Cricket 1913

F eb . 15, 1913. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 51 Overseas Cricket. AU S T R A L IA . For the sake o f the great game it is to be hoped that Macartney will not adhere to his determination to give up big cricket. The game cannot afford to loSe him. On the other hand, he is abundantly justified in looking after his own interests in life ; and there can be no doubt that the little man has a level head on his shoulders. He was one of the four members o f the 1912 team— Whitty, Hazlitt, and May lie were the others— who accepted the Board of Control’s definite offer o f ,£400. No doubt the rest wish they had done so now', while the Board and the various State Associations (whose coffers have been drawn upon to make up the deficit on the tour) are glad they did not. Macartney took twelve wickets for 73 for his club (Gordon) v. Waverley, on November 23 and 30— seven for 29 (six clean bowled) in the second innings. In his next match, however, against Central Cumberland his figures were five for 180. A. Mailey, who played for N .S.W . against Western Australia and Queensland, took thirteen for 141 (Redfern v. Sydney). Other recent good performances in Sydney by men who are known to fame as first-class cricketers are H. V . Hordern’s seven for 90 (North Sydney v. Uni­ versity), W. J. Stack’s seven for 54. (two - innings, University v. Middle Harbour), and A. J. Hopkins’s eight for 90 (two innings, N. Sydney v. Waverley). It is good to see A. J. H. to the fore again; he ought not to be done with yet, with another three or four years to go before he reaches the forty mark. On December 21 he bowled at one end, with the great Hordern at the other ; at call o f time five Waverley wickets had gone down; one man Was run out, and Hopkins had got the other four at a cost of only 36. The weather in Sydney— in fact through the greater part o f Australia, as well as in New Zealand— has been very variable. One Saturday a clear sky, hard wickets, and centuries galore; another, grey clouds, sodden pitches, and bowlers playing tricks. No one made a century in Sydney first-grade matches on November 23 and 30, and besides Macartney (already alluded to), E. Coffey (seven for 87, Sydney v. Burwood), R. Harvey (six for 54, Bur- w'ood v. Sydney), and S. Lloyd (six for 23, Waverley v. Gordon) had good analyses. But in the next round there were four centuries, two of them reaching 200, and the round after that produced three. Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane have all fared worse than Sydney in the matter o f weather, however, each having had blank days. Here are some o f the recent centuries in good matches down under :— Nov. 30— W. J. Munday, i n , Sturt v.University (Ade.). ,, 30—K. H. Quist, 112, Gleneljj v.\Y. Torrens (Ade.). Dec. 7— E. Coffey, 200*, Sydney v. Balmain. ,, 7— R. V. Minnett, 205, N. Sydney v. Redfern. ,, 7— H. Davis, 143*, Waverley v. Glebe. ,, 7— V. T. Trumper, 127, Gordon v. Cent. Cumberland. ,, 9—D. M. Steele, 120*, Prince Alfred Coll. v. St. Peter’s Coll. (Ade.). ,, 11—J. H. Savigny, 107, W. Launceston v. S. Launceston. ,, 14— R. F. Middleton, 100*, E. Torrens v. University. ,, 14— A. E. V. Hartkopf, 138, University v. St. Kilda. ,, 14—G. Woods, 103, W. Hobart v. E. Hobart. ,, 14—L. Thomas, 107, E. Launceston v. S. Launceston. ,, 14—L. R. Gatenby, 108, E. Launceston v. S. Laun­ ceston. ,, 21— T. Foster, 105, Redfern v. Sydney. ,, 21—J. S. Taylor, 102*, Burwood v. Glebe (Syd.). ,, 28—E. Bull, 128, Middle Harbor v. Paddington (Syd.). Rupert Minnett’s brilliant 205 only took 191 minutes; he hit twenty-seven 4 ’s, and made strokes all round the wicket. This is not, o f course, the Australian Eleven man, but his brother,, who was also in England last year. E. Coffey was in 230 minutes for his 200*, and gave chances at 72 and 118. He is not a colt, by any means, though a comparatively recent addition to first-grade circles; he was content too long to be a Triton among the minnows in junior cricket. In the same match he bowled well (see abovej), and evidently he is a really good all- rounder, though there is little likelihood of his being tried for the state. Trumper’s 127 only occupied 78 minutes. He hit a 6 and eighteen 4’s. There is 110 one like V . T. T . in form, and this effort must have been worth seeing. H. Davis carried his bat right through the innings for Waverley v. Glebe. When J. S. Taylor ran up his century, Austin Diamond (87) and H. E . Pratten (75) had paved the way for him by putting up 143 for the first wicket. T . Foster’s 105 included eight hits out o f the ground (rather a small one, it is true), four of them to long-off, three to long-on, and one straight over the bowler’s head. H. Goddard and he sent up 184 before a wicket fell, and Goddard was eventually out for 95. Besides young Steele— who within a month made a century for Prince Alfred College v ..St. Peter’s College, another for his State v. New' South Wales, and a third for S. A. v. 15 o f Ballarat— South Australia has several other colts o f the highest promise, and R. F . Middleton ought not to be kept long waiting for a trial in the best company. This youngster has been going very strong of late, with 110 on November 23, 100* on December 14 (see century lists), and during the Christmas holidays 100 and 94 in one match for S.A. Colts v. Port Pirie. C. Backman, who has had a trial for the state, made 121 for the Colts v. Southern Districts at Strathalbyn. Steele, by the way, played for Prince Alfred College as far back as six years ago, when quite a small bov ; he is not even now a big fellow, like Murray and Moyes, two more o f the Adelaide young brigade, but he is likely to make a real top-notcher for all that— and why not, when Robert Abel, Syd Gregory. John Briggs, “ Tiny ” Wells, and the “ Little Wonder,” John Wisden, have shown what small men can do in the cricket field? J. N. Crawford (for Glenelg v. Adelaide) scored 85 and took eight for 111 in a recent match. M. A. Noble made 73 for Paddington v. Middle Harbor on December 21. On the same day Alan Marshal, late o f Surrey, hit up a brilliant 81 in a total o f 115 for North Brisbane v. Valley, and S. J. Redgrave, the Queensland crack, slammed five 6’s and three 4’s in an innings of 48* for South Brisbane v. Toombul, trying to win the match for his side against time. He failed, but it was a glorious ailure. The extent to which inter-State rivalry obtains in Australia is well shown by the fact that at Christmas Victoria and New South Wales were meeting at Melbourne, and N .S .W . Colts and Victoria Colts at Sydney; a Junior Carnival, with teams representing Victoria, N .S .W ., and South Australia, was held in Melbourne; N .S.W . Rail­ ways (who totalled 440, B. Russell making 159, W. Lindsay 145, and won in an innings) met Queensland Railways, N .S.W . I.O .F . played Victoria I.O .F .. N .S.W . Druids met both Victoria and S.A. Druids, the Protestant Alliance F .S . o f N .S.W . antagonised the ditto ditto o f Victoria, the N .S .W . Tobacco Companies played the Victoria ditto, and the Brisbane Churches’ Union met