FOURTH TEST MATCH. AUSTRALIA V. ENGLAND. A RALLY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 35, 11 February 1908, Page 2

FOURTH TEST MATCH. AUSTRALIA V. ENGLAND. A RALLY.

ARMSTRONG HITS MERRILY. By Telegraph.— lYcs? Association — Copyright, MELBOURNE, 10th Februaiy. The fourth test match was> continued to-day, in beautiful weather. The attendance reached 12,000. The wicket rolled out splendidly, and lasted well throughout the day, though somewhat slow and easy. On the whole, the day's work placed Australia in an excellent position. Though for the greater part play was dull and of a stubborn and patiunfc .character, the last half-hour was tremendously livoly, arousing great enthusiasm among the spectators. HILL AIS'D GREGORY. Hill and Gregory, the Australian not-out men of Saturday, the former with 18 and the latter with 13' to his credit, resumed batting, and both played cautiously. Tho former was tli3 first to go, through the magnificent work and machine-like precision of Barnes, who at cover promptly fielded a stroke of Hill's with one hand and returned the ball to Humphries. Hill fell in endeavouring to regain his Crease. An unusual feature in -Hill's score was that there were no boundary hits. Gregory was joined by Armstrong; but the Sydnoyite soon departed, after a stylish display of cricket, in which ho hit three 4's. ARMSTRONG AND RANSFORD. 1 Armstrong and Ransford were next associated, and the latter quickly got coin". The first 100 appeared after 135 "minutes' play. Rhodes bowled ■well, keeping a beautiful length. After lunch Fielder and Rhodes went on bowling, and Ranslovcl, when 26, gave a chance to Crawford in the slips off Ifielder. Raneford was batting in high-class fashion when he was caught at°the wickets, after an innings lasting 103 minutes. He only made thvee boundary strokes. - A FAST PARTNERSHIP. 1 Macartney and Armstrong proved a fast partnership, which scored 54 uins in thirty-three minutes, of which Macartney made 29 ; but in the first over after tea Macartney was dismissed. Play so far had been dullish. Carter joined Armstrong, and enlivened tho proceedings, scoring five successive 4's. Armstrong gained feb, which constituted his highest te^t score, amid cheers. The partnership yielded 112 runs, and when Carter v/as caught in tho slips he received an ovation from the spectators. Ho had made eleven 4's. EXCITEMENT AND ENTHUSIASM. O'Connor and Armstrong played out time. The concluding halt-hour was full of excitement and enthusiasm. Armstrong, up to the 50's, had played completely defensive and wearisome ciicket; but afterwards he opened out into <i dash of brilliancy, and there was the wildest enthusiasm when he twice successively di'ovfe Xiraund for 6—magnificent and thrilling termination of the day's play, completely lifting it from practical dullness. Armstrong was accorded an ovation on returning to the pavilion. He had batted 255 minutes, and hit twelve 4's and two 6's. 'CRAWFORD ILL. Crawford h.is> consulted doctors, feeling unwell, and it her, bo.en iuuncL that he has strained the right side of his heart. The doctors recommend treatment by a London specialist. If England loses this match, Crawford will not play again in Australia, otherwise he plays only in ihc last test. I To-day's folding was superb. Australia fought for cveiy run, and the tcore included many .couples and singles obtained by biilliant dashes. Tho Englishmen"* bowling was good. I Following arc the scores : — '■ ENGLAND. j\ iirst innings ... ' 105. AUSTRALIA. First innings '. ' ..< ... 214 Second Innings. Tiumpcr^ b Crawford 0 Noble, b Crawford 10 Hill, run out 25 M'Al'stcr, c Humphries, b Fielder 4 Gregory, 1.b.w., -b Fielder „ ... 29 Kausford, c Humphiicr, b Rhodes 54 Armstrong, not out ... ... .:. 114 Macartney, c Gunn, b Crawford ' W Cartel', c Braund, b Fielder ... 66 O'Connor, not out 12 Extras ... j 15 , Total for eight wickets 35& Fall of Wickets. , 12345678 4 21 28 65 77 162 217 259 „ NOTES ON THE PLAY. The Englishmen got rid of HI 11 and Gregory early in the day's piay, and ou tho fall of bhe lattur's wicket the game was ontee-Mnore an open one. The partnership of tlu' two vktoriansi however, improved mattcxs from a colonial point of . vic\v, • r})d thence on n aids the Uiicishcrs found the c^une slipping irom them. The left-hander again ran into the liltius, - and his aggregate lor eiplit innings hi test matches is now 256. Macurtnay helped with a useful score, and, as often happens, the <idjourumont was fatal to- liini. Carter, the w ickctkecper; showed once more that he is a pretty solid baj-soian, and his partnership with Armstrong was the most productive of tho match. • Like Ransford and Macartney, he scored faster than the Victorian crack, and his contribution contained a large proportion of boundaries. Caller's efforts with the bat in these matches this tour have resulted in scores of 25, 61, 15 (not j out), 53, 24, 31 (not out), 2, and 66. There hare been six scores of Between 60 and to this series ,on the colonial side, and «>ll Made by Sydiwy men. Noble has ] thiee,, Carter two, and Trumper one. At Usfc, the big fellow has made v. century in test cricket) and on his own ground too. He l«s batted so consistently that it was onl,j a question of, time when he would achieve this feat. He can .play both the steady and the fcTcing game, and it would seem that a. man of his phyaique should adopt tho latter style more often. He now requires but eleven runs to makd his 1000 in test cricket, «nd can claim to have the highest aggregate of any Victorian. As pointed out the other day, Percy M'Dohnell has made 953, and Harry Trott 931. Armstrong found the boundary pretty often, and in hitting the sixers off Braund he did not make a mistake as at Adelaide. The total for the day was 309, which is tho second largest put up in one day this tour. The previous highest was 325, tho number iccorded for the firot day's pkiy at Sydney. The news couccrnmg .Crawford will bo lather unpleasant to his numerous friends. The Surrey ite has been a real tiier, and his performances with "the ball on the good wickets ha\e been exceptionally good. 'lhe iollowing is a list of centuries in test ciicket on the Melbourne ground : — For England. A. K. Stoddait. 1895 ... 173 C. Ulyetl, 1882 149 ■F. T Bio«n, 1895 140 K. L Hutching. 1908 ... TJO J. Uiiti'is, 1885 ]21 A. C. Mddnren, 1895 ... 120 *A. blu-GWbbury, 1885 ... 105 *Xrjt out-.

' For Australia. C. Hill, 1808 188 C. Bannerman, 1877 ... 165 T. lloraii. 1882 124 * Armstrong, 1908 .. .116 C. M'Leod, 1898 112 It. A. Duff, 1902 . . .104 'Unfinished.