Cricket 1908

. A p r il 23, 1908. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 93 S outh A u str a lia v . V ic to r ia . “ 3 / ” signifies Melbourne; “ A ” Adelaide, No. Season. At. Winners. Margin. R. S.A. W . R. W . R. Vic. W . R. W . 1 1880-1 M. V. 7 'wickets. 77 10 314 10 329 10 64 3 2 ,, A. V. 151 runs. 163 9 51 9 191 10 174 10 3 1881-2 A. S.A. 31 luns. 119 10 200 10 106 10 182 10 4 1882-3 M. V. Innings and 98. 23 10 79 10 200 10 5 1883-4 A . V. 4 wickets. 334 10 319 10 285 10 369 6 6 1884-5 M. S.A. 53 runs. 170 10 154 10 189 10 82 10 7 1885-6 A. S.A. 40 runs. 172 10 274 10 187 10 219 10 8 1886-7 M. V. 144 runs. 170 10 54 10 138 10 230 9 9 1887-8 A. S.A. Innings and 113. 407 10 — — 168 10 126 10 10 1888-9 M. V. 14 runs. 270 10 89 10 181 10 192 10 11 1889-SO A. V. 18 runs. 282 10 241 10 320 1C 221 10 12 1890-1 M. S.A. Innings and 62. 472 10 — — 220 10 190 10 13 1891-2 A. S.A. Innings and 164. 562 9 __ ' — 235 10 163 10 14 1892-3 M. V. 6 wicket-*. 73 10 347 10 180 10 241 4 15 ,, A. V. 5 wickets. 242 10 363 10 403 10 203 5 16 1893-1 M. S.A. 74 runs 272 10 281 10 181 10 298 10 17 A. S.A. £8 runs. 316 - 10 276 10 222 10 312 10 18 1894-5 A. S.A. 10 wickets. 358 10 29 0 252 :o 134 10 19 ,, M. V. 10 wickets. 118 10 245 10 348 10 16 0 20 1895-6 A. V. 66 runs. 163 10 320 10 220 10 329 10 21 „ M. S.A. 10 wickets. 199 10 10 0 165 10 43 10 22 1896-7 M. V. 49 runs. 239 9 296 10 354 10 230 10 23 . A. S.A. Innings and 70. 427 10 — — 279 10 78 10 24 1897-8 A. S.A. 9 wickets. 312 10 78 1 157 10 231 10 25 „ M. V. 26 luns. 394 10 120 10 428 10 112 10 26 1898-9 A. V. 295 runs. 331 10 98 10 507 10 217 10 27 ,, M. V. Innings and 218 136 10 101 10 455 10 __ 28 1899-1900 A. V. 246 runs. 204 10 318 9 360 10 408 10 29 „ M. V. 181 runs. 250 10 220 10 353 10 298 10 30 1900-1 A. V. 8 wickets. 267 10 197 10 403 10 62 2 31 ,, M. V. 238 runs. 107 10 177 10 76 10 446 10 32 1901-2 M. V. 5 wickets. 410 10 269 10 464 10 208 5 33 1902-3 M. V. 179 runs. 317 10 140 10 472 10 164 10 34 ,, A. V. 35 runs. 278 10 222 10 291 10 244 10 35 1903-4 M. S.A. 17 runs. 342 10 189 10 268 10 246 10 36 1904-5 A. V. 9 wickets. 247 10 210 10 437 10 21 1 37 M. S A. Innings and 72. 420 10 — — 129 10 219 10 38 1905-6 A. V. Innings and 148. 244 10 134 10 526 10 39 , M. S.A. 120 runs. 181 10 378 10 183 10 256 9 40 1906-7 A. V. 70 runs. 231 10 186 10 125 10 352 10 41 ,f M. S.A. 319 luns. 290 10 398 10 199 10 170 8 42 1907-8 M. V. Innings and 165. 357 10 177 10 699 10 Results. —Yictoria won 26 matches, South Australia 16. Ground played on.— There have been two more matches played at Melbourne than at Adelaide. The first match was on the East Melbourne ground. This Yictoria won, as also thirteen matches on the Melbourne ground, and twelve at Adelaide. South Australia’s sixteen vic­ tories are evenly divided between home and away matches. Total Runs Scored. —South Australia, 18 190 for the loss of 756 wickets. Yictoria, 19,635 for the loss of 742 wickets. Averages per W icket. —South Australia, 24.45. Victoria, 26.46. Extras .—Victoria gave away to South Aus­ tralia 724 (percentage of total runs 3.9) ; South Australia to Victoria, 743 (percentage 3.7). Close Finishes. —The side batting last has either been beaten or else has won compara­ tively easily in every case, the smallest margin for victory being Victoria’s four wickets in the 5th match. But there have been several close finishes by runs, South Australia having won by 17 (35t.h match), 31 (3rd), and 40 (7th) ; and Victoria by 14 (10th), 18 (11th), 26 (25th), 35 (34th), and 49 (22nd). Heavy Defeats. —Victoria’s victory by an in­ nings and 218 runs in the 27th match is the record. Next to that comes the same side’s win by an innings and 165 in the last match played. South Australia won by an innings and 164 in the 13th match. South Australia won one match by 319 runs, and Victoria has won matches by margins of 295, 246 and 238 runs. Innings Victories. —South Australia 5, Vic­ toria 4. Big Totals. —Victoria 12 of 400 and over, in­ cluding 699 (record), 526 and 507; South Aus­ tralia 6 of 400 and over, including 562 (record). Small Totals. —South Australia 8 of under 100, including 23 in the 4th m atch; Victoria 4 of under 100, including 43 in the 21st match. Big A ggregates .—Seventeen of the matches realised 1,000 runs or more each, as under:— W ickets Wickets Match. Runs. down. Match. Runs. down. 32 ... 1,341 ... 35 ... 33 ... 1,093 ... 40 5 ... ],307 ... 36 ... 11 ... 1,064 ... 40 28 ... 1,290 ... 39 ... 41 ... 1.057 ... 38 42 ... 1,233 ... 30 ... 25 ... 1,054 ... 40 15 ... 1,211 ... 35 ... 35 ... 1,045 ... 40 26 ... 1,153 ... 40 ... 34 ... 1,035 ... 40 W ickets W ickets Match. Runs. down. Match. Runs. down. 17 ... 1,126 ... 40 ... 16 ... 1,032 ... 40 29 ... 1,121 ... 40 ... 20 ... 1,032 ... 40 22 ... 1,119 ... 39 How the W ickets Fell .—Of the 756 South Australian wickets lowered, 718 were accounted for by the Victorian bowlers, 37 were run out, and one (E. Jones) given out “ handled b a ll” ; of the 742 Victorian wickets lowered, 699 were accounted for by the South Australian bowlers, and 43 were run out. Run Out. —In eight of the matches—the 11th, 13th, 26th, 27th, 32nd, 36th, 37th and 41st— no one was run out on either side. In each of three—the 1st, 5th and 10th—as many as five men were run out. South Australia had four men run out in the 1st, 33rd (all four in one innings) and 39th m atches; Victoria four in the 10th and 16th. Players .—South Australia was represented by 98 players in the 42 matches, Victoria by 110. One man (T. Turner) played first for S.A., in two matches, and later in one match for V ic­ toria. Six men played in 20 or more matche for S.A., only one man for V ictoria; in at least 10 matches but fewer than 20, the figures are 9 for S.A., 15 for V ictoria; in at least five matches but fewer than ten, 25 for S.A., 32 for V ic­ toria ; in at least two matches but fewer than five, 35 for S.A., 37 for Y ictoria; in one match only, 38 for S.A., 41 for Victoria. Sixty-nine of the 98 South Australians and 72 of the 110 Victorians bowled. The most notable feature of the batting aver­ ages which follow is the wonderful record of George Giffen. The great all-rounder played in 29 of the first 34 matches of the series; and his average of over 51 per innings spetks for itself. It was much higher at one time, for there can be no doubt that Giffen continued playing when far past his best; but he finished against Y ic­ toria in a blaze of glory at Adelaide in 1902-3. Clement H ill’s figures against N.S W. are higher than Giffen’s against Y ictoria; but I do not think they can reasonably be held superior, seeing that much of the older man’s cricket was played in the ante-Bulli-and-Merri-Creek wickets. For the same reason, fine as are Arm­ strong’s figures for Victoria v. S.A., I am not inolined to allow him any advantage over Giffen. Clem Hill and Lyons have each a splendid average, as has Claxton; but that sterling player, John Reedman, one of the best Aus­ tralian cricketers who never came to England —I can only think of Harry Moses and Alec Mackenzie in the past to rank with them, though there may be several present-day men, whose cake is not yet proved dough, who are his equals—while he is one of the four who total over a thousand, does not reach the twenty mark in the average column, and only figures fourteenth. He will be found to have done much better against N.S.W. On the other hand Norman Claxton, fourth in this table, is no higher than thirteenth in the N.S.W. matches. Next to Armstrong, and playing in man. more matches, Frank Laver is one of the mot:! outstanding figures on the Victorian side, llis aggregate is far in excess of anyone else’s, aiu. only three men figure before him. McAli&t.-r Graham and Harry Trott have all done go( (1 w ork; but the figures of Worrall, Bruce and “ Lightning ” McLeod are disappointing. Yic­ toria has five compilers of four figure totals against S.A.’s four; but the numbers will probably be equalised if Joe Darling plays in the next match of the series. The “ cabbage gardeners ” have twenty-three men with aver­ ages of 20 or more in the first table, the “ wheatfielders ” only tw elve; but whe»eas the 23 Victorians only average 11 matches each the 12 South Australians average 14. In the oases where no indication is given of what a man playing in only a single match or in two matches did it may be taken for granted that he did practically nothing. Where even a moderately good result was achieved the player’s name will be found in the second table, or, if he played in only one match, with his scores in brackets against it. S outh A u stralians B atting A verages in the M atches v . V icto ria . In five matches or m ore: Matches played Not Highest in. Inns. outs. Runs. Aver. Score. G. Giffen 29 50 3 2.417 51.42 271 C. H ill 22 39 2 1,793 48.45 147 J. J. Lyons 21 38 2 1,571 43 6J 135 N. H. Claxton 10 19 1 762 42 33 199* F. T. Hack 13 25 0 813 32.52 115 J. Darling 18 31 1 975 32.50 87 D. R. A. Gehrs 8 15 0 449 29.93 170