Cricket 1910

CRI CKE T : a w e e k ly r e c o r d op t h e gam e. FEBRUARY 24. 1910. mi © j 1 0— fc— >$© |— 3— t gf— € Z Z ?£CO/?l U©8c._.:. . nj j y c^Afr e? $ f ==g&a iK— «=— — =>—- Se8 “ Together joined in CricRet’s manly toil.”— Byron, No 831. v o l . xxix. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1910. o n e p e n n y . “ TURNER, THE TERROR.” A BRIEF SKETCH OF A GREAT PLAYER’S CAREER. The greatest bowler of any day—who was he ? The devotee of length bowling may pin his faith to Alfred Shaw. The believer in paee may decide for Richardson. Personally, I should uphold the claim of Lohmann. But, while no finality can be attained in any such discussion, one thing at least is certain, that two Aus­ tralians — Frederick Robert Spofiorth and Charles Thomas Biass Turner would have to be considered. In spite of the prowess of Hugh Trumble, the wiles and endurance of George Gillen, the skill of Palmer and Perris, Spofforth and Turner as bowlers stand out the greatest landmarks in the history of Australian cricket. Spofforth left his native country for England in the day when Tomer’s fame fame was yet young, and I believe they played only once on the same side—in a Test- match of the 1886-7 season—• so that they can scarcely be called contemporaries in the sense that Spofforth and Palmer, Turner and Ferris, were. But between the Demon in his prime and the Terror at the top of his form, between, that is to say, the seasons 1882 and 1888, there is a gap of only six years : and 1888 is over twenty years ago— eheu, fugacee annos! Of the two, Spofforth has always seemed to me just a shade the greater bowin'. On the other hand, Turner was unmistak­ ably the better all-round man, for he was a fine dashing batsman, who might have risen to greatness in the run getting depart­ ment but for the immense amount of work he was called upon to do in the attack. Born at Bathurst, N.S.W., on November 16th, 1862, Turner did not distinguish him­ self particularly as a boy at the Grammar School of his native place. But he was only 19 when, for Eighteen of Bathurst against Shaw, Shrewsbury and Lillywhite’s team of 1881-2, he took seven wickets for 33 in the first innings and the whole ten at a cost of only 36 in the second. It was no doubt this performance that gave him a place in the New South Wales team (lacking its Australian Eleven contingent) against the Hon. Ivo Bligh’s side in the following I season. He took only one wicket in this match, and that at a cost of 76 runs, while his aggregate for two innings was but six. In 1884-5 he scored one run in two innings against the Shaw - Shrewsbury - Lillywhite team, and was not called upon to bowl. In 1885-6 he played in both matches v. 1 Victoria, aggregated 42 runs in four innings, and had 62 scored off him without taking a wicket. There was nothing in all this to suggest the tremendous success with which he was to meet during the next few years. His time of triumph began in 1886-7, however. At the beginning of that season he cou'.d hardly be said to be a certain choice for his Colony; at the end of it he was an indispensable player for All Australia. In five matches against the English team and two apainst Victoria he took 70 wickets at a total cost of only 538 runs ! His figures in these games, in order of date, were : 13 for 54 ; 8 for 80 ; 10 for 135; 8 for 49; 8 for 68 ; 14 for 59; and 9 for 93. Though his batting average was under 15, he was never dismissed without scoring, and against Victoria at Melbourne he hit up 57. In 1887-8 his success was, in a sense, even more marked, for, though he had not so phenomenally low an average, he actually captured over a hundred wickets, an achieve­ ment never equalled before or since by any bowler in the first-class matches of an Australian season. His analyses included 12 for 87 in the one Test match, in which the England team was selected from the two sides touring in Australia; 16 for v. Shrewsbury’s team in January (8 wickets in each innings); and 10 for 45 against the same side earlier in the season. His 106 wickets were taken in the course of a dozen matches, and he had thus in two seasons secured 178 wickets in 19 first-class games at an average of only a little over 1 1 runs each! It was on him and his comrade Ferris that the promoters of the Sixth Australian team to England chiefly relied, and they were not disappointed. The season of 1888 was a very wet one; the wickets just suited Turner, and in match after match he and Ferris carried all before them. They were both overworked; but they stood the strain