Cricket 1909

CRICKET : a w e e k ly r e c o r d o f t h e qam e . APRIL 15, 1909. “ Together joined in CricKet’s manly toil.”— Byron. N o . 803 . v o l . x x v i i i . THURSDAY , APRIL 15, igog. o n e p e n n y . A CHAT ABOUT MR. VERNON RANSFORD. the following season—that of 1904-5—that he began to be talked about: his scoring, indeed, was a ino lel of consistency, seeing that he did not once fail to reach double figures and that his average for eight innings was as high as 61. Against South Australia he made 80 not out, 18 and 31 ; against New South Wales ‘23, 43, 62 and 18; and againstQueensland 152. *(The last-mentioned score, which included nineteen 4’s, was his contribution to a total of 573 : he and common-place by a very fine innings of 136 for the Best of Australia against New South Wales in S. E. Grejory’s benefit match at Sydney. Only ore mistake could be urged against him and he was out very unluckily, for in trying to avo’d a bumping ball from Cotter he struck himself in the face with his bat, which swung into the wicket. Concern­ ing this display the Sydney Referee re­ marked :—“ It was a splendid piece of batting, the form being altogether astonish­ ing ' coming from one who could not find a pi ice in the eleven that recently repr. sentedVictoria against New South Wales. No member of that team played so ably as the left-hander did in this innings. He went in at a trying point, played Cotter with ease, and all through the innings very rarely mistimed the ball. His cutting and driving and general play on the off side weie of a very high standard. His leg side play in some of the strokes was of equal quality, though in one or two others it was hardly so finished. Altogether it was an innings on which Ransfor 1and the State which has produced him are to be complimented.” The critics who witnessed his play upon that occasion were unanimous in pre­ dicting that Test-match honours would be his in the near future, and all those who follow cricket at all Closely will readily recall that he appeared in all five games for Australia against the Englishmen during 1907-8 with credit to himself and advantage to his side. His scores were 24 and 13, 27 and 18, 44 and 25, 51 and 54, 11 and 21 not out—an aggregate of 288 for an average of 32. In his only other two matches against the England side he made 51 and 102 for Victoria at Melbourne and 38 for a Victoria Eleven at South Melbourne. The tourists, therefore, had good cause to remember him, seeing that in the thirteen innings he commenced against them he reached double figures on every occasion and made 479 runs with an average of 39'91. Referring to the game in which Ransford made 51 and 102, “ Mid-on ” wrote in the Melbourne Leader :—“ A singu’ arly pathetic illustration of the ruling passion asserting itself to the end was forthcoming in the last hours of my old and dear friend, Harry Boyle. Up to the close of the match between Though a great many persons both in this country and the Colonies regretted Clement Hill’s decision not to visit us again, there can be no doubt that his absence will increase the interest taken in the doings of Vernon Ransford and Warren BarJsley, respectively the best left handed batsmen of Victoria and New South Wales, who will be seen on English fields this season. It would not be an easy matter to over-estimate the import­ ance of Hill’s presence to an Aus­ tralian team, and especially upon the occasion of a Test-match, but it is not stepping an inch over the crease of truth to state that before long either of the younger players may prove as great an asset to any side as the more experienced South Australian has been during recent years. The forthcoming tour should be of much educational worth to the new men: it should develop their powers and yield them much experience of the highest grade of match play. To a person who has plenty of cricket in him frequent match-playing should prove invalu­ able, and it is for this reason one may safely assume that both Rans­ ford and Bardsley—to mention only two members of this year’s Aus­ tralian team — will return home even better players than they were when they set out. Vernon Bansford was born at South Yarra on March 20th, 1885, and has therefore only just com­ pleted his twenty-fourth year. He learnt the game whilst at Hawthorn College, where he was captain during his last two years. In his last season there he made over 1,000 runs with an average of 120. He was only seventeen years of age when he first appeared in international cricket for his State against the M.C.C.’s team aJ* Melbourne in February, 1904 — and although, unlike the hero of many a modern novel, he did not make a century, he showed much promise of future excellence in making "J in his first innings. He did not score when he went in the second time but, as Arnold and Rhodes had a wicket thoroughly to their liking and the whole side were dis­ missed for 15, his failure to distinguish him­ self was far from surprising. It was during ME. VEENON SEYMOUE BANSFOBD. Armstrong, who made 200, put on 197 together for the third wicket.) During 1905-6 Ransford quite failed to show the form which most people anticipated as a result of his previous good scores : in fact, although he played for Victoria in all four Sheffield Shield matches, he made only 83 runs in six completed innings, his highest effort being but 24 in the return match with South Australia, at Melbourne. His doings in 1906-7 were redeemed from the