CRICKET.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12438, 16 December 1903, Page 2

CRICKET.

©NGIMSND y. AUSTRALIA

tfIRSI TEST MATCtT.

Dwited Press Association. -By Electric i eiegraph.— Copyright. Received December 15, 5.57 p.m. Sydney, December 1.*5.? Kelly had only adtbd eight to his overnight score when he was beat™ by a beautifuh-ball from Arnold. fine for 36. Duff joined Gregory, and both played a steady, game. When, the J o rrocr had 23 to his credit he made an uppish stroke, but Warner failed to get up to it. Some smart work between the wickets resulted in the century 1 eing posted in. 96 minutes, but at the luncheon adjournment Gregory put a ball from Rhodes into Lilley's hand. Tw o for 102. Hill joined Duli", and the ifaglish bowling changes were , rung, rapidly. The batsmen were playing the bowling with freedom, and several instances qf i loo.«e .fielding helped the score. Duff was sixty-four minutes in reaching his half-century, whilst a J3!iH with' some very fine strokes was scoring faster than his partner. Both had collared the' bowling and runs came quickly, Hirst and Bosanquet being expensive. At ISI Relf came on in place of Bosanquet, - making the sixth bowler tried.

Rhodes pitched one well up to Puff, who gave one "of tho softest catches, spooning it to Hell i.t mid-on. Trumper succeeded, and at this time Relf had captured two wickets- for nine runs. Keif was bow ling well, and gave Hill some trouble, play booomjing slow. The second ccn'tury «as registered for three hovw 10 minutes' play. Trumpet' was making wmc f>ne though unproductive strokes, and Hill who had scored freely at <he commencement, slackened off considerably. This result waa due to the excellent bowling of Rhodes an 1 Relf, nost of. <he runs being obtained by singles. The fielding also had smartened ut>. I Hirst relieved Rhodes at 206, and the game livoned up somewhat. After tea Trumper reached double figures. He had so far played with caution, anct both players were making some clever running between tho wickets. Trumper 'punished Hirst in

the first over after tea to the extent of niac runs. I Hill obtained his half certury >n just under two hours, both batsmen Laving scored merrily, hitting up -5 m M t- minutes. Rhodes lepluee 1 Hirst and i*tis had £ the effect of steadying- the .-core a Jg little. Brauncl relieved ltclf at the H other end, Trumper cutting his first > r two balls to the boundary. The third id went for fo\ir byes ; Trumpcr cut the 'p fourth for another four, and his sixth *~ ball Trumiper drove hard. c " They ran for it and attempted any other for au overthrow, and I.illey > s knocked the wickets down. •d Hill did not seem to be out, and a it regrettable hostile demonstration was to made against Crockett, • the ! r n<vl!sn 2 s umpire, it being the worst over totn ld on the grounds. Warner consulted f" with Noble, and the game was Sibpgt ped for a few minutes. F o «r ?<>r..204. 5n Trumper had reached 50 in an hour, le driving splendid boundaries in <;uiok Id succession off Braund, making JS off c - his over. c " Arnold to o k his place and 'ijblc, who had succeeded Hill, left the heor- • n ing to Trumper. 1_ The deficit \yas wiped off in four ie hours, and the third century posted >r a few minutes later. , it Trumper continued to s'oic at a rs great rate, treating all the howlers ■** impartially, and achieved his c-eatury 1 amidst applause. The task occupied yL 94 minutes. Bosanquet, who had reer lieved, Rflf, tempted Noble out, and id Lilley stumped him. Five for Mi. rb Armstrong assisted Trumper to I-lay a out time. Scores :— >r Australia, first innings 3?£ * c Entrlqn'l, first innings s"i~t ip "/^ [g AUSTRALIA. — Second innings. >p Kelly, b Arnold jT " Gregory, c Lilley, b Rhodes 4c ° Duff, c Rdf. b Rhodes H ' Hill, rim o ut CA IS Trumper, not out Hi t_ Noble, st. Lilley. b Bosanquet ... '2i a Armstrong, not out* ]'4 )f Sundries 2] **■ Five wickets for 3G7 Received December ]5, 10.3 a.m. s ,t, t Sydney,- December I 5» The Herald says of second ri&y ; ._ It was a day of new records all *a- [ > long the line, the man who pljjyed i, the most important part therein *"ap1 pearing f O r the first time in a mat;* & England v. Australia. The Austr a a lians have an extraordinary task bej fore them, and it seems tfbsm-d to 1 think, on ihe face of it, that they t can win, though more evidently im- , possible things have been, accom2 plished. The bowleis had the hardest » task that ever fell t o their lot ,i:i a test match, yet it cannot, be" said' that they did n o t bowl well. Two men registered 389, and these were the only two that collared the bowling, ffovvell bowled remarkably well, Lut the others weie bowling against a man to whom the ball acquired the dimensions of a pumpkin— cni a. big > one at that. The wh o le team worked very hard in the fieldThe Telegraph, summing up Foster's record, says : To begin with, he i joined the small company, of p'aycrs i who scored centuries in their tirst api pearances in test cricket, and then beat Rangitsinjhi 175, hitherto the biggest inning's for , England in a match of the Hud, the latter b<;ing given the go-by by Gregory's (the ■ highest score in a test match iir Australia). A few" minutes afterwards Murdoch's 21 1 was no longer the record innings for a representative fixture, either in Australia or England. Going on; he played the bigaest innings'ever playecl by an Englishman ugainst Australian bowling, and finally beat the A"ustr.alin&' 'total off his own bat. Though they had along •►utin^; i the fielding never became loose. Admirable work was Jone hy everybody, , without exception.. Although the bowling got a, little demoralised when Foster had been f!o» T ging it for the last hour, for the most part it was good. It may be mentioned that yesterday established the fifth and last wicket test records. deceived December 16, 10 h.m. . Sydney, December 16 A smart shower fell at one o'clock this morning, and it was drizzling till four. Now (8 a.m.). it 'is" fine,' but heavy clouds are hanging about. The Herald, discussing yesterday's cricket, 3ays : " H was very attractive^ the rate ofj scoring pleasing tho crowd. The best innings of iho day was played by Trumper, who, niter feeling, his way for, a few overs, opened on the bowling and punished" it unmercifully. During one portion of his .innings he obtained 60 -uns. in 40; minutes, and at no time took any-; risk whatever, Dufiv Hill, and Noble batted soundly. The contest is still: very much in fav o ur of tho Bntr!foh-; men, though tho Australians 'have considerably improved their position.", The Telegraph says : "Although there was a good record ot runs for th© day, tho , English bowling was never really collared. Braund, howcvor, suffered! rnthor severely. On one

or two oocabions Ju the eai'ly j'.ortiun oi the day the rate of rua-oott/iny was only normal, but Trumper, wb» displayed sterling form all round the wicket, increased it. The keynote of the piay of thq Australians was steadiness. They would taUe :io li&lcs whatever. If the challengers) can be deadly^ serious about contesting " ibe ashes.,'' so, t a o 3 can the defenders, and these Australian batsmen plodded along on their great uphill journey, and they lacked nothing in the way cf moral support from tl:c spectators. Tht- temperamentary barometer rose to fever heat as every, four was hit,*' Received December 16,, 10. 35 ;>..m. Sydney, t)ecember IG. Regarding what it terms "the most unfortunate, regret table Hill inci.ioriit/' the Herald says:' 'Hill over-ran the crease to such an extent that ho had to negotiate aTjoui ' ten yards dead ground, and failed to make the opposite, crease. Qrockett's decjsionwaa reeeiveJ by a most hostile demonstration all ' round the ground, which continued at intervals during the afternoon. X umbers in the pavillion who had v taken part said, v.-hat a serious insult it was to the v;siting team and to the umpire. There is no intention here to say .that .Crockett's decision was- good or bad. Umpires ar"e r not infallible, ,gnct"perhans the batsman who suffers" it o-cl ay to- j morrow.'' i , ',1 ;': ,'?' , i The Telegraph says : " Among those sitting square 'with the wicket opinions differed,- and Crockett ~who was in the best place of all to judge, had uo doubt whatever about It. Hill, on the other hand, -deslrires'he/ was in with a yard or two to' spare. -TFe is far too good a sportsman to say this if he did not believe it. As for Crockett, he has >shown himself during many seasons past to be an efficient,, conscientious ""umpire, and entitled to have hte decisions .treated with respect, but yesterday'; he- was < subjected to a hostile demonstration," which continued, almost uninterruptedly utf«til the drawing of stumps: Then && /the elose-of : the^day, "as players ' and umpires were returning to the pavilion many members"- jpf the j crowd *mas: sed near the steps, renewed their howling and hooting. On thien'-'occasioti, however, there was a small attempt at a counter demonstration." The episode is unfortunately- not without a paralTel on tbe Sydney cricket "ground, but is none the less disgraceful- en that account. - • '"■ •«• .^-v Received December 16, 213 p\m. <: . Sydjney, December IG. The weather was cool. At 12.30 p.m. the Australians had lost 6 wickets for 393. Trumper, not out 332 Armstrong • 27 Hopkins, not out ... -.0 Received December 16, 2.44 p.m. Sydney, December 16. At 1 p.m. 6 wickets were down for 438: . • , ; , » ; Trumper .. T . 155 Hopkins ..'. .., 19 Received December 16, 3.13 p.m. Sydney, December 16. At the luncheon adjournment 7 wickets were down for 460. Trumper, not out 171 Hopkins * ' ... > . . 20' Layer, not out 4