THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKETFRS IN ENGLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 159, 7 July 1899, Page 3

THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKETFRS IN ENGLAND.

When the last mail left England (May 30th) Arnold, the young1 Worcestershire cricketer, was at the head of the first-class batting' averages, with 61.42 per innings, for 8 innings. F. S. Jackson was second with 55.66, and Lockwood third with 47. Next came Jessop, 45.16; Killick, 44; J. T. Brown, seu., H. K. Foster, and Tyldesley. The Australians' figures for the same period were not so high as they have since become. Gregory headed the list with 34.8 for seven innings. In the English bowling department Arthur Mold was leading with 9.18, Mead having 9.G4, and llhodes 9.7 C, but both the latter bowled considerably more overs. J. T. Hearne's average was 13.18 for 50 wickets.

Yorkshire, on May 25, scored a decisive win over Essex, the only team which has beaten the Australians up to date. A couple of days sufficed to leave the Yorks team the easiest of winners. Essex are generally equal to a good score on their own turf, but for once they failed ignominiously. Despite "Bobby" Peel's coaching they broke down com- ; pletely before llhodes, who had all the j batsmen at his mercy. His first eight overs were sent down for 10 runs and six wickets, aud when all were out he had nine victims for only 28 runs. Six •of these were clean bowled, llhodes' analysis for the match ! was: 32 overs, 10 maidens, 56 runs, 15 wickets. Apropos the two "pairs of spectacles" won by Noble and Gregoi-y in the third test match, only ten such have been made in previous test games, divided equally among Englishmen and Australians. Peel owns uo less than three pairs, and the others went to A. C. Bannerman, Percy M'Donnell, G. F. Grace, Attewell, E. Evans, T. W. Garrett, and P. G. M'Shane. Neatly put: —"He who runs may read. He who makes runs reads a good deal better. There were so many spectacles at Old Trafford last week that the reading got a bit blurred." —"Athletic News," referring to the match Australians v. Lancashire. Sydney papers state that Hill's score in the second test match was not 135, as cabled, but 125. Probably a private wire is responsible for the correction. The sudden indisposition of Johnny Briggs deprived him of the honour of gaining in the third test match his hundred international wickets. In test matches Briggs has bagged his 97 wickets. Only three bowlers are as yet centurions — George Giffen (103), Bobby Peel (102), and C. T. B. Turner (101). Trumble up to date has 55 English wickets. T. Richardson has 88 representative wickets to his credit. In the Australians v. Eleven of England match at Eastbourne Jones made 43 in six overs, and 40 of these were off Albert Trott The crowd was very enthusiastic. He got his 50 inside the half-hour, and then, having made 54 out of 65 in 30 minutes, was splendidly caught in the long field by A. O. Jones. In the same match London "Evening News" states that "Gunn, who made 52 not oirt, repeatedly smothered Howell's tremendous off-break by stepping across his wicket and allowing the ball to shake some of the pipeclay out of his pods." A suggestion is being thrown out by certain people here that it is desirable to institute a "trophy" for the forthcoming test matches between England and Australia. The idea is that such a trophy could be subscribed for by English county clubs, and if won by the Mother Country should adorn the pavilion at Lords. The suggestion has not been received with enthusiasm, and I hardly think the county clubs will jump greedily at the notion of subscribing for what seems to be a wholly unnecessary emblem. If a trophy is instituted, it ought to taJke the shape of an urn, •such vessel being, of course, most suitable for the reception of "the ashes."

Many colonials interested in the test matches have expressed surprise at the non-inclusion of A. Trott in All England's team. One learns from Home files that the Australians have been assured that Trott will not be played against them in any of the test matches. The opinion of Sydney Pardon, the famous cricket authority, and Editor of Wisden's Cricket Annual, is that no native-born Australian -will ever be selected to play for England against the colonies in representative contests. Kelly's. 89 against Oxford Past and Present is the biggest score he has ever made in England. Noble's average in Sydney club cricket last season was 273. He had 6 innings, and scored 546 runs, four times not out. His highest score was 267, not out. Trumper' average was 112, his aggregate for 6 innings being 562, with one not out .Noble was also at the head of the bowling, taking 49 wickets, at a cost of 8.51 runs apiece. It is not often that a first-class cricket match begins and ends in the same day ,but on May 23 at Lords— a ground notorious for sensationsSomerset was beaten by Middlesex by an innings and 7 runs, the whole affair lasting- but three hours five minutes. In that space of time 30 wickets fell for an aggregate of 165 runs. Batting first, Somerset failed utterly against J. T. Hearne and the ex-Australian, A. E. Trott, eight wickets going down for eight runs. Then "Sammy" Woods came to the rescue, and assisted by Newton managed to stay the rot for a time, but with the total at 35 the innings closed. Middlesex replied with 86, to which total the two Australians, Trott and Roche, contributed, a couple of "ducks." Going in a second time, wanting 51 runs to avert an innings' defeat, the westerners gave a shocking- display. Half the side were out for five runs, and eight wickets fell for 18. Nicholls and Newton, however, put on 26 for the ninth wicket, but with the total of 44 the innings closed, leaving Middlesex the victor 3 of the most sensational match of the season. Albert Trott's analysis is worth reproduction. In Somerset's first innings he bowled 7 overs for 18 runs and 4 • wickets, and at the second time of asking sent" down 8 overs, 4 of which were maidens, and took 7 wickets for 13 runs, his figures for the entire match being 15 overs, 5 maidens, 31 runs, 11 wickets. Hearne's analyses for both innings read 16.3 overs, 4 maidens, 44 runs, 8 wickets. "Cricket" says that in the Essex match Young introduced to the notice of the Australians two varieties of bowling which they are not likely to see again during their tour. One variety was a ball which came off the

ground at a great pace and good height^ beating" bat, batsman, and wicket; it was generally only stopped by the wickel>keeper because he happened to be in the way of it; the other variety kept very low and generally knocked the middle stump out of the ground.

' "Sometimes Noble's curl breaks down or straightens out. In such cases the ball generally finds itself amongst the chairs on the leg boundary." London "Evening News." With regard to Victor Trumper's batting at Eastbourne, the "Sportsman" says: "Trumper, who contributed 82 to the score, was at the wickets for two hours and three-quarters, and though he made some lofty bits that fell out of harm's way, he played very finely under the circumstances. Very few people at the outset imaginec? that the day's cricket would produr© such a big individual innings. All through Trumper watched the ball closely, his back playing being very sound. He made a large proportion of his runs on the on side, pulling the ball round with great certainty. So far as was seen, he only gave one chance that went to hand, and among his hits were four -fs, three 3's, and eleven 2's."

The following pars, are from the Sydney "Bulletin": —

When a certain Australian fast bowler first went to England he deeply resented the bossy manner in which the English amachaws treated the—haw—pros. "Mr" in England, of course, will get a tenner as "expenses" in a match for which "Smith" is paid a fiver in wages. "Dr.," however, lorded it in a way that simply maddened the Australian freeborn cricketer. And one day when an English pro. was going in out of his turn, "Dr." leaned out of an upstorey window and shouted: "Smithy come back! how dare you go in out of your turn! Come back at once." Smith meekly came back and out rushed the Australian. "You fat-headed blanky swine," he yelled, "how dare you speak to a man like that? If you dared speak to me that way I'd pull your nose off and punch your blanky head into a jelly." Then brother Australians ' ran out from the pavilion, got hold of the incensed one, dragged him into the dressing-room, and got him to understand that it was not good form for an Australian cricketer to threaten grievous bodily harm to the one and only king of English cricket. When it was proposed that Trumper should receive £150 as his share of the proceeds of the Australian tour, a club-mate- thus admonished him: "Don't take it, Victor! If you do, that £150 will make you a professional, whilst all the others will be amateurs. And when you get to England you will have to go along with 'Brown' and 'Briggs' and 'Richardson "and 'Lockwood,' while the other fellows pal in ' with Mister Stoddart and Mister M'Laren and Misetr Jackson and Mister Mason. It will be Mister '111 and Mister Hierdale and Mister 'Owell—and—Trumper. Just think of that, Victor! Yon being Trumper while Bilowell is Mister!"

W. G. Grace, whose cricketing star has at last set, has in his time held nearly all the records. Of these, however, ' but one now remains, viz., his 400 not out against a twenty-two, the highest score evennade against odds. Grace's best year was probably 1871, when he made 2,739 runs. He is 51 on July 18. •