A BIT OF CRICKET HISTORY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 667, 20 May 1929, Page 13

A BIT OF CRICKET HISTORY

| After Lilly white’s team of profes- j J sionals was beaten in the first cricket [ Test match on the Melbourne ground in March,-*£B77, a team of Australians, captained by Lave Gregory, visited i England in 1878. The 35th match of j 1 that tour was staged on the Surrey j | ground (the <Dval), against the Play- j j ers of England, a side that would ! practically have been the same that J [ was defeated in Melbourne. Considerable difficulty was experienced in getting tho requisite- players, as the first team chosen asked £2O each for their services, alleging that the same j amount had been paid in Australia i during the visit of Lilly white’s pro- \ fessional team. As a matter of fact. J that sum was paid to Charlie Banner- j man only, and he had to travel about COO miles from Sydney and back. So ! another team was selected, and it j proved such a close contest that the j Australians won by only eight runs, j That match will long be remembered J for the fact that Barratt. a left-hand j bowler, took the whole 10 wickets in ' the Australians' first innings for 43 1 runs, not one man being bowled. At the conclusion of the match the Aus- 1 tralians. to prove that they were not j actuated by a mercenary spirit in { their dealings with the professionals who refused to play, but from a dis- i Inclination to be imposed upon, gave their opponents £2O each instead of £lO, the umpires £lO instead of £3. and doubled tho wages of every man employed on the ground during the match. Shortly afterwards the Australians played the picked men o€ the Players at Princes, London, the match ending in a draw. Australia made 236, and the Players 160. Barratt taking only three wickets on this occasion, the wicket being much firmer than in the Surrey match. L’lyett, Shaw and Selby were the only ones on the side who played in the first Test in Melbourne.