THEIR FIRST CENTURIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17352, 17 May 1924, Page 25

THEIR FIRST CENTURIES.

NOTABLE BATTING FEATS IN AUSTRALIA

(BY R. H. CAMPBELL, in S:me wonderful innings have bc«n played on Australian cricket grounds. In this article, dealing with the first centuries made by batsmen in representative cricksb, it jhould be clearly understood that I m referring onlv to such feats in Australia. All the Englishmen and some of the Australians named had made centuries in big cricket in other parts of the world before making their first three-figure score in th*s country. In the realm of test cricket here, Charles Bannerman provided a qui ts monumental. Qur.tain-raiser with Iris electi-ifying seer© of 165, made in 1877. Having his finger split by a fast ball from CJlyett, the batsman was compelled to retire Thus was interrupted one of the most memorable displays of batting genius in the history of the game. His sore included eighteen fours. SYD GREGORY’S Y _JAT. Nearly twenty y a:s ’ t r (in 1894) S. F.. Gregory made a further sensation of the first magnitude by hitting 201 against England in a +est. His mammoth entry conta’u:d no fewer than twenty-eight'fours. The way in which “ little -Svcl ’ literally flicked the ball to the boundary was a sourc© of surprise and delight to onlooker.'. three-figured effort in big cricket here. The enthusiasm aroused by this performance has probably never been excelled by an individual effort on the cricket field. All ages and both sexes joined in a remarkable demonstration, which culminated in the bat going, iomul. A testimonial of £lO3 10s was the immediate result, £25 being subscribed by the Syclnev ground trustees, while Major Ward ill. representing the Melbourne Cricket Club gave £5. The presentation was made by Mr G• IT. (afterward- Sir George) Reid, the Premier of New Couth Wales. This was a happy and well-merited recognition of one of the greatest examples of batting on record R B. FOSTER’S RECORD. It was in 1903 that the English master, R. E. Foster, beat the figuring. but not the form-, of Bannerman and Gregorv, by raising 287 in a test

■a Sydney—his first score i? a first-class; match in Australia. OpaniUK -v/itli some trivial inaccuracies, - o-ter presently developed a b~ tting turn of consummate brilliancy. His last fifty minutes at the wickets yie’ded 80 runs, the whole compilation having :n it an amazing count of 45 fours. Jorty-„.--yen years cf test cricket h s produced no othe r innings approachclosely to the third century. One more cricketing star, (i \ Faulkner, of South Africa. used a test match to open his century account in Australia a superh 204. hit at Melbourne m .911. The . wliolj; ranue of eco.-ing -strokes Tens ftWre been exploited in this masterly production Practically half the runs were raised by 2C choice clips to the boundarv By gottiiu? no ar Sydney in 1907, , Gunn not only made his how to the Australian public in a highly effective way, l't;t he provided the only ■ rl tance of anv player reaching three figures in his first innings, and at the same time his first t-est. in his country. Confidence and skill were alike evident in his batting, the former quality being reflected in the appearance of twenty fours on his scoring line—Bo runs out of 119. the record-breaker . Batsmen sometimes got the upper hand in those days as 'm these. But the whole range of big cricket in Australia has yielded no such striking example of 'The Centurion in Cricket ” as is being furnished bv WH. Pons ford. He is an inveterate patron of the century. Something like half his appearances in first-class matches having produred three-figured entries. And such entries—l 62 (his first century) against Tasmania. 429 against Tasmania last season, 248 against Queensland this summer, two separate centuries in one game against New South Wales. The like was'never written by any otiici batsman, beginner or veteran. It is interesting to compare Pousford’s 429 with the previous worlds record - Mao Bare n got his 424 (tor Lancashire v. Somerset. 3 896) in 7 hours 50 minutes, the runs including one six and sixtv-two fours. Ponsford’s 429 (for Victoria v. Tasmania, 19231 occupied 7 hours 57 minutes : the ‘ours numbered 4*2. Ponsford’s specialities this season include 159 v. South Australia ; 110 and 110 not out v. New South "Wales, in successive big match innings. Such a cluster of centurie* has never been exceeded in Australia. Ponsford is well described as a recordbreaker. THE FIRST DOUBLE CENTURY. To C. J. Eady, of Tasmania. belongs the honour of first getting two separate centuries in a match liis 11(5 and 112 not out for Tasmania v. Victoria at Hobart in 1895. The big batsman fairly burst noon the cricket--1 ing world. Prior to this double triumph I he had not appeare.l as a centurion in 1 representative cricket. When the j second Tasmanian innings left him not out, the field was invaded by admiring spectators, who, scorning Eariv’s size and weight, bore him. shoulder high, to the pavilion. A BRILLIANT INNINGS. Those who persistently clamour for faster scoring may find it refreshing to recall .T. N. Crawford's galloping 11.4 for England v. Australia, at Adelaide in 1907. Tne batsman was making his first appearance against a Sheffield Shield • team. and used the occasion to supply the most memor--1 able, example of hurricane hitting ever seen on the ground, albeit the Adelaide oval was the home of .1. .J. Lyons, who regularly did big things in the pace-making business. His most urgent cricket, however. never made such demands on the scorers us did Crawford, who compelled the recording of 28 runs from the first ten balls delivered to him. Presently lie hit twenty runs frorr an over, and in twenty-four minutes had 5*2 to his credit. One amazing crack of the wristy order actuallv went lor six over the head of cover uoivit. It was half drive, half cut - a unique stroke surely wherewith to land the ball over the pickets for six. During this bout of biff and bang. Crawford fairlv dragged an off then, % ball back to the bowler,

Claxton, but it was quit© too hot to bo held. He was ultimately caught and bowled after raising 114 in fiftyeight minutes. At the other end exactly half that- numlior were hit, but even that would be a high rate of scoring. A run a minute from each wicket represents over 60f) runs for the Melbourne “Globe.”) the day’s cricket. Such disfiguring haste is not common in these deliberate days. MURDOCH'S 321. V . L. Murdoch, in the early eighties our greatest batsman did not venture across the century line in Australia until he w r as ready with his 321 against Victoria, recorded at Sydney in 1882 There were thirty-eight fours in a charming innings that quite carrier! away the onlookers, who there and then recognised it with a xnesent of 200 guineas, £l2O of which was subscribed in fifteen minutes. Another great cricketer whose association with the centurions of Australia began with the triple hundred is F. E. Woolley. who in 1912. at Hobart. got 305 not out for England r Tasmania. Never previously had an English visitor reached even 200 in the Island State. Woolley became at once a hero, and so continued by virtue of an endless string of notable performances, both in Australia and England. NOTABLE FIRST APPEARANCES. Special first appearances in Australia have been made by quit© a number of famous bat run en. among them the inimitable wizard of the willow. Prince Ranjitsinhji. who got 187 for England against South Australia just after setting foot in Australia. Although described by “Ranji” himself as “a filthy innings.” there were flashes of brilliancy and hosts of wonderful hits, especially to leg. South Australian batsmen were fairly aghast at the boldness of these strokes. but Ranjitsinhji’s genius was in a class by itself—it was a genius as rich in invention as in execution. H© had a wonderful reception, in which his suffering opponents joined wholeheartedly. The great South African, A. *D. Nourse, was another celebrity to confirm his reputation ‘‘first pop.” Against South Australia, at Adelaide, in 1910, lie made 201 not out, his boundary hits (22) just equalling the number by Ranjitsinhji in his initial effort. Nourse began by stonewalling, his innings ripened into a display of hitting that raised 68, runs in 80 minutes The ovation accorded him spoke eloquently of the sportsmanship inherent in the South Australians. Adelaide appreciates skill in friend or foe. N Callaway singled himself out among New.’ South Welshmen as the only man to get a double century on his first appearance in big cricket. It was his only appearance, for soon afterwards he gave his life in the great war It was at Sydney in 1915, when Callaway contributed 207 against Queensland, playing admirable cricket, and embellishing a long innings with twenty-six fours. CROSSING THE BRIDGE. It is always a red-leter day in the history of a batsman when he breaks through from ninety to c, hundred. The bridge is usually made difficult and dangerous by nervousness. Once across, however, most players regain thAr confidence, and forge ahead. Some notable examples of this experience can be cited. When George Griffen ‘crossed over” for the first time, he parsed the second crisis successfully, finishing with 203 for South Ausis described as equal in merit to any tralia v. England, in 18S7. The innings ever seen on the Adelaide Oval. C. E. Pellew supplied another instancol ofTVftssing the danger point a second time when once he had negotiated the first crossing. His 271 against Victoria at Adelaide in 1920 had in it thirty-ce?en fours. Without a chance, and brimful of sparkle, this great innings is remembered . with pleasure by the fo.tunate, onlookers. Yet another bi-century entrant was Colin M’Kenzie, who reached 231 in introducing himself into this distinguished company. He got his runs for Victoria c. West Australia at Perth in 1910. and without being reckless was no laggard, as witness tire appearance of five 6’s and twenty 4's among his scoring hits. The effort wou him an ovation from the Perth crowd.

Next to Woolley’s 305, the biggest of the big starting scores came from tire greatest batsmen of them all, Victor Trumper. Peonle were admiring hrs style and predicting great things when Trumper ‘ broke out” with 292 not out against Tasmania at Syrls ney in 1395. Thirty-nine times he rapped the boundary. • It was an innings that compelled even his opponents to elreer enthusiastically. Not far behind Trumper's count stands the first reallv big thing done bv H. I - Collins, who. effectively called attention to his talent bv entering up 282 against Tasmania at Hobart in 1913. With superb leg play, and all round efficiency . he appropriated thirty-one fours and a five. It was a fitting forerunner of bis many subsequent successes. Among first centuries by batsmen of note, few have greater interest, than J. Wonall’s 103 for Victoria v. New South Wales at Sydney in 1898. ! To begin with, the runs were hit on a wretched wicket, the fourteen 4’s coming from strokes that were nothing short of courageous. But Worrall Avas a matured veteran at the time — had already held his place in representative cricket about twice as long as the average player. Most of our batsmen have done their clash and joined the has-beens before they have played half the innings that stood to Worrall’s credit when he entered up his first hundred.