ENGLISH CRICKETERS

Southland Times, Issue 19434, 24 December 1924, Page 6

ENGLISH CRICKETERS

THE FIRST TEST MATCH AUSTRALIA’S SECOND INNINGS BAD WEATHER STOPS PLAY. (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) SYDNEY, Decemebr 23. (Received December 23, 7.40 p.m.) Play for the fourth day of the first Test, Australia v. England, commenced in bright, very hot weather. The wicket was on the hard side and the outfield was good. A. Richardson and Kelleway carried on from the previous day to the bowling of Tate and Gilligan. Tate was in good form, but Richardson cut his off stuff nicely, and piled up the score in good • style, reaching 50 in 62 minutes. When the board show’ed 84, Richardson was nearly run out. He called on Kelleway, but the latte? did not move and Richardson, who was then threequarters of the way down the pitch, had to rush back and just succeeded in beating th,e ball. Gilligan nursed his bowlers and made frequent changes, but Richardson played them all confidently. The favourite stroke of Richardson’s is a hard drive down the pitch. Hearne, evidently remembering Saturday’s painful experience, left them alone. Gilligan was bowling a nice length and with the assistance of a breeze maintained a good pace. Kelleway scored slowly, his 23 taking 76 minutes. The second wicket yielded 75. Collins, on going in to bat, received an enthusiastic welcome. He opened cautiously, and in half an hour before lunch made two runs. Freeman’s deliveries were pitched well up, and dropped quickly, and although Richardson was stepping well out, he was usually unable to get properly under them. late sent down few loose balls, and the runs against him were mostly stolen singles with an occasional biff, cut, or glance. The English fielding was excellent and Chapman, Gilligan and Freeman were responsible for some sharp returns. The score of 100 was signalled after 78 minutes’ play. Gilligans bowling showed considerable improvement over last week’s performance, and after lunch he had the batsmen tied up. He sent down three successive maidens. Tate, who was suffering from an injury to his foot, was unable to reproduce the first day’s form, but nevertheless he was responsible for some good w'ork. Richardson, when two off the century, tapped the ball back into Freeman’s hands. Richardson has an unfortunate habit, when within striking distance of a century, of trying to pass it with a biff hit. Just before he was dismissed he had a narrow escape. He occupied the crease 169 minutes, and hit nine fours. Collin-s now took upon himself the burden of the scoring, and play livened up, the I slow bowlers, Hearne and Freeman, not ; proving very deadly, but the smart fielding was keeping the runs down. Collins showed splendid judgment in placing his strokes and gained much applause from the onlookers. The second century took 198 minutes, and when the total was 210 Collins put the ball into Woolley’s hands in the slips, but the fieldsman dropped it. Collins’s own tally was then 37. Woolley redeemed him--elf somewhat by brilliantly catching Ponsford. Heavy clouds made their appearance during the afternoon, and conditions became sultry. At the tea adjournment the wind dropped and at 4.50 p.m. a heavy gale with a dust storm arrived and compelled an adjournment with the score at 5 wickets for 257, as it was almost impossible to see across the ground. A phenomenal scene followed, the crowd scurrying for shelter, while myriads of newspapers which had been used to sit upon, were blowing up in the air and across the ground. A little rain fell about five o’clock, and play was resumed at 5.30, in a heavy wind, but had to be abandoned for the day six balls later. The attendance was 16,000. DETAILED -SCORES. Following are the scores:— ENGLAND. First innings 298 AUSTRALIA. First innings 450 —Second innings.— Bardsley, b Tate 22 A. Richardson, c and b Freeman .... 98 Kelleway, b Gilligan 23 Collins, not out 53 Fonsford, c Woolley, b Freeman . . 27 V. Richardson, c Hendren, b Tate .. 18 Hendry, not out g Extras g Five wickets for 258 MORE PRAISE FOR HOBBS. AUSTRALIA’S FIELDING BELOW STANDARD. SYDNEY, December 23. The Herald, commenting on the play, says: "Hobbs, by his batting yesterday, achieved the crowning success of his cricket career, and enjoyed the personal felicity of making his seventh century in Anglo-Aus-tralian test cricket, thus eclipsing the record of the late Victor Trumper, who had six to his credit. The first three of Hobbs’s centuries were made in successive matches in 1912—a feat no other batsman has emulated, and his fourth followed with only one match intervening. By his success yesterday he reached an aggregate higher than that of any other Englishman. The only other players to secure more runs than Hobbs in tests are Clem Hill, Victor Trumper and Warwick Armstrong. His latest innings was eminently typical of his methods, and quite characteristic of him—without flourish or studied style. He is always a most pleasing batsman to watch, if only for his easy, his quiet and confident manner, and his workmanship.” The paper adds: “The fielding of the home side hardly came up to the traditional standard of Australian elevens, There are still possibilities in the game, but the match advantage has swung over very decidedly in favour of the Australians.” HOBBS’S BATTING. A WORLD’S RECORD. (Special to the Times). WELLINGTON, December 23. In scoring his seventh century in the test match, Hobbs has broken the world’s record previously shared by himself and the late Victor Trumper. In all, 32 Englishmen and 29 Australians are in the list of century scorers in the test matches. For England, Hobbs has made seven, MacLaren and Jackson five each, and Shrewsbury, Tyldesley and Russell three each. For Australia, Trumper made six, S. E. Gregory, Hil? and Armstrong four each, and McDonald and Darling three each. Hobbs has established another record in securing the greatest aggregate of any English batsman in test matches, with 1940 runs. The record was previously held by MacLaren with 1931 runs (an average of 387). The Australian record is held by Hill, with 2668 runs. Of Hobbs’s seven centuries, three have been scored at Melbourne, two at Adelaide, one at Sydney and one at Lords. Hobbs’s record in test matches now reads: Matches - 22 Innings 38 Not out 3 Highest score 187 Runs 1940 Average 55.42 By way of comparison, Collins leads the Australian batting averages in test matches with 57j08 runs for 13 completed innings.