The English Cricketers

Southland Times, Issue 19228, 15 December 1903, Page 2

The English Cricketers

FOSTER'S OREAT SCORE. Per United Press Association. By Electric Telegraph — Copyright. SYDNRY, Dec. 14. Received Dec 14. 7. 82 p.m. There was perfect weather ami a fair ittendance nt the. match Knyland v. Lustriiiia to-day. The wicket whs in xcellent condition. The overnight partners continued their rard, vigorous hitting, but smart i elding 1 prevented rapid scoring When traund wns 92 Hopkins, on the bounInry, missed a difllcult chance. The latsrnien brought their scores up evenly, •'oster was the first to secure his ceniry, bringing the third century in view it tho same time. Foster had batted 3 lour* 49 minutes for his three figures. \ few minutes later, Braund, with a :ouplo of fine boundary drives, brought iis century up in 2 hours 51 minutes. Several changes in tho bowling had l)oen tried without troubling the partners Howell. with his next (?) ball to Uraund scattered his stumps. The retiring batsman had made 15 fourers— ."• wick <.>t?> for :ioi> Hirst joined Foster, hut Howell, who was bowling with excelkul judgment, got Hirst's bails in the next over with his first ball— o for 311. Howell pot these two wickets at the expense of 9 runs, and sent down live maidens out of eight overs. Bosan<iuet followed, and added a couple; then ho tipped the lirst ball of Noble's . second over. Howell' catching him low down in tlic Klips— 7 for 318. Lilley got a boundary hit and then lifted Noble high and Hill made an ea9y catch— B for &TJ2. Foster continued to bat magnificently, with clean hurd strokes, and topped Nobles scorn amidst great applause. With Keif's advent the play became stow. The new man stonewalled persistently, ihree singles being credited to him for •io minutes' play. Wuick changing of bowlers made no difference to Foster, who played with complete confidence everything- sent him; Uelf reaching double iiguivr just within the hour. The fourth century was recorded as the result of <>i hours' play. Foster immediately aft«r had a narrow escape- He lifted one hack just over the bowler's head, but nciunr Hopkins (the bowler) nor Saunders got hold of it. *'oster then became excessively active, rattling off boundary hits in great Htyii-, the liold having us lively bit of leather hunting as they have had for a very long time. Tho howling was so badly tied up that in the extremity Gregory was tried, making ihe eighth bowler put on. Foster, with a line carpet drive for four, recorded his second century, and received) on ovation. Keif's time then came, for he placed one in tho fillips, which Armstrong held— 9 for 447. After tea Rhodes, the last man, accompanied Foster to the wickets. Great interest was attached to the latter, as he had approached Murdoch's test match record of 211. Cheers rang out lor the boundary hit which placed 211! to Foster on the board. Rhodes acted chiefly on the defensive, while Foster scored fast. bringing up 500. With the bowling in a thoroughly tired rendition, Rhodes took liberties and knocked up a respectable total. Foster was terribly severe, and of 16 off ono of Howell's overs 13 were credited to him. Foster sent away fourers almost every stroke, and brought his total up eijual to that of Australia. Then his great innings concluded; he lilted one cf .Saunders' to Noble. Foster, who had batted for <\ hours 4*J minutes, hit 38 fourers He received n great ovation on returning to the pavilion. KN(! LAND— IST INNINGS. Warner, c Kelly b Layer 0 Haywurd, b Howell 15 fyldesly, !> Noble ... 53 Arnold, c Layer b Armstrong ... '27 Foster. ( - Noble I) Saundi-rs 287 ltruuint, It lUiwell 10'J Hirst, b Howell ... . ' . 0 llo.suiH|Uct. c 1-loWfll b Noble 2 uiiey. c HiJI b Noble [\\ i Uelf, <• Armstrong b Suunders . . 31 Rhurk-s. not out . ... 4O Sundries 1G I'otal 577 Saundors took 2 uickets for 120, Layer I for 11 W. Howell 3 for 110, Noble a lor «<>, Armstrong 1 f o r 47, Hopkins 0 for 40. Trumper o for 12, Gregory 0 lor H. With 'JO minutes tr» piny, the Australians begun their second innings Kelly and Gregory facing the howling of Hirst nnd Arnold. After a couple oi overs th<* lattvr was relieved by Rhodes. and with thtj, total standing at 11 Bosanquet went on nt Hirsts end. A separation had not been elTected when stumps were drawn for the day. — Australia— l Ht innings 2£3 2ND JNNINCS. Im-Mv, >n>i out 5 (Jregory. not out '"' '" g .Sundries , ,', " # " 5 No wickets for 16 Oi Saturday's play the Herald says tuat up (o luncheon the pitch was dimcult The general character of the Knif liHhmen s batting was slow in strol f_ .•ontrast to the risky strokes of the first three Australians. , Any stroke whi.h carried with it the slightest danger was avoided. This was not attractive to spectators, but was going along way to wards wiunn^ tho match. Foster ana liraund were particularly cautious 1 hey can however, scarcely' bo blamed for not playing TOoro aggressive cricket. I hey were out to win. The brilliancy nt the innings came from Tyldesley, who gave a most delightful exhibition. Ihe Telegraph says any queerness of the wicket m the early part of the play was equally divided. The features of the day u-p.,-., the brilliant innings of Tyldesley mi a the hrn partnership between Foetes and Braund. Tyldesley's batting wns the brightest sevn on the ground for a ong while, nnd as good as Trumper at his best Foster's and UraundVrungetting was ut the rate of nearly 70 an hour but not fast enough to please the crowd, who seemed to forget that the tea,,, was out t o win test matches, Tho ""wly to provide a spectacle, lhe sjwftncuinr hrp-works element has <»iie of the principal sources of weakness in recent Knglisn elevens, and hemp naturally aggressive players their )eno< ls o <,uietness formed a tribute to me bowlms and fielding, both of which ere exce lent The onTy chance offered was a difficult catch to Gregory by foster when 51. B y vy