AUSTRALIAN CRICKET AND BOWLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 62

AUSTRALIAN CRICKET AND BOWLING.

INTERVIEW WITH MB C. J". PAYNE. Mr C J. Payne, of. thus city, has juefc returned from, a holiday ■ in- AueteaJiai extending over nine week*. While tfiere Mr- Payne was- fortunate enough"- to- witness 1 the three- test- nratoHeer between, th» Atastralians and tHe Englishmen. Me- P"*yne I also cjjne mte contact. w-Mt m«ny of the prominent bowlers of the. various Australian States, and toa Times reporter on Friday had something interesting to say on both subjects-. THE TEST MATCHES. " TPh».nkw to- Mir Warwick Armstrong, tlie well-known oricketer,." flaad* Mir. Pfeyaafi, "'J? h*d- exoeptional privdlege* aocordedr- me wJieieby t was enabled to.- ccc. alls three test matches,, and also the inter-State-nsttohes New South" Wales versus SoutlL Australia, and South Australia-yersue "Victoria. The most notable- incident in the interState? matches was, the great secret, maae. by Armstrong in. the match; against South Australia— namely,. 2231 runs. Oh thafc occasion the champion gave a very fine ehxibiiiißß of aH'-rouod' cricSef. The test matches . sust pl*yed: were probably three of idle- most excitin«. ever playedi At the- feiisb;. of the firet match they excitement' was* intense. The crowd waft a very impartial' one, and j appeared- to appreciate good, play >n both { Bidse. A« to the fiist test match in- Sjpdhey. ] I -was verys much sfcuekr by -tfee lar-epe-i crowds attending each, day.- On© was alac j struck by the free advica given, to Noblej. captain of" the Australian team, by the. crowd, and* m mosfc of each cases the >dyioe tendered bore gocxr'^fruit when. ioßowed out. In t&e fiKete test Fielder was probably the. most; noted' player, as he bawled superbly, and; assisted bys a- marveifous alip-fieH in Braund,, Hntchings,, and j 'Crawford, put fear into th» Australian batsmen. Braund was nick-namied' by the crowd. ' Bird-lime' Braund, a» sny*binft within yards of him was fielde* with: the: utmost oertaintjt. He, together with HutobIpgs and CJrawford, oonstifcuted- at deadly Blip-field for England. Barnes aiso troubled *he- Australian batsttnen, and' experts considered that with him and Ffeldear England!had two ot' iha. Best berwlers> that ever visited, Australia. Blytha and; Bhodea, wea» ■tried, but. though both great bowlers at Home, they were unable to get any work a>ut of the fast Austaliaai wicketsx and did: not trouble the batemen. As ta>the.]Sii«iisb» baiting, Gunn was the nero. Be was, Gfmm'aF fiißfc test, and he was one <rf- the very fewt to make a century on ba». first appearance, while in the secosid innin«» &c put up a' total" of 7*. HV gave a perfect exhibition, of batting. No bowler troubled? bint It appeared as if, had it not been for the fact that he was not. in goad health) and had tired 'perceptibly, he was in- to stay; at tie wickets during the whole innings. There waa no doubt bis weakness counted fox the loss of his wicket in each innings. Hardataff hit freely -for hie aide, and* delighted the crowd" accordingly: H«[ is recegnised aa prebably the' beat outfield England has-ever liadr nreetini? Australia. On* the Australian side Cotter, was bowling with great pace, and created quite a sensation by breaking' a stump ul two and sending portion of it flyinpr some 15ft to 20ft away. Clem Hill went in at a time when he -was- very much, wanted, and proved himself' a champion, by coming bo the rescue to the tune of 87 runs, in the first innings. HilV is a jireas- favourite- in Sydney, and was accorded a great reeep* tlojj. 'Trumpet -did not appear to* advantage in this match, and there 1 is no- doubt he ijas really not enjoyed tha best of: health, and that accounts for his not having done anything eensationalr in the testmatches. Asrnsfcronir in each inninga; bowled with wonderful accuracy, keeping a* perfect length, and. ■being, of great assistance to his side. When the rain, came on it looked as- if the' match was a certainty lor the English bat the, Australians axe known as wonderful- uphilK players; Armstrong azid, M-'Alister -pjay-edi all ther knew to keep their wicEei*- up until after the Huncheon a^onrnmenfreirtmr first day after the- rain, as it was- mfc im»£roviag wiekefc They succeeded in keeping •kogethec until i«st, before the* rancbeair aajimrnnient, and afta* tfie adjournment the*" wickei was practically *■ perfect one for" tfie batsmen:, notwithstanding 5 - the wanfeat, had- fclteir. C»rter played' a. 'great innings 7 for 61,. but whan. h& wa«i eaugflfe tha match, Looked a. certainty for the JSnolishmen, as Australia had about 7Q- runs te make to win the match, with Cotter, fiazlitt, and Saunders to bat. Hezlitt bad' beer untried and- Cotter waw fcnow» to be at slogger. When Cotter went to- the^ wieketslSng!a,r.\d, as usual, -placed, most of her men' in ic\» outfield, but miusli to their -surprise <3s^i>r opened oauliously and was confjiesi with ones, and instead of batting.- in.his *»J>aJ atyle he on thia occasion did other'S&fO, and was evidently acting tinder in■"^jtiens. He was in ueaxly two hours

and only Wk- one ♦; At the* tea- ffloljonrnment Cbttet* and Haadittf were still batting, andr 14- runs, ireue required to win. Although Australia had. Saunders to follow Cotter or Haalett, it was well-known, that Saundea would stop very few balls, from such men aa Fielder or Barnes^ and the= match therefore really depended on. Cotter and Hazlitt. The excitement waa so great at the tea. adjournment that the large majority of those present would not go away to the tea rooms- for tea. The whole body of people- was a living, mass of excitement. Four- or- five" gentlemen I know- of were so excited that they- could not light their pipes; and no less 1 than two of them- could' not allow-themselves to witness the finish, but retired behind' the pavilion until it was all aver. When Cotter and 4 Hazlitt returned to bat after the adjournment it was. noticed that they appeared perfectly cool, aawKnotwithstanding the advice thej got from the crowd, they played the same game as they- did before the adjournment. A persem not being present could hardly appreciate the true extent of the' excitement as run after run was added, and a win for Australia appeared in sight' When five runs- were wanted" the Englishmen overthrew for three runs, and! then Hazlitt, letting drive at the last ball' of the match,, put' it over the boundary for four- TJre spectators Tushed, the rJeld and' carried Hazlitt. and Cotter shoulder high, and' it took fully half an hour for the excitement to calm down. At «his match I' had' a privilege extended*' me which was enjoyed' by very few. On the Saturday; when, there were 32,000 people present, KTr Harry Buff (Wisden) and" myself were taken, by- Messrs Trumper' and' J. -Kelly, to the back of the scoring board. _ One: ob the* aperture*' in the boardr was; opened; and? looking through front' such a. point of vantage one- could ■see avery' person, on the' ground- It was a great sight and one never to be forgotten. The stands were packed and .the -fa-dies^ stood m particular -was a_glorious eight.,, being: chiefly, occupied by, ladies dressed' in^all varieties of colour. " Th* secondt test match, was also, remarkable for the- closeness, of the, play,, and. ther batting on. both sidey- was- very slow. Hutehings (126) being the only one tO'mdulge in anything: like free- hitting. This, match, after- three or four days- "play, appeared: to he a. certainty for Australia, but, aa is usual! with cricket, the certainty did not. came.- off. Tfie Englishmen a* the tail end made a wonderfiiT recovery; and. ultimately- pulled, tha match, out or tbe-fir-e. This- match, should have been- a draw, as Fielder: sfiould ha,va- Been run- out in the- last ball' Elated". Who* Engfimd's total, was- level with 'that of Australia, Fielder and" Barnes, had' evidently agreed to tvb. the first time th* ball' was touched. Tha badl .was.- played directly to Hazlitfc. and he fielded it well, and all he- required- to do was, to' hand it sowly to the wicket-keeper and. the matolr would, have been- a draw. Instead,, excitedly ,he let drive air the vrioket and. juafe missed it, and/ the Englishmen- won. Bjf at run and one wicket.. ■ Tber crowd cheered tha Englishmen: for their pluefcy win,, and! appeared, quite satisfied that- they deeecvetf ail*, they ha * .obtained. Tie third, teat match: in Adelaide 1 should certainly have.heen 'wen by the I&glishmen, as they w«re about 78 to the good? mv the first innings,- and' in the- second u^ngs Australiax had seven wickets, down. for about 140 runs. !EBea Clem' HiH and Hartagan made a wonderfuL stand and" put_ up- a record fb* the eighth wicket. Both had given very wmpTe ' ohaaioetF whan tney-w-ere about 20, which, certainly cost' the Englishmen, the match.. The Englishmen had bowled as well in ttie previous matches that the only way to account for-tfieir fidling-away is the extreme heat experienced, m Adelaide. Hffl'a performance* was little, short ox miraculous, a» h* was- so> ill- with influenza, that when He left the pavilion, to go to the batting creaße I thought, b» could not make a dszen runa. hi» nrsf few runs he* was very sjbH and tHree timesduring his- innings* had. 1 to; retire to vomit: The absence of- Cfctter was a. great loss- to the- Australians-; But matters- weira prjactically equalised* by the fact. Jhafr ffielder; although he nlayed for Ehglandi. was too* ill; to do any damage. Hartigan was. the hero of- the match. Tfia heart, daring: the match wa» dreadful, beingj ojtbt, llOdegi in; the shade. The men who stoodfc: the heat ,best eventually won the test. In- the Adelaide teat match there occurred one of the best catches ever made. in. test matches. This, was brought offr by= Macartney, thfr yeung New South? ' Welsfianazu Hardstaff ■ Bad madff T2r runs; and war batting very ' freely when, he- hit one to- long field. It spexb like a. sbofc out of ay. ' gnn. between 3a aiid 4Q- yards- from Macartney, whosprinted across ' field: a«d> right to theboundary, an* withr his. left, hand stopped and held the. bail. Speaking; to Hill and Armstrong after the match, they both con- • sidered it waa the best catch they had- ever ;seen in test matches. There is no doubt e but that Hartigao, Macartney, and- Bans--»fiord are three certain men to go Home ; with the Australian team in, February next Tiey are., three gentlemanly young" fellbws; beaTitiful fielders, and first-class batsmenMacartney ia a, player whe will certainly succeed on. the sticky wiokets at Home^ Further, he has shown himself to be x very- pluck pliayer. Cotter strain edv him Iself in the Melbourne match and. will- not play 1 in the- next test match, and it is very- . doubtful if he will be fit to play -in th©- ' final match. This- will be=-a- «ceat loss to - Australia, as, though, at timetr erratia, one: 1 never knows when, be is going- to, put up a > wonderful performance: T&e English, team is -recognised throughout. Australia, as* being; ' the finest all-ronncT team that has. visited the Commonwealth. Their bowling; is considered to be aa strong, as thatrof: any- preview team. Their batting is certain, and t u eir fielding brilliant. F would notr be surErised: to see the ashes go- to- England; especially if: Cotter i 3 unable to. ploy in. the final" match. The. F.ngliihmen> ha^e been, at a great- loas in. losing: t!he seEvitss* of tMr A. O. Jones, their Brilliant captain. E had the pleasure of meeting, him. in Hbhart, and he had practicaJly recovered -from his illness and! was, exoeetihg. to play/ 'in- ther next test match. Jones's inclusion i will probably mean: Fane's cetcremeirt from- ~, the English eleven.

|j During- a- diecuseion at. i±ta- Auckland' !t Presbytery " uponr the 1 - quß6tion."of'' Sunday .desecration, at Fukelcobe- reprßsentatiTo;J (ifr: Stevenson) declarecF tilat this, qnestibic i was a. trouble- to .hin* in. Hia. own: district:. j As- Br euperintehdfent of a Sunday/ acfie«r I (says- the New- 2?ealand Herald) he- de--plored the fact that on a Sunday, as* hepassed along the road* to teach in theSunday school, he saw a> reaper and* binder at work.