NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2686, 6 September 1905, Page 63

NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

Mx -C. &. "Wilson, ihe well-known exMelbourne- cricketer, -who has been m Inveroasrgill for .-some years,- has been transferred to Dunedin. Mr Wilson has been ' closely identified with sport, particulariy crioket, of-whioh pastime he has been tLe backbone of Southland. Here is a chance to secure a - good' mail ("or one of- our loc-il ciubs. - Donedm could- do~ with such a keen player as; Mr-Wilson, who would also make * splendid- captain of- the First Eleven. .The ."district -scheme of cricket is to be in voguein -this 'year, and already "the 'districts agreed _upon ; are; holding fmeetingsr-to^-form.- clubs.- A meeting of East* rChristehurch-: players--. was- held the \ other -eVionuagjV when' on the motion- .of Air ¥.' Gx Raphael it -was decided 1 to. form a cricket • club,<v to .>: be knowm as .the "East

Ghfistchuii>K' : -'t3rictet ' Club. Amongst' the "- ©ffioe*bearei3 -- elebted * -to the newly-formed

«lttb«l'inotice'.two-rex-Dunedin- players in -R.

it. Esber;vof' "Cafisbrook, and J). : H. Thoni•on, of j.tha Otago Cricket Association; and- an ex-member of the .Albion' Club. - -Two' cricketers- known fo us personalty were in-r.-good" form with the bat, playing for Middlesex - against .Essex the other day. -Tl*s&-;were-«P. -F. Warner and B. J. T.

Bosanquet. . The former, going in first, compiled 151.- batting in, almost faultless fashion for over -three .hours and a-quarter. Bosanquet played an- even more vigorous .game than Warner, whose" score he passed at {he end of ' two- hours and a-quarfceT. In two liours and a-nalE Bosanquet had compiled 179 xuns/ Twanty-eight times did Bosanquet send ihe Kail to •'ihe- boundary, ar>d despite the forcing- tactics he adopted, his play, was without blemish. Warner did not make » blunder during his stay at the !lricket3. He hit fourteen Vs, eight 3's, and _, eleven 2's. The Australians failed to secure a vio-

fcory against Surrey in May because, it is said, one of the Home bowlers had an _«ecident happen to one of his boots, and thus- caused delay, which lessened the Australians' time. Now we are told that in tb<j

Cambridge. v. Oxford match, the dark b'.u<j ' dapper had to take off W. H. B. Evans, because of' r a similar accident. Tha cricketer's outfit will have to include two pairs jof -boots. When the -mail left C. B. Fry headed the £ai-class batting averages in England with a to&l number of runs 01 1909, and m average ~o£ 70.70. G. Hirst was runner-ttp •rfth,- total runs 1513, and an average of 68.77-. In bowlingy Thompson, who was round here with LoTd Hawke's team of English cricketers, heads the averages, having secured 83 wickets at a cost of 1249 Tuns, producing an average of 15.04- per wicket. A. London, paper is responsible for the

following: — With the object rf i-noouraging vigorous cricket, the vicar of SturminsteT. Marshall, Dorset, has offered 2s 6d to the member of the club who in a match breaks any of the vicarage windows. Many persons are under the impression that it was the Australians who -declined to agree to the proposal that there 6hould only be two tosses in connection with the test matches in England. I'hc , idea was that the captain winning the toss on the occasion of the first test match fchouM have the cho'pe of innings, the losing captain the- choice in the second match, end so on, until the fifth, game. Then thore would be another tcss. It was the "Board of Control, appointed by the. Marylebone Cricket Club, that settled the matter. There was a discussion, and the mover of ise resolution, Lord Harris, then withdrew it. Tho Australians have- quite enough, to py.. up with in their downfall m the tests without being blamed for tnings they had no dealing with. # W. L. Murdoch, writing in the Daily Mail' on ths test match at Leeds :— ''Australia has one more debt of gratitude to pay Noble, who once more displayed all that coolness and determination that he is so noted -for in great emergencies. As lie told me this morning before leaving the hotel, it was <o be 'a day of bulldog tenacity.' Next in. order of merit comes little Sid. Gregory, who must be credited with all due praise for his great pluck at a most trying, time. As I watched him play with the same old dogged' way that his dear old dad used to do when his s r >cr& was 'in extremis,' I felt very proud indeed of the little boy I brought to Ebgland for his first visit 15 -years ago. Australia's batting was of a much- more determined' character than ' I have yet seen them display, and I was v-ery pleased indeed to see that they did not search for ihat off-ball so much. It must be admitted they made a most terrible start, and when Trumper got out without scoring, the feelings of all Australians can very easily be imagined. As poor Victor returned with bowed head and disconsolate ,^air, I felt very keenly for him. It was the | very picture- of myself when I retired after 1 a similar experience of 20 odd years ago, and it was easy for me- to imagin© what his thoughts were as he sorrowfully walked back to the pavilion. Still, I hope be had some consolation as he watched his comrades struggling so well, ancT wTTen tha slumps were pulled up owing to the bad light, I expect he did as I did— heaved a great sigh of relief." That the- "demon" Spofforth has not lost his cunning is evidenced by the fact that playing in a match in England a few days ago, >c spread-eagled the wickets of four batsmen in successive balls. Yorkshire scored a, very easy win— by an "innings and, ls7 runs— over Hampshire, the 1 principal -scorers iri_th© winners' 491 being Denton with 165 (his highest) and Roth-cry ■ with 118. - Then Myers and Hirst did rare : execution -with' 1 the ball/ the former taking nine > wickets- for .80 runs, the latter seven for 82. . "Tremeridous-sconng ruled in Lancashire v. Sussex, lit Brighton. 1286 runs being knocked up for the loss of *ut 24 wickets, or an i average of 53 per wickets The former side off -with the- huge total of 601 "for eight wickets, then declaring. Of these i runs Hallow's hit up 130 in lhr 50min; Maclaren made ' 92, and Sharp 90. Sussex replied with 383, Vine contributing a steady 124. Although -the whole of the afternoon remained for play, the champions did not make Sussex follow on; but went in again j themselves, and ran up 302 for six wickets J«t the -call of time. This gave L. Poidevin' ; opportunity of scoring 121 (not out) by finished batting; but it would have been better cricket to try and win the game. In connection with the test match at aii opportunity of scoring 121 (not out) by Leeds, a guinea was char-god for the grand stand for the match, but it liad no sort of shelter from sun or rain. In front was a cycle track which blew detestable dust in our faces (writes a correspondent of a Lon- ' don paper), and though a water-cart was used on other parts of the ground, it was never applied to our relief. Incessantly throughout- the day within the ropes passed boys and men yelling "Chocolate!" "Bananas!'' "Cards!" "Post-cards'" '"The Yorkshire book at a shilling!" "Evening papers!" "Apples I" 1 and so forth. At one time there were five bellowing together in front of the stand. The refreshment arrangements were far worse than at Lords, for the table-cloths were filthy, and I personally saw a waiter "dressing himself in the tent whilst ladies were having afternoon tea. The sanitary accommodation - was ludicrously insufficient, in the grand stand cards were not obtainable iov an hour after play began, and members of the Yorkshire Club were so crowded out of their own pavilion by guests of the fair sex that they pa.id a guinea for the, privilege of witnessing the game from a reserved ©eat.

It is not likely that first-class cricket will hear much rjoce d M. A. Nohle as a bowler. To bowl at his best takes too much out of him. Besides, as bowler, he has passed his prime (says "Not Out"). If he were a born or natural bowler, M.A.N. might retain his powers at their highest pitch for many years, but his success has always depended in a material degree on brain work, and the manipulation of the ball for curling or breaking purposes by almost solely finger action as against the arm, wrist, and hand action of less cultivated, yet more natural, bowlers. Though their achievements against England hare been so conspicuously unsuccessful, the Australian Eleven will leave the year 1905 connected with a few records. Since leaving Sydney, they have compiled nine scores exceeding 500 runs — viz., 533 and 593 for nine wickets against New Zealand ; 526 and 555 for six wickets against the Gentlemen of England, 527 against Gloucestershire, 620 against Hampshire, 609 for four wickets against Somerset, 556 against Sussex, and 609 against Northamptonshire. No other Australian Eleven has ever anproached this Tecord of high scoring. The 188*, 1896, 1899, and 1902 teams each scored over 500 runs in an innings twice only. There is one man in the Australian team whom the public vision generally consigns to a humble position in the background of its' test match, pictures. That man (says L. O. Boidevin) is t.he wicketkeeper of the party, good-natured old "Jim" Keily. He is always there, living laborious ' days, making the best of a bowler's lapse or a fieldsman? rashness : •he has not missed a test match for 10 years. This is the fourth time that he has vioited England as wicket-keeper for Australian Elevens. His first came over in '96, taking place of that prince of "keepers, 1 * Blackham. Like the latter, he hails froiu Victoria, but curiously^

enough he never played cricket for his native State. The lact was that in Melbourne he was quite overshadowed by Blackham. He was keen, enthusiastic, n lover of tho game; and despairing of over gettin" a trial fen.- Victoria he ciossed the border and tried his luck in New South Wales. The authorities in Sydney soon recognised hi 5 merit, giving him a place in the State Eleven, from which ho soon graduated into the representative Australian team. Few people would claim for Kelly that he is as brilliant a porformer *vs his great Australian predecessor He may not be a stylist, but for real effective work Kelly ranks with the very best. There is. no graceful polish about his work such as one associates with Martyn, no affectation; he is wonderfully quick in taking the ball, dexterous in removing the bails, and remarkably safe in holding the catches behind the wicket. He is a workman, scientific and sure, not an artist; a sense of toil i s the impression one gets in watching him, but his workmanship is sound and accurate. One of the finest pieoes of work accomplished by any keeper was his dismissal of Braund in the Manchester test match of 1902. Taking the ball after it had passed between the batsman's bat and legs he had tho log bail off in a trice before the Somerset professional, who had slightly overbalanced, could recover hi 3 foothold. It was brilliant in the extreme, a,r.d how much it contributed towards Australia's 1 remarkable 3 runs' victory I dare not suggest. „ You can generally tell the "keeper 01 a team by his hands. Kelly's hands offer no exception to ' the rule. He has large hands, well-seasoned to hard work, but j they bear numerous traces in the thickened joints aad bent fingers of the hard knocks that are the special privilege of wicketkeepers. During: last toui Kelly got an amusing letter "from a mathematician, informing him tha,t he had actually stopped an express train with his hands. There it was, a problem in physics, worked out in black and white by allowing so many pounds of momentum for each ball he Had taken throughout the year. On reading the letter Kelly remarked "that te ought to be reckoned the strong man of ihe team, not the wicket-keeper." He is a humourist in his way, although, you may not expect it from his solemn, deliberate, facial expression. He has been heard to describe himself a.nd Cotter, the fast bowler, j with a. genial smile sporeadiing itself among the countless wrinkles of his siui-browned, I honest face, "as the biggest fools in the j team." Apparently it -amused him to think j that Cotter should wear himself out hurl- j ing balls down the pitoh, and that he, Kelly, should stand up to bs generously battered by them. It is one of his gre-at virtues as wicket-beeper that he should be especially fine in handling the fast bowling. He seldoms allows a catch to go a-begging, a.nd you- may sometimes see him darting across yards on the leg-side after, the balr "that has been glanced to ]eg\ More than omoo be has -effected a- clever, if unexpected, catch in this way. There is a. notable instance standing on record where he caught John Tyldesiey wide on the legside with outstretched Left hand, after the little- Lancastrian, had c&eyerly glanced Hopkins to leg. Kelly is an honest,-l quiet worker behind the sticks, very serious about his business, and scrupulously fair in the matter cf appeals. He is a wonderful trier, a great man in a test j match, cool, determined, and plucky. Mr R. H. Campbell writes tc the Melbourne Argus: — C. Hill has now obtained the honour of being the most prolific rungetter that Australia has produced, a position long held by Giffen. He also holds the record for the greatest number of centuries hit by an Australian, as well as the record for the highest individual score in representative cricket. His record reads : — BATTING-. Htchs. Inn. N.O. Most. Buns. Avg. In Australia .. 75 13G 9 365 11 6SOB 53.60In England .. 104 157 6 160 4900 32.45 In S. Africa ..3 5 1 142 317 79.25 In America ..3 5 — 42 65 13.03 185 303 16 365" 11,090 38.64 CENTUEIES. Against Against. *365— N.5.W., 1900 ' *126— Victoria, 1900 '206— N.5.W., 1896 *124— England, IS9B 250— England, 1897 124— Victoria, 1903 188— England, 1898 123— Gloucestershire, 170— N.5.W., 1898 1901 160— Camb. Uni., 1899 119— England, 1902 159— N.5.W., 1899 *118— Surrey, 1896 *150— England, 1895 118— N. Zealand, 1905 149— Lancashire, 1905 116— England, 1903 147— Victoria, 1903 "116— Hampshire, 1905 142— S. Africa, 1902 "111— Victoria, 1904 136—M".C.C., 1902 IC9— IST.S.W., 189S 135— Victoria, 1899 107— England, 1901 135— England, 1899 104— Essex, 1902 132— M.C.C., 1899 104— Surrey, 1905 130— Derbyshire, 1886 vlOl--Combinedv lol- -Combined XL, 129— 1ST. Zealand, 1905 1899 THE AUSTRALIANS' TOUR. LONDON, August 28. A proposal is on foot to present a testimonial to Lilley as wicketkeeper in 27 test matches.