Cricket 1912

Apeil 20, 1912. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 63 Australian Cricket Chronology and Memorabilia, (Continued from page /i0.) 1850-51. On February 11th and 12th, 1851, was played the first match between Tasmania and Victoria. The game was played at Launceston and was won by Tasmania by three wickets. The match arose from a challenge sent by Victoria in February, 1850, to the then newly-formed club at Launceston. Tasmania accepted the challenge, and the match should have been played in March, 1850, and was only then prevented by the gentleman deputed to forward the acceptance forgetting to post his letter in time for the steamer. The Victoria challenge was repeated in the spring of 1851, with the result that the two States met as above. Play commenced at half-past ten. 1851-52. Victoria v. Tasmania, at Melbourne.— “ It was agreed that the wickets should be pitched at half-past eight, that the game might commence punctually at nine. A t one o ’clock the bugle will sound for lunch, when an adjourn­ ment from the field to the tents of half-an-hour will take place.” In their first innings (65) Tasmania lost their first five wickets for 9 runs. Early in 1852 George Gilbert and W . G. Rees, cousins of the Graces, arrived in New South Wales, and soon after their arrival are said to have played a single-wicket match against R. Vaughan and H. Hilliard, then the two best men in the State. The Englishmen won very easily. Gilbert, in fact, was in for three days, and then knocked down his wicket, no declaration of the innings then being provided for by the laws. 1852-53. It was in, or about, this season that John Cocker scored the first hundred ever made in South Australia— 109 in a single-wicket match against a sailor named Wilkins, on the Kent and Sussex ground, Adelaide. He made his runs with a cherry-wood bat. 1855-56. A t Melbourne on March 26 and 27, 1856, was played the first match between Victoria and New South Wales. It resulted from a challenge on the part of the former to play for £250 a side : this was declined, N.S.W. preferring to play for the honour of the game. According to H. Hilliard, the only survivor of the match, the ground was bare and all the men played with their boots off, some in their naked feet and some with stockings on. N .S.W ., set 16 to win, lost seven wickets before the winning hit was made. In the second innings of Victoria (28), J. McKone took 5 wickets for 11 runs, and in the final stage of the game G. Elliott, whose analysis in the first innings had been 7 for 28, obtained 3 for 7 and F. Lowe 4 for 9. The Sydney men, as visitors, claimed the right to have choice of innings, but were over-ruled ; the umpires, not the captains, tossed and the spin gave the choice to the Victorians, who went in first. The N.S.W. players wore white “ ducks,” and those of Victoria flannels. Concerning this match, “ Felix ” of the Australasian, relates the following incident:— “ Rowley was on the M.C.C. ground when the first intercolonial was played there, and, as showing the peculiar and primitive state of things obtaining at that time, the takings were handed over to Rowley to be kept by him from Saturday night till Monday morning. Nuggets of gold were often put in instead of actual cash, and the people, could easily have got in without paying anything. It was wonderful how well and readily they paid up. Well, Rowley did not know where to put the money so as to have it thoroughly safe. A t last he hit upon his camp oven, and planted in it notes, gold, Silver, nuggets, and put the cover on. But on the Sunday, the girl, not knowing the precious contents, put a fire under the oven, and it was becoming nicely heated when Rowley appeared on the scene. Fortunately, neither gold nor silver was melted, and the bank-notes were only just beginning to brown, but Rowley reckoned that he was only just in the nick of time, and decided never again to put cash into a camp oven. Indeed, he got such a shock, that he determined t o avoid fo r the fu t u r e b e in g m a d e the c u s t o d ia n o f la r g e s u m s o f m o n e y e v e n f o r a d a y .” 1856-57. Messrs. Biers and Fairfax issued their Cricketers’ Guide for Australasia — the first annual publication on the game in Australia. The first number was the work of the two gentlemen named, but for the other two— 1857-8 and 1858-9—W. Fairfax alone was responsible. It was in, or about, this season that the N.S.W.C.A. was established. [Mr. W. O. Whitridge’ s South Australian Cricketer’s Guide for 1876-77 says (page 50) :— “ The New South Wales Cricketing Association has been in existence for about 20 years.” The Annual Reports of the Association, which are unnumbered, do not state the date of formation.] At Melbourne, Victoria were dismissed for 38 in their second innings v. New South Wales. Capt. E. W. Ward took 5 for 15, bowling 107 balls. 1857-58. In second innings of New South Wales v. Victoria, at Melbourne, G. Elliott had 5 wickets for 17 runs. In match at Launceston between Tasmania and Victoria, G. Elliott bowled unchanged through the former’s first innings of 33, which included 14 extras, for an analyis of 76 balls, 2 runs and nine wickets. In the match he had eleven wickets for 13 runs. In their second innings v. Victoria, at Hobart, Tas­ mania made but 25 (including 9 extras). T. W . Wills took six of the wickets at a very small cost. Brown took 16 Victorian wickets, eight in each innings. 1858-59. In their match v. New South Wales, at Sydney, Victoria were dismissed in their first innings for 38 (Capt. E. W. Ward 6 for 24). (To be continued.) The M.C.C.’s England Team in Australia. RESULTS OF FIRST-CLASS MATCHES. Nov. 10, 11, 13 and 14.—v. S o o th A u s tr a lia , at Adelaide. E .,563; S.A. 141 and 228. Won by an innings and 194 runs. „ 17, 18 19, 20 and 21.—v. V ic to r ia , at ,Melbourne. E ., 318 and 234 ; V. 274 and 229. Won by 49 runs. ,, 24, 27 and 28 (no play 25, owing to rain).—v. N ew S o u th W a le s , at Sydney. E .,2 3 8 ; N .S .W ., 198 for 8. Drawn. Dec. 1, 2 and 4.—v. Q u een sla n d , at Brisbane. E., 275 and 140 for 3 ; Q., 290 and 124. Won by 7 wickets. „ 9, 11 and 12.—v. E le v e n o f A u s tr a lia , at Brisbane. E., 267 and 279 for 4 ; XI. of A., 347. Drawn. ,, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21. — v. A u s tr a lia , at Sydney. E ., 318 and 291; A ., 447 and 308. Lost by 146 runs. „ 30, Jan. 1, 2 and 3.— v. A u s tr a lia , at Melbourne. E., 265 and 219 for 2 ; A., 184 and 299. Won by 8 wickets. Jan. 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17.—v. A u s tr a lia , at Adelaide. E. 501 and 112 for 3 ; A ., 133 and 476. Won by 7 wiekets. „ 23, 24 and 25.—v. Tasm ania, at Launceston. E ., 332 and 56 for 2 ; T ., 217 and 165. Won by 8 wickets. „ 26, 27 and 29.—v. Tasm ania, at Hobart. E., 574 for 4, declared; T ., 124 and 355. Won by an innings and 95 runs. Feb. 2, 3, 5 and 6.—v. V ic to r ia , at Melbourne. E., 467 and 43 for 2 ; V. (one man absent each inns.), 195 and 314. Won by 8 wickets. ,, 9, 10, 12 and 13. — v. A u str alia , a t Melbourne. E., 589 A., 191 and 173. Won by an innings and 2 25 runs. ,, 16, 17, 19 and 20.—v. N ew S ou th W a le s , at Sydney. E., 315 and 195 for 2 ; N .S.W ., 106 and (one man absent) 403. Won by 8 wickets. „ 23, 24, 27 28 and March 1 ( no play Feb. 25 and 29, owing to rain).—v. A u s tr a lia at Sydney. E., 324 and 214 ; A , 176 and 292. Won by 70 runs. The return match with S o u th A u s tr a lia was cancelled owing to the prolongation of the last test, Played, 14 ; won 11; lost 1 ; drawn, 2. Outside the first-class programme there were matches, of no real importance, with X I. of Toowoomba, XV. of Bendigo, XV. of Geelong, and XV. of Ballarat. The first was won, the other three drawn.