CRICKETERS ON TOUR

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 107, 7 May 1909, Page 7

CRICKETERS ON TOUR

THE FIRST MATCH. AUSTRALIA v. NOTTS. THE HOME CAPTAIN SCORES ■ A CENTURY. By Telegraph. — Press Association. — Copyright. (Received Way 7, 9.5 a.m.) LONDON, 6th May. Tho Australian cricketers began the first match of their tour to-day, when they played a Nottinghamshire eleven at the Trent Bridge ground in the county town. About six thousand spectators were present. The weather was fine, and the wicket 'fast. The county team was composed of the. following : — A. 0. Jones, J. Iremonger, J. Gunn, G. Gunn, Hardstaff, Payton, Wass, Hallam, Oates, Allerton, and James. Hartigan and Macartney were omitted from the Australian team. Notts won the toss, and went first to the wickets, and the innings closed for 239, Jones being not out with 125 runs to his credit. The Australians, had lost onp wicket for 98 at the close of play. Following were the scores : — NOTTS.— First Innings. Jones, not out ... ... ... 125 G. Gunn, b Armstrong ... 9 Hardstaff, b Armstrong ... 7 J. Gunn, b Cotter 37 Payton, b Cotter 12 Iremonger, c Carter, b Whitty 7 James, c Trumper, b Whitty ... 0 Allerton, b O'Connor ... » ... 1 Oates, c Carter, b Armstrong ... 5 Hallam, b Armstrong ... 0 Wass, b Armstrong 31 Sundries 5 Total 239 The batting was quiet at the outset. Jones narrowly escaped being run out when 20 had been scored, Cotter failing to handle the ball. J. Gunn gave a chance when he had scored a single off O'Connor's first over, to Gregory at cover-point. Jones knocked up 50 inside 90 minutes, tho century coming up for 95 minutes' play. J. Gunn, at 30, had a second life off Armstrong, Layer misjudging the catch near the boundary. Cotter's first over proved disastrous to Gunn, whose innings was characterised by clean hitting. Jones completed his century with a fine cut for 4 in just over three hours. The other batsmen made a poor show till Wass came in to the last v/ickel, when a good stand was made, the late comer hitting vigorously and fearlessly good off drives. VISITORS MAKE A GOOD START. (Received May 7, 10.50 a.m.) LONDON, 6th May. The .Australians had one wicket down for 98 runs when stumps were drawn. Noble Vas out for 4. THE TEST MATCHES. LONDON, Cth May. Mr. A. C. MacLaren has accepted the captaincy of the English eleven in the test matches against the Australians. j Mr. Jackson was asked, but was unable to accept. THE FIRST SHOT. A. 0. JONES~REDIVIVUS. (By "Half Volley.") Yesterday the first shot in the Australian Xls English campaign was fired at Trent Bridge, and so far no ono can say that anyone has been seriously hit. The wicket, strange 'to say, for so early in the season, was fast, but it was hardly ! likely to be " fast " as we know it in Australia. The term, probably, is only I used in a comparative sense. Notts County has generally proved a i snag in the way of Australian teams, and this year's eleven seem quite up to the average. In Wass and Hallam they have two of the most reliable bowlers in England, though the latter was not so successful last year. The season 1908 was not a notable one for the county, Notts losing 7 matches and winning only 6. They did not have the best of luck. J Johji Gunn, the first change bowler, was badly injured early in the season, and Hallam suffered from rheumatism. But they discovered that Iremonger, a fine promising bat, could bowl, too, and he finished up the season with an average of 17.71 for 57 wickets. Iremonger bowls a good length with a dangerous swer-ve. Probably the weakest leature of Nottingham cricket last year was the fielding, the captain, A. O. Jones, blaming the men, and the men retorting that they seldom happened to be in the right places at the crucial moments. Notts's last score last year was an innings of 403 against a strong Surrey eleven, i.hematch being drawn. Against Lancashire the "Lambs" managed^ but 111' and 79, being beaten by nine wickets. On thisoccasion Wass was unable to bowl for them. Notwithstanding its bad season last year, the county will probably put up a decent fight with the Colonials. JONES'S FINE INNINGS. The feature of the county's score of 239 is undoubtedly the captain's fine not-out innings — more than half the score. On past late performances, both in Australia and at Home, one would rather have expected G. Gunn or J. Hardstaff to have been the hero of the first innings. In the Colonies, Jones, through being incapacitated, played only four innings in Test matches, averaging 17.D9. On the other hand, G. Gunn, travelling as a passenger, played for the first time in a Test match, and his first innings in Australia, and scored a brilliant double with 119 and 74, while Hardstnff rivalled the little marvel, Tyldesley. Jones has been playing first-class cricket for 16 years, and has done some ' very good and some very mediocre things in his time. Probably his best innings was one ot 98, against Surrey, in 1896, when Tom Richardson, the Surrey "express," was in his prime. Daft, an authority on fast bowling, said he had never seen anyone play the great fast bowler like Jones. In this match the Mjotts captain apparently slaughtered the Australian attacking forces, while the remainder of the team did comparatively little. The Melbourne leviathan, Warwick Armstrong, got rid of J. Hardstaff and G. Gunn very cheaply. "Wase's 31 materially aided Notts, and Jones probably took the opportunity to pile on runs fast when the wickets were talling so rapidly. ARMSTRONG'S BOWLING. Australia, omitting Hartigan and Macartney, have 98 for one wicket, Noble 'having begun the tour innuspiciously from a battmg pojnt of view. To Aue-

tralians the best thing so far will be the success of Warwick Armstrong, who took five wickets. On the slower English wickets the Melbourne Club man is going to very nearly bead the bowling averages. His solid batting powers, too, are well known to the Home bowlers. Still in his prime, Armstrong, in the opinion of many, bids fair to prove the best all-round man in the eleven. Cotter and .Whitty have each two wickets to their credit, and O'Connor accounted for the remaining one. Layer, the manager, has begun early a& a player, and will be of big assistance in the weaker county games in giving the regular ■ trundlers a spell, as he bowls with a lot of success against second-rate batsmen. H the wicket continues favourable, Wass, .Hallam, and Co. must not miss many chances. A. C. Maclaren, we have been notified, has accepted the captaincy of the English Test eleven. A great many would have preferred to see genial F. S. Jackson, the dashing Yorkshireman, in that responsible position. As a skipper, Maclaren has proved a big success, which is enhanced by his superb batting. Of late years the Lancashire representative has played but desultpry games for his county. As skipper of England, Jackson's luck in 1905, when he won all five tosses, was remarkable, and ho should 4 have a, word with Maclaien soon, and. 'tell him how it can be done.