CRICKET.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2544, 3 July 1909, Page 6

CRICKET.

THE AUSTRALIANS IN ENGLAND. THE THIRD TEST. Unitet» Press Association —copyright LONDON, July 1. Ndble, the Australian' captain, won the tqss, and the Australians went to the wickets, the total for their first innings being 188, as follows: ■AUSTRALIA, Ist Innings. Macalister, lbw, ft Hirst 3 Gregory, b Barnes ■Ransibrd, run out Noble, b Hirst ... ... » Bardsley, hit wicket, b Rhodes ... ob Armstrong, c Lilly, b Brearley ... Trun'iper, not out •• • ••• Zl Macartney, c Fry, b Rhodes ... 4 Cotter, b R ho dee ••• " Carter, lbw, b Rhodes - 1 Laver, c Lilley, b Brearley • •• r Sundries ... •, b Total 188 Hirst took 2 wickots for 65, Barnes 1 for 37, Brearley 2 for 42, and Rhodes 4 ‘for 36. ', ■ LOftDON, u July 2. England has lost two wickets for 88. ENGLAND—Ist Innings. Hobbs, b Macartney ... ... ... 13 Fry. Ibiv, b Cotter ... 1 Tyldesley, not out «8 Sharp, not out ••• 30 Stumps were drawn for the day. DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAY. ■There was a large attendance, and sunny weather. Hirst and Barnes opened tiie bowling, and the seventh over was fatal to Mac Alister. One for 6. Both batsmen opened cautiously. Ransfortl joined Gregory, and the Victorian was missed in the slips by Maclaren off a low, difficult one from Hirst. Pie expressed his satisfaction thereat by "hitting Hirst’s next ball for four. The game was slow, the first hour only producTng 29 runs. Brearley relieved Hirst. Runs came faster, there being good hitting by both players. Jessop wrenched his back .when fielding, and retired, Relf going on as a substitute. Gregory played sound cricket, but Hansford, after an excellent innings of 80 minutes, was foolishly run out, a smart return by Tyldesley contributing to his downfall. Two for 86. Rhodes joined Brearley with the ball. Gregory, when he had scored 37, gave a Vide chance/ to Lilley, standing back. Noble’s career was brief. With a change of bowling to Barnes and Hirst, the captain was bowled by the latter off his pads. Three for 100. Bardsley only joined Gregory in time to see the latter clean bowled by Barnes. His innings lasted 125 minutes, the bats•man’s judgment and defence being excellent. Four for 104. Armstrong followed. A steady defence was ■maintained, varied by occasional fine hits. Hirst’s bowling,was more punished than "that of Barnes, who kept a wonderful length. Brearley relieved Barnes at 132. A few runs later Armstrong was Caught off him by Lilley, standing back. The partnership lasted an hour. Eivd for 140. At 154 Rhodes relieved Hirst, and became deadly. Cutting him to the boundary, Bardsley hit his wicket. ending a capital innings. Six for 154. Trumper was scoring slowly. Macartney, his partner, was easily caught by Fry, at point, off Rhodes. _ Seven for 167. Cotter was promptly disposed of for a couple, and Carter for a single, the ninth wicket fallng for 171, Rhodes securing 4 wickets for 7 runs. Laver joined Trumper. The latter smote Rhodes four times in succession for a fourer- each. Then Lilley, standing back, caught Laver before he had scored. The innings terminated just under four hours.. Hobbs and Fry opened* against Cotter and Macartney. With, two to his credit, Fry got his leg in front. One for 8. Tyldesley partnered Hobbs. The * latter scored a dozen when Macartney bowled him. Two for 31. Sharp followed. Jessop strained the muscles of his. back, and retires from the match. (Received July 2, 5.5 p.m.) Hobbs was bowled after an appeal ‘for treading on his wicket, which was disallowed. The half-century appeared for an hour’s play. The fielding wvas•brilliant, and the batting good till stumps were drawn, despite the bowling changes. Fifteen thousand people were present. Once again has Vernon -Ransford done well with tlie bat, he just falling short of his half-century. A writer in a contemporary thus refers to the ‘Victorian: Victoria has produced no more brilliant bat than Vernon Ransford since the days of Bruce. In fact,, lie takes rank as .probably the greatest left-hander from the Southern State.. He has done what no other Victorian, has ever done, scored two centuries in one match, and it must be added to that that as a newcomer in Test games lie is remarkable for consistency and brilliance. He began against Jones’ team. Take bis scores, - which show that in 13 innings in International matches but once has he failed to reach double figures: 24, 13, 27, 18, 44, 25, 51, 54, 11, 21 (not out), 1 (on the filthy wicket at Edgbaeton), 43, and 143 (not but)! For a very young man, the lefthander’s figures are good to look at. •His average works out at just under '43 runs per innings. In his earliest innings he was let off, but, going at such a pace, the brave deserve some good fortune. Graceful, wristy, and strong on the ,cut and the either side 'drive, Ransford’s work is all skill, his timing being very fine. Add to -this he is a magnificent outfield, with a deadly return, and his future success ■may be safely predicted. ‘Warren Bardsley has also done well in the first innings, his half-century being in sight when he was dismissed. The following is an English appreciation: ‘Warren Bardsley may come from the land/ of ,‘rabbits,’ but he is not one of them.) If all the Australian novelties are up to the standard of this speciment I do not envy the selection committee the. task of choosing Hie eleven for the Test matches. Bardsley is supposed to be the cricketer to console Australasia for the. loss of Clem N-JHi’l. I cannot say with Sir William Gilbert that we have Clem Hill on a little list and that he ho 'missed. At the same time Bardsley will reduce the loss to a minimum. V Mi «an erect stand and a free and mode he suggests that lie has been influenced by Trumpor and yet when we watch his constant hack play ‘ even on a hard wicket —we are reminded of Ciem Hi’l. But this means he forces the good hall to the on for 'runs in the at vie of a class player. . 1 was charmed with his -work to the on, 'although his cutting was clever ana

-crisp. Slow at the beginning of his i t lungs, ho found his defence prevailing, and then as confidence, possessed 'him he began to score quite freely.'’ Of the English, bowlers, Rhodes •played the greaest havoc with the Australians. The Yorkshireman played in Australia in 1903-04; and recently with A. 0. Jones in 1807-08. He made a. Sensational entry into first-class cricket in 1898, and at once stepped' into the shoes of R. Peel, as the slow lefthand bowl6r of the Yorkshire E.even. Rhodes is credited with being able to “make'the ball literally talk on a dead ‘wicket, and at a pinch he is one or the most reliable run-getters in Home cricket. Rhodes’ performances in Test matches to date with the hat and ball are as follows: —Batting: Innings 35, ■not out 11, runs 562, average 23.41. 'Bowling: Wickets 83, runs 19Q0, average 22.89. . Last! Monday was the tenth anniversary of the first Test match played on the Leeds wicket, where the third Test is now being decided. The gam© Was not completed, owing to rain, but this match, of all the Tests played. on English wickets, saw for the first "time the performance of the" "hat trick.” The incident occurred in the Australians’ second innings, when J. THearne disposed of C. Hill, S. E. Gregory, and M. A; Noble with three successive balls. This game was the last Test that J. Briggs, the ©ver-popular Lancashire player, took part in. He Secured three wickets for 53 in Australia’s first innings, but .was unable to 'bake any farther part in the game, as ; ho -was seized with an epileptic fit on the night of his last Test match per'formance. The second Test on the ’Leeds wicket -was .played on July 3,4, 'and 5, 1905, and resulted in a draw. England scored 301 (P. S. Jackson 144 •net out), and 295 for 5 wickets (J. T. Tyldesley 100); Australia 195 (W. W. ‘Armstrong 66), and 224 for seven wickets (M. A. Noble 62). Maclaren, Fry, Hayward, and Lilley played for England on this wicket in 1899 and 1905

COUNTY CRICKET. LONDON, July 1. Middlesex, undefeated, is leading for the County championship. Yorkshire beat Surrey. Hirst taking six wickets for 20 and 2 for 57; Haigh 4 for 11, and 6 for 35.