AUSTRALIAN AND FOREIGN CRICKET.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6131, 18 March 1898, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN AND FOREIGN CRICKET.

Trott is pi"OV6l'l)ioU7 fortunate in tossing for innings, but of thtf four tosses he has had with M'Laren. . the , latter has won three. The Englishmen will leave Adelaide for" England in the Ormuz oil Martfb. 24. A. C. M'Laren will not play in the Sattth Australian match; he joins the steamer two days earlier at Melbourne. At a meeting of the Victorian Criciet Association, it was decided to suggest to the Cricket Council that next year would be an opportune time to send a team to England, and that the Council should control, and, if necessary, finance the tour. If rumour be correct, Ranjitsinhji will not bo so long cnxtot English cricket as expected, lor though he starts in India on tbe road home, thereis a possibility of his getting back to England in time to play for this eleven against the rest of England. \ Ranjitsinhji took »■ wager about a horse !at the Kensington Racer Meeting, a gathering held in the vicinity <rf Sydney, recently. The horse won, and- the 1 Prince invited the rider to call upon him in the evening for a present. At the hotel that evening a big fellow put in an appearance for the money, and got it. Later the real jockey, a wee mite named Kuhn, about four atone in weight, also came along. The Pirince hwited him to call again. Of Jone's bowling in the last test match "Observer" writes : — "Jones had alltthe pace on then yet Phillips, from who3e* end he bowled, found nothing objectionable at any time in his bowling. It was funny tonote the stir on the ground when Jones-;, for the first time, went on at Phillips's end.. In the press-room, a half-dozen telephones told the impending possibility to the Sydney new3-boards, and some thousands* or so of spectators said, '. Now we'll see what will happen.' It had all the importance of a national crisis, in which a bellicose spirit is followed by- mutual conciliation." In his notes on the play on the first day of the last testmatch " Observer " writes in the Australasian : — "Everything went well with the Englishmen, for M'Laren won the toss, though he should not have done so. Harry Trott, like Pharaoh; had dreamed a dream on Friday night. He saw M'Laren spin the coin, called 'Head' with his usual intellectual preference for that end of the human frame, and saw tail shining quite distinctly on the ground. Any racing man would have told him that the office was good enough to follow, and the exasperation of some people on hearing that Harry Trott — the shrewd Australian captain, .the man. whoso 'first principles in tactics had been picked up in Collingwood, the man whom luck had so long backed at pitch and toss — should ignore such an obvious revelation was too deep for word&> In spite of the dream, Trott called head;! and when he saw the tail sneering at him, so to speak, he smiled such a smile that many cheered;' thinking he had won, and' telegrams to that effect were sent away."" " Not-out" writes in the Sydney Referee of March 2 as follows: — A very private meeting of the Australian players was held at Coogee on Monday evening 1 to discuss the next Australian Eleven. Those concerned were much,, astonished to read about it on Tuesday morning. Major Wardill wa3 asked to undertake the management, but cannot yet see his way clear in the matter. There is no man more popular with cricketers in Australia than the Major, nor is there anyone more deserving of popularity. By the way, does tho Council not appoint the manager? The South African tour, on the way home or back, is being spoken of, and to be seriously considered. It is to be hoped it will get no further than the considering stage, for the only possible object of such a tour would be " gate money." There is a medium in all things. A South African tour would probably entail on the Australian season a big handicap. The men would return stale and heartily sick of cricket, and as far as New South Wales is concerned, such a thing, if repeated in 1899 as in 1896, might result in some of the cracks having to stand down for the time being. A. C. M'Laren, in. an article in the Manchester Courier on the first test match, pays the following tribute to Ranjitsinhji's innings : " The most wonderful perf ormance I've ever seen is that of Ranjitsinhji this match ; indeed, it stands out far above any I have ever witnessed, and feel sure ever will witness. On winning the toss I asked him if he had had a knock.and, as he had not, Briggs and Hirst gave him a few. On returning to the pavilion he said he could see the ball, but was as weak as a kitten in his legs. He thought the suggestion that he should go in No. 7 was a good one, as, with a bit of luck, he might not have to bat the first day, and if he had, it would not be for leng, and the following day would see him stronger. All went well; for he kept his wicket up for the fifty minutes he had to bat on the first day, but was so exhausted on returning to the dressing-room that he conlcl scarcely speqi, and had to be helped in the taking off of his flannels. Next morning he was decidedly stronger, but that did not mean very much. From the very start of the continuation of his innings he forced the game and added 188 to his overnight's score of 39. He went for the bowling more than is his usual wont, fearing that his strength would not last out to enable him to play a long innings. After luncheon on the second day he appeared to do what he liked with the bowling, for any ball that was far enough out to play out to he simply pulled wherever he -wished, always -well clear of any fieldsman. Excepting his journey frcm Armidale, where he spent a week in bed, he was only out of doors the day before the match, taking a drive out on Sunday afternoon. His innings was, indeed, the most wonderful one ever heard of when everything is taken into consideration."