WHAT “SPOFF” DID FOR AUSTRALIA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17878, 21 June 1926, Page 14

WHAT “SPOFF” DID FOR AUSTRALIA.

DEMON BOWLER HAD SCHEMING BRAIN. Unplayable Thunderbolts That Amazed England. The Demon Bowler dead! It is hard to realise it, yet he had reached the age of 72, and when a man crosses the allotted span it must be expected, says an Australian writer. It is only a few months since he was with us, on a visit from England, which has been his home for nearly 40 years, and to those of his old companions who met him then, talked with him, and found him as keen as ever on the old game, the news of his death comes as a shock. To the present generation, who knew him by repute only, there is, of course, sadness in the news, for the stories of his prowess and his wonderful feats had cast a halo around him; to the older generation who stood ■tinuMyr to shoulder with him in countless stem battles, and knew the man as he was, there is a deep grief at the passing of one who did more than anyone else to place Australia on the cricket map. MAKER OF HISTORY. Frederick Robert Spofforth was no ordinary man. Not only was he a wonderful cricketer; he was a successful business man, and he was a great ambassador for Australia. Had there been no Spofforth when the first Australian Eleven went home in 1878, the whole course of cricket history might have been changed. But for his extraordinary bowling, which shook English batsmanship to its foundations, that famous M.C.C. match in 1878 might not have been won, despite the gallant efforts of Harry Boyle, and Australian cricket might have had to wait many years for its fame. That memorable victory made Australian cricket in a day, and advertised Australia as it could at that time have been advertised in no other way. Conceding all that W. L. Murdoch, Charles Bannerman. Thomas Horan, Harry Boyle. Thomas Garrett, George Palmer. George Giffen and others did to bring fame to Australian cricket, it was the superlative bowling of Spofforth that captured the imagination of the cricketing public—that and the matchless wicket-keeping of John McCarthy Blackham. u lt was Spofforth't bowling more than anything else that made our early It~tt in England fto great, and caused what has been described as an absolute tunic “"""g English batsmen. Great bowlers there had been before and great bowlers there have beer sinee, but frogs the time that he burs! so dramatically upon England in 187 f ha has held his place in the opinion ol most followers of the game as the greatest bowler of all time. STUDENT OF THE GAME. Not only was Spofforth a great bowl er; he was a keen student of the game and this naturally helped him towards his greatness. Blessed with a thinking and penetrating brain, he was always working out bowling problems, always scheming, even when oft the field, witl a view to the overthrow of the bats man. Conditions affected him verj little, for he had the ability to adapi himself to them, whatever they mighi be. and was almost as hard to play or A good wicket as on a bad one. .Originally a fast bowler, with i

slower ball that came without the slightest change of action or other warning, he afterwards moderated his pace, and it was the occasional fast ball that the batsman came to dread. He was master of every device in the bowler’s art, and no matter how closely the batsman watched him he could never tell what was coming until the bowler delivered the shaft that so often meant destruction. Always there was that devastating fizz from the pitch, always the perfect length. always the clever variations of pace and flight, and the subtleties of which only the genius among bowlers is master—all these backed up by a break-back that was always judiciously used, and time and time again left the batsman helpless. Such were the outward characteristics of The Demon’s bowling. Behind it all, not always so apparent to the onlooker, was the scheming, calculating brain—a brain that thought many moves ahead in the duel between bat and ball. When The Demon’s bowling looked most innocuous, then was the time for the batsman to beware, for a few deliveries, with little apparent devil in them, would be followed by an unplayable one that meant the end of one’s dreams of a century. TERROR IN A HOT FIGIIT. But it was not only the supreme qualities of his bowling art that made Spofforth so dreaded. Those who played with and against him will tell you that when he was in a hot fight there was in his appearance much to justify his bowling title—the long, drawn face, the clenched teeth, the compressed lips and the blazing eyes made him appear a very demon in the sight of all but the most nerve-hardened batsman. As he came bounding up to the bowling crease, the ball clenched in his long fingers, his long legs pounding on the turf, and his long arms whirling in the air, one can imagine the fear he instilled into the batsman as he hurled down his unplayable thunderbolts Such a man he must have seemed to the Englishmen in that wonderful M.C.C. match in 1878, when the Australians caused a sensation by defeating in a single day what was almost the best team that England could put into the field. Such a man he must have appeared many times over in that historic test match at the Oval in 1882, when we won by 7 runs. Such a man j he must have seemed in innumerable other hotly fought battles in the late seventies and early eighties of last century. BLACKHAM’S PART. And backing him up at the wickets was the man who through all the years has retained his title of prince of wic-ket-keepers. What a combination! These two men in a hotly contested battle must have presented a sight to thrill; Spofforth sending down his thunderbolts, his eyes blazing, every ounce of his wonderful energy concentrated upon a supreme effort to snatch a victory; Blackham, at the other end, taking everything that got past the wicket with matchless ease and grace, amazingly sure and swift in everything he did—the batsman vainly waiting for a mistake that, if ever it did come, was looked upon almost as a miracle. Surely we shall never look upon such a combination again!