DARLING'S ACCOUNT OF THE FOURTH TEST MATCH.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7399, 15 September 1902, Page 2

DARLING'S ACCOUNT OF THE FOURTH TEST MATCH.

In a letter received by his f.Kliei dated from Manchestor, July Mr J Darling, the captain ot the Australian Eleven, writes :- At ;*iai.chestcr yesterday was iinis.ud -.uc greatest 'cricket match ever known, when we defeated All England by the very small margin of only three runs. Talk about Keenness and excitement ! In all my cricketing career I have never seen anything to approach it,. When il got near tile eii'l, and they wanted eight runs to win, and only onr; wicket to fall, a.s the bowler started to bowl you could not hear a sound from thr: 12,000 spectators on the gr<ir.i;il. As the ball was played, or missed, there was a tremendous cheer, and when Talc, the ia.st man in, smelted a fluky four runs just pas'. H> leg-stump, the roar that went u;> and the cheering, etc., were Miisplv deafening. Three halls later tl-i- r,M came. A.s Saunders knocked T;iN-': ofl-stump clean out of the i',rin.;-,.-i with a fastball, and the stump ;>;:- ---ned over three or four times ni th.. air then we as players simply 1.,.----our heads and started wavn,- -..,. caps and cheering as we ran v. \W pavilion. It was a great match .-,i a Klorious win, and n our teim, , ; .; not stuck to it and played :. through to the finish with Nil .• nerandiim1 as our motto, v/f i. certainly have been aeieatcd . nearly all through it looked odd-; <•:: England winning. Too much pr..:.,-' cannot be given to the boys for i.- ;- grand wav they played and siuel; to t!:e game', and thus endedthe !;n.Mtest match ever played, or likely t<i 'm p'.aycd for many years to co:.;;--, on the cricket field. This win !>;:■■. us in the grand position oi wniini;-.', the rubber and returning with ihe ashes to Australia. Every i.inif i woke up last night I imagined I could see the last ball bowled mid the off-stump flying through the air Whilst playing we did not feel ti>.; strain so much, but after the match we all were simply done to t!;'world, and as long as I live 1 ii-ut want another match like it."