Cricket 1911

8 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J a n . 26 , i g u . C i i c h e t : A IVEEKL V RE CO RD OF TH E GAME. 168. UPPER THAMES STREET LONDON. E.C. THURSDAY, JAN. 2 G th , 1911. I J a t r iU n n ( B n s s t p - The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. T h e results o f the m atches played by the South A frican team in Australia in the period that has elapsed since the last num ber o f C ricket was issued have been o f a nature to cause very m ingled feelings in the land o f veldt and karroo. T o lose at M elbourne after looking winners all over must have been a heavy blow to the team , as it was assuredly a bitter pill to South A fricans in g en eral; but the w in at Adelaide, after a six d ays’ dogged battle, goes far to m ake am ends. The m en had their backs to the w all, and were plainly resolved to “ die fighting.” They cam e through victorious b y the narrow m ajority o f 38 runs, in a gam e which set up a new record for Test m atches— ex ­ ceeding b y 105 runs the previous highest aggregate. T h e great features o f the M elbourne m atch were the batting o f Faulkner (who m ade the third highest score ever credited to a batsman in a Test gam e, only K . E . F oster’s w onderful 287 at Sydney in 1903-4 and M urdoch’s 211 at the Oval tw enty-six years and m ore ago beating it), and Trum per, and the sensational collapse o f South A frica on going in to get quite a moderate total for victory — a collapse conduced to, though one can hardly hold it to have been entirely caused by W h itty ’s fine bow ling. Is it “ only a rum our ” that a famous South A frican, on being questioned how they cam e to lose the second Test, replied “ b(e) W h itty ! ” A p o in t w orthy o f note about the A d e­ laide gam e is the fact that n o fewer than ten players on each side (the exceptions being the unfortunate H ath orn and little M acartney, w ho seems quite unable to get going in big cricket) shared in one or m ore partnerships o f som e duration. Tw enty-one o f the 40 w ickets low ered iu the m atch realised totals ranging from 135 to 31, and as the latter was a first w icket stand, and the only other o f betw een 30 and 40 a tenth w icket partner­ ship, they seem to m erit inclusion. Here is the lis t : S. A fbica (first innings). Sherwell and Zulch, 31 for first wicket; Faulkner and Zulch, 135 for second; Llewellyn and Snooke, 98 for sixth ; Snooke and Strieker, 62 for eighth; and Pegler and Strieker, 53 for tenth. A ustralia (first innings). Kelleway and Ransford, 87 for second ; Bardsley and Trumper. 118 for fourth ; Gehrs and Trumper, 47 for fifth ; Hill and Trumper, 43 for sixth ; Armstrong and Trumper, 65 for seventh ; and Carter and Trumper, 46 for eighth. S. A fbica (second innings). Faulkner and Nourse, 77 for third; Faulkner and Llewellyn, 109 for fifth; Llewellyn and Pegler, 45 for sixth ; Llewellyn and Snooke, 44 for seventh; and Schwarz and Sinclair, 33 for tenth. A ustralia (second innings). Bardsley and Trumper, 63 for first; Bardsley and Hill, 59 for second ; Hill and Kelleway, 48 for third; Armstrong and Kelleway, 76 for sixth ; and Cotter and Whitty, 47 for tenth. S h e r w e l l , H athorn, M acartney and W h itty w ere the only m en whose aggre­ gate for the m atch was under 25, and o f these the first-named and the last did som ething useful, at the beginning and end o f the m atch respectively. It must have been an anxious time for the men in the field when “ T ib ” Cotter got lamm ing out like a second Jessop what time W h itty defended pluckily. I t is sad to hear that Maitland H athorn, the fine upstanding batsman who did so w ell here in 1901 and 1904, has had to relinquish the tour ow ing to continued ill-health. One comm iserates, too, with C. G. M acartney, the little “ Governor- G eneral,” w h o, one fancies, w ill have to do som ething big against V ictoria at S ydney i f he is to keep his place for the fourth Test. On the other hand, one m ay offer congratulations to Charles K ellew ay, w ho has now fairly w on his spurs in international fray, to Sibley Snooke, w ho has broken his long run o f ill-luck, and to Charles Bennett Llew ellyn, w ho has also “ got going ” at last. T h e r e has been no m ore sensational analysis in Test matches than W h itty ’s 6 for 17 in the last innings o f the M el­ bourne game, though on figures it has been beaten by Noble, and equalled by Faulkner (at Leeds in 1907). But both N oble and Faulkner bow led on ruined wickets ; the pleasant-faced young left­ hander did his w ork on a pitch still in good condition. W h itty must have m ade m arked strides since he was here. P r o b a b ly T rum per has never played a better innings than his 214 not out, w hich is alm ost equivalent to saying that probably no better innings has ever been played. H e gave nothing like a chance throughout, and is said only once to have lifted the ball. A nd he scored fast all the tim e, while his various partners for the m ost part progressed m uch less rapidly. It is delightful to read o f him at his best again, for he is one o f those w h o deserve all the honour they win. But one fancies that even a m oderate fast bow ler m ight have helped to keep his scoring against the Afrikanders down. H e has, how ever, lately played good-sized innings against both V ictoria and South Australia, and it is reasonable to assume that he had to meet fast bow ling—■ m oderate in class, m a y b e—on those occasions. T he short roll o f two hundreds in Test matches now stands thus : R. E. Foster, 287, at Sydney, 1903-4. V. T. Trumper, 214 not out, at Adelai le, 1910-11. W . L. Murdoch, 211, at the Oval, 1884. G. A. Faulkner, 204, at Melbourne, 1910-11. S. E. Gregory, 201, at Sydney, 1894-5. T h e B endigo m atch is a m ere “ blob ” in the South A frican score-sheet as far as any real im portance is concerned. And the game w ith the Combined Universities cannot be ranked as first-class, partly because the rules laid down by the Australian B oard o f Control d o not allow o f its inclusion, and partly because of its lim itation to two d a js. But the Universities had a good side out, including E ric B arbour, the New South W ales colt, R . B . M innett and W . J. Stack, w h o have also represented the senior State, C. E . D olling, the South Australian batsman, G. C. Campbell, the same side’s wicket keeper (though they are now trying another stumper in C. II. M oyle), and one o f H . H . Massie’s stalwart sons. L lew ellyn, Faulkner, Snooke and C omm aille m ade good scores, and the ex-H ampshire m an also bow led effec­ tively. This w ould be a m atch w orth y o f a regular place and serious standing in future programm es of E nglish and South A frican teams in Australia, if only m ore time were allotted to it. In 1897-8 M ac- Laren’s team played Sydney and M elbourne Universities com bined at Sydney, H arry Moses, Percie Charlton, L. O. S. Poidevin, T. R . M cK ibbin, T om Garrett, G. R . C. Clarke, and D r. W . Carnac W ilkinson, who played for M id­ dlesex in the early eighties, appearing in the scholastic thirteen. O r the bow ling at B risbane on the first day o f the South A frican v. an Australian E leven match, the B risbane C ou rier wrote :— “ The bow ling o f M acLaren was one o f the outstanding features o f the day’s play. H e was able to make the n e w . ball swerve, and, com bining plenty o f pace with excellent length, the visitors found him almost unplayable. H e dis­ m issed the first tw o m en w ithout having a run knocked o ff him . A t lunch tim e his record was three wickets for 16, in ­ cluding Nourse, and in addition the great Faulkner was badly m issed off him . C on ­ tinuing to bow l finely after luncheon M ac­ Laren m et with m ore bad luck. H e gradually tired, but partially recovering after tea he was bow lin g w ell towards the end, and w ound up w ith a fine record o f four wickets for 85, out o f a total o f 343 runs. The South Africans regard M ac­ Laren as easily the best fast bow ler they have encountered, and his perform ances against them go to prove it.” L o r d C h e lm s fo r d , G overnor o f New South W ales, who, as the H on . F . J. N. Thesiger, played in his time for W in ­ chester, Oxford and M iddlesex, has arranged to sail from Sydney for L ondon, on six m onths’ leave, on M a y 6th. L a d y Chelm sford and her