James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1885

1 1 4 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' A N N U A L. (3) Gentlemen of Surrey v. Philadelphians . July 17 and 18. Surrey was playing Lancashire at Liverpool , and hence the eleven which opposed the Americans was only a weak one. Still , the performance of the Philadelphians was very creditable , and McNutt and Law fairly pulled the match out of the fire . The former's hitting was, indeed , the best feature of the game, and his 75 was a highly meritorious display of batting . The Phila- delphians wonby three wickets . Surrey , 190 and 189 ; total , 379. Phila- delphians , 151 and 229 (seven wickets ) ; total , 380 . (4) Australiansv. Players. July 31 and August 1. ..The Committee of the Notts County Club refusing to spare one of their players from their match with Gloucestershire , the English eleven wasgreatly weakened. The retention by Lancashire of Barlow for a fixture with Cheshire took awaytoo, one of the best all-round cricketer the Players have, and their chances were at the outset of the poorest . Through the rain , too , the wicket wasnot in favour of good cricket , and the gamewas altogether uninteresting . The batting of the English eleven was of the tamest description , and Ulyett (22 and33) was the only one to get double figures in each innings . The features . of the match were Bonnor's hitting and Spofforth's bowling for the Australians . The former scored 68 out of 76 while in, and some of his hits were exceр- tionally fine . The Australians wonbynine wickets . Australians , 151 and 28 (for one wicket ) ; total , 179. Players , 107 and 71 ; total , 178 . Overs. Maidens. R u n s. Wickets. 60.1 2 2 9 6 1 4 Spofforth (Australians ) Avery discreditable scene occurred at luncheon time on the second day. With 29t owinthe Australians lost one wicket just before two o'clock , and there wereonly twelve runs to win. Murdochdecided not to finish the gamebefore lunch, and a very disorderly scene occurred , a portion of the spectators being so riotous that a detachment of police had to be procured before the ground could be cleared , which was not effected till 3.30 . (5) Englandv. Australia. August 11, 12, and 13. Amostextraordinary matchfrom every point of view. The English eleven was a very strong one, and, indeed , the only absentee of those chosen was Mr. A. P. Lucas, whose place was most worthily filled by Scotton . TheAustralians w o nthe toss , and thus secured the advantage of a perfect wicket . This they fully utilised , and at the end of the first day only Bannerman (4) and McDonnell(103) were out. The total was then 360 for two wickets (Murdoch not out and Scott not out), and in two respects this performance of the Australians was unique . O n no previous occasion , we believe , has more than 352been scored for two wickets on the first day of an important fixture , andit is certain that three scores of over a hundredhavenever beenm a d ein the same innings on the first day of a big match . McDonnell's hitting has never been seen to better advantage , andScott played very good cricket , though missed in the long -field when he had made sixty . Murdoch's 211 was a really extra- ordinary display of batting . Hewas at the wickets a little over eight hours , in weather of excessive heat , and while he was in 417 runs were scored . His timing was remarkable . He was missed at the wicket when he had got 46, and again at third m a nwhenhe had reached 171. These, though, were his only mistakes , and otherwise his play was masterly in every way. The innings of theAustralians cameto a peculiar end. A t532 for six wickets Mr.Gracetook the gloves from Mr. Lyttelton , and the latter , with lobs , got the last four