James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1885

36 A ustralians .—F irst I nnings . , S econd I nnings . Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Overs. Mdns. Rnns. Wkts Rotherham # •• ... 6 2 23 0 •ft 9 5 18 0 Woof ••• ... 13 3 29 0 ••• — Rteel ... 11 5 17 0 •«• 9 2 28 2 Stadd ••• ... 32 8 96 6 .. j 22 9 33 1 Grace ••♦ ... 11 7 18 3 •♦ • 32 15 61 - 4 Flowers ... ••• •ft ri~ — — — ••• 18 8 30 1 Barnes ... •♦ • ' ¥ — — — ••• 7 3 10 1 1st Inns. 2nd Inns. Total May 26, Australians 76 33 109 Birmingham. Eleven of England 82 26 108 Australians won by 4 wickets. An extraordinary match, the condition of the ground giving the bowlers an immense advantage. On such a wicket it was absurd to play a first-class match. Mr. Rotherham selected the England Eleven, and considering the number of counties engaged on the same days, he got together a very fair team. The game was finished off in one day, 36 wickets falling for 217 runs. The Englishmen fouhd SpOfforth unplayable. In the first innings he took 7 wickets for 34 runs, and in the second his analysis was phenomenal—8 overs and 3 balls, 6 maidens, 3 runs, and 7 wickets. Though the Australians had only 33 runs to get to win, they had to work hard for their victory, and when the sixth wicket fell at 28, the result was still considered doubtful. However, a cut for 4 and a single settled the matter. M'Donnell, with 21 and 17. batted splendidly, and did a great deal towards winning the game. Barlow and Mr. Christopherson bowled finely. AUSTRALIANS v .GENTLEMEN The 29th, 30th, and 31st of May were the dates fixed for the match at Lord's between the Colonists and the Gentlemen of England, and the game proved to be one of the most interesting of the trip. Though well represented, the Gentlemen did not have by any means their best eleven, I Mr. A. P. Lucas, Mr. T. C. O’Brien, and the Hon. A. Lyttelton being all ! away. Some little unpleasantness arose at the commencement of the game through the Australian captain objecting to Price as an umpire. The ground of the objection was that he had given a wrong decision in the case of Mr. W. G. Grace the week before, in the M.C.C. match. The Gentlemen went in first, and had scored between 50 and 60 runs for one wicket when Spofforth met with an accident which compelled him ton retire from the game. *A ball driven back by Mr. W. W. Read hit him severely on the right arm just below the elbow, and for the time com- h pletely disabled him. The loss of Spofforth’s services at such an early h stage of the contest wds a sad discouragement to the Colonists. Up to a certain point the Englishmen had all the best of the match. The Australians had to follow their innings against a majority of 142, and at their second attempt lost 5 wickets for 105. The match then seemed! all over, but so finely did the Australians play up that the four I wickets added 164 runs. fcScott played an admirable not-out innings of 82, and Palmer showed equally good cricket. The Gentlemen had 128 to get to win, and the finish of the match proved intensely exciting. When \ the sixth wicket fell the total was only 83, 45 runs being wanted with!! 4 wickets to fall. Mr. Steel was Well in and batting splendidly, but