James Lilllywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1880

T H EF I F T HE N G L I S HT E A MI N A U S T R A L I A . 1 3 asked to go. It gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity of thus pub- licly bearing witness to the great exertions Mr. I. D. Walker took to get together a representative team . That he failed was no fault of his , and when are taken into consideration the length of the journey , the long absence from home, and the possible unpleasantnesses which might attach to a trip , under- taken by gentlemen , subject to the pecuniary arrangement that this neces- sarily was, I am still astonished that it ever became an accomplished fact . Thepecuniary arrangements were , viz ., that the gentlemen of the team were to be the guests of the Melbourne Cricket Club from the moment of their leaving tothe moment of their returning to England , always , of course , excepting any expeditions diverging from the object of the trip which they might wish to makefor their own amusement ; for the professionals a separate arrangement wasmade. There is no need to linger over the voyage , its pleasures , its pains , or its anxieties , how we were all on the tenter -hooks of suspense lest the charms of Paris should delay one, the sight of the stormy Adriatic deter another from joining the rest of the party at Suez -or how, if it had not been for the persuasive eloquence of Captain Cates , one reckless sight -seer would have been infallibly subjected to the necessity of spending a night on the deck of a small canal steamer in unpleasant propinquity with sundry Egyptians , and their invariable compagnons de voyage .' Suffice it to say that our forebodings were not realised , and on the 2nd of November all twelve were safely on board the s.s. Australia when she steamed out of Suez . Anchored off Glenelg about 11 P.M. Messrs . Croaker , Robinson , and Loughnan , members of, and deputed bythe Melbourne Cricket Club to receive us, came on board with a large depu- tation from the South Australian Cricket Association to welcome us, and about 1 A.M. we found ourselves in Adelaide -minus our baggage , however , which we did not regain until the afternoon of the same day. About 11 A.M. we were re- ceived bythe mayor in the Town Hall , and welcomed to Australia and the city of Adelaide . The following days before our first match were devoted to practice ; time , however , being found for a couple of trips up Mount Lofty , at the invitation of the Mayor and Mr. Baker, an old Etonian . Mount Lofty is the range lying behind the city , on which are situated gentlemen's country seats , and most charming resorts they must be when the plain is being dried upby the broiling sun , and dust is flying about as if Æolus had got a pepper- caster as well as his wind-bag. Fruit of every variety is grown on the moun- tain , equalling ours in size , but not, I think , in flavour . Adelaide itself is a marvellous town when one remembers its age , but one is apt perhaps to forget its wonderful growth , after seeing that ' infant prodigy ' of towns , Melbourne . Adelaide , however , will have eventually , I think , the finest main avenue of, not only any town in Australia that I visited , but of any town I have ever been in. The public buildings are handsome and well situated , but at present only tend to show up the dwarfed stature of the other buildings in the main street . Toshow how cordially we were received , here , as in every town we visited , I maymention that wo were made honorary members of the club or clubs , if morethanone existed . Aball in our honour was given at the TownHall on t h e1 1 t h. Nov. 12. First match .-The S.A.C.A. most kindly acceded to our request that we should play twelve . Lost the toss ,Emmettmade a brilliant catch off his ownbowling , raising hopes (alas ! soon to be dispelled )that we should keep up our reputation for fielding and catching . The Eighteen showed better form than Ihad expected , playing as a rule steadily . Jarvis is a very fine bat , buthas no yet quite mastered the art of running between wickets . Our fielding on the