Page:Cricket, by WG Grace.djvu/201

 looked as if the prediction would be verified: but afterwards they met with defeat after defeat, and finished up the tour with 38 matches played: 13 won, 16 lost, 9 drawn. Their best wins were against Lord Sheffield's Eleven, Lord Londesborough's Eleven and Surrey; but they were defeated twice by England, twice by the Players of England, twice by the South of England, twice by the M.C.C., twice by Nottinghamshire and twice by Yorkshire: so that their claim to be classed with a representative English Eleven was completely disposed of. A third match against England, at Manchester, had to be abandoned owing to heavy rains, not a ball being bowled in the three days.

Murdoch showed that he had lost little of his skill with the bat, and he was ably supported by a new player, Dr. J. E. Barrett; but with these exceptions, the batting was weak, which indeed was the case with all the previous teams. Murdoch has always been considered a hard-wicket bat, and it was rather unfortunate for him that the season should have turned out a wet one; but considering he had given up the game for years, his display was very good, and it caused general satisfaction when he came out at the head of the averages.

Barrett, who ran him a close race for first place, confirmed the great reputation which he had made in Australia, and did much better than was expected. Very rarely, if ever, has any young player done so well on a first appearance; indeed, it is held very generally by the Australians themselves that young players never play up to their form the first tour, and we have only to look at the performances of Charlton, Walters, and others to see the truth of it.

His style was not very taking, but he watched the ball very carefully, and was something more than a stone wall type of batsman. His patience was