A CRICKET CROWD.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 12, 15 January 1912, Page 6

A CRICKET CROWD.

SPECTATORS' LUNCH BAGS

SIDELIGHTS ON THE SECOND TEST GAME.

A foreigner (says the Melbourne Argus of the Ist instant) would have wondered on' Saturday morning whither all the men and! boys were rushing with brief bags, in their hands or parcels under their arms. At firdb .-iifoe- might .have been inclined! to he*?J*ieve tliat they were rushing:to work., .^.ifctit'" after close obsei-vsttion lie would •■*iSSbav-e noticed an eiigemi-ess^ and an Eir of •jtnticipatibiv-about ■•men and_t»oys alike which would-, have convinced liim tbat the humdrum of business was not the attraction. They were not going to work —they were hurrying to the Test match on the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Hundred? ' -were" there on Saturday morning over

an hour before the time of starting,

and the stream-of men and boys flowed on through the gates into the outer enclosure until tho afternoon was .well advanced. Nine-;tenthts of them carried brief bags or kit'bags or brown paper parcels, for they were not ;xoiiig home to lunch. They were the cricket enthusiasts who had come to watch every ball bowled from midday to 6 o'clock, and who were not going to miss a single stroke in the great

game. There were sedate ' elderly gentlemen, not in the least enthusiastic or excitable in sippea-rance. trudging along with their lunch bags in hiMid, and with serious looks on their faces, as befitted a- most momentous occasion. And there were scholboys in galatea sailor suits, with neat packages under their arms—little parcels of sandwiches and cake made up by their mothers or sisteijs. Young or old they were all going to stay ih-p day.. The ladies were as few among the outside crowd as daisies on a well-' trimmed lawn. Tall men came .with little brown paper parcels just a ■ little jx>o largo for their coat pockets, •while little men walked lopsided under the weight of kit bags, winch nmst have been packed from top to hottom with things to cat ajad drink. In the -afternoon enterprising boys went round'the ground collecting bottles. They tied the necks to string, slung tiit booty-over, their shoulders, and carried it underneath the stands, where they ptsckod it in bags. LITERARY TASTE. • But cricket crowds do not only eat and driuk and talk during the inter*; vals of play. They elso display a "literary taste. Men on to the ground with loads of illustrated JLondcm papers of old Issues, and tho ory re-echoed tlnrough the stands, "Here, y'are. Tho hdSb London litoratooa" by the greatest living writers. Only a penny each!" Early-comers oagerly bougl.t these illustrated papers to pass away tha time, and tiie men in _ tl.o stands, with their fcfinks oj>Bn in front of them, heads down, and-<JI attention, bore tho appearance of hug© cl;',«ve«i of schoolboys intent on their lessons. Score books Wbro also bought in hundreds. The, \cry great enthusiasts keep t'.ueir own-.scores. 'Piioy record every ball bo.wled during ti.e day, even if they have to stand US'* in the sun without iree pi«y -hf thoir elbows.

The equipmenb of the expert onlooker consists of a brief tag (containing lunch" end a bottle of something), a pair of. field glasses slung over the shoulders, a pipe, and a newspaper, magazine, or book under his arm. He also wears the softest and oldest hat in his possession aiid fc light CO at. The expert onlooker, in short, loolc3 exactly like an angler out for a long day's fishing, with this one difference —he does not carry a. rod. His. favorite seat is in front of "the iron, railings circling the green, but. he ;s quite content if he gets a seat in tiie Harrison or Wardill stand, and it he •.^arriyes ;late he -does lipt -growlrif. he has ;^to stand. He, puts his precious billon the asphalt between, his feft, and <SC-ncentrates his whole attention on the game. The schoolboys nni the office boys generally manage to get seats, no matter at what hour they r.rrive, and it is noticeable that long before tho lunch hour comes they have absent-mindedly or purposely torn open the paper parcels resting on their knees and are nibbling :'t their sandwiches and cakes. A LONG STTTING . TVLany of these spectators never loft their seats on Saturday. The fierce sun in the early afternoon could nob drive them away. They took off their eoatsi and! fixed their handkerchiels unider their hats to shelter their necks, and kept their faces turned towards the figures in white playing the gp.me on the green turf. Was it any wonder.that they sometimes grew a little impatient when play was slow or time was wasted? A few drops ci rain fell—a vestige of a shower —anl the players slowly, very slowly, sauntered off the field, and the umpires, at the tail-end of the cricketers, had scarcely reached the shelter of the stand when the rain ceased. The umpires walked out again on to the green, and; after them, at a very respectful distance, reluctantly strolled the players. An irreverent person perched on a stand cried in a voice that carried right , across the ground, "Why didn't yer' bring yer umbrellas with yer?" Most of the crowd had the temerity to laugh -it such irreverence, and good humor took the place of a growing impatience. It would be a sorry crowd which did not indulge in a little barracking, and ilie best way for the victim to treat the ban-ackers is either to take no notice of them or to laugh with'them. To get -annoyed as Barnes [did, under some provocation, only leas the effect oi: making the barrsckors mischievous, o-nd crowds, it should always be remembered, have long memories as well as long tongues. I FACES LONG ANI> BLANK. it was fine to watch the faces cf. the men and boys arriving half «v [ hour or so niter the start as, th»y j 'stared c-t the scoring-board and read on its expressive face the news of Australia's 'iownfall. The faces were i long and blank for a moment, and ! then they brightened. The common remark was "Serve # them right V | The crowd have the impression that there should be more new and young men iri the Australian team, and they | regarded the figures on the scoringboard as a tribute to their judgment Bat at the back of this cynicism was I a very strong belief in the ability and pluck" of the Australians, no matter how pool" might he their display in

the first innings, to put up a good fight to the end. "The wicket mast be biad," some downcast Australian would mutter gloomily. "Look at it and see!" an eager onlooker would say, gloating in the momentary downfall of his idols, and h©. would hand over his field-glasses. , "Like ■■■& billiard table, isn't it?" ' And-the-newcomer-would admit tliat there did not <ippear to be anything wrong with tfio brown strip of turf. The old criclcst ing autliorities who .always stand1 on the asphalt in a line with the wicket —under the shad© of the elms in former years, but, alas! the trees *,v» gone now—were the centres of little groups of wondering enthusiasts asthe Australians early in the day ieU. before the onslaught of Bairnes, and the opinions of the veterans were eagerly listened to. "WHAT ABAHT THEM NOW?" Tlie Englishmen had probably more direct supporters, than they have ever been cheered Ly at any previous Test Match played in Melbourne. Here and there immigrants, newly come from Great Britain, disclosed thenselves by their speech. Scattered among the crowd; often units far ■apart, they gave rent to their joy at seeing their own countrymen from over tlie seas : laymg the AustraLun 'champions what ne^ liked as 'they opened their lips the crowd in their vicinity picked them out a immigrants, and there ensued many pretty wordy duels. The Australian might ca'.l the Australian champions what, he liked to a.fellow-Australian's face, and no difference of opinion would ■arise. But when a Britisher—as Barnes took his fourth wicket at a cost of three runs—cried mischievously, "What abaht them now?" he kindled a fire of indignation which spread around him. "It's not over yet, mate," remarked a young l"ellow, whoa- couple of minutes beforo had been glorying in the disposal <if the champions. "And Barnes only plies for Staffordshire," resumed the immigrant, with a smile which covered his whole face. This gloating over Australia's shame was too much for Australia's supporters. Nobody got annoyed,, but the Englishman had to listen to the following conversation long after he had begun to hold his tongue and rejoice in seCret:— ....,-.:.

"What dyer think of it, Bob?^' . ' "Oh, they're only givin' them a eharnce. yThejbe'd be no gate if they didn't let the Englishmen win this match.'! ■/■■';

"What were the scores in, the Bendigo match." . "It was a draw—and a good job for the Englishmen. Bendigo would have beaten them if they had played it OUt." ; ;■". :;

"D'yor think Clem Hill would have played that ball the way he did if lie didn't want to get out?" They did not mean whot they were saying—-they were indulging in the Australian game of ' 'leg-pulling,;! The crowd in its. heart was delighted with the manner in. which the Englishmen had clipped the wings of crowing Australia,, but their pride and their patriotism, or partisanship, whatever it might be, would not allow a stranger to join openly with them in their joy.