Cricket 1909

244 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J u l y 8, 1909. THE AUSTRAL IANS . 1 7 th M a tch . —v. ENGLAND. ( t h e t h ik d t e s t .) Played at Leeds on July 1, 2 and 3. Australia won by 126 runs. Each side having won one of the previous two matches played, more than usual interest naturally centred in their third meeting. It was good news for supporters of England to learn on the morning of the match that Barnes was to be present on the ground, for he had done so well in similar matches before, and had been bowling capitally just previously for Staffordshire and in League cricket. The side which took the field differed in six instances from that which did duty at Lord’s, Brearley, Jessop, Barnes, Fry, Rhodes and Sharp taking the places of Jones, Hayward, Haigh, King, George Gunn and R e lf: on the other hand the Australian team was precisely the same as on that occasion. For the third time running in the Test matches Noble won the toss. His good fortune, however, did not benefit his side in the least, and it was only after he had carefully inspected the pitch with Trumper and Armstrong that he decided to take first innings. When the match commenced, ten minutes late, Gregory and McAlister opened the innings to the bowling of Hirst and Barnes. Each batsman obtained a single off the form er’s first over, and off Barnes’ third delivery Lilley made a fine effort to stump McAlister. Just afterwards Brearley, fielding at point, made an overthrow for 2 in an effort to run out Gregory. With only 6 scored in 20 minutes, McAlister was lbw to the last ball of Hirst’s fourth over. Ransford then appeared, and from the second ball he received—from Hirst— made an uppish stroke in the slips, which a more active man than MacLaren might have caught. The fielding was very keen, and Barnes’ first seven overs had been sent down for 5 runs: then Ransford got him away nicely to leg for 4. At 29 Brearley relieved Hirst, and Gregory made 2 and 3 through the slips off the first two balls he sent down. The fast bowler was hit for 11 in his two opening overs, so at 47 Rhodes went on in order to allow him to change ends. Off the Yorkshireman’s second delivery Jessop, fielding at cover-point, returned a ball brilliantly, but in so doing strained a muscle at the base of the spine so severely that he was obliged to retire from the match. Be was removed from the ground to his hotel in an ambulance, and it is not expected that he will be able to play again for some weeks. It was very unfortunate for England, for his absence weakened the side con­ siderably. Bis place in the field was taken by Relf (A. E.), the twelfth man. Gregory and Ransford appeared likely to settle down to a long stand, but at 86, when they had put on 80 together in 85 minutes, the latter was run out through a smart return by Tyldesley at third-man. The left-hander, in making 45 of the 80 runs mentioned, had played a bright game and hit six 4’s, the majority of them fine pulls. With Noble in Gregory offered a hard chance to Lilley at the wicket off Hirst, his total then being 36. Three runs la ter- at 89—lunch was taken, and, when the game was resumed afterwards, with Barnes and Hirst bowling, over 13,000 persons were present. Gregory settled down quickly and made a fine cut for 4 off Barnes and off-di-ove him for 3. Three figures went up in two hours, and with the total exactly 100 Noble, in trying to pull a ball from Hirst, was bowled off his pads. Bardsley followed in, and after making a good 4 to leg off Hirst, saw Gregory bowled in Barnes’ next over for 46 made out of 104 in 130 minutes. Gregory played careful, but confident, cricket, and showed strong defence ; he hit four 4’s and was beaten by a break­ back. Barnes and Hirst were bowling excellently and runs were not easy to get, for the fielding also was of a high standard. At 132 Brearley displaced Barnes and 8 runs later had the satisfaction of get­ ting Armstrong caught at the wicket. The wicket had added 36 in an hour, and half the side were out for 140. With Trumper in, Bardsley hit Hirst for two 4’s in an over, so that at 154 he was taken off in favour of Rhodes. The move, as it happened, proved a turning-point in the game. Without a run added Bardsley, in cutting a ball to the boundary, broke his w ick et: he hit five 4’s during the 80 minutes he was in. Macartney made only 4 ere giving a very easy catch to Fry at third man, but he saw Trumper hit two fine 4’s, off Brearley and Rhodes, and helped to add 13 for the wicket. Cotter made a drive for 2 off the first ball he received, survived an appeal off the second, and was bowled by the third. Rhodes’ next delivery — the first of his fourth over— got Carter lbw, but Laver successfully prevented the hat-trick. The new-comer made no effort to score, and saw Trumper hit four 4’s off Rhodes in an over —a straight drive, an off-drive, a pull to square-leg and an on-drive. The last seven wickets fell for 88 runs, the substitution of Rhodes for Hirst at 154 for five meeting with much success. A t one period of his bowling Rhodes delivered nineteen balls and got rid of Bardsley, Macartney, Cotter and Carter for 7 runs. The innings lasted four hours. Barnes’ single wicket cost 37 runs, but the figures fail to give one a true idea of the value of his attack. After an interval of 20 minutes Hobbs and Fry commenced batting for England against Cotter and Macartney. With only 8 scored the latter was leg-before-wicket fora single, but with Tyldesley in a better stand was made. It appeared likely that the pair would thoroughly settle down, but at 31 Hobbs was out in an unfortunate manner. He “ hooked” a ball from Macartney and trod on his wicket, and the question arose whether he disturbed the bail in making the stroke or in commencing to run. The umpire held the latter view and gave it “ not out.” The Surrey man was obviously unsettled, for the Australians were plainly not in agreement with the verdict, and two balls later he was bowled by a delivery he did not attempt to play. Two wickets for 31 was a poor start, but the association of Sharp and Tyldesley effected a great improvement. The 50 went up in 55 minutes, and at the same total Armstrong relieved Cotter. Laver and Macartney also went on, but without success, for when play ceased for the day the pair had put on 57 without being separated in 50 minutes, taking the total to 88 for two wickets. 11,107 persons paid for admission, the total receipts, including £210 for tickets previously sold for the day, being £1,097 7s. Fridaj’’s cricket was marked by slow play, the day’s cricket realising only 269 runs for sixteen wickets in just over six hours. Armstrong and Cotter shared the bowling when the game was resumed, and soon after the start Tyldesley was almost run out by Ransford whilst running a single. Both men settled down to sound cricket, although Sharp, when 31, almost gave a chance to Bardsley at slip off Armstrong. At 108 Noble went on for Cotter and the pace of run-getting slackened, until at last Sharp punished Armstrong for three 4’s—two off- drives and a hook to the boundary. Sharp reached 52 out of 91 in 65 minutes, and Tyldesley, after remaining at 49 for 15 minutes, completed his 50 after batting two hours and a-quarter. With the total 130 for two wickets Macartney relieved Arm­ strong, and the change was destined to have a very important bearing on the match. In the new bowler’s second over he got Tyldesley caught low down at slip by Armstrong for a faultless innings of 55 made out of 129 in 150 minutes. He hit two 4’s and no less than 26 singles, and during the 110 minutes he was in with Sharp helped to add 106 for the third wicket. MacLaren quickly got a 2 and a 4 off Macartney, and then, at 146, Sharp was stumped for a capital and flawless innings of 61 made out of 115 in 125 minutes : he hit seven 4’s, the majority of them cuts. Rhodes got a couple of singles and then MacLaren was bowled by Macartney, who had taken three wickets in six overs for 20 runs. Half the side were then out for 157. The substitution of Laver for Noble at 166 kept down the rate of scoring. At 169 Birst was beaten by a break-back, and two runs later Rhodes, who had batted 45 minutes for 12, was well caught at the wicket on the leg-side off Laver. At 174 Barnes’ leg stump was hit and at 182 Brearley, after making a fine hit to the leg boundary off Macartney, was bowled. In the absence of Jessop the innings thus closed for 182, made in 230 minutes. Macartney, keeping a perfect length, took seven wickets for 58 runs, his last six for 25 : during the morning he obtained six wickets in eighty-one balls for 31 runs. The stand of Sharp and Tyldesley proved of far greater value to England than was imagined at the tim e: after they had been parted six wickets went down for 45. The Australians opened their second innings with Gregory and McAlister, Hirst and Barnes bowling. The first ball of the innings swerved and removed Gregory’s leg- stump, whilst with only 14 scored McAlister was caught at short-leg off the last ball of Barnes’ second over. The position was somewhat critical for the Australians, and it was only natural that Ransford and Armstrong should play very carefully. The last-named batted 20 minutes ere making a run, and at the end of an hour the total was only 37. In the meantime, at 28, Brearley had gone on for Barnes, but 50 went up in 80 minutes with the pair together. Two later, however, Barnes displaced Rhodes and got Ransford lbw with his second delivery. The Victorian took 80 minutes to make 24, but he played a valuable game. With Noble in Barnes was hit for 11 in an over—for 4 and 3 by Armstrong and for 4 by the newcomer. A t 82 Hirst crossed over and took Brearley’s place, and 13 later Sharp went on for Rhodes. Sharp sent down a couple of no-balls which Armstrong punished for 4 and 3. Three figures went up in 170 minutes and at the tea-interval the total was 103 for three wickets, the Australians then being 107 runs on with seven wickets in hand—a strong position. On the game being resumed the attack was shared by Brearley and Barnes, but at 117 Rhodes took the place of the former, and a run later cleverly caught Noble at square-leg off Barnes. The Australian captain claimed 31 of the 66 put on for the fourth wicket in SOminutes, and hit a 4 and twelve singles. Four runs later—at 122—Armstrong was bowled in playing back to a half volley. He made his 45 runs out of 70 in two hours and a half and hit three 4’s. It was not an attractive display, but it was of the greatest value to his side. Trumper, before he had made a run, was missed by Rhodes off his own bowling but almost immediately afterwards was bowled by Barnes. The sixth wicket went down at 126 and a run later Bardsley fell to Barnes, who had then taken three wickets for 9 runs. Cotter came in and hit, and of the 23 added with Macartney was responsible for 19: he was out to a fine catch low down at slip by MacLaren. Carter showed better form than for some time previous aud brought Hirst on for Rhodes at 166. Of the 25 runs put on without loss at the end of the day he made 22, the score when stumps were drawn being 175 for eight wickets. The runs took nearly four hours to make and gave the visitors a lead of 181 with two wickets in hand. During the day 12,356 persons paid for admission, and the receipts, including £187 14s. previously received for tickets, amounted to £1,100 8s. The weather was dull and threatening onSaturday morning, but quite 4,000 persons were present at the start. Macartney and Carter continued their un­ broken partnership against Barnes and Brearley, and, whereas the former was very steady, the latter hit well. Carter made two capital 3’s and scored 30 of the 33 runs added in 45 minutes for the ninth wicket. He played a valuable innings, and, apart from Cotter, was the only player to attempt to force the game. Laver, missed when 2 by MacLaren at slip off Hirst, survived to help put on 24 for the last wicket in 35 minutes. Macartney then played-on : he had made his 18 out of 81 in 105 minutes. The innings lasted 290 minutes and England were set 214 to win and had five hours and a-quarter in which to make the runs. Barnes did very excellent work in bowling 35 overs for six wickets and 63 runs, and thoroughly justified his inclusion in the match. England commenced their task with Hobbs and Fry against Cotter and Macartney, and after 25 minutes of uneventful play, the amateur, deceived in the pace of a ball off ihe wicket, pulled it on to his stumps. Tyldesley joined Hobbs, and made a good cut for 4 off Macartney : he had, how­ ever, scored only 7, and the total had reached but 26, when Macartney held a hot return from him at the third attempt. Sharp’s appearance brought about an improvement from the English point of view. At 39 Laver relieved Macartney, but the pair were still together at the luncheon interval when two wickets were down for 56. The game was then in a fairly level position, and no one could have foreseen the remarkable collapse that was to take place. Cotter and Macartney renewed the attack after the adjournment, and were unchanged during the rest of the day. With only 4 added, Hobbs, after batting 80 minutes for 30, was bowled by Cotter, who served Sharp in similar fashion and caught MaeLaren with a single added. Three wickets thus fell for one run in two overs, and England’s chance of pulling off the game had disappeared. Rhodes and Lilley, who batted 25 minutes for 2, added 21, and then another series of disasters occurred, three wickets going down at 82. In one over from Cotter Lilley was lbw and Hirst played-on, whilst Macartney got Rhodes caught at slip. Five later the end came, Barnes being bowled by the left-hander. The innings lasted 130 minutes and produced only 87. It was a miserable display of batting, thoroughly unworthy of an English side. Cotter and Macartney, how­ ever, bowled excellently, and were supported by keen fielding. The former got up a good pace and took five wickets for 38 runs, whilst the latter made his record for the match eleven for 85. During the three days 31,925 persons paid for admission, and the receipts amounted to £2,743. Score and analysis:— A ustralia . First innings. P. A. McAlister, lbw, b H ir s t .................................. 3 S. E. Gregory, b Barnes ... 46 V. S. Ransford, run out .. 45 M. A. Noble, b Hirst........... 3 W. Bardsley, hit wkt, b Rhodes .......................... W. W. Armstrong, c Lilley, b Brearley..........................21 V. T. Trumper, not out ... 27 C. G. Macartney, c Fry, b Rhodes .......................... 4 A. Cotter, b R h odes........... 2 H. Carter, lbw, b Rhodes... 1 F. Laver, c Lilley, b Brear­ ley .................................. 0 Lb 4, w 1, nb 1........... 6 Total Second innings. c Sharp, b Barnes 5 b Hirst ........... 0 lbw, b Barnes ... 24 c Rhodes,bBarnes 31 30 c Lilley, b Barnes 2 b Rhodes ...........45 b Barnes ........... 2 b Brearley...........18 c MacLaren, b Rhodes ...........19 c Lilley, b Barnes 30 not out ...........13 B 15, lb 2, nb 1 18 Total ...207 ..188