Cricket 1909

M arch 25, 1909. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 47 SOME CHAPTERS OF AUSTRALIAN CRICKET HISTORY. B y J. N . P E N T E L O W . C h a p te r II. NEW SOUTH WALES v. VICTORIA. (Continued from page 32.) The return was another match of hard fighting and comparatively low scores, New South Wales at last breaking Victoria’s run of successes, though the margin between them was only 1(J runs. It would appear that Blackham made a mistake when he sent the home side in ; at least, the run of the luck was with them for the most part. Callaway, sent in firtt, an unusual place for him, made 38, Moses 24, and Syd Gregory 20 not out. The total was 127. Victoria could only reply with 88—Trumble 26, Trott 20. Then the home side made 151, Callaway (50) again easily top notcher, Turner’s 20 the only other score of any note. When the visitors had 106 up for the loss of only five wickets they looked to be fairly safe to win, for they only needed 85 more. But more rain fell; the wicket caked, and the innings closed for 171. Graham made 45, Walters 34, Harry 25, and Charles McLeod 23. The Terror had eleven wickets for 110, Coning- ham four for 60, Newell four for 77 ; on the other side Charles McLeod took nine for 131, Trumble five for 91, Phillips (one wonders why he was not given more work) three for 15. The presence of an English team in Aus­ tralia invariably casts into the background the Sheffield Shield matches; and in 1894-5, the season in which the Test rubber between Stoddart’s First Team and Australia—which no rubber in the whole long series has ex­ celled or perhaps even equalled for dramatic quality—this was certainly the case. Yet the fifty third match (played at Melbourne, Christmas, 1894) was far from lacking in­ terest. There were notable new men on both sides. Albert Edwin Trott played his first match against New South Wales; James Joseph Kelly and William Peier Howell (a nephew of Evans, at one time reckoned the be*t all-round man in Australia, though in first-class cricket he never did much of note as a batsman) appeared for the first time against Victoria. All three have done great things since, though Trott’s time as an Austral:an player was very short; and all three have gained great popularity. They have all played cricket in England, South Africa and New Zealand as well as in Australia, and Kelly has also given our trans-Atlantic cousins a taste of his quality. New South Wales had the bad luck in this game, the rain which fell at frequent intervals throughout the match causing the wicket to be at its w’orst when the visitors were batting. There was nothing lemark- able about Victoria’s first innings of 175, except that nine men made double figures, yet no one reached 30. Harry (29), Laver and the younger Trott (24 each), Charles McLeod (21 not out) and Bruce (19) did best. Their opponents went down with a smash—all out for 66, Irednle (24) and i)ufner (12) the only double-figure scorers. Robert McLeod took full advantage of the unholy state of the pitch, and had six wickets for 20. For their second total of *4(j the home side had mainly to thank John Worrall, who played a wonderful tutting game for 96. Harry Trott (38) was the only other man who scored moie than 18. New South Wales had no chance ; but Syd Gregory, a great player in desperate straits, eclipsed everything else in the match with his fine century. A score of 101 in an innings in which no one else coul Imake more than 23 (Callaway’s score) stands out as a remarkable achievement indeed. Albert Trott bad five wickets for 55, his eld r brother three for 47. For New South Wales, in the two innings of Victoria, Turner had eight for 122, Callaway five for 85, Howell five for 115. The star of the Terror was now waning, however. He was twice leit out of the Australian team in this season, and after it he never appeared again in a Test match. Victoria won the return match also, and now led by thirty wins to twenty-four The match was a much closer one, however ; and the home side was quite expected to win when the last innings began. Again having first turn with the bat, Victoria led off with a modest 181—Charles McLeod 31, Stnckev 28, Harry 27, Graham 23. New South Wales replied with 274—Iredale 86, Gregor)' 69, Donnan 40, Garrett 36, Callaway 22. Laver (65) and Graham (61) were the principal contributors to Victoria’s second total of 247. They added 123 in partnership. Charles McLeod again did well with 85, Trumble made 30, and Albert Trott 24. With only 155 wanted to win, New South Wales, doing worse than at Melbourne, slumped completely before the firm of Trott Brothers, and were all out for 99. Harry Trott had five for 31, Albert four for 39. Neither had done much in the first innings of the home side, when Robert McLeod had four for 50. For the losers, Thomas Robert McKibbin, to whose wiles the men of Melbourne were strangers, had eight for 122, and the Terror seven for 104. Howell took three for 25 in the second innings. The bowling of the McLeods and the Trotts in the two matches of 1894-5 presents a curious contrast. In the first innings at Melbourne and Sydney, taken together, the McLeods had fourteen of the twenty wickets at a cost of 174 (Robert eleven for 70, Charles four for 104), and the Trotts had two for 83 (neither bowled in Melbourne, by the way); in the second innings of the two matches the McLeods had one for 76, the Trotts seventeen for 172 (Albert nine for 94, Harry eight for 78). In the two matches thiity-four of the thirty- seven wickets that fell to the Victorian bow’lers were credited to the two pairs of brothers. There was another debutant besides McKibbin, one of the greatest players of any day—Montague Alfred Noble. But he was not fated to make his mark in Australian cricket just yet. New South Wales went to Melbourne for the Christmas match of the season 1895-6 without Turner and Syd Gregory, the latter of whom demanded £20 as expenses and did not get it. In spite of this handicap they had a very welcome win by the good margin of 123 runs. Donnan’s batting was the great feature of the game. For years before a moie than average good batsmm, Harry Donnan blossomed out into some­ thing very like greatness in this season, and his claim to a place in the Niuth Team for England could not be denied. It is true that his 160 in the first innings took him six hours fifty minutes to make; but he never pretended to be a dasher. Tall Alec Mackenzie (46) helped him to send up 108 before a wicket fell; and William Richardson (‘ ‘ W illie” to most of Sydney), who scored 76, was with him while 126 wras added for the third wicket. Richardson, by the way, still plays well in first grade Sydney cricket, though now in his forty-third year. Youll scored 34, Iredale 31; and “ Bill ” Howell hit up the last 20 in Feven minutes. The total was 407. The great feature of Victoria’s reply, which left the home side only 50 runs in arrears, was Graham's 103, his first ctn ury in inter-colonial cricket, made with a nasiy blister on one palm. Harry Trott scored 66; Robert McLeod made 56 not out, aud with­ out a chance; Bruce scored 26; Laver 22. Fiank Walters made 69 and Donnan 46 when New South Wales went in again ; but seven wicke's were down for 191, which was by no means good enough for victory. Then the veteran Tom Garrett, the side’s captain, hit in biilliant style for 70. and was so ably supported by Kelly (58 not out) that the (igtith w’icket adde I 121. Bruce made a splendid effort for the home side, scoring 90 of 141 while he was in ; Harry Trott played dogged ciicket for his 27, and there weie six other double figuie innings, includ.ng 29 by Laver and 26 by Trumble; but Tom McKibbin’s bowling wrecked Melbourne hopes. He had eight wi<kets for 93 in an inn ngs of 258. Albert Trott, wi h nine for 171 in the match (McKibbin’s full nCor 1 was twelve for 220) was the only other bowler who met with much succcss, Howell's five costing 171, and Charles McLeod’s live 105. As many as 1.353 runs were scoied in the game. Wnlters, who had hitheito always represented Victoria, played for the Sydney­ siders in this and the return, but dropped out of big cricket afterwards. Roche, the left hander, who afterwards qualified for Middlesex, and who will be remembered as short of a full complement of fingers on his bowling haud, rej resented Victoria for the first time in the series. ( l'o be continued.) PUBLIC SCHOOL AVERAGES, 19 08. (Continued from page 32.) ALDENHAM SCHOOL. BATTING AVERAGES. Most Inn• Not in an ings. out. inns. Runs. Aver. C. J. J. K. Doakin ... 11 1 99 345 34-50 O. J. Addyman ... 11 1 113* 294 29-40 A. W. W. Kcr .. 0 1 50 131 20-20 R. St. V. Bagnall 7 3 34 96 24-00 P. Blake ........... ... 11 0 75 253 23-00 G. C. Hartley ... ... 10 3 (52* 159 22-71 P. C. Sainsbury ... 10 0 54 211 21-10 J. Hunter ... ... 11 1 45 140 14 00 E. II. Gurney ... .. 8 0 04 102 12-75 J. N. Barstow ... 9 1 24 60 7-50 J. M. Smith 2 1 (5 6 o-oo * Signifies not out. BOWLING AVERAGES. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. J. M. Smith........... 21-2 3 00 7 8-57 R. St. V. Bagnall... 143 49 284 29 9 79 J. N. Barstow 72 15 200 15 13-73 A. W. W. Ker ... 101*5 51 421 29 14-51 P. C. Sainsbury ... 15 0 00 4 15 00 E. H. Gurney ... 8 2 38 2 19-00 ARDINGLY COLLEGE. BATTING AVERAGES. Most InnNot in an ings out. inns. Runs. Aver P. S. J. Randall ... 15 2 87 425 32*69 II. A. P. Bruhl... ... 14 3 118* 303 27-54 R. J. 11. Morgan ... 13 1 47 180 15-50 R. C. Foster .. 10 4 4S* 103 13-58 C Cassy ........... .. 14 2 28* 142 11-83 J. E. W ard......... 9 0 59 79 8 77 G. Burgoyne ... 13 1 50* 103 8-58 H. S. Hodges ... ... 13 2 20* 78 7-09 A. H. Kneller ... 0 3 12* 21 7 00 F. B. L. Foster ... ... 10 1 13 42 4-60 *Signifies not out.