TO-DAY’S MATCH.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20366, 25 July 1934, Page 1

TO-DAY’S MATCH.

Australians Play Durham in lyiinor Fixture. SECOND CLASS COUNTY. (Written for the “Star” , by E. G. GARBUTT.) In meeting Durham to-day the Australians will be participating in the first of the four minor matches which appear in their list of fixtures. At the time of writing it had not been announced wfiere this game would take place, but it will probably be played on the very fine ground at Ashbrook, Sunderland. Obviously this match will not be a very strenuous one for the Australians, for Durham is only a second class cqunty, and a competitor in the Minor Counties’ Championship. The county side has been successful in winning this championship on five occasions, and last season finished eleventh on the list of twentythree entrants. It might also be mentioned that there was a time when Durham had the distinction of playing an annual match with Yorkshire. The leading batsmen of the side are C. L. Adamson, 11. Gibbon and the captain, T. K. Dobson. Another useful batsman is J. A. Adamson, who was full-back for the Oxford University Rugby team for three seasons. Another Rugby Union player, who sometimes assists the county is W. 11. R. Alderson, who scored his side’s seven points when Durham opposed the 1924-25 All Blacks. Easily the best bowler on the side is S. Ellis, but there is little in the attack which should trouble the Australians, who will probably gain an easy victory in this twodays’ fixture. Of the five previous encounters between the two sides, the Australians have won two and drawn two, while the remaining game was abandoned without a ball being bowled. The Australians first appeared in Durham in 1878, but the match was not against the county, but with eighteen of Sunderland and district as opponents. The game was a triumph for the local side, who had the assistance of Tom Emmett, the famous Yorkshire bowler. Emmett claimed thirteen wickets for 66 in the match, and the eighteen won the match by 71 runs. A similar eighteen was met two years later, but this time the Australians won the match by an innings. ' It was thirty-two years before another Australian side was seen again in the county. In 1926 the Australians declared with three wickets for 322, and won the match by an innings and 81 runs. T. J. E. Andrews gave a brilliant display in this match and scored 122 runs in quick timje. Four years ago owing to rain the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled.