Cricket 1909

CRICKET: a w e e k l y r e c o r d o f t h e g a m e . MAY 20, 1909. "Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. No. 80 8. v o l . x x v i i i . THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1909. o n e p e n n y . CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. M r . E. R. MAYNE. Among the younger Australian batsmen of to-day Mr. E. E. Mayne, of South Australia, occupies a very prominent position. He plays with a remark­ ably straight bat, has strong defence and is a very fine off-side player. One of the leading Australian critics has said of him :—“ Possessing height, reach, strength, unbounded enthu­ siasm, a good eye, and several fine strokes, he strikes one as a future international representative of Austra­ lia. He already times the ball more accurately than, perhaps, any South Australian contemporary, save Clem Hill.” Concerning his fielding, so sound a judge of the game as T. U. Groube has written, “ At slip or point he has probably no superior.” Mayne was given a place in the South Australian team in 1906-7, when, after making 1 and 24 against New South Wales at Adelaide on a wicket ruined by rain, he proceeded to Mel­ bourne and at once showed there was plenty of good cricket in him by scoring 65 and 28 off the Victorian bowling. Against New South Wales at Sydney he made 17 and 38, and his average for the season worked out at 28-83. During 1907-8 he showed a considerable advance. Against the Englishmen he made 22 and 0, against Victoria 75 and 26, and against New South Wales 91 and 17. His form was so good that, at the end of the season, he was chosen to play in Sydney for the Best against the Australian Eleven in Noble’s Testi­ monial match. The honour was a great one for a player in his second year of first-class cricket, but he justified his selection by two sound innings of 32 and 36. His record for the season shows that he commenced nine innings and, with 91 as his highest score, made 373 runs with an average of 41'44. In many quarters it was considered that, if he did as well during 1908-9 as was expected, he would stand a very good chance of being chosen for the trip to England. In his first big match—against Victoria at Adelaide—he made 51 in his first innings and 77 not out in bis second. South Australia were set only 135 to win, and it Was due almost solely to Mayne that the side scrambled home with a couple of wickets in hand. He went in first and carried out his bat, and the extent to which the side was indebted to him will be understood when it is added that the only other double- ME. E. E. MAYNE. figure scores were 15 by Gehrs and 13 by Clem Hill. Mayne's judgment in running during the innings was not ‘ quite above criticism, but he played with fine nerve and judgment at a crisis. In the return match, at Melbourne, he made 8 and 142, and, as the margin in South Australia’s favour at the finish was only 15 runs, it will be admitted that the side again owed much to his skill for its success. In the matches with New South Wales he did little, making only 8 and 0 at Adelaide and 12 and 0 at Sydney, and it was his failure to score well in these games which destroyed his chance of being selected for the English tour. Still, he was chosen for the two Trial matches between the Australian team and the Best, and, after making 3 and 12 at Sydney, was seen at his best in the Melbourne fixture, wherein he scored 101 and 43. For his club, East Torrens, he again proved a tower of strength, among his best innings be­ ing 84 v. Glenelg, 79 and 73 v. Adel­ aide, 70 v. University, and 67 v. Port Adelaide. “ Adelaide is not your birthplace, I think?” “ I was born at Jamestown, about 140 miles from Adelaide, on July 4th, 1883. When I was about six years old my family removed to Melbourne, and I went to school at Camberwell and Auburn. I returned to Adelaide at the age of thirteen and have lived here ever since. Strange to say, I cannot remember when I commenced to play cricket, but I have always been passionately fond of it. Like the majority of Australian crick­ eters, I used to play as a youngster with any kind of a stick or piece of wood for a bat and a tin or a coat for a wicket. Whilst at school one of my fellow-players was Arnold Seitz, the Victorian Rhodes scholar who is now at Oxford. Up to the age of sixteen I played on ordinary turf pitches, but upon joining a team called the Oxfords in the East Torrens Asso­ ciation played on matting wickets. After making 40 against the East Torrens second eleven Mr. W. O. Whitridge, tbeir captain and also secretary of the East Torrens first eleven, asked me to go down to the nets at the Adelaide Oval and prac­ tise : he said my style of play was better suited to turf wickets than to matting. I was naturally delighted at my good fortune, for Mr. Whitridge and other members of the eleven used to coach me. Mr. Whitridge has played an important