Cricket 1912

C R I C K E T : A W E E K L Y R E C O R D O F T H E G A M E .— M arch 3 0 th , 1912. 'Together joined in CricKet’s manly toil.”— Byron. N o ,3 - Z Lw SNr s“ ,B- S A T U R D A Y , M A R C H 3 0 , 1 9 1 2 . pr.ce 20 . A Chat about /VLr. 5 * Minnett. is not much danger in venturing the prophecy that Eoy Minnett will be among the most popular of the “ new chums ” in the Australian team with the crowd. For the crowd dearly loves a dasher, and a dasher this accom­ plished player is. Not a mere slogger, for he has good defensive abilities, but a man who puts the bat against the ball hard, and is always out for runs. Moreover a splen­ did field, not of the type which is content to wait for the ball to come, but of that which anticipates its course and meets it on the way. A fast medium bowler of more than ordinary ability, too— certainly a much better bowler than his recent test match figures would give one the notion of his being. Minnett will be 29 years of age on June 13, so that he can scarcely be considered a colt. But it is not easy nowa­ days for any player, how­ ever good, to win a regular place in the New South Wales eleven, for competi­ tion is very keen. Had his lot been cast in Adelaide, it is likely that he would have come to the front much sooner, though possibly his chances could not have been bettered in the long run, for there seems a tendency on the part of Australian select­ ors to consider a Sydney man before one from Mel­ bourne or Adelaide, while as for a Brisbane, Perth, Hobart or Launceston crick­ eter—well, his chances of international honours are usually small indeed! A school-fellow of Herbert Hordern’s at the Sydney Church of England Grammar School, Boy Minett won all sorts of honours while at that academic institution, and, passing thence to the University, proceeded to do likewise there. He went into the cricket eleven at once, as a matter of course, and in his first season, 1906-7, headed the batting averages, scored the only century for the side in premiership matches, and was one of its best bowlers. It was in this season that he first played for his State, though not in Sheffield Shield matches. He was a member of the N. S. W. team to Western Australia, which A. J. Hop­ kins captained, Charles Mac­ artney and Warren Bardsley also* being included in the side. He did nothing very notable, however, and for the next two seasons he did not get another chance in the N .S .W . team. For the University he met with more success as bowler than as batsman in 1909-10, the sea­ son in which he re-appeared in big cricket; and it was no doubt his bowling that car­ ried him into the State team for the two matches for the Sheffield Shield played away from Sydney. He and his elder brother Leslie did a big share of the work against South Australia at Adelaide, and the younger man had the distinction of bowling Clem Hill after the crack had scored 205, his analysis being 3 for 69 at the finish, while his brother had 5 for 90. Against Victoria at Melbourne he was second highest scorer in his side’s first innings with a capital 41 not out; but Emery went through the home side so quickly that he did not get much bowling to do. His one other match for N.S.W. that season was against Tasmania at Hobart. He scored 30 and 29, but did not |bowl a ball. For Sydney University during 1909-10 he took 39,wickets at under 18 runs each, an excellent record, as scoring in Sydney grade matches runs pretty high. His best performance in 1910-1 was a dashing century against Tasmania at Sydney in January—151 in 150 minutes M r. R. B. M INN ETT.