not equal to fielding whilst England batted, and went in late in each innings. Handicapped as he was, it must be regarded as an extra­ ordinary performance on his part to score 160, especially as he collapsed more than once during the innings. He evidently recognised that the only chance of Aus­ tralia’s success depended upon his efforts, and he rose to the occasion nobly. It would be difficult to conceive any cricketer playing a pluckier game. T h e partnership of 243 mentioned above is a record for Test matohes, sur­ passing the 221 for the fourth wicket by S. E . Gregory and G. H . S. Trott at Lord’s in 1896. B y his success alluded to Roger Hartigan has caused his name to be added to the very select list of batsmen who have played a three-figure innings on the occasion of their debut in a Test match between England and Australia. There are now eight such performances on record : — (a).— F ob A ustralia . Scores. Batsman. Ground. Season. 165* and 4... O. Rannemian ... Melbourne ... J876-7 107 ... H. Graham ...........Lord’s ............. 1893 32and 104 .. R. A. D u ff...........Melbourne .. 1901-2 48and'16... R. Hartigan ... Adelaide ... 1907-8 ( i) - F 0R E ngland . 152 and 9*... W .G . Grace ...O va l ............... 1880 62andl51*... K .8. Ranjitsinhji Manchester... 1896 287 and 19... R. E. Foster ...S ydney ...1903-4 119 and 74... Gunn (G.) ..........Sydney ... 1907-8 * Signifies not out. Ranjitsinhji, who accomplished the feat f jr England in 1896, was, of course, born in India, whilst Charles Bannerman. who scored so well on behalf of Aus­ tralia in the first of the series of matches, is a native of Kent. T he Australians were certainly unlucky in being deprived of the services of Cotter and in having Trumper indis­ posed, but the Englishmen were even more unfortunate. Jones was still un­ able to p la y ; Fielder, in addition to being prostrated by the heaf, complained of neuralgia ; Humphries sustained a b id abdomiuai strain, and was troubled with his hands; Hobbs was injured whilst batting, and practically everyone on the side was affected by the heat, the tem­ perature at times being over 150 in the sun. Several catches were missed, and, altogether, the Englishmen themselves cannot well have been very surprised at the game slipping from them. The tropical heat must have handicipped them to a far greater extent than it did the Australians, for the latter are accus­ tomed to it. In the circumstances, I think the Englishmen would have been justified in appealing to the umpires for an adjournment. I f a precedent is re­ quired one is furnished by the Surrey v. Lancashire match at the Oval in 1868 in which play was stopped for one hour on account of the heat. I r is rumoured that during the third Test match a parson was heard to mutter that there were wails all round for “ Jonah.” O n the 15th inst. the cabled messages giving particulars of the day’s play in the Test match at Adelaide were delayed an hour and a-half in transit. Anxious followers of the game in London, unable to account for the absence of news, imagined all sorts of curious things. Some suggested that everybody in Adelaide had succumbed to the great heat, others that the news was so dis­ appointing that the papers dared not publish it for fear of causing a riot. The correct explanation, however, was given in the Evenin') News in the follow ing interesting remarks:— At 6 p.m., Adelaide time, the reporters with the English side handed in their mes­ sages, with the close of play score. This was 8.30 a.m. Greenwich time, and the Evening JVews should have been on sale with the closing score at 8.45. But to-day the news travelling from Adelaide to Southport, Queensland, was transmitted to Vancouver on the Pacific cable, and then blocked in Canada. The Pacific is the “ All Red” British cable, whose only break between Australia and JEnglani is in Canada, where the Canadian Pacific Railway’s land line carries on the telegrams. Newspapers and the news agencies here were puzzled when no score flashed from the Dominion, but at 10.10 the suspense was broken by the arrival of ail agency message that had been held up for nearly an hour between Vancouver and Eastern Canada. When the wires are working favourably for a “ quick result,” it can be got from Adelaide to London on the British Pacific cable in ten minutes. Some of the Test match reports are put on the Eastern Com­ pany’s system, and go from Adelaide to Perth, thence to Cocos, Durban, Capetown, St. Helena, St. Vincent, and Land’s End, and to London over the Post Office wires. T h e Star on Braund’s first ionings score ia the Adelaide match :— Braund got a duck’s egg to-day. It was of the Adel(ai)d(e) variety. T h e most pleasing feature of the Englishmen’s match at South Melbourne was ihe pronounced success of Hayes and Hobbs, who scored 98 and 77 respectively.