Cricket 1909

A pril 29, 1909. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 93 each one had to meet £6 14s. Id. hotel expenses, leaving £41. And from the one match at Hobart the amount netted per man was £3 lGs. 8d .—Sydney Referee. SOME CHAPTERS OF AUSTRALIAN CRICKET HISTORY. B y J. N. PENTELOW. C hapter II. NEW SOUTH WALES v. VICTORIA. (Continuedfrom page 78.) In the whole series there has been no better match than the sixty-sixth, certainly none more startling in its changes or with a more dramatic finish. It began with the failure of the New South Wales batsmen before the attack of Saunders, helped by Trumble and McLeod, on a good wicket. They were all out for 170, Noble making 43, Duff 29, Howard 23, Trumper 21. When Victoria went in Marsh was no-balled three times in one over by Crockett. Five wickets—those of Armstrong, Worrall, Graham, McAlister, and McMichael—went down for 50. Then McLeod joined Stuckey, and, though only making 23, helped to add 74 for the sixth. Laver came in, and the seventh added 142, Laver’s score being 56. The last three wickets fell cheaply, and Stuckey carried his bat for 130, having batted three hours and three quarters. He had given three chances, it is true, but had played a great game for his side nevertheless. It was pleasant to read of this batsman, who is one of the best who have never been chosen for Australia in a Test match, making a big score only a few weeks since against Tasmania, especially as the injury (a broken knee-cap) he sustained four or five years ago seemed likely at one time to have ended his cricket career. New South Wales were 109 to the bad, and lost Iredale, Poidevin, and Hopkins with only 47 of them wiped off. But before Gregory (49) left the arrears had been settled, his partner­ ship with Trumper having produced 81. Duff (75) helped the brilliant young batsman to add 173 for the sixth wicket. Trumper's long innings ended directly after the tea inter­ val on the third day. He had been 67 not out overnight. He made his 230 in four hours and a half, hit 31 4’s, and did not give a chance. Kelly carried his bat for 28, and ^ictoria was left with 344 to get for victory. McLeod departed at 26. Graham (58) and Laver, who had been missed twice before he scored and only amassed 8 in all, added 44. Graham left at 89, and Stuckey at 101. Trumble (63) and Armstrong (32) added 86. Six were down for 217 when Trumble left. Worrall slashed about him in characteristic fashion, while McMichael played for safety, and the seventh added 58. McAlister came in and took up McMichael’s role. Sixty-four niore were added, and then Kelly stumped the hitter. Now only Saunders was left, with 10 wanted for victory, and McAlister had to do most of the scoring. Between them they managed it, McAlister carrying his bat for 29, after showing great pluck and coolness in the emergency. Marsh’s one wicket in this innings cost 105 runs. Dr. Leslie Poidevin and T. H. Howard, a slow bowler of some promise and a free bat, Played for the first time against Victoria; utPoidevin played only once more, Howard not at all. In the sixty-seventh match (Melbourne, Christmas, 1901) there were three players new to the series. One of these was Charles W. Gregory, younger brother of Syd, a bats­ man who never had full justice done him by the New South Wales selectors. He started his work against Victoria badly, with a pair of spectacles; but before the end of the season came he had been reserve man for Australia, and how it is he had not been given a bigger show since, especially after his record innings of 383 v. Queensland, it is very difficult to understand. G. R. C. Clarke, a Sydney University student, who had bowled with success for New South Wales against the English team a month earlier, was another of the three; his adoption of the medical profession prevented his playing much big cricket. The third was T. Hastings, of Victoria, who, though quite a veteran now, performed admirably as wicket-keeper for his State in the early part of the season just ended. New South Wales went in first; and Kelly (24), opening the innings with Trumper, helped to send up 106 before a wicket fell. A leg-break from Armstrong clean beat and bowled Trumper when he had scored 73; and the only others who did anything were Duff (28), Noble and Syd Gregory (24 each), and Howell (18 not out). Trumble had 4 for 66. Victoria’s total of 300 was almost entirely the work of two men. Three wickets were down for 39 when Armstrong joined McAlister. The fourth did not fall till 144 had been added, when McAlister left for an admirable and chanceless 89, his first big innings against the Sydneysiders. Arm­ strong, with wickets falling at the other end, took three-quarters of an hour to move from 70 to 80; but he brightened *up later, and after reaching his hundred hit out well. He gave three chances—at 8, 58, and 101—and batted 4f hours for his 137, an innings which earned him a place in the Test match on New Year’s day, though it is a fair question whether McAlister had not deserved it better by his faultless score. Laver (21) helped Armstrong to add 60, and McMichael made 20. Noble bowled magnificently; off 33 overs only 44 runs were scored, and he took 7 wickets. Everybody but Charles Gregory made runs in N.S.W.’s second, though three wickets were down for 32 at the start. Howell (27) and Duff (51) made the first stand, adding 40 for the fourth; Noble (26) and Duff put on 59 for the fifth; and for the ninth wicket Hopkins (42) and Clarke (24) added 48. Laver bowled in such form as he had seldom shown before, and took five wickets for 41. Wanting only 153 to win on a good wicket, the Victorians failed signally before the bowling of Howell (four for 40) and Noble (3 for 38 10 for 82 in the match), Hugh Trumble’s 28 being the only score worthy of note. They were all out for 110, and lost by 42 runs. The long drawing out of the Test match at Adelaide kept Noble, Trumper, Howell, Kelly, Syd Gregory, Duff, Armstrong, Trumble, and McLeod out of the return ; and the teams must have looked very un­ familiar to the crowd. Included in the New South Wales side was W. E. Pite, F. Meares, Alexander Kermode (later of Lancashire), Hanson Carter, and Albert Cotter, all making their first appearance against Victoria; Poidevin, C. Gregory, Farquhar, and Clarke had each played only once before; and even Hopkins, who captained the team, was little more than a colt. On the other side, less signally depleted by Test match requirements, only W. McCormack and W. Carlton were quite new hands. Hopkins won the toss, and took Charles Gregory in with him. They went off with a rush, sending up the hundred in fifty-one minutes; and, when the little man was out for 60, at 165, only ninety minutes had been occupied in making the runs. With Poidevin joining Hopkins, 55 more runs were added in thirty-four minutes, when Hopkins fell for 117, made in one hundred and twenty-eight minutes, and including twenty-one 4’s. It is doubtful whether he has ever played a better innings. Poidevin batted well for 82, and Farquhar made 35. The fourth wicket fell at 310. The whole side was out for 327 ! Saunders, whose full analysis was six for 57, caused the collapse. Victoria’s reply was very moderate. McCormack made 33 not out, Laver 27, and Worrall 24; Kermode had four wickets for 49, McBeth three for 39, Clarke two for 14. But New South Wales also performed in mediocre fashion in their second innings. Saunders (five for 73) again bowled well; Meares made 55, Farquhar 40, Gregory 27, and Clarke 23, but no one else reached double figures, and Hopkins, the hero of the first innings, went for a duck. Victoria, with as many as 376 wanted for a win, put up a rare good fight at first. It was chiefly the work of Worrall and Warne, however. The first wicket realised the sum of 154, of which Worrall, who batted about two hours and hit finely, though with some luck, scored as many as 106, including nineteen 4’s, his steady-going partner meanwhile making 36. Warne stayed till 261, having batted three hours and fifty minutes for his 89. McCormack (37) helped him to add 61 for the fourth wicket. After Warne’s dismissal only Laver (34 not out) did much ; and New South Wales won by 50 runs. Cotter made “ a pair of them,” and did not take a wicket; but Carter’s work behind the stumps earned high approval. There were three new men in the sixty- ninth match—N. Ebsworth, D. Mailer, and D. Noonan—but, as none of them made any great mark in first-class cricket, they need not detain us here. Noble won the toss for Laver; and in sixty-four minutes Trumper (51) and Duff sent up 102. But after the brilliant Victor’s dismissal it was a case of Duff et prceterea nihil. Mackenzie made 21 and Ebsworth 19, it is true ; but so fast did the wickets fall that at one time it looked as though Duff would miss his century for want of partners to stay with him. He was last out for 102, made in just under three hours by very fine cricket. But if the visitors’ wickets had fallen fast, those of the home side fell faster. Graham made 32 and Arm­ strong 22; the rest seemed helpless, and the total was only 93—105 behind. McBeth had four for 9. Duff was again top scorer in New South Wales’s second, with 66 this time ; he and Noble, who batted well for his 60, added 117 for the second wicket. Trumper’s 22 was the only other score above 13. At the outset Victoria looked to have a good chance of making the 318 required for victory. Graham (36) and McAlister (37) sent up 67 before a wicket fell; Stuckey (22) and Warne (20)batted stolidly, the latter being in over two hours; and Armstrong’s 36 was the best display of the lot. After he had gone there was little opposition, and the innings closed for 181, leaving the visitors victorious by 136 runs. How'ell bowled in grand form, taking nine of the wickets (seven bowled, one lbw. one caught at wicket) for only 52 runs. For Victoria Collins had eight for 81 and Arm­ strong six for 96 in the match. The beaten side lacked Hugh Trumble, who had now