CRICKET.

Evening Star, Issue 12399, 12 January 1905, Page 3

CRICKET.

[By Ummbb.l

The following d-ites have been named for the matches to be played by the Australian Eleven in New Zealand:— Auckland, at Auckland, February 10, 11, 13. Wellingtoa, at Wellington, February 17, 18, 20. Canterbury, at Christchurch, February 24, 25, 27. Otago, at Dunedin, March 3, 4, 6. New Zealand, at Christchurch, March 10, 11, 13. New Zealand, at Wellington, March 15, 16, 17.

Thus “The Mid” in the Wellington ‘Post’: “The failure of'the Wellington representative team cm their Southern tour has been the subject of a good deal of comment. While it is quite possible that tjbe team would have been beaten on their merits by both Canterbury and Otago, there is a strong feeling abroad, that our representatives (fid not play up to form, and it is further felt that had a manager been sent with them better results in the field would have been recorded. It is not sufficiently impressed upon some cricketers that these trips at the expense of the Association. are not mere pleasure jaunts. The first duty of a representative team is to uphold the-credit of tho province it represents, and social pleasures, except of the mildest kind, should be strictly tabooed. Players who cannot conform to these conditions might with advantage be omitted from the team. The matter deserves the attention, of the Cricket Association.” It seems to me that “ The Mid ” is all wrong so far as the Dunedin trip is concerned.

The interest with which the test matches in England in 1905 are regarded may be estimated by the following article in ‘Cricket’:—’“Now that it is practically assured that the Australians will be over here next summer, determined, if possible, to possess themselves again of ‘ the ashes,’ should we not take time by the forelock and make better arrangements than in the past for holding our own against our friendly invaders, and sending them away empty? A few months ago, in the course of a series of articles in ‘Vanity Pair.’ the suggestion was thrown onb that something in the shape of practice games should bo played by the team chosen to play for England before entering upon the testa. Consider what advantages would be gained if the England team played even two or three games together as a side before the first tests. Advantages undoubtedly far greater than those of merely waiting to see if a roan is ‘in form ’ before selecting him, if ■the Board of Control adopted the same plan for choosing the home side as that of the invaders. Let the Board arrange as many trial games as possible for the England team, and then as early as posable after the commencement of the cricket season select fifteen players at most from whom to choose the eleven in the teste. Let the Board, in fact, proceed in precisely the same manner as if they were selecting a team from the very best available talent to visit Australia. We. all know the value of combination; theoretically at lea*£ it may .be assumed that those responsible feu- selecting teams have tins knowledge. Why on earth should no attempt ever be made to put it into practice? We can only anticipate what shall happen by what has happened. Last time the Australians were in England, so far as anything can be said to be certain at cricket, there can he no doubt we threw away the rubber by the eleventh-hour selection of the England team in the Manchester test. A few weeks before that, in the test at , Sheffield, the eleventh-hour selection was not even on the ground when the match started. I admit that his choice was admirably justified, but what of that? The fact remains that lie, Barnes—like Tait at Manchester—was playing in a supremely important match with a side that for all intents and purposes, so far as combination was concerned, he was a total stranger to Why on earth should not the England fifteen he picked, and "by this, I understand, informed that they have been so picked, and their names published, quite early in the season? hirely, however bri'liaut a new star may arise in the new season, we do not want him for a teat match! The visitors may not know him, but any advantage gained in their ignorance'is practically certain to be counteracted by his own ignorance and lack of experience, and the loss to the side by his being unacquainted with the methods of the other ten, ’ nor the other ten knowing his.” The writer of the above appears to he a maniac on the question of combination in cricket, which is pre-eminently > the game of the individual. Possibly he is confusing cricket with football! The ’Sydney Morning Ha aid’ adopts a rather pessimistic, tone in dealing with the Australian Eleven‘and their prospects in England. It says:—“ The games played hitherto should doubtless have bad a oo*jrideraWe bearing on the selection of members of the next Australian, Eleven, though indeed there arc some who maintain that this selection was tut and dry weeks ago. If this be . so, there is small encouragement of hope that Australia will bring back next year the ashes which the Maiykfcone team took away. We are told that we have' great batsmen, but it is remarkable how they fail wheq they are pitted against great ..bowlers. Thus nearly every member \ ‘ , .> '

the Now South Wales teaifi made a big' score in Adelaide or in Melbourne; but then nearly every member of the opposing teams made a big score against New South Wales’ bowling/ Where is the bowler? There is little account taken of the bowling element in the eleven as forecasted by experts from time to time. English batsmen showed on Australian grounds that they have no respect for the Australian bowling, they knew. If .this was done on the soil our bowlers thoroughly know, and with which the batsmen were little familiar, what will be the case when the venue is changed to England? (This seema to ‘ Umpire’ a very unsound kind of argument. The difference is between the wickets. Runs are easier to get on hard Australian ■wickets than on ,ths ordinary run of English wickets.) The two new bowlers mentioned by the quidnuncs—Cotter and John, son—have by no means shown hitherto that pre-eminence which was the distinction of the great Australian bowlers of the past They may do better in England than they have done in Melbourne, say, but their analysis against the poor batting quality of the Victorian Eleven is' not reassuring reading. ” Mr P. F. Warner’s pen is almost as free as his bat was when he made that memorable 211 against Otago, and owing to that freedom he has lately had to execute “an offensive movement to the rear” in connection with certain allegations he made concerning Australian cricket clubs filling their stands with deadhead mem, hers, created so as to minimise the profits of the last- English Eleven’s tour of the colonies.. Mr Warner hag written a letter, dated November 24, to Mr P. K. Bowden, secretary of the N.S.W. Cricket Association, in which tho following occurs .- —“ The part of the article (written by Mr Warner far the ‘ Westminster Gazette ’) to which exception has been taken is that dealing with the election, of members to the Sydney Cricket Ground. You will believe me, I trust, when I say that the remarks I made in relation to the election of members were made in good faith—that is, not rashly and caring not whether they were true or false, but honestly believing them to be true. The statements were made on what I thought at the time was good authority, but m the face of your denial of them I am delighted to withdraw what, I wrote. It is always, I think, pleasant to apologise when one has made a mistake, and I do so now with the very greatest pleasure.” Another little matter is thus referred to, and that is with reference to his criticisms of the Sydney crowd during the fourth test match in his book. “I wrote” (says Mr Warned : Anyone who has played in a test match in Sydney may consider himself thoroughly salted and fit to play before an audience from the infernal regions.’ I understand this has been objected to, but it was written more in fun than in seriousness, as a reference to the rest sentence hut seriously,’ etc.—will show; still, as these criticisms have, I understand, caused pain in some quarters, I will see that they are withdrawn in the next edition of the hook. I trust your Association will accept this letter in the spirit in which it is written, and believe that no one is more anxious to increase the already good feeling existing between the cricketers of England and Australia than I am. I should he obliged if you'-mould give J this letter publicity, both by reading to your Association and> ’by publishing it in the leading Sydney newspapers.” When the late lamented rot was at its rottenest and Canterbury were just, pushing the last remnants of Otago’s corpse into the hole they had dug for it preparatory to filling it in and jumping on the place, the mourners all round the ground were saying one to another: “Ob, for a hitter, a real old-time slogger ”; and they would instance Billy Carson or Hugh MacNeil at his best. There were reputed hitters in this team, too, but the trouble was that they mostly, did not hit. In fact, barring one man, the team were all redneed to the one level. None of them hit, and none of them lasted long enough to deserve the title of stonewallers. Someone once said that the tactics of the Greeks, as naval warriors, were so exceedingly cautious, and their habits, as commercial mariners, were so wild, that the change in regard to their demeanor at sea from times of war to times of peace has been more slight than might be imagined. We can. draw a parallel with regard to our batsmen. But it seems there is light on the horizon. A real genuine hitter has been unearthed. Playing on the Caledonian Ground in a second grade match on Saturday one batsman put together 59 not out, which, being a continuation of an unfinished innings of 42 from the previous Saturday, made him 101 not out. This batsman hit in a gtvle that quite put in the shade Shacklock’s innings against Wellington on the same ground a week or so further back. He landed the ball so many times among’a number of usually sedate gentlemen who were practising an ancient pastime in the adjacent bowling green that they were finally obliged to retire into their pavilion (where the afternoon tea is kept) under the excusable but mistaken impression that it was raining cricket balls. The batsman distributed his favors impartially, and the bowlers at the other end were frequently hoisted into the pavilion in such a manner as to make that ancient structure totter visibly. The Press box, too, attracted his attention, and he expressed his opinion (possibly an interested one) as to its inadequacy and general out-of-datedness by levelling at it a low, directfire drive that nearly shifted it bodily off its foundations. Before he reached his hundred the rain came on. But the opposing team, though dripping and sloshing and looking very Hke men that had been turned back by the Royal Humane Society for being incurably drowned, were so interested in the left-hander’s attempts to hit the ball over the edge of the horizon that they volunteered in the interests of science to go on until he had reached the three figures. This he gratefully agreed to do, and finished the job in about a hit and a-half.

One of the valuable points about the bowling of Johnson is the fact that he conceals from the batsman which way he is going to break. In the match New South Wales against Victoria the latter State’s batsmen were completely baffled by his action, for nothing as to whether the bail was 1 Daily to do a hit from off or from leg could he gleaned from his delivery. Some of them adopted the expedient of going down the .wicket and smothering them at the pitch. Reedmao, of South Australia, has the distinction ol having played in more interstate games than any other cricketer, and even to-day he can hold his own with the best of them. Though the oldest playet taking part in the last Victoria v. South Australia game, he proved as effective as the youngest. His howling was particularly effective, though be is generally regarded as more of a hat than a bowler. He took thirteen wickets in the match under notice.

Of Qehns’s 170 against Victoiia “ Observer” says: “There was always fore© in his strokes, and bo damaged two bats. The second bad stroke that be made cost him his wickpt. ■ He took a ball from Saunders high up on the shoulder of the bat, and spooned it softly to M’Leod at mid-on. Qehrs was in 4h smin for an, innings - of 170 that was masterly in every detail. Not once did he show; indecision, and the cleanness and force made it altogether a beautiful exhibition. He hit nineteen 4’s, and it must have been a satis-, faction to the batsman, to know that the three selectors for the Australian, team were watching him.’* It evidently duly impressed them, for the splendid innings induced the selectors to pick him. T,ast year, when he did very well in inter-Stab; matches, his name was .-on everybody’s lips, but until the last week of 1904 he had done nothing in Adelaide, his scores of 19 and 213-against Victoria and 1 and 37 against New South Wales not having revealed anything of his previous form? In a match between Combined Juniors and a South Australian eleven in Adelaide lately he made 84, and struck the form which he reproduced so well in Melbourne. Newland signalised his appointment as .second wicket-keeper , in the Australian Eleven by’a fine performance for South Australia against Victoria. He is the champion lacrosse player of Australia, but last season gave up the Canad'an game in favor of football, and in the Norwood team was regarded as one. of the best players in South Australia. Newland is a splendid keeper,’ and he will be useful on the Eng.hslj, tour.ia more ways than* ope* as hm

.business ability will makehim a valuable assistant to Laver in the- managerial work. It seems that the selectors' were not impressed, with Waddy 5 ® wicket-keeping in the match Victoria v. New South Wales, when he had to relieve Kelly with the gloves.

An unusual accident in 'cricket happened on the M.O.C. Ground on December 31, Stuckey, the welLknownVicterian batsman, being the sufferer. He was fielding at third man for Victoria in the against South Australia when the mishap occurred. A ball-was hit’ towardshim,. and Stuckey, who is a fast runner; was easily able to stop it. The natural course would have been to stop it with hj» left hand, but that hand was cruised by Cotter, the New South Wales fast bowler, in the match finished last week, and in order to save it Stuckey, who was not running at his best, bent over to stop it with his right hand. Instantly there was a sharp snap, the sound of which was heard by many on the outside ground, and Stuckey fell, and was unable to move until the other players carried him off the field. It was found that his left’ knee-cap was fractured right across, and it was decided to take him at once to a private hospital, where he was operated on without delay by Dr Moore. Dr Moore, who was watching the game when the accident occurred, stated t.bat. the. fracture was a bad one, and the separated • portions of the knee had to be drilled and wired together, as is usual in such a case, the tendency being for the muscles above and belotk to drag the fractured parts asunder. It was a simple accident, but l will be a serious one, for Stuckey, as it takes a long time, for the hone to knit. It* is extremely unlikely that he will play cricket again., and he will certainly not do so this season. As the game had only just begun, ■ Hill, in a sportsmanlike way, went to Laver and offered him the right of selecting a new man in Stuckey’s place, though usually the only concession allowed is a substitute in the field. H. Fry, of the Melbourne dub, was chosen, and when the score was 195 Fry went on to bowl. There was some difference of opinion amongst onlookers as to whether Laver should have used Pry as a bowler under the circumstances; but Hill, in imiiw his offer, said; * Use him in any wav you please, just as if he had been in the team originally. Later on in the game Fry kept wickets for the Victorian foam When Clem Hill came in first wicket down in the South Australian-Victoria match the score stood at 168, put on by Hack and Gehrs. The opportunity looked a rare one for Hill. ■ The sharp edge had been taken of? the bowling, and he had a great chance to help himself to almost as many runs as he wanted. He began as though that were his intention, but M“Leod did a big thing for his side when in his first over ho scattered HOl’s wicket with an undeniable ball that completely beat the batsman. Hill had only made 28 but was going in a brisk style that promised a long score.