Cricket 1911

602 RUGBY FOOTBALL AND CEICKET. December 23, 1911. © b t t u a r j n M b . R . A . D u f f . Mr. Reginald Alexander Duff, for a few years one of the best of Australian batsmen, died in Sydney'on the 13th inst. He was born on August 17th, 1878, and was therefore only thirty-three years of age at the time of his death. He was a punishing player, with considerable driving power. In Grade cricket in Sydney he was always associated with the North Sydney C.C., and it was during the season of 1896-7 that he obtained his first hundred in local premier­ ship uiatches. The score alluded to was 114 against Waverley, and his consistent rungetting gained for him the second place in the batting statistics, his average being 34. This was a most distinctive advance on his record of the previous year, when, in eight completed innings, he made but 105 runs. In 1897-8 he showed still further improvement, his figures for North Sydney, with 192 v. Leichhardt as his highest score, being 375 runs in nine completed innings. His best performance of the season, however, was in the match at Cobargo, on December 31st and January 1st, between a Metropolitan t^am and XV . of Cobargo, in which, going in first for the former, he carried his bat right through the innings for 127 out of 373. The feature of his play in 1898-9 was an innings of 189 for Next Fifteen v. New South Wales, at Sydney, and this he supple­ mented ten days later with a compilation of 136 for North Sydney v. Redfern. His play during that season strength- ned the good opinion which had previously been formed of his capabilities as a batsman, notwithstanding that in the six innings he played for New South Wales he made but 103 runs with 42 as his highest effort. In 1899-1900 he exceeded the hundred on three occasions for North Sydney, making 145 v. Leichardt, 113 v. Redfern and 158 v. East Sydney, and earned much praise by playing two splendid innings of 75 and 76 for New South Wales against Victoria at Sydney in January. His displays in the opening months of the twentieth century must have proved sufficient to convince even the poorest judges of the game that he was a batsman of more than usual promise. On January 8 th he hit an innings of 119 for New South Wales v. South Wales, at Sydney, this being the match in which the former scored 918, and, with S. E. Gregory as a partner, added 214 for the fifth wicket. Five players exceeded the hundred during the innings, and New South Wales won by an innings and 605 runs. This was Duff’s first three-figure score in first-class cricket, and he followed it with 121 v. Redfern on January 19th, 227 not out v. Newcastle on February 23rd, and 185 v. Burwood on March 2nd, all three innings being hit for North Sydney. His 227 not out was made when every­ thing was going against his side. North Sydney, in fact, had lost six wickets for 15 runs when Duff and A. J. Hopkins (89) became associated and by steady play entirely altered the aspect of the game. The pair added 201 for the seventh wicket, and the innings which had threatened to end in disaster eventually realised 399. It was in January, .1902. that Duff’s name first came prominently to the notice of Englishmen. Chosen to play for Australia in the Test match at Melbourne—it was his first appearance in a game of such importance—he scored 32 and 104, and in his second innings put on 120 runs for the last wicket in partnership with Armstrong. Inasmuch as he was the greatest rungetter in each innings of his side, he had a great deal to do with the Australian success by 229 runs. It was this success which established his position as a representative player and caused him to be selected for the team to England in 1902. In this country he played several excellent innings, one of his most valuable (though by no means his highest) being his 54 in the Test Match at Manchester, when he and Trumper scored 135 for the first wicket. Later, he returned home via South Africa, and during the Australian season of 1902-3 enjoyed a great personal triumph, scoring 786 runs in nine innings and, without a single not-out to help him, averaging 87.33. His scores, all for New South Wales, were 94 and 18, 102 and 66 , 132, 132 and 39, 9 and 194. In two consecutive innings he and Trumper made over 250 for the first wicket, the pair scoring 298 v. South Australia at Sydney, and 267 v. Victoria on the same ground. On each occasion the runs were made in two hours and a-quarter. Early in the following season—in December, 1903, to be exact— Duff played a great innings of 271 v. South Australia, at Sydney, and in partnership with M. A. Noble (230) put on 293. for the fourth wicket. In the Test matches also he made his presence felt, and in the game with Victoria, at Sydney (his favourite ground), scored 67 and 62 not out, he and Trumper making 113 together for the first wicket in the first innings, and in the second hitting off, without being separated the 119 runs required to win the match. Duff visited England a second time in 1905, but, except for an innings of 146 in the Test match at the Oval, he did comparatively little of note, although in strictly first-class matches during the tour his average was only a fraction under 30. After his return to Australia he appeared occasionally in first-class matches for three seasons, but quite failed to repeat his earlier triumphs. D err in F irst -C lass C ricket . Inns. Not out. Runs. Aver. Highest score. Australia, 1898-9 to 1901-2 ... 34 1 1091 33 06 119 England, 1902 .......................... .. 58 5 ln07 28-43 183 South Africa, 1902 .. 8 2 200 43-33 *82 Australia, 1902-3 to 1904-5 ... 36 i 1977 56-48 271 New Zealand, 1904-5 ... .. 5 0 172 34-40 74 England, 1905 .......................... .. 47 0 1395 29-68 146 Australia, 1905-0 to 1907-8 ... 14 0 335 23-92 58 202 9 6737 34-90 271 H is H undreds in F irst -C lass C ricket . New South Wales v. South Australia, at Sydney Australia v. England, at Melbourne ................ Australia v. Eleven of England, at Bradford ... Australia v. Somerset, at Taunton NewSouth Waies v. Victoria, at Melbourne ... „ ,, ,, v. South Australia, at Sydney „ ,, „ v. Victoria, at Sydney ,, ,, ,, v. English Team, at Sydney ,, ,, ,, v. South Australia, at Sydney Australia v. England, at Oval In test matches between England and Australia he scored 1,079 runs with an average of 32-69, playinga three- figure innings on his first appearance and also on his lass. 119 104 182 183 102 182 132 194 271 140 1900-1 1901-2 1902 1902 1902-3 1902-3 1902-3 1902-3 1903-4 1905 M r . A. B. T a n c r e d . Mr. Augustus Bernard Tancred—eldest son of the late Mr. A. F. Tancred, J.P., at one time Town Clerk of Kim­ berley—died at Cape Town on November 23rd, after an operation on the 22nd. He had been suffering from an internal complaint, and had come down from Salisbury to Cape Town, with his wife (a Barnstaple lady) and daughter, to embark for England in order to consult a specialist. But at Cape Town it was found that immediate operation was necessary; and this took place on what would .otherwise have been the day of sailing. He seemed to be progressing well at first, but there came one of those sudden changes that are so frequent in such cases, and he died on the Thursday morning. The deceased cricketer was born at Port Elizabeth in 1865, and was educated at St. Aidan’s College, Grahams- town, where he first made a name as a cricketer. After leaving school, he appeared a few times for the Port Eliza­ beth Club, but soon removed to Kimberley, where he helped to found, and for some years captained, the Eclectic Club. For a short time he was the partner of Mr. C. H. Vintcent, the famous Old Carthusian, in a stockbroking business ; later he studied law, qualified, and practised at Kimberley, Pretoria, and Salisbury (Rhodesia). For some eight or ten years Mr. A. B. Tancred was undoubtedly the finest batsman in South Africa. He was at his very best about the time of the visit of the First English Team (1888-9) and for three or four years there­ after ; but he had made a great name at Kimberley before that. He scored many centuries during his career as a club cricketer ; but the claims of business prevented his regular continuance in representative cricket, though a period of a dozen years elapsed between his first and last big match.