James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1891

2 2 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' ANNUAL. manager-M r. H. F. Boyle-inspired confidence ; whilst the reputation of the N e wSouth Wales triumvirate , Moses, Turner, and Ferris , of Bonnor, Banner- m a n, Giffen , Murdoch, Jones , Trott , and Blackham, assured cricket -loving Englishmen that the coming team would be almost representative of the full strength of Australia . That it would have been more nearly so had not several of those nameddeclined at the last momentto makethe trip is an undoubted fact ; and in this connection the conduct of Mr. George Giffen seems to have beensomewhatambiguous. TheSouth Australian certainly agreed to makeone of the teamoncondition that Messrs . Turner and Ferris would consent to go ; but, although his conditions were complied with, he drew back at the last moment. It m a yfairly be argued that the defection of the best all -round cricketer in Australia was a great blow to the managementof the team, and this alone would have been a sufficient misfortune . Private reasons , it was understood , prevented Messrs . Bonnor, Moses, and Bannermanalso from joining the party ; and then, after a good deal of time hadbeen spent in considering the question of substitutes , no fewer than six new menwere chosen-Messrs . P. C. Charlton and S. E. Gregory, ofN e wSouth Wales ; Messrs . F. H. Walters , J. E. Barrett , and Hugh Trumble, of Victoria ; and Mr. K. E. Burn, of Tasmania. It wasa stroke of luck to obtain , at the outset , Mr. Murdoch's consent to captain the party ; though there were not wanting critics whoaverred that , after five years ' absence from first -class cricket , that great batsman's right handwould have lost its cunning . That they were wrongwasevidenced by his fine innings of 93 at Sheffield Park, when, meeting Briggs and Lohmannfor the first time, his fearless hitting practically decided the opening matchof the tour in favour of his side. Moreover, this brilliant beginning , against an eleven that might almost have been styled an Englandside , was followed up by a decisive victory over the powerful Surrey eleven ; and newspaper critics on this side hastened to assert that the success of the tour was assured . Journalists in Australia had, withone notable exception , prophesied a brilliant record for the team; and the captain himself was confident that, given a fair field and no favour , his m e n wouldrender a good account of themselves . The results of the trip , so far as the game is concerned , may be summed up in the following words: that of the seven Australian teams sent homeduring the last twelve years , the one under review is the first whose wins have been ex- ceeded in number by its losses . Mr. Murdoch , however , expressed the opinion that the T e a munderhis c o m m a n dwould" winthe rubber" in its three matches against All England. As it turned out, the games at Lord's and at the Oval ended disastrously for the Colonials ; but both matches produced some splendid cricket , and there was a critical period in each whenthe visitors looked to have an excellent chance of winning, especially towards the close of the Oval match. Thethird fixture , at Manchester, had to be abandoned without a ball having beenbowled, and it was found too late in the season for another to be arranged . W ewill deal presently with some of the causes that tended to the non-success of theAustralians in their more important engagements . For the rest , the English public accorded them the same hearty support as in previous years , and certainly , judging from the crowds that w esaw inundate Lord's and the Oval on such occasions as the first Surrey match and the first Englandmatch, one wouldhave thought that the Seventh Australian Teamcamequite up to the standard of, say, 1 8 8 2. Withrespect to the general calibre of Mr. Murdoch's combination . Of Mr. Murdoch himself we have already spoken . He again , though under adverse circumstances , displayed all those admirable qualities as a captain which dis- tinguished his conduct of the '80 , '82 , and '84 teams. As a batsman, it wasnot to be expected that he would be so certain as of yore ; but he was at times as brilliant , and his innings at Brighton , Leyton , and Portsmouth in particular , during a bowlers ' season , were worthy of his best days. It had been anticipated that in Messrs . Murdoch, Lyons, Trott, Barrett , Walters , Gregory , Jones , Turner , and Blackham there was the nucleus of a powerful batting side , and undoubtedly these names sound well enough . It