Cricket 1910

F e b . 24, 19 10 . CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 27 F o r some little time after his return to Australia, Yernon Hansford failed to show his best form, but on January 22nd he plainly proved that his skill had not deserted him by scoring 206 not out for Melbourne v. South Melbourne. F. Vaughan, who made 150 a week later against Tasmania, scored 115 in the same innings. At the end of the day the Melbourne total was 364 for two wickets. W. L. M u r d o c h , during his recent visit to Australia, was asked by a repre­ sentative o f the Melbourne Argus to compare cricket in England now with what it was twenty to twenty-five years ago. His reply was :— “ Speaking gener­ ally, I do not think cricket anywhere is as good as it was in the eighties. There are not the same class of players, certainly not the bowlers. You must always re­ member, in talking of the doings of Australian teams in England now as compared with then, that we had to face W . G. Grace. It was always worth two or three wickets to get him out. He was the stumbling-block. It was not so much his skill and power as his influence on the side. There were men, too, like Alfred Lyttelton, A. G. Steel, Arthur Shrews­ bury, Ulyett, W . W . Read, and dozens of others. Where are the men like them in England now ? The bowlers, too, are not of the same class as Bichardson, Lockwood, Lohmafin (a grand all round man), and, going further back, old Peate (about the best left-hander England ever had), Tom Emmett, Alfred Shaw, &c. On the Australian side, where are the bowlers like George Palmer, Turner, Spofforth, Boyle, Ferris, Frank Allan, Ted Evans, or, later still, Hugh Trumble ? There has been no one to come on in their place since Trumble, unless this new man Whitty should turn out what people hope.” T h e Bt. Hon. G. H. Beid, P.C., who will shortly enter upon his duties as High Commissioner for Australia in England, is a keen follower of the game. In 1868 he was hon. treasurer of the New South Wales Cricket Associa­ tion, and for 12 years was president of that body. N e w S o u t h W a l e s ’ new fast bowler, Scott, caused some excitement in the match with Queensland on the Sydney ground in the first week of January. A local report o f the game contains the follow ing:— “ Scott, the fast bowler, was the central figure in the match. During the course of eight overs he hit Hartigan on the arm and the ball, dropping down, struck the wicket. He hit Thomson under the heart and the batsman, after rolling over and over on the turf for several minutes in agony, had to retire. Then Scott hit Bedgrave on the thigh, and the game was held up for some time until the batsman returned to the wicket. A little later he dislocated the wicketkeeper’s (Harvey) middle finger of the left hand, and Goddard had to take the gloves while Harvey sought medical attention, t’ cott then struck Fletcher on the funny bone, and the crowd laughed delightedly while the batsman did a sort of polka mazurka round the wicket.” “ It is frequently the case that the ‘ Dead March ’ is whistled by spectators when there is slow batting; but with Scott fairly on the job ,” remarks “ Nat Lee ” in the Tasmanian Mail, “ there are more unlikely happenings than an opposing team marching on the field to the accom ­ paniment of ‘ Just before the Battle, Mother ” or ‘ Let me like a Soldier Fall.’ T h e Sydney Sportsman says:— “ A hillite shouted out, ‘ Great Scott, where do you bury your dead ? ’ It was a strange coincidence, but just as Harvey left the field the Barracks clock tolled five, which was the number o f injured on Scott’s list.” H a r v e y , mentioned above, once dis­ missed seven men (five caught and two stumped) in an innings in a Second Grade match between Petersham and Cumber­ land 2nd at Parramatta. The latter’s first innings was as follow s:— Harvey, b J. Taylour, c Harvey, b Ban” ....................11 W. Rowell, c Harvey, b Barr .................... 0 A. Brennan, e Harvey, b Barr ... ............ 0 A. Anthony, b Newton 37 •I. Doyle, b I3arr........... 4 T. V. Garrett, st Har- • vey, b Breakspear... 11 C. Sidney, b Alcock... 22 The date of the match was December 3 and 10, 1904. Spier, c Hicks .................. b Murray, not out ... 26 E. Cranney, c Harvey, b A lc o jk ................... 6 Riley, st Harvey, b Alcock ......... ... 15 Byes, &c.............. 14 Total ..157 B e f e r r i n g to his rumoured retirement from first-class cricket, M. A. Noble, speaking at a welcome-home dinner, at which he and Trumper were entertained by the Paddington Club, said cricket did not keep a man, and he had to look after himself, and not his duty to the public. Apart from that, there had been things done and said in Sydney that were not conducive to his remaining any longer in first-class cricket. He had said to him­ self it was either cricket or business with him. His vote went for business, and he did not think any member of the club or the public would blame him for that. He, however, did not intend to give up cricket, so far as the Paddington Club was concerned. A S y d n e y correspondent writes, “ Will you kindly inform me why the return crease is so called ? ” I can only suggest that it was made in order that the umpire might see with more facility whether the bowler brought his foot outside the bowling crease, and that it was so called because it was a line turning back. I n consecutive matches in December C. T. B. Turner took six wickets for 35 runs and scored 20 for the Government Savings Bank and took 6 for 40 and made 19 for Paddington Veterans. J. B. M . M a c k a y played for Armidale against Tamworth on January 1st and contributed 56 to a total of 148. From this one is glad to believe that his eye­ sight is improving. T h e reason for Trumper’s non-appear- ance in inter-State matches this season was that he was dissatisfied with the Association overlooking his claims to the position of captain of New South Wales, or, as he put it, in not allowing;the team to select its captain. Still, he played for the State against the Best o f Australia in C. T . B. Turner’s benefit match, at Sydney at the end of January, and played a characteristic innings of 105. Turner himself re-appeared in the same game, after an absence of several years, and opened the attack with Kelleway. He commenced well by bowling Mayne without a run. Rain, unfortunately, interfered with the game, and at the end o f the second day the Best had lost six wickets for 99 in reply to a total of 302. D u r in g the thirteen seasons that he appeared for Paddington in First Grade matches, Trumper played 93 innings for the club and averaged 79’22. The record is such a remarkable one that the follow ­ ing details cannot fail to be of interest:— Times Most not in an Total Season. Inns. out. inns. Runs. Aver. 1896-7 ................... 9 2 48 149 21*28 1897-S ................... 8 3 191* 1021 204-20 1898-9 ................... 6 1 260* 562 112'40 1899-0 ................... 6 0 119 354 59-00 1900-1 .................. 10 1 213* 557 61*88 0 15S 479 79-88 0 335 374 74-80 0 134 315 78-75 6 1 215 488 97-60 8 1 101 363 53-85 11 0 212 945 85-90 7 1 136 365 60-83 1901-2 11*02-3 1903-4 1904-5 1905-6 1906-7 1907-8 6 1908-9 0 260 604 86-28 93 10 335 6576 79 22 O f the Eleven which represented New South Wales in the first match played by that State against Victoria— at M el­ bourne, in March, 1856— two members, Harry Hilliard and J. Beal, survive. The former, who is now in his eighty-fourth year, has shown his devotion to the game by attending every one of the eighty-four games in which the sides have met. A c r i c k e t match which aroused con­ siderable interest was played at the Mul- lion (Yass., N.S.W.) cricket ground on December 18th, between a team o f ladies selected and captained by Miss Nonie Styles and the gentlemen o f the Mullion C.C. The gentlemen wore skirts, batted, bowled, and fielded left-handed, and used pick-handles instead of bats. The ladies went to the wickets first and scored 68 runs, Mrs. Sydney Wade and Miss M. Bodel scoring 15 runs each and topping the score. The teams played 15 a side, and the men won by 14 runs. “ A u s t r a l i a , ” says “ Not Out ” of the Sydney B eferce, “ will have a very solid team to meet the South Africans next season. It is satisfactory, too, to know that most of the new bowlers coming along are tolerably capable batsmen.” A r e c e n t mail from Australia states that definite arrangements have been made between the N .S.W . and the Tasmanian Cricket Associations for two