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72 that neither side can give any points away to the other.

It may appear strange that Australia, with a total population not quite so large as London's, should be able to stand on an equality with England; but I, for one, for several reasons, am not surprised that such is the case. England has four months' cricket weather, Australia has eight; England has to crowd a great number of matches into her four months, Australia plays comparatively few matches, but can and does devote much more time to practice. Till recently there was a great difference between Australian and English wickets, and the Australian ones were so good that bowlers were forced to practise and had the opportunity of so doing; the result has been that they have learned more dodges, have greater powers of showing variety of pace and break, and on the whole Australian bowling has been and still is better than English. First-class cricket in Australia is more concentrated. It is entirely in three districts, and even in three towns—Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide—and Adelaide has only sprung into cricket fame during the last