CRICKET.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1202, 15 March 1895, Page 28

CRICKET.

By “ Point.” Ladies’ cricket matches are quite the fashion in Australia just now. A cricket puzzle : Canterbury drew with Wellington this season at Wellington ; Wellington beat Otago at Dunedin ; Canterbury beat Wellington at Christchurch ; Otago beat Canterbury at Christchurch. Which of the three is the premier province ? F. D. Clayton hea4s the batting averages for the four matches played this season by ' Otago representative teams with 28 for one innings. J. Baker is next with 2PB for 8 innings (a much better performance, of course), then A. Downes with 22’3 for three innings, and A. Clarke 2P5 for 8 innings. The best cowling average is Parker’s 6-9 for 17 wickets, A. Clarke being second with 7'9 for 10 wickets, and A. Downes next with 8-6 for 17 wickets. Young Hill, the South Australian batsman and wicketkeeper, will celebrate his 18th anniversary qn March 28. He is one of eight sons in a family of 15. When 15 years of age he made 360 runs—the highest individual innings ever played by an Australian. He weighs list 51b, and is one of the best footballers in Adelaide. Sid. •' Gregory says he won’t be surprised to see Hill second wicketkeeper of the next Australian eleven. Eady, the crack Tasmanian bat who was brought over by the Melbourne club for practice, with a view to his inclusion in the fifth test match, played for that club against East Melbourne (A. E. Trott’s team). He only scored 12, and shaped very poorly while making them, not seeming at all at home to Trott’s bowling. The Bulletin takes back its hasty statement, founded on the Englishmen's opening match against South Australia, that Richardson bowls.no faster than Jones. He can bowl much faster. In fact, one would back the Surrey man to kill a whole team before Jones had broken a couple of legs. j The Sheffield Shield for the coming twelve months will be held by Victoria, which colony won three and lost only one of the Intercolonials this year. The lowest scorer in the last test match, on the Australian side, will receive a trophy donated by the proprietors of Wolfe’s schnapps. It takes the form of an olive cabinet containing a brace of beautiful pipes -—in fact a complete smoker’s companion. A. E. Trott, above all people, who made a duck, and who has the lowest average for both innings, namely, 10, will take the trophy.

The excitement about the toss in the final test match was intense, and when Major Wardill, with a captain on each arm, came out on the green to arrange the preliminaries, an anticipatory cheer was raised. The faces of the captains were a study. George Giffen’s smile (according to “ Observer ’') gave the impression that the responsibility sat lightly upon him, but close observers could see his hands trembling as he fumbled for the coin to toss. Stoddart was as grave as a judge, and made no pretence of being easy in his mind. Early that morning Giffen’s countryman, Mr James Marshall, came rp to him with a mysterious air and a battered shilling, and said, “ Take this, George, and toss with it—-it’s the coin I always win drinks with.” “That recommendation’s quite good enough,” Giffen said, and so the “battered bob” was treasured until noon. Most of the crowd missed one little bit of comedy. The captains were discussing mowing and rolling and such trivialities, when the Major, who could stand the strain no longer, burst out with “ For Heaven’s sake toss and put us out of misery" “Keep cool, Major,” was the English captains advice. At last Giffen. spun, and Stoddart called “ Heads.” Both bent hurriedly over it as it fell, and then Giffen gave a delighted jump into the air, and a burst of cheering brokefrom the crowd. Harry rushed into the players’ room with the news, and there was another cheer when he said" “ Giff won it easily.” Mr Marshall, ' under pretence of shaking hands with Giffen, made a desperate attempt to recover his lucky shilling—for the dry weather'is by no means over—but he has seen the last of it. • It joins Richardson's Adelaide shilling as a memento of the great match. Stoddart shook his head sadly as he went in, and his side had no need to ask questions. It was cruel luck to have lost the toss four times out of five, and when lie did win in Sydney to have been faced with the hard fact that there was nothing to choose between going to the field and the wickets.

J. B. Wood, plajing for Married against Single at Newcastle recently, scored 247 runs in 105 minutes, and then retired—and so he ought.

The table of the results of the test matches specially compiled for the New Zealand Mail by Hr M. Fox is copied in full in the last number of the Review of Reviews.

The Senior Chempionship looks almost a certaintv for the Wellington Club just now, as the Phoenix with only four wickets to fall (Niven being away) have still 130 runs to make to win.

A very fine article on Australasian cficket by Brockwell, of Stoddart's team, appears in the latest number of the Review of Reviews. He says that “ The school of Australasian cricket is as different from the English school, as say, the Dutch school of painting is from the Italian. The English batsmen carry their forward strokes to the finish right out, and this for reasons that are obvious. The wickets on which they are accustomed to play compel that stroke owing to their slowness, and the player is thus enabled to kill the break. But the Australian, trained on a different wicket, has a different ptyle, He feels sure tbnt, barring accidents,

the ball will play true, and he acquires the habit of trusting to what is termed in cricketing slang a half-cocked stroke—a forward stroke that ia, carried half through, and conveying to English eyes the impression that the ball is allowed to hit the bat instead of vice versa. That the strike is perfectly safe on certain wickets when it is well timed need not be denied, but to mv thinking it is not the safest of strokes, and on a wicket that is doing a bit it is sure to be perilous, as it allows the ball to develop its break. This makes the weakness of Australian batsmen on sticky wickets; though, of course, many bat brilliantly on such wickets, but I venture to think the more finished forward stroke would be best on both types of wickets.”

Brockwell is greatly struck with the exhaustless patience of Giffen’s defence. His batting includes every quality of excellence. Gregory in bis innings in the first test match, Brockwell says, showed the art of a master. As a bowler on billiard table pitches Giffen, he thinks, is without a superior in the world. His perception is so quick, and his attack so adroit, that he is continually getting players that have met him for years. He bowls every ball with an object, and perhaps delivered fewer bad balls than any other bowler in Australia. Turner too, is a bowler equal to any that has yet appeared, and is a worthy successor to Spofforth himself. No other man can command such a break combined with perfect length and pace.

The writer adds, “ I have met many breakback bowlers, but Turner has one supreme advantage over them all ; it lies in his tremendous pace from the pitch. How he commands it is a puzzle to me. Bowlers of his calibre create a school, and this fact is sufficient to ensure the cricketing future of the colonies.” AUSTRALIAN BOWLERS. “Not Out” in the Sydney Referee, who contended that Turner should have been included in the Australian team the Englishmen in the fifth test match, has compiled the full records of Australia’s eight best bowlers during their entire careers up to the fifth test match. They are as follow :

SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP. Wellington v. Phgenix. The match between the Wellington and Phoenix first elevens, which was commenced in January but could not be continued before owing to various causes, was resumed on Saturday. The wicket was hard, and all in favour of run-getting, but the display of batting with one or two exceptions was very poor. The Wellington team had made 278 in their first innings, Holdship having scored 134 not out, and the Phoenix had replied with the good score of 209. The Wellingtons, therefore, had a lead of 69 when they went in for their second innings on Saturday. Duncan and F. Ashbolt .started splendidly, the score being rapidly carried into the sixties. Webb then went on, and the state of the game at once changed. In his first over he secured three wickets for only three runs, and a little later on he secured two more wickets, Holdship being. amongst the victims, and Waters having taken three, eight were down foj? 101, of which Duncan had made 31 by good batting, Ashbolt 26 (which included a good leg-hit for 6), Holdship 13, and R. Gore 12. The last two wickets put on 33, the innings closing for 134. Webb obtained a splendid average, Six for 24, and Waters, three for 30, also did well. The Phoenix were severely handicapped by the absence of their wicketkeeper (Niven), as the number of byes (18) shows. The Phoenix required 204 to win, and when stumps were drawn they had lost five wickets for 75. Burton played capitally for 33, his off-play being excellent. He had the misfortune to be thrown out—a very close thing—and a section of the spectators, who, of course, were not in such a good position as the umpire to judge, were not at all pleased with the decision of the umpire (Mr Levers) in this case. Chisholm and Webb with 10 each, the latter being not out, were the other double figure scorers. The scores are as follow : Wellington.—Second Innings. Ashbolt, b Webb 26 Duncan, c Bennett, b Webb 31 Holdship, b Webb 13 Izard, 1.b.w., b Webb 0 C. Gore, b Waters ... ... ... ... 1 R. Gore, b Webb ... ... ... .. 12 Wood, b Waters ... ... ~. ... 4 Judd, c and b Waters ..: 0 Whitehorn, b Webb ... 8' Bethune, b Chisholm ... ... 9 Kirker, not out ... 8 Byes 18, leg-byes 4 ... 22 Total ... 134 Total first innings 278 Grand total ... ... 412 BOWLING ANALYSIS.

PhceNix —Second Innings. Burton, thrown out ... ... 33 Benbow, b Kirker ... ... 4 Chisholm, b Ashbolt... 10 Bennett, b Holdship 6 Waters, o Kirker, b Holdship ... ... 4 Webb, rot out 10 Roberts, not out 1 Byes, 6 ; leg-bye, 1 7 Total for five wickets 75 The Bival-Excelsior heat for the Thirdclass Championship is to be played at Petone next Saturday. t

THE FIVE TEST- MATCHES, 1894- 95. fSpecially Compiled for the N.Z. Mail.) Batting Results oe Five Test Matches.

. ' !. '->■ Notes on the Five Test i Matches. / In the five test matches there have been 21 “ duck’s-eggs ” 5 Australian and 16 English. Peel is the only batsman on either side who has a “ pair of specs ”in any match—his score was “0” four times running at one stage of the matches. The Australians have made four “ centuries,” the Englishmen four. The Englishmen have now scored 2271 runs for 92 wickets, averaging 24'68 runs per wicket; and the Australians have lost 90 wickets, for 2743, being 30'48 runs per wicket. _ The quality of Phillipson’s wicket-keeping? is indicated by the fact that, including Lockwood’s many no-balls, the Australians have only obtained 79 extras in nine innings, whilst the Englishmen have got 128 extras in ten innings. Five batsmen have been “not out” in both innings—viz., A. Trott, Turner, Jarvis, Lockwood and Richardson. Turner took 18 wickets in three matches, including the cracks Brown, Ward, Stoddart, McLaren and Brockwell twelve times; Giffen took these cracks only eleven times in five matches. ? Giffen’s averages are incomparably the best? considering the work done. Ist match ... won by Englishmen by 10 runs. 2nd match ... won by Englishmen by 94 runs. 3rd match ... won by Australians by 382 runs. 4th match ... won by Australians by an innings and 147 runs. sth matoji ... won by Englishmen by six wickets.

HOW THE JUNIOR CUP CONTEST STANDS. The Junior Cup fixtures for next Saturday are —No. 1, Kilbiruie v- Wellington Second; No. 3, Midland v. Excelsior; No. 4, St. Patrick’s College v. Rivals. On the Wellington College ground, the Phoenix will meet the College team. On No. 2 wicket the Senior match Wellington v. Phoenix will be continued : The following figures show the results of the Junior Cup matches to date : Won Lost. To play. Excelsior ... ... 5 1 2

eulogises Brown, Ward, McLaren, Stoddart and Peel, who so ably assisted 1 towards the victory, also Albert Trott, Darling and Iredale, who, says the Chronicle, occupy a position equal to the highest in the English eleven, j The Morning Post, Daily News and Daily Telegraph extend praise to Brown, Richardson, Ward, McLaren, Stoddart and Peel. The Times says the Australians have accepted their defeat with true English generosity. The Sportsman considers that in view of the mental strain cast upon them, the stand made by Ward and Brown is the finest performance ever witnessed in the cricketing world. The Standard says that the victory saves the tour from being a failure, and referring to the omission of Turner adds that in England no Australian team would be regarded as * complete which did not include Turner in its ranks.

London, March 6. Bemarkable interest was taken in the cricket match, and the victory of the Englishmen was received with great enthusiasm. The Globe praises Giffen as the G.O.M. of Australian cricket, and condoles with him in the recent defeat suffered, despite his judicious captaincy and personal skill with the bat and ball. London, March 7. The Daily Chronicle, commenting on the final test match, considers the victory of the Englishmen a brilliant one, and believes the omission of Turner a mistake. George Giffen, it adds, is clearly a champion of the cricketing world, The paj>ev

Name Balls. Mdns. Buns. Wilts Avr. Turner ... 41,526 3829 13,976 1042 13.41 Spoffortli 28,390 2805 11,675 820 14.23 Ferris 25,366 2454 8626 590 14.60 Boyle 17,649 1924 6135 414 14.81 Evans 11,592 1472 3351 202 16.58 Palmer ... 28,463 2988 10,817 651 16.61 Garrett ... 24,320 2587 8346 460 18.31 Giffen“... 32,837 2350 13,920 767 18.13

Balis. Mclns. Runs. Wkts. Taylor ... 36 2 12 0 Benbovv 42 3 21 0 Chisholm 60 2 25 1 Waters... 66 1 30 3 Webb ... 3d 2 24 6

Phoenix Second ... 4 2 2 Siar ... 3 2 3 Wellington College 2 2 4 Midland Second ... 2 2 . 4 Kilbirnie ... 3 3 2 Wellington Second 1 3 4 Rival Second 1 4 3 St. Patrick’s College 2 6

i Australians. U 3 to CO <D CO D E T A I L S . Name. 1 . •S’g >-J of til i out. . runs. rerage ri per wicke Sydney, No. 1. Melbourne, No. 1. Adelaide. Sydney, No. 2. MelVrne No. 2. o d O 6 a -g 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd *25 & Eh <1 ’ ' Inn. Inn. Inn. Inn. Inn. Inn. In. In. Inn Inn. 1. A. Trott .. 5 3 205 102-50 — — — — *38 *72 *85 10 0 2. Giffen 9 - 475 52-77 161 41 32 43 58 24 ! 8 57 51 3. Graham 3 - 121 40-33 — • : — — — — 105 3 6 10 4. Gregory . 9 - .362 40-22 201 16 2 12 6 20 5 .2 70 30 5. Blackham ... 2 - 76 38-00 74 2 — — — — _ > — — 6. Iredale 9 - 337 87-44 81 5 10 68 7 140 0 bo 8 18 7. H. Trott ... 9 264 29-33 12 8 16 95 48 0 1 £ ■ 42 42 8. Darling 9 - 258 28-67 0 53 32 5 10 3 31 g ■ 74 50 9. Bruce 7 - 197 28-14 — — 4 54 11 80 15 22 11 10. Callaway 2 - 52 26-00 — — — — 41 11 — p? — — 11. Jarvis 7 2 110 22-00 — — 11 4 13 29 5 i — 1 *34 *14 12. Lyons 6 - 112 18-67 1 25 2 14 — — 55 15 13. McKibbin ... 2 - 36 18-00 — - — — — — XJ2 23 13 14. Turner 5 2 52 17-33 1 2 *26 — — 22 a — — 15. C. McLeod ... 2 1 17 17-00 15 *2 — — — — — "3 — 16. Jones 2 1 12 12-00 *11 i — — — — — .3 — 17. Reedman ... 2 - 21 10-50 17 4 — — — — —. r d 18. Coningkam... 2 - 13 6-50 — '.— 10 3 — — — o 19. Wcrrall ... 2 - 11 - 5-50 — — — — 0 11 <D 20. Harry 2 8 4-00 — — — — 2 6 — — 21. Trumble 2 3 1-50 — — 1 2 — — — — 22. Mose3 1. 1 1-00 — ■ — — — — — 1 — — 99 9 2743 30-4S 574 159 121 326 234 396 278 ... 401 254 Extras 79 — 12 7 2 7 4 15 6 — 13 13 Total for 90 wickets 2822 31-36 586 166 123 333 238 411 284 ... 414 267 Englishmen. 1. Brown 10 2 343 42-88 22 53 0 37 *39 2 *20 0 30 140 2. Ward 10 - 419 41-90 75 117 30 41 5 13 •7 6 32 93 3. Stoddart ... 10 1 352 39-11 12 36 10 173 1 *34 7 , 0 68 11 4. McLaren ... 10 1 240 26-67 4 20 0 15 25 35 1 0 120 *20 5. Ford 9 - 168 18-67 30 48 9 24 21 14 0> 11 11 6. Peel ... 10 1 168 18-67 4 17 6 53 0 0 0- 0 73 *15 7. Gay ... 2 - 37 18-50 33 4 — — — — , —' — — — 8. Briggs 9 - 164 18-22 57 .42 5 31 12 0 11 6 0 — 9. Lockwood ... 7 2 89 17-80 18 29 *3 *33 0 1 — 5 — 10. Brockwell ...• 10 - 171 17-10 49 37 0 21 12 24 1 17 5 5 11. Phillipson ... 7 1 62 10-33 — — 1 30 7 1 4 9 *10 12. Richardson... 9 3 58 9-67 *0 *12 0 11 0 12 2 *10 11 — 103 11 2271 24-68 304 415 64 469 122 136 53 59 365 284 Extras 128 — 21 22 11 6 2 7 12 13 20 14 Total for 92 wickets 2399 26-08 325 437 75 475 124 143 65 72 385 298

'* Signifies not out. Bowling Averages for Five Test Matches. Name. 1. Callaway ... Australians. Wickets. ... 5 ■ S' Runs. 56 Average. 11-2 2. Turner ... 18 349 194 3. A. Trott ... 9 192 21*3 4. Eeedman ... 1 24 24-0 5. Giffen ... 31 820 24-1 6. H. Trott ... ... 12 299 24-9 7. Trumble ... ... 3 ' 87. 29-0 8. Coningham ... 2 76 ... 38-0 9. McLeod ... 2 92 46-0 10. Jones ... 2 102 51-0 11. McKibbin... ... 2 120 60.0 12. Bruce 1 ... 68 68 0 13. Iredale ... 0 3 — 14. Lyons ... 0 , ... 17 — 1. Richardson Englishmen. ... 32 849 26 5 2. Peel ... 27 731 271 3. Briggs ... 15 436 29-1 4. Stoddart 1 31 31-0 5. Brockwell ... ... 5 238 47-6 6. Lockwood ... 5 , 340 68-0 7. Ford ... 1 V'.'. ... 115 - 115-0