Cricket 1911

A pril 15, 1911. CRICKET : A W EEK LY RECORD OP THE GAME. 53 THE SOUTH AFR ICAN TEAM IN AUSTRAL IA . ( Continued from page 38.) 17 th M atch —v. VICTORIA. Played at Melbourne on February 3, 4, 6 and 7. The South Africans won by eight wickets. Neither side was at full strength for this match, the South Africans taking the field without Schwarz and Llewellyn, and Victoria making five changes from the team which won the first game between the sides. Winning the toss and going in first on a good wicket, the home side did not do as well as was expected in being dismissed for 242. They started well, for against the bowling of Nourse, Snooke, Vogler and Sinclair the first 50 runs were made without loss in 34 minutes. Faulkner took up the attack at 56, and he it was who brought about the separation, Kenny being bowled at 86 for a rather lucky innings of 43 which contained four 4’s. Ransford made only 8 ere being “ googlied,” and at 120 Warne, when thoroughly set, was run out after batting an hour and a-half for 55 : it was a good effort, marked by some fine strokes on both sides of the wicket. Kortlang failed, and only Smith of the later players reached 20. Faulkner bowled capitally, but Vogler, who was very expensive, kept too short. When Strieker and Zulch opened the South African innings against Kyle and Pitcher there was almost at once a sensation, the last-named being no-balled four times in an over for throwing by Crockett and then taken off. After Strieker was out, at 9, Zulch and Faulkner added 58 together, but both had been sent back by the time the total had reached 74. Then Snooke joined Nourse and the 100 went up without further loss 115 minutes from the start. At 113 Pitcher again went on, and was again no-balled, this time by Young, stationed at square-leg. It was not until 148 that another wicket fell, Snooke then being out to an easy catch at mid-on after helping to put on 71 for the fourth wicket at a rather critical time : he made some excellent cuts and hit six 4’s. Sinclair was caught at slip from the next ball, but following his dismissal Nourse, who had been playing a patient though most valuable game, took part in a series of useful partnerships, Sherwell staying whilst 20 were added, Pearse whilst 76 were put on— during this latter stand Armstrong's leg theory met with strong disapproval from the spectators—and Pegler whilst the ninth wicket yielded an increase of 32. Nourse, the last to leave, was caught whilst hitting out in a poor light. He made his first 50 in 110 minutes, and his second in 75: altogether he scored 128 out of 257 in three hours and a-half by faultless cricket, and hit thirteen 4’s. How timely his display was is evident from the fact that the next highest score was only 39. Carkeek kept wicket admirably during the innings, and allowed only a couple of byes in the total of 324. Rain prevented a ball being bowled on the Monday, and it was not until twenty minutes past four on the following afternoon that play could be resumed. Then everything so favoured the attack that a dozen wickets went down for 99 runs. Of the efforts to obtain runs little need he said, for the bowlers were always master of the situation. Armstrong, who opened the innings, played really well, however, and among his hits was a 6 to square-leg off Pegler. Kortlang, when 2, was hit severely on the knee by a ball from Faulkner and obliged to retire : he returned when half the side were out for 67 and was last out. The innings lasted an hour and three-quarters, and the South Africans lost a couple of wickets in obtaining the 9 runs necessary for victory. Faulkner, who broke both ways, was irresistible, and his seven wickets were obtained for less than four runs each. Score and analysis :— First innings. V ictoria . A. Kenny, b Faulkner .................... T. S. Warne, run out.......................... V. S. Ransford, b Faulkner ............. T. J. Matthews, c Pegler, b Faulkner . B. J. Kortlang, lbw, b Vogler............. W. W. Armstrong (capt.), c Nourse, b Strieker D. Smith, c Zulch, b Pegler ...................... H. F. Parsons, st Campbell, bFaulkner F. Pitcher, b Pearse ................................... J. Kyle, not out ......................................... W. Carkeek, b Sinclair ............................ Lb 2, w 1 ............................. Total............................ S outh A fr L. Strieker, c and b Kyle............................ J. W. Zulch, b Kyle ................................... G. A. Faulkner, c &b Kyle ...................... A. D. Nourse, c Kyle, b Parsons ......... S. J. Snooke, c Kortlang, b Armstrong J. H. Sinclair, c Kenny, b Armstrong P. W. Sherwell (capt.), c Ransford b Arm­ strong ...................................................... O. C. Pearse, c Armstrong, b Kyle............... S. J. Pegler, c Ransford, b Kyle ............... T. Campbell, c and b Armstrong ............... A. E. E. Vogler, not out ............................ B 2, lb 2, w 1, nb 3 ............... Total............................ Second innings. 43 st Campbell, b Faulkner 11 55 c Pegler,bSinclair ........... lii 8 c Pegler, b Faulkner ... 3 35 run o u t.................................. 4 0 c Snooke, b Faulkner 10 17 b Faulkner.......................... 30 30 c Vogler, b Faulkner........... 5 2 c Snooke, b Sinclair 0 18 b Faulkner .. ................... 0 18 b Faulkner............................ 0 13 notout.................................... 4 3 B 5, lb 1, nb 1 .......... 7 242 T otal.................. 90 ICA. 4 st Carkeek, b Armstrong... 2 31 lbw, b Ransford.................. 3 32 128 39 0 17 not o u t .................................. 4 31 23 6 not o u t .................................. 0 5 8 Byes, &c.................... 0 324 Total (2 wkts)... 9 V icto ria . First innings. Second innings. O. M. R. W. O. M. R. W. Nourse ... .......... 6 1 14 0 .......... ... 2 1 1 0 Snooke ... . ..... 1 0 3 0 ................... Vogler ... .......... 14 0 72 1 ................... 4 1 18 0 Sinclair ... .......... 5*2 0 27 1 .......... ... 4 1 13 2 Faulkner ......... 21 1 55 4 ................... ... 16-2 4 26 7 Pegler .. .......... 11 4 23 1 .......... ... 7 2 25 0 Strieker ... .......... 8 1 30 1 .......... Pearse ... .......... 3 0 15 1 .......... Vogler bowled a wide and Faulkner a no-ball. S outh A fr ic a . First innings. Second innings O. M. R. W. O. M. R. w. Pitcher ... .......... 2 0 11 0 .......... Kyle................ ......... 41 9 111 5 ................... Armstrong .......... 39 8 110 4 ................... 1*4 0 9 1 Parsons ... .......... 13 0 31 1 .......... Warne ... .......... 4 2 10 0 ................... Matthews ......... 13 1 36 0 .......... Kenny ... .. ... 2 1 7 0 .......... Ransford ........... ’.!! i 1 0 1 Pitcher bowled a wide and three no-balls. 18 th M atch . —v. AUSTRALIA. ( fo u r th t e s t .) Played at Melbourne on February 17, 18, 20 and 21. THE RUBBER DECIDED. Australia won by 530 runs. Owing to the excellent form the South Africans had been showing, this match had been anticipated with the greatest interest and it was, therefore, to the general disappointment that an abnormal rainfall should interfere with it to such an extent. Play should have commenced on Friday, February 10th, and, after waiting until Tuesday for an improvement in the meteorological conditions, it was decided to postpone the start until the following Friday. The South Africans decided to have out Pearse, Campbell and Commaille, Vogler, who had not played in either the second or third Test, thus coming into the side. Matthews was twelfth man for Australia. As the w'icket was soft and the outfield dead, Sherwell, upon winning the toss, put the Australians in, thinking that the st ite of the ground would assist the attack and that on the following day the wicket might roll out true. Faulkner and Llewellyn shared the bowling when Bardsley and Trumper opened the innings, and in the latter’s first over the left-hander was missed by Vogler—an expensive mistake as events proved. At 9 Trumper was bowled by Faulkner, and at 24 Hill fell to Llewellyn. Armstrong then came in, and, with the bowlers able to turn the ball cons derably, play become rather slow. Llewellyn, in endeavouring to field a very hard return hit from Armstrong, damaged his hand and was obliged to retire temporarily, Schwarz bowling in his stead. Vogler, Sinclair and Faulkner all bowled in turn and off the last-named Bardsley, when 46, was let off by Strieker at short-leg. The left-hander completed 50 in 95 minutes, but shortly afterwards lost Armstrong, though not before the third wicket had put on 102. Gehrs, having made 9, was brilliantly stumped off Vogler, and then Kelleway joined Bardsley, whose total was then 67. The last-named, who made some capital strokes to leg, was not destined to reach three-figures, for when he had made 82 out cf 182 in 155 minutes he was caught at short-leg : he hit five 4’s in his innings, which, although a most valuable one, did not show him at his best. The association of Ransford and Kelleway resulted in the longest partnership of the day, the pair adding 107 for the sixth wicket. Both, however, like Bardsley, were favoured by fortune, several catches being missed. Kelleway’s display was laboured and unattractive, but Ransford made some superb cuts. Pegler, with three wickets for 40 runs, was the most effective bowler during the innings, in which as many as three players were run out. For being saved from a complete collapse when they went in against the total of 328 the South Africans owed almost everything to Nourse, who played a fine defensive innings of 92 and carried out his bat. The bowling of Whitty and Hordern on a run-getting wicket proved to be far too much for the great majority of the side, whose total of 205 was, in the circumstanccs, most disappointing. The fact that Llewellyn was badly handicapped by the injury mentioned to his hand cannot be held entirely or even chiefly responsible for the poor display. Almost before the crowd had settled down to watch their doings the side were in difficulties, Zulch being run out at 7 and Striker bowled at 23. Faulkner fell to a catch at cover at 36, and a run late Snooke was yorked by Whitty, whilst when Sinclair was bowled half the side were out for 38, of which number Nourse claimed 6. Schwarz stayed whilst 27 were added, but it was not until Sherwell partnered Nourse that a pronounced