Page:EB1911 - Volume 07.djvu/467

Rh C. B. Fry and Hobbs knocking off the 105 runs required to win in the second innings without the loss of a wicket. In the third test match, at Leeds, England was deprived of the services of Hayward and Blythe through illness, and an accident to Jessop during the match compelled the side to play a man short. It was in bowling that the Australians were thought to be least strong; but Laver’s analysis in the Manchester test match, when he took 8 wickets for 31 runs in England’s first innings, was the most notable feature of the match; and although his record at the head of the bowling averages for the tour, 70 wickets at an average cost of 14.9 runs, had frequently been beaten in earlier Australian tours in England, it proved him a worthy successor of Spofforth, Boyle and Turner. Armstrong, although he did not equal his record of 1905, again scored over 1000 runs and took over 100 wickets, his exact figures being 1439 runs and 120 wickets. The most remarkable Australian batting was that of two young left-handed players who on this occasion visited England for the first time, W. Bardsley (b. 1884) and Vernon Ransford (b. 1885), the latter of whom headed the averages both for test matches (58.8) and for the whole tour (45.5), his principal achievement being an innings of 143 not out in the test match at Lord’s. Bardsley, who was second in the test matches averages (39.6), fell into the third place slightly below Armstrong in the averages for the tour; but he alone scored over 200 in an innings, which he accomplished twice, and over 2000 in aggregate for the tour, and he established a test match “record” by scoring 136 and 130 in the match at the Oval. Of the twenty-two “centuries” scored by Australians during the season Bardsley and Ransford each made six. Trumper and Noble each scored over a thousand runs, and Macartney was an invaluable member of the side both in batting and bowling. As a wicket-keeper Carter worthily filled the place of Kelly, and the fielding of the Colonials fully maintained the brilliant Australian standard of former years.

The following “records” of Australian cricket in England up to 1909 are of interest:—Highest total by an Australian team: 843 v. Past and Present of Oxford and Cambridge Universities in 1893. Highest total against an Australian team: 576 by England at the Oval in 1899. Lowest total by an Australian team: 18 v. M.C.C. in 1896. Lowest total against an Australian team: 17 by Gloucestershire in 1896. Highest individual Australian score in one innings: 303 not out by W. W. Armstrong v. Somersetshire in 1905. Highest individual Australian aggregate in a tour: 2570 by V. T. Trumper in 1902. Two centuries in a match: V. T. Trumper 109 and 119 v. Essex in 1902; W. Bardsley 136 and 130 v. England in 1909 (test match record).

The following table shows the Australians who headed the batting and bowling averages respectively in tours in England up to 1909.

Batting.

Bowling.

The first English team to visit Australia was organized in 1862, and was captained by H. H. Stephenson. George Parr (1826–1891) took out the next in 1864, Dr E. M. Grace being the only amateur. In 1873 the Melbourne Club invited Dr W. G. Grace to take out an eleven, and three years later James Lillywhite conducted a team of professionals. On this tour for the first time colonials contended on equal terms, one match v. Australia being won by 4 wickets and the other lost by 45 runs. Lord Harris in the autumn of 1878 took a team of amateurs assisted by Ulyett and Emmett, winning 2 and losing 3 eleven-a-side encounters, Emmett’s 137 wickets averaging 8 runs each. Shaw, Shrewsbury and Lillywhite jointly organized the expedition of 1881, when Australia won the second test match by 5 wickets. The Hon. Ivo Bligh (afterwards Lord Darnley) in 1882 took a fine team, which was crippled owing to an injury sustained by the bowler F. Morley. Four victories could be set against three defeats; Australia winning the only test match, owing to the batting of Blackham. Shaw’s second tour in 1884 showed Barnes heading both batting and bowling averages, while six victories counterbalanced two defeats. In the third tour Shrewsbury became captain, but the English for the first time encountered the bowling of C. T. B. Turner, who took 27 wickets for 113 runs in two matches. Australia was twice defeated, the English captain batting in fine form. On this tour was played the Smokers v. Non-Smokers, when the latter scored 803 for 9 wickets (Shrewsbury 236, W. Bruce 131, Gunn 150), against the bowling of Briggs, Boyle, Lohmann, Palmer and Flowers. The winter of 1887 saw two English teams in Australia, one under Lord Hawke and G. F. Vernon, the other under Shrewsbury and Lillywhite. Both teams played well, the batting being headed by W. W. Read with an average of 65, and Shrewsbury with 58. The ill-success of Lord Sheffield’s team in two out of three test matches did not disprove the great merits of his eleven. Dr W. G. Grace headed the averages with 44, and received the best support from Abel and A. E. Stoddart, whilst Attewell, Briggs and Lohmann all possessed fine bowling figures. A. E. Stoddart’s first team (in 1894) achieved immense success and was the best of all. In the first test match they went in against 586 runs and ultimately won by 10 runs, Ward making 75 and 117. Stoddart himself averaged 51, scoring 173 in the second test match, and A. C. MacLaren (who made 228 v. Victoria), Brown and Ward all averaged over 40. The last tour conducted by Stoddart proved less satisfactory, four of the five test matches being lost, and some friction being caused by various incidents. K. S. Ranjitsinhji, who averaged 60 and made 175 in a test match and 189 v. South Australia, and A. C. MacLaren, who scored five hundreds and averaged 54, were prominent, Hayward also doing good work; but the bowling broke down. Weakness in bowling was the cause of the ill success of A. C. MacLaren’s side in 1901. After a brilliant victory by an innings and 124 runs at Sydney, the other four test matches were all lost. MacLaren himself batted magnificently, and so did Hayward and Tyldesley. Braund stood alone as an all-round man. The M.C.C. in 1903 officially despatched a powerful side led by P. F. Warner, and in every sense except the financial the success was complete. Three test matches were won and two lost, while two new records were set up, one by Rhodes obtaining 15 wickets at Melbourne, the other by R. E. Foster, who in seven hours of brilliant batting compiled 287. Tyldesley and Hayward both did good work as batsmen; Rhodes and Braund both bowled consistently. The catch-phrase about “bringing back the ashes” became almost proverbial; its origin is to be found in the Sporting Times in 1882 after Australia had defeated England at the Oval.

New Zealand.—Although cricket has not attained a degree of perfection in New Zealand commensurate with that in Australia, it is keenly played. Lord Hawke sent out from England a team in 1902–1903 which won all the eighteen matches arranged.

Cricket in India.—Not only the English who live in India, but the natives also—Parsees, Hindus and Mahommedans alike—play cricket. A Parsee eleven visited England in 1884 and 1888.

South Africa.—South African cricketers visiting England are handicapped by playing on turf instead of on the matting wickets used in South Africa. The side which came over during the Boer War in 1901 won 13, lost 9, and drew 2 matches, playing a tie with Worcestershire, and showing marked improvement on the team which had visited England in 1894. E. A. Halliwell (b. 1864) proved a fine wicket-keeper, J. H. Sinclair (b. 1876) a good all-round cricketer, J. J. Kotze (b. 1879) a very fast bowler, and G. A. Rowe (b. 1872) clever with the ball. In 1904 more decided success was achieved, for on a more ambitious programme ten victories could be set against two defeats by Worcestershire and Kent, with a tie with Middlesex. The most important success was a victory by 189 runs over a powerful England eleven at Lord’s, when R. O. Schwarz (b. 1875) scored 102 and 26, and took 8 wickets for 106, dismissing Ranjitsinhji twice. Kotze and Sinclair again bore the brunt of the attack. Of the English teams visiting South Africa, that taken by Lord Hawke in 1894 did not meet with such important opposition as the one he led in 1900, yet the side came back undefeated, having won all three test matches. P. F. Warner and F. Mitchell, with Tyldesley, were the chief run-getters, Haigh, Trott and Cuttell bowling finely. In the winter of 1905 the M.C.C. sent out a side under P. F. Warner, but it lost four out of the five test matches, F. L. Fane and J. N. Crawford being the most successful of the Englishmen, and G. C. White (1882) and A. D. Nourse proving themselves great colonial batsmen. In 1907 a representative South African team came to England, and their improved status in the cricketing world was shown by the arrangement of test matches. In the winter of 1909–1910 an English