Cricket 1912

JAN. 27, 1912. CRICKET : A WEEKLY get people out. He had always acted on the principle that the tenth man in had as much right to a good wicket as the man who went in first. V ic t o r y at Melbourne—victory again at Adelaide—and the usual leap from an attitude of unnecessary despondence to one of unjustified cock-sureness on the part of a big section of the British public! There is quite a good chance that we may win the rubber; but there is no certainty about it. It would be wise to refrain from assuming that Mr. Hordern is completely mastered. Hobbs, who plays googlies better than almost any other batsman living, may succumb easily to Mr. Hordern or another in both innings at Melbourne and Sydney, and if he does one scarcely fancies England’s chances. On the other hand, our bowlers have shown that they are more difficult to deal with than Messrs. Faulkner, Vogler, Schwarz and Co., and one does not anticipate tremendous scoring in the two games to come. I t is to be hoped both Messrs. Trumper and Ransford will be fit and well for the fourth match, for which Mr. C. G. Macartney must surely be given a place in the Australian team, while Messrs. J. W. McLaren, of Queensland, E. P. Barbour, of New South Wales, and C. B. Jennings, of Queensland, are likely candidates if further changes are made. There are, too, Messrs. E. B. Mayne (South Australia) and David Smith (Victoria) both well worthy of trial. Mr. G. P. B a r b o u r , who was dismissed for 0 and 14 not out when playing for Toowoomba against the English­ men, had just before scored 91 in the first innings of a local match and 102 in the second. He is the father of Mr. E. P. Barbour, the brilliant young batsman of New South Wales. A n interesting point arose during the course of the recent Test match at Adelaide, Mr. Douglas (the English captain) very quietly asking the umpires whether two of the Australian bowlers, Messrs. Kelleway and Hordern, were justified in using resin in order to obtain a better grip of the ball. The umpires declined to interfere, on the ground that the rules are silent on the point. But they could, of course, have given a decision had they been pressed to do so, Law 43 stating that, “ The umpires are the sole judges of fair and unfair play.” An official ruling on the point by the M.C.C. would be welcome. It should be stated in fairness to Mr. Kelleway that he denies he has ever used resin. T o celebrate the jubilee of Anglo-Australian cricket, a smoking concert was held in Melbourne on New Year’s Day, among those present being Lord Denman, the Gover­ nor-General of the Commonwealth, and Mr. Fisher, the Prime Minister. Mr. Warner, whose illness prevented him from being present, conveyed a message of greeting and goodwill from the Marylebone Club. T h e Australian Cricket Board of Control has appointed Messrs. McAlister, C. Hill and Iredale to select the Australian team for the Triangular Tournament in England this year, and Messrs. Hill and Trumper have been nominated captain and vice-captain respectively. The action of the Board in deciding, by eight votes to four, to appoint a secretary to accompany the team, unfortunately appears likely to entail a renewal of the dispute between the Board and many of the leading players, for Trumper, Amstrong, Cotter and Carter have declined to come to England except under a manager approved by the team. T e n years ago Mr. Clement Hill played successive innings of 99, 98 and 97 in test matches. A week or two back, on the same ground upon which the 98 and 97 were made, he was out for 98— his fifth score of between 90 and 100 in test matches. Beckoning both the English and South African tests, Mr. Hill has now made seven centuries, eleven scores of 80 and under a hundred, and eight of between 50 and 70, but curiously enough has never been out between 70 and 80. Here is a list of his scores of over 50, those made against South Africa being distinguished RECORD OF T1IE GAME. 3 from the rest :— 191 (v. S. A.),188, 160, 142 (v. S.A.), 135, 119, 100 (v. S.A.), 99, 98, 98, 97, 91 not out (v. S.A.), 88, 87, 87, 86, 81, 80, 66 (v. S.A.), 65, 65, 58, 55 (v. S.A.), 54, 52 and 51. T h is is a wonderful record. Mr. Hill has made over 3,000 runs in test matches, the only other batsman who has done so being Mr. Victor Trumper, who has played in 46 matches to date, Mr. Hill having one more to his credit. The South Australian crack has also played twice for Australia v. New Zealand, scoring a century (118 and 129) on each occasion, but these matches cannot be counted quite on the same plane as the others, and the runs made in them are not included in his test match total (to tho end of January) of 3,341. B y the way, those who think Mr. Clem Hill got out for a duck because he was so upset by the telegram from Mr. McAlister, one of his fellow-selectors, suggesting that if he was bent on playing Mr. Macartney he should himself stand down, scarcely flatter the South Australian’s nerve and coolness. Personally, we fully agree with Mr. Hill that the little Sydney man is worth his place, and it would really seem that the last choice might well be left to the captain of the side. But there is something to be said for Mr. McAlister, since no such arrangement as this obtains, and since the Victorian naturally believes in the value of Mr. Matthews, who must have stood down if “ the Governor- General ” had been played. The Victorian justified his place, too. P e r h a p s it was asking too much of human nature to expect Messrs. Hill and McAlister to work in harmony together. They are both men for whom we have the highest respect— good sportsmen and thoroughly con­ scientious in their task as selectors,, beyond doubt. But there is old cause of friction between them. As selectors of the last Australian team for England, they differed very strongly on a matter that it was impossible to keep outside the range of personalities— to wit, Mr. McAlister’s claim to a place in the side. Mr. Hill was also strongly against the inclusion of Mr. Carkeek, whose candidature the Victorian selector supported warm ly.’ Such things aie not easily forgotten, even by the finest of sportsmen, and it might have been in the best interests of the game if another selector had been nominated for Victoria—Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Laver, or Mr. Hugh Trumble, say. I t is a curious coincidence that John Hobbs should have scored at Adelaide a best against Australia which is exactly equal to his best v. South Africa— 187. After an experience of first-class cricket extending over little more than half-a-dozen years the Surrey crack has already 1,379 runs to his credit in 15 test matches (10 v. Australia, 5 v. South Africa), with an average per innings of 55.16. This is quite good enough to be going on with, but Hobbs will make a good many more yet— four or five hundred at least, let us hope, during the 1912 season in England. W il f r e d B h o d e s has at present 1,202 runs to his name in test match cricket, with an average of just on 28. He has also taken 96 wickets—94 v. Australia, and 2 v. South Africa. An enthusiast of our acquaintance simply does not know how to wait for the wickets the Yorkshire- man still needs to give him the double— 1,000 runs and 100 wickets—as yet never achieved by any Englishman in test cricket. A b r a n g e m e n t s have been made whereby the Aus­ tralian team which will visit England this year will sail on tho Orvielo on March 13th. R e s p o n d in g to a toast at the dinner given by the Melbourne Cricket Club to the English team on November 18th, Mr. Pawley said the popularity of the game of cricket amongst all sections of Aus­ tralians had struck him very forcibly. In the com­ mittee balcony that afternoon he had met Archbishop Clarke, Ministers of State, and other leading citizens, while round the ground there were 15,000 or 20,000 people, who did nJt hesitate to say wtiat they thought. (Laughter.)