James Lilllywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1880

T H EF I F T HE N G L I S HT E A MIN A U S T R A L I A. 1 7 demanded, each innings to both sides . Boating , fishing , and lawn tennis fully occupied such time as we did not devote to practice until January 24, w h e nw ecommencedthe Sixth match : v. Eleven of New South Wales .-N.S.W. won the toss and put us in on a perfect wicket , rather a mistake in judgment we thought , considering that they had lost the services of Spofforth , who had sprained his wrist the night before , and one which , but for our laxity in holding catches , would have cost them dear . Tindall is a good bowler (high medium pace with a curl from leg), but Evansin m yopinion is certainly the best we met in Australia -very high action , faster than Alfred Shaw, greater accuracy , with alteration of pace and pitch , and a decided work from the off. Evans is besides a very steady bat , sure catch and first -rate field , and certainly the best all -round cricketer in the colonies . Mr. Penn, the captain , and Ulyett played each an innings of 50, and, well backed up by smaller contributions , produced the respectable total of 248 . Thenour miserable failure in holding catches nullified the excellent start w e had made. It was heart -rending , but we were getting accustomed to it by now. Murdoch played a fine innings of 70 though very shaky at first to the slows . Our second innings was curious , in that, though nine got double figures , no single innings reached 30. The wicket , the same the N. S. W. eleven had batted on (this was decidedly a mistake on mypart , arising from Old World prejudices , and objections to taking a fresh pitch ) played very queer . W ebeganwell whenour opponents went in ; five wickets to go down, and 100 runs to get, after luncheon , looked like our match ; but Murdoch and C. Bannermanknocked them off with some ease, if a little luckily . Massie hit freely for his 78, but ought to have been caught three times before he retired . W elost this match solely through mistakes in the field . On the 29th we, minus Ulyett and Emmett, played a one -day match v. twenty -two of the Armyand Navy, scoring 192 for four wickets to their 157 . Jan. 30. Started for Bathurst by rail . Thezigzags by means of which the Blue Mountains are surmounted are fine pieces of engineering , of which the Colony is justly proud . Seventh match : v. Eighteen of Bathurst . The ground here was very rough Thebatting of the eighteen calls for no comment, and their fielding wasby no means as accurate as that generally to be seen in the colonies . Heavyrain on the second day robbed us of an easy victory . Aball was given in our honour on the night of the 31st . The heat was intense the day we played , 104° in the shade at 11 A.M.; the next dayat the same time it was about 64°. Feb. 2.-Arrived in Sydney 6.45 A.M. The next day a large party started onanexpedition up the Hawkesburyriver at the invitation of Messrs. Want and Lett . The scenery on the Hawkesbury is supposed to equal that on the Rhine , and Mr. Trollope has dilated at some length on its beauties . He was also in raptures at the entertainment he received at the inn at Wiseman's Ferry, about mid-waybetween the mouth of the river and the town of Windsor . I can only suppose , therefore , that the exertions made for his benefit exhausted the powers of the neighbourhood , for the house is nowin a most dilapidated condition , and owing to the non-arrival of a telegram sent by our hosts , our meals were of a very opposite character to those enjoyed by Mr. Trollope . Theinn, however, presents a fine field for research to an enthusiastic entomolo- gist . W earrived at Windsor , and were escorted into the town by a mounted force sent out in our honour , on the 4th , having thoroughly enjoyed our picnic . Some of our party had a two days' shooting expedition up the country while we were up the Hawkesbury, but we all assembled once more on the 5th for a ball eurodisiksát z aasonill an