THE FINAL TEST MATCH. LONDON, August 11.

Otago Witness, Issue 2372, 17 August 1899, Page 39

THE FINAL TEST MATCH. LONDON, August 11.

The team to play in the final test match against Australia will be selected from the following : — Rhodes, Lockwood, Brockwell, Denton, Lilley, Bradley, Townsend, Jones, Hayward, MacLaren, Jackson, Fry, and Ranjitsinhji. The final selection will be made on Monday.

j NOTES ON THE TEST MATCHES. 0. B. Fiy, in commenting on the first test match in his article in the " Review of Re- \ views," says: "The match was a draw, but the ! Australians morally beat us. They beat us by ', iheir bowling, and by their concentration on ; the purpose in hand. I have already alluded ■ to their superiority in having a fine fast ' bowler, where we had none. Take away Jones, and I think the match would have gonp , very evenly. On the other hand, in the second inning 3, Howell, Trumble, and Noble bowled magnificently, Howell especially. I ; have never seen better bowling than was hi? ' for the first hour of our second innings. He kept a beautiful length, and made the ball , break from the off more than i ever imagined ' was possible on a fast wicket that was not \ leally crumbled. Hugh Trumble, too, bowled j beautifully ; wise bowling, f ull of deep know- , ledge. In this match the Australian bowling j was better than t'.io English in quality, -but ' the difference wap mote accentuated in ano iher respect — it was more hostile, more benh on mischief, more insistent. Darling managed | his bowling with excellent judgment. He i j nursed Jones with consummate tact, and did i not allow his medium-pace bowlers to stay ! on long enough for the batsmen to become | thoroughly at home with them. His arrauge- \ ment and re-arrangement of Ms fielding pieces ! tvas excellent. The game ended in a draw, , ! and no one who .-ares for cricket will be glad , I v>f that. Now, why was it a draw? It is all i ! very well saying that three days' cricket, j 1 with the liour3 as usual, means a draw be- j tween two strong teams on a good wicket. ; In an ordinary county match this is true, to \ some extent. But I think that in an EnglandI Australia match, played at high tension, j there is no rlaug^ of a draw if all the catche3 are held. And thare is another point to re- I member. If a team knows it has only three j days for a match it ought to grasp the way to win a match in the time. This involves a. certain amount of sporting cricket. If you have opportunities given you of scoring you must use them. Australia would have won j had they held all their chances. Australia | would, again, have won had they made runs faster on the first day." THE SECOND TEST MATCH. The second test match was commenced at Lords on a typically perfect day, and before a tremendous oro,wd. The takings at the outer gates for three days nxceeded 52200, but what the H. C. C. got for the highpriced seats has not transpired. The first re- ! markable fact was the absence for the first timo from a test match in England of W. G. Grace from the English team. Yet it was inevitable. He was only eighty-third on the batting average list with an average of 18. His batting weakness was not redeemed by special powers in bowJing or fi'-klin;,'. In the first test match ho was a ghastly failure, a^d even the popular enthusiasm for him could not prevent a general expression of opinion that sentiment must no lonsrer be allowed to influence the Selection Committee. Tlie candour with which this view was expressed no doubt stung the veteran, and it is understood he positively declined to play. Jackson, Fry, Itanjitsinhji, Hay ward, Rhodes, and Tylcles ley, who played in the first match, remained m the cloven. Maolaren, Jessop, Townsend, Mead, and Lillov replaced Grace, Gunn, Hearne, Hirst, and Storer. A very fine team indeed (remarks our London correspondent), and yet it bad some manifest weak points, the worst being that it possessed no really first-class fast bowler suc'i as Lookwood-(dis-abled). Richardson (quite off form), Mold (a poor hat), "Woodcock (uncertain), or Kortright (not in form). The opening of the match was distinctly senpational. Maclaren took his firFt over fiom Jones, and cut his third cannonshot to tho boundary for 4 ; but the second ball of Jones's second over e-int the English captain's middle stump flying out of the ground to the consternation of the spectator*. When this mifchap was followed by Ihe dismisFal of Ranjitsinhji for 8, Fry for 13, Townsend for 5, and Hay ward for a single, — five wickets for only 44 runs, — dismay reigned supreme, and everybody seemed to have an oppressive feeling that England's cricket star had tet. But when Tyldesley and Jackson made a stand, and, stiil more, when, on the former being caught, Jessop went in and smote in his own ugly but effective style, Jackson seconding him with highly-finished and equally effectivo hitting, the spirits of the beholders toco again, and they applauded each side with strict impartiality. I hare seldom (continues our correspondent) seen a more dangerous, skilful, or puzzling attack than that of Jones, Howell, and Noble, backed up as it was with most buperb fielding. Only at rare intervals could the batsmen get the ball away. Whenever they hit it, the ball almost always seemed to go straight to some fieldsman, who appeared to be there waiting for it, but who, in reality,

had quietly edged toward the spot as the ball was delivered, evidently with an instinctive perception where it would come on being hit. Darling's management of his bowlers and field was beyond all praise. It was equal to the best generalship of (jrregory, sen., Murdoch, or Harry Trott. While the game proceeded the excitement throughout London was so extreme as to be - almost absurd. Nothing else seemed to be thought or talked about. Each fresh edition of the evening papers was eagerly bought up. ■ Even the Ascot races were disregarded. I cannot remember the like before, and I can i recollect many previous " Test " matches. ' Everywhere yoa v/ent — in trains, omnibuses, or walking aloag the street — you could hear hardly anything talked of but the chauces of ihe match and the constitution of the ueam. ' Jessop certainly justified the committee in picking him, for his stand with Jackson alone saved the English team from utter collapse. There waa much doubt whether he would survive an over of Jones's, and Jackson at rite other wicket seemed to watch him. un.- > eahily, as he clumsily parried the lightning de- I liveries of the South Australian. But he did i survive, and soon produced a mighty roar of I laughter by an awkward stroke, which de- | spatched to the boundary, in a direction { quite opposite to the one intended by him, a I nasty ball from Jone3, which rose to his head. I Jn his first half-hour he only made 17, but [ then, lie- began to swipe out with that curious . horizontal mowing action of his, and hit 4 ' after 4', until he caught up and passed Jaok&on. But the latter, who had been exercising marvellous caution, ventured upon brilliancy j as well, and a really firm stand was made. ■ He once had the narrowest squeak of being : run. out, and only escaped through Jones j falling and hurting his ankle. However, his | 73 and Jfiosop's 51 saved the All-England \ side from disgrace, and the innings ultimately , realised 206, far more than seemed at all j likely at one time, when bets were freely J offered that the whole side would go out for \ less than 100 runs, so deadly did the Aus- ' tralian bowling and fielding appear. Jones was the bowling hero, taking seven wickets for only 88 runs hit. He was in splendid form. His pace did not seem to mo quite so fast as in 1896, but everyone else pronounced it "tremendous" and "terrific," so it is to be supposed it must have been. Many thought Noble's bowling still finer, and more difficult to play. It constantly " stuck up " I our best batsmen. Howell and Trumblo both b>wled well, but the latter looked very ill, I i thought. The Australian innings opened none too well. At 27 Worrall was caught in Rhodes'a I first over. Hill joined Darling, but the latter j was caught off the last ball of the samo over, Ranji's catch being tremendously applauded. | Gregory, who ricked his "knee, after some slow | play, twice made uppish cuts, and was then I 1 caught by Lilley off Jessop. Noblo, who i joined Hill, was in ten minutes before he ' i scored, but once he got his eye in the total i ! mounted rapidly, despite repeated changes J of bowling, and 156 was on the board when play ceased. Play was slow for some time next morning, but it was not till 189 appeared that Noble was disposed of for 54-. Trumper | joined Hill, who soon afterwards reached I the century, England's total being passed with ! six wickets in .hand. But Hill's policy of ! jumping out to Townsend proved fatal to I him, and he was well caugfit, after an inI valuable innings. Trumper was joined by , Trumble, and tho young New South Wales ■ player, playing in great style, reached the ■ century before his companion was caught. i The innings closed for 421, Trumper being ■ not out -.yith 135, thus tieing Hill. On all hands it is admitted his play was splendid, and his inuings without a blemish. His companions, with whom he is a great favourite, were quite as proud of it as he was himself. i The English second innings commenced i again with disaster. Fry was bowled off his ' pads by Jones. One from Howell flew off the | shoulder of Ranjitsinhji's bat and was clever- ■ ]y caught by Noble, running in from point. | Two for six. Kelly missed catching Hayward off Jones at the same total. After a stay of eight minutes, in which he was none too comfortable, Townsend was bowled by Jones. Jackson was disposed of before stumps were drawn. j The attendance on the concluding day was i small, as the result could easily be foreseen. I Hayward, when he attempted to force the game, was caught, and Jessop, after hitting his first ball for 4. was taken on the boundary from the next. The feature of the innings was Maclaren's play. When the bowling was good he played on the defensive, but when Jessop retired he realised that there was danger of a one-innings defeat, and he played the forcing game in rore style, eventually carrying out I hi? bat for 88, which practically saved the team from an ignominious defeat. The total was 240. Darling and Worrall knocked up the runs required to win, and Australia thus won the match by 10 wickets. THE THIRD MATCH. As tho third te^t match approached, the Selection Committee naturally fell some anxiety. The Australian superiority so far was admitted, but, strange to say, tho batting and bowling averages for the season did not ' show it. For instance. Hill and Worrall,

who headed the Australians, were only fourth and fifth respectively in the season's batting' averages.' Noble was thirteenth, Gregory eighteenth, Kelly twenty-ninth, Truinper thirtieth, Darling fortieth,- Lover fiftieth,, Trumble sixty-ninth, Iradale seventy-second, Jones tiovontT-ninth. Then, in. the bowling, three Englishmen stood higher on the Hsb than Trumble, the most successful Australian, who took a wicket for every 14 runs. Noble was fourteenth with a wicket for each IT runs. Howell, with 19 runs per wicket, was twenty-sixth. M'Leod and Jones stood thirtyfirst and thirty-third, with 20 runs per wicket. On the face of it, it looked as if the Australian fielding was what gave them their preeminence. If this ia right, it affords a valu* able lesson to young cricketers inclined to neglect this department. Jackson at firet declined to play because he resented not being made captain in the match played in his homo county, but gave way at the last moment. Shrewsbury, the veteran, also declined, standing on his dignity. The first tea selected were Maclaren (captain), Jackson, Ranjit* sinhji, Fry, Hayward, Lilley, Hearne,' Brown,. Quaife, and Young. Not until the very morning of the matoh was the eleventh man decided upon. Richardson, Brockwell, Brjggs, and Tyldesley had been instructed to be in readiness, and Brigga was the man ultimately chosen, it being antioipated thai, on a wickot somewhat deadened by the previous night's thunderstorm the curly left-hand slow-bowling of the piurnp. little Lancastrian would, us on former occa.sions, prove effective and valuable. "Witlt two left-handed bowlers, Young fast and Briggs slow, ;t; t was hoped that, as the Australians notoriously dislike left-hand bowling, good results might accrue. But a really firstclass fast bowler, such as Lockwood was last y«ir, such as Richardson was two years ago, or such as Mold, Woodcock, and Kortrighfe ' are "on their day" was not to be had for lov« or money, and therein lay the weakness c£ the chosen eleven. A tremendous crowd assembled at the pio turesque Headingly ground, Leeds, to witness the opening of the great struggle. The prospects at starting were decidedly in favour of England, heavy thunderstorms on the previous night having produced just the kind of wicket which Australians dread, and v.Jiich has usually proved fatal to them. Nevertheless, Darling, who won the toss, deuided to j take first innings, fearing that tlie v-ickefc I would deteriorate later. But, instead of pur- ! suing his customary tactics, he sent in two hitters, Worrall and Kelly, with orders to hit all they knew, instead of going in fonsteady defence. Worrall acted heartily oa those instructions, and soon, put together 24--But Kelly, Noble, and Gregory were got. rid of in quick succession without contributing] a single run among the whole three! Worrall had actually made 37 before anyone *!ae added a run. Hill then made a stand, but, even so, Worrall had made 76 out of 95 when. he was smartly run out. Except for Hill's 34, the rest of the scores were small, >nd the total, only 172, was a severe disappointment to Australian hopes. The fine bowling of Young and Briggs, the two left-handen-, backed up by Lilloy's excellent wicket-keep-ing, and by superb fielding generally, proved too much for the colonists, and the foresight of the Selection Committee was justified. ■Worrail demonstrated -very forcibly the feasibleness of rapid scoring off the best bowling even on a soft pitch. Half of his hits were " boundaries." On the other hand, Quaife's 20 was a specimen of pure stonewalling. It served, however, to exhibit the variety of the Australian tactics. They exhausted every dodge the first evening to dispose of him, including the use of a " »illy mid-on " and "rilly short-leg," but all -.<ras in vain. Next morning, however, Jouee's second over Snished him, without another run haying been added. Most of the best JEnglUh bats failed dismally. Banji only n.ade 11, Maclaren and Jackson— the two rival candidates for captaincy — but 9 each ; Fry's 38 was a little better; Lilley's 53 and Hayward'a 40 (not out) were the best things of the English innings. Trumble was the Australian bowling hero, with five wickets for 60 ; Noble coming next with three for 82. But the English innings, after all, only headed the Australian by 48, and it was still " anybody's match." Curiously enough, the Australians' second innings only headed the Englishmen's first by 4 runs, of which no fewer than 22 were extras— a very unfavourable testimony to the English fielding behind the wickets. But the mother country had undergone a sad disaster. Poor little Briggs was so intensely excited by the game that he experienced an epileptic seizure, and was unable to take further part in the match. Thi* deprived his side of its slow bowler and one of its best all-round men. Both Noble and Gregory made a "pair of spectacles" each, their score being "0" and " 0." And Hearne did the " hat trick," taking three wickets with successive balls. Each feat has very few precedents in test matches. Kelly and Trumper made a plucky stand, until tlie former was caught off Hayward^ Trumper was wonderfully cautious, and was in 25 minutes before Bcoring. Young had bad luck in that several times he beat both batsmen and shared the stumpe. Trumpet was cleverly taken in the slips after batting 100 minutes for his 32. The innings tasted

{three hours and 35 minutes. Hearne bowled s throughout. In England's quarter j n>f au hour's batting Brown was beaten in ]Noblo?s second over, but the ball missed the iricket. M'Leod fielded as substitute for (Worrall. There was no play on the third day, owing %o heavy and continuous rain, and the match ivas drawn. England required to make 160 bo win. U ' -—