CANTERBURY V. AUSTRALIA.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3006, 12 February 1881, Page 4

CANTERBURY V. AUSTRALIA.

A correspondent of the Dunedin £tar gives the following description of the match between the Canterbury fifteen and the i Australian eleven : —" 'Twas a glorious vie- ) tory. The Australians laid thsmselves out to wipe out tho defeat of three years ago, j and right well did they accomplish their ! task. True, the Fifteen who opposed them ! were not so strong as those who did battle for Canterbury in 1878, nor were they so well generalled. A. M. Ollivier has not the judgment nor the faculty to immediately frasp the points of a game that the late W. ' \ Neilson possessed. People outside of Christchurch thought it would have been much better had eighteen been played, bul the select few who rule the cricketing roast in the sister capital scouted the idea. !?o impres Ed were some of them with their own abilities that the proposal was for a time seriously debated of playing the Australian* on level terms ! The play on both sides was so minutely described during the progress of the match that there is very little left now to be said in regard to it. _ The Australians were so confident of a victory that they freely backed themselves at odds, but not a wager could they get on. The only wagers of any extent that were taken were obtained by a few Southrons, whose antipathy to Christchurch "blow" led them to exceed the bounds of discretion. At the outset of the game, the winning of the toss by Ollivier was regarded as a favorable omen. The wicket Napier provided was in splendid condition, though it subsequently betrayed a tendency to " kick," and it was thought that the Fifteen were good for 120 at least. But the bowling of the " demon " and Palmer, tegether with the great all-round fielding of the Eleven, did its work. Everybody on Hagley Park last Saturday rejoiced that Secretan was top scorer. During the season he has been displaying rare form, and his performance in the first innings of Canter- I bury proved his claim to be considered the best bat in Christchurch. Had his captain seen fit to have sent him in earlier 1 have little doubt that he would have attained the half a century. The colts were seized with ] xmmistakeable funk. Beeves, Cotterill, Uedmayne, and Harfcland played to Palmer like men in a dream. Of the Australians' innings complete accounts have been supplied. In my humble judgment Slight played the innings of the match. When he was hurt he wus well set, and if he had not been compelled to retire there is no saying for how long he might have continued his partnership with his captain, nor to what he might have assisted in carrying the score. When he returned he piled on his runs, but never gave the semblance of a chance. Every ball that wa3 on the wicket he played with rare judgment, but when it was all ofl he punished it properly. His companions were very glad to see h>m come off, as up to this match his New Zealand performances showed him to be off with his batting. Murdoch, who was anxious before he reached Christchurch to back himslf to make the century, played a dashing innings, but it was spoiled by the innumerable chances he gave. He should have been run out when he scored one, and have been caught before he had reached twenty. Aa at Dunedin and elsewhere, he let off all the leg balls, but was down on every one that had the slightest tendency to the off. The display made by Groube and JBlackham was very \ininteresting ; tfoyle got his runs in his customary free and quick style, and Tobin's 31 were the outcome of a solid defence, spofforth was bowled by a ball that he did not credit Fuller with the power to send down, Jarvis was a victim of his own folly, and M'Donnell of hard luck. r Jhe lastmentioned, who next to Murdoch is the best bat in the Eleven, has been singularly unfortunate in this Colony. He has developed a disposition to slog, which costs him his wicket very early. But at Christchurch he seemed bent on giving the folk a taste of his quality, and was playing proper cricket, when Fowler made an appeal for a catch, which the Christchurch umpire, mistaking the click of the batsman's glove (which was unfastened) against the bat for that produced by the ball, allowed. A noticeable feature of the play was the manner in whioh the Australians kept the bowling down. Except the catches given by Blacliham and Alexander, there was nothing approaching high hitting. The Canterbury bowlers seemed afraid to pitch up the ball. Canterbury's second innings was a surprise. Before luncheon adjournment on Tuesday eight of the best wickets had gone for 75 runs ; and the end seemed near at hand. But the " demon " put the pace on, regardless of the state of the wicket, and he was got at properly by the veteran Fowler, who knocked up his runs in double quick time. In the early part of the day Spofforth was bowling well within himself, and putting on a marvellous break, but the ground was so cixt up that the balls would just skim the top of the wickets. To Corfe and Leach he sent down some of the deadliest balls I ever saw him deliver. Had he kept up the pace throughout there can be no question that Canterbury would never have seen the century, because none of the other batsmen proved troublesome. Hartland was very few when he gave the easiest of chances to stump him, but to the wonder of the batsman and everybody else Blaokham declined to avail himself of it. With that exception he played a capital innings. The other colts stood up better to the bowling, but they were utterly at a los r to play it. The preponderance of extra* was due entirely to Spofforth's increase of pace. Most of the balls that Blackham let pass him he calculated on taking the wicket and made no effort to stop them. Bave the let-off by Blackham, and the muffing of Leach by Alexander, the fielding of the Australians was simply perfection. Murdoch at long-off was neither more nor less than a wonder, by reason of the ground he covered. Fully 30 runs did he alone save ; whilst he must be credited with a couple of sensational catches. Boyle at mid-on was another wonder; and Jarvis made a magnificent catch. 'fhe fielding of the Fifteen on the first day had not a redeeming feature. I cannot conceive what came over the men. It was hard to believe that the majority of them had so greatly distinguished themselves three years before, or that it was of them we had heard such encouraging reports. Could it have been that the men felt effects of over-training ? Compared with the Dunedin Twenty-two the Fifteen's fielding was a wretched exhibition, and it was generally admitted that the like of it had never been seen in Hagley Park in a firstclass match. They pulled themselves somewhat together on the Tuesday, but even then their fielding was far short of what the occasion should have produced. Trophies were given to Palmer and to Secretan for bowling, and to Fowler for batting. The award to Secretan does not give satisfaction; nor is it fair, in the absence of any express condition. Unquestionably W. Frith was the best bowler on the Canterbury side. He bowled throughout the better part of two days, and on the Tuesday must have sent down not fewer than 200 balls at an expense of not more than 20 runs. It was the bad fielding that prevented him showing a better average. The attendance at the match was enormous, but the results financially were very disappointing. 'J he takings during the three days were under £4CO ; and I am within the mark when I say that over 30,000 persons witnessed the game. This would average less than fourpence a-head. Being a public reserve no charge could be 'made for admission, ancl it was left to the visitor to drop what coin he or she pleased into the bags. The liberality of the people was not conspicuous. I saw many in well-to-do positions come to the gate, accompanied by hnlf-a-dozen ludies, and deposit one shilling in the bag. Of course, when tho private ground on the Ferry road is finished a fixed charge for admission will be made; and on the occasion of the next intercolonial contest the Canterbury Cricket Association will in all probability receive much more than £290 as their half-share of the gross

proceeds. The victory of tho Australians, crushing though it was, was very popular in Canterbury. ~Tbe people have never hart sympathy with the uppish notions of the clique who control matters: cricket m the capital, and who lost their heads becnuse victory was with them in 1878, when the Australians held thorn too cheaply. The Press outside Christchurch advise the aforesaid clique to tafce to heart the lesson the defeat is intended to teach, and to practise a little humility.