Cricket 1911

November 25, 1911. RUGBY FOOTBALL AND CRICKET. 581 CRICKET. Cricket in Australia. SEITZ—MAYNE—BARBOUR. B y P. R. LE COUTEUR. NTERSTATE matches in Australia are now more interesting, naturally, to English cricketers than they are in an ordinary year, in view both of the near Tests and of the Triangular Tournament. Up to the present, however, there has been little to claim attention. Trumper, Bardsley, Cotter, Macartney and Ransford have all shown them­ selves to be in form—an almost chronic disease with them, their opponents say. It is a tribute to these players that their ill-success is marked more by the public than their success. Macartney’s return to form is good to see. He is a sterling cricketer of whom the best has not been seen in England. One would say, too, that he has the style which succeeds better here than in Australia. Let us hope he gives us of his best next season. Crawford has done great deeds for South Australia. One has come to regard successes of his, also, as circumstances quite to be expected, and remarkable only by their absence. It would seem that he is a better cricketer in Australia than in England. What perhaps interests us most just now is the success of Seitz, Mayne and Barbour, of Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales respectively. Arnold Seitz, who played for Oxford in his third year in 1909, is not so well-known to English cricketers as he might have been. During his three years here he was pursued by the most cruel luck. In his first year he was struck on the face, while playing “ Soccer,” with a heavy wet ball. His eyes were badly injured, and remained converged for a considerable time. Only in his third year did they appear to be normal, though it is doubtful whether they were quite right even then. A brilliant fieldsman, he was handicapped also in that by an injury to his arm, which pre­ vented him from throwing. To those who knew the worth of his play all this was very disappointing. However, he quietly made the best of it, and, just ^before he went down was given his “ blue.” English cricketers had a glimpse of his true form in a century he made against Surrey at Reigate. He is the type of batsman that seems to the bowler to be possessed of a bat much wider than tbe regulation size, the “ square ” type. His most frequent scoring shot is a strong clean drive, which he seems never to deaden or “ foozle.” His cutting is of the same clean strong kind, without flourish. In England, where he found the pitches slower and the bowling more on the wicket, he scored chiefly by his pull and hook shots. He starts slowly, but scores at a good pace when set, often at a great pace. Above all he has the essential quality of a first-class batsman, resource. He has the knack of being able to develop during an innings a new stroke to meet a sudden requirement, and to use it as if he had played it all his life. A right-handed bat, he sometimes astounds slow leg-break bowlers bowling leg-theory by making a right-about-turn when the ball is in the air, and executing a left- handed leg shot to the off side, where there are no fieldsmen. He is quick on his feet and rarely allows a slow bowler to make use of the wicket. On the whole he is a most interesting cricketer, and as his fielding is good enough to be classed sometimes with Ransford’s and Macartney’s, it is little wonder that many see in him an Australian Eleven player. Mayne, too, has strong claims to inclusion. Although he is quite young he has been for a considerable time an indispensable member of the South Australian side, invariably leading the batting. He has all the strokes, and makes them with ease and power. In addition he is an excellent outfield. It is very unfortunate for him and Dolling that first-class batsmen are so numerous now in Australia. Both are quite worthy of a place in the representative team, but tried men cannot be excluded who still continue to make big scores. Barbour will experience the Same difficulty. But it seems likely that in spite of it he will be given a trial in one or more of the Tests. In all his cricket up to date he has displayed uniform excellence. In Public School cricket he had extraordinary success. One grew almost tired of seeing his name with three-figures after it. And on entering the University the change of conditions caused no slump with him as it does so often with good Public School cricketers. He began at once to get big scores against the best players in Sydney. And further elevation to the State team in no way interfered with the continuity of his success. As a matter of fact, the better the cricket the better he plays. It is this, taken in conjunction with his style, rather than a mere run of successes, which makes critics so confident about him. He plays back excellently, watching the ball carefully and meeting it with a straight bat. He is of sturdy build, and when he drives uses plenty of power. We must congratulate the M.C.C. Eleven on the result of its first match. Perhaps it is rather a pity that the win was in a single innings, for further practice on the fast Adelaide wicket would have been useful. The appearance of the scoring sheet—six “ ducks,” and scores of 44, 63 and 84—seems to indicate something of the nature of a rout among the South Australians. Douglas evidently was the instrument which caused this. One cannot but wonder whether the damage was done by his swerve, which by its novelty surprised the batsmen. Something extraordinary must have been going on. Unfortunately the cabled reports give us no infor­ mation on this point. The end of this last week has seen Foster with another century to his credit. All are glad, for his cricket is of the breezy kind which everyone, expert or not, loves to see. Smith, on the Victorian side, who made 68 in the first innings and 84 in the second, is such another. Tall, energetic and powerful, he uses all his strength in his shots. He is fond of jumping in to drive, a shot he does with rare power and cleanness. He has his counterpart in England in Ducat of Surrey. Like Ducat, he is a first-class footballer and uses his feet cleverly. The keynote of his play is life and vigour. There are no dull moments when he is at the wickets. CRICKET IN CEYLON. THE M.C.C’s. TEAM v. ALL CEYLON. Played at Colombo on October 21st, and won by the visitors by 154 runs. The tourists took advantage of their short stay at Colombo to play a one-innings game against a Ceylon team, and, notwithstanding their lack of practice, experienced no difficulty in winning. The wicket had been affected by rain, and Hobbs, hitting freely, claimed 45 of the first 50 runs scored. Score and analysis :— M.C.C.’s Team . Hobbs, st Rozayro, b Horan Rhodes, c Greswell, b Hor^n Gunn (G.), c Thornton, b D. L. de Saram ...................................... P. F. Warner, lbw., b D. L. de Saram ...................................... Mead (C. P.) c Horan, b Gresweli F. R. Foster,lbw, b E. R. de Saram Woolley, b B. R. de Saram Vine, run out ............... J. W. H. T. Douglas, not out Barnes, c E. R. de Saram, b Greswell ...................................... Strudwick, c Thornton, b Gresweii Byes, &c................................ Total... O. Greswell ... 17 H o ra n .............. 21 D. L. de Saram 11 Siedle ............... 8 E. R. de Saram 10 A ll C eylo n . V. F. S. Crawford, lbw., b Barnes F. de Saram, b Barnes .............. D. F. Fitzgibbon, c Strudwick, b Foster ...................................... Dr. G. Thornton, b Foster D. L. de Saram, b Foster.............. J. C. Johnson, c Rhodes, b Wool­ ley .................................................. W. T. Greswell, b Barnes.............. F. J. Siedle, run out ............. E. R. de Saram, not o u t .............. W. de Rozayro, st Strudwick, b Woolley ...................................... C. Horan, b Barnes.......................... Byes, &c............................... 213 Total... 59 M. R. W. O. M. R. W. 3 55 3 Barnes ... 0-3 1 30 4 4 40 2 Foster ... ... 6 4 7 3 2 37 2 Woolley ... 3 0 9 2 0 35 0 3 23 2