Cricket.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1178, 26 September 1884, Page 3

Cricket.

CLYDE CKICKET CLUB.

Tho annual meeting of the Clyde Cricket Club was held in Murray’s Hotel on Saturday evening, and the following mdmbe'S were present —Messrs Stevens, President, (in the chair), Thomson, MoConnnohie, Jeffery, Evans, Holden, Voak, and Murray. Tho minutes of the previous' meeting wore read and confirmed. The Secretary laid the balance sheet and report of the season’s Operations before the meeting, which were read and adopted. Messrs Keefe, . Keddell, H. Ellis, B. Ellis, and W. Williams were proposed as members of the cm and elected. The election of office hearers for the ensuing .year was then gone on with, resulting as follows L’ D. Slacgenrge, Esq,, President ; JF. Jeffery, Esq., Vice President; Mr Keele, Secretary amt Treasurer- Mr ■Macgeorae proposed a hearty vote of thanks to tho retiring office hearers, seconded by Mr Murray and carried unanimously. Macgeorge then took)'he chair,and afterthe ordinary business, Messrs Thomson and Stevens were elected, members of the general committee. Messrs.Thomson, Stevens, Macgeorge, McConnochte, and Keele, a ma'ch committee. Mr Stevens, captain and practice captain for the year. A vote of thanks was voted to the chair and the proceedings terminated.

A TRIBUTE TO THE AUSTRALIAN ELEVEN.

The Irish Times of a recent data has the following graphic description of the reiurn natch between the Australian Cricketers and the Gentleman of England, played at the Oval on June 26, 27. and 28:— About two years ago I beheld the Hon vanquished by the kangaroo upon the plain of Kennington, and I was one of the 20.000 or 30,000 who yesterday again beheld Britannia publicly whipped bv unfiilial Australia. The style in which Murdoch and bis men played uphill in 1882, and snatched the game from the. Gentlemen of England, was we then thought, a spectacle we should never see paralleled. Perhaps the Colonial performance yesterday was not of equal merit, but let the critic of cricket—four woids which may be swiftly repeated half ndozen limes every morning fasting for the develo ment of the lingual faculty—let, I say, the critic ol cricket say what ho will, I do not believe there is another eleven in these kingdoms who would have equalled the feat by which Grace and his gallant band were defeated. The state of play when slumps were drawn on Friday gave assurance of a goodly morrow, and wo enthusiasts of tho game had spread ourselves at least 10,003 stiong round the historic circuit of the Oval. England had knocked upthefine total of 201 in the first innings, and so wo were well ahead of the Larrikins with 229. Friday evening found the invaders with six wickets down fop 150, being ou y 118 runs 'on. With almost any other eleven this condition would have been considered hopeless ; nut there is no tail in tho Colo nial team The tenth man in is just as likely to come off as the captain, and wa had experience to warn us that though, but four wickets stood between England and victory, withal, against such adversaries, th-rc was no reckoning the battle gained until it had been won. Excited by the certainty of a grand struggle, we besieged all 'entrances for hours before the hour of pl<y, and, in truth, while the gladiators contended in the ar na the spectators who witnessed them were a more remarkable sight. Thousands of ua brought our black bags distorted with luncheon, while other thousands conserved that meal in the primitive gaper parcel. But we grand folk in tho half guinea and five shilling stands had our hampers fetched in by our powered flunkeys, who spread the fair white cloth upon the seats, arrayed thereupon the pic of fat goose liver, the aspic of varied elo raents, the cool lobster salad, and Lord Knows what, and for lush to all this grub ns no doubt, the refined and lovely aristocrats enjoying tho nobby; ucka-in would put it—there flowed from plated buckets neck deep in glistening ice, tho gold or silver emblems of the wmeland of Rheims and Epernay. But the chronicle commences irregulvrly. Play opened punctually, and the revet Iteration was not unlike the working of all tho policemen’s rattles ever used throughout the world as we gave the athletes the greeting of our hands. Midwinter an' Blackham, the not-o its, faced the bowling of Grace and Steel. We saw at once that the batsmen bad orders to play a waiting game, and, ton, slow and rure. But, indeed, they were put from the Outset ou their defence by the bowling, which was so sharp and true, especially from Steel, that wo applauded maiden after maiden scut clown by this export. .... Not to dwell on the} least noteworthy feature of the day, Blackham raised his score to 21, when Ins near hail was lifted by Steel, and Spoff nth followed, but struck a ball from Grace with the simple motion of a Girton girl, and dr pped it gently in Mr Stu Id’s hand at. short slip. With only one wicket to go down we declared the conflict as good as deci.ied ; but Boyle, tho last man in, held his wicket and stole np eleven runs, while his partner, Midwinter, slashed about him freely.

The result was that when Boyle was taken hy Studd off S'eel the four Australian wickets had added 69 to the 150 the opening score stoo I at, and left the Gentlemen of England 188 to win. Here, then, from being a moral certainty for the motherland it had become anybody’s game. Mow our sporting instinct assorted itself, and forthwith betting hnr<t and circulated like an epidemic throughout our multitude.

How we made the we'kiu ring, when, after an interval, the Australians entered the field ; after tin m, aide by si la, Grace and Stndd. The Leviathan limped badly, for he has had many wounds in the wars of tlie wicket during the present campaign, and got a bad hurt in the foot at Lord’s last week. But ho had made 107 on Thursday. and ho know that upon his broad shoulders mainly rested the English hope of victory. Spofforth and lioyio opened the ball, bur. the batsmen appeared so much at home with the bawling that it looked as though they would knock up the runs between them.

When 30 went np on tho telegraph, Murdoch called a council with Blackhim and Boyle while the field was changing over. This betokened a consciousness that the prospect was already thought serious The resuit was i.u exhibition of tho.bowling which baa earned for Spoff. util'the title of “demon.” Blackballs standing six or e gin, yards from the wicket, with Bonnor aim at in a lino behind him at a similar distance, prepared to receive the artillery which was now shot at him. Spofforth taking long rims, and almost bending to tho mound as ha delivered, shot tho ball at sink a pace that it is strict truth to say that Blackiiam appeared to stoop and catch it at the same instant of time at which it loft the speedy rignt hand of tho demon. No batsman could be comfortable in face of such a cannonade, and Mr Stndd seemed rather to protect his body than to puni-h the bail. But Grace, keeping a weary hat 1 against a possible stroke, slipped, and.cut, and 'chopped with a coolness and judgment admirable to behold, The least contact

with the bat neat tha ball flying os if i lm-( been hpivvily bit, nnd it. li w y Bhickham "ami Bonner h-Vf-a-dozen times. It was a magnificent n fw > >xi..■tlf.n ; ami. liter a wli le Spofforth abated liunaair fro n Man onel to a man, uni bowled at his ordmu y pace, which is as fast as that of the fastest bowler in England. It seemed to eomo i f ua at this stnw that the Colonial Ibldii.g was less brilliant than we bad seen it. B uinor especially muffod half a dozen bal.s. As the missile ap preached lv> would stoop from h.a heigh , of six feet and a half to take it, bn-although the solutio i of the Egyptian difficulty had just then flashed into his bruin, be would pause half way in profound reflection, and by ihe time he hail adjourned the further consideration of the p oblera and resumed dow .ward, course, the lnuher had passe 1 like an express nine-pounder on its way to the boundary. Wh u (?) showed while on the hoard, and all withe a up, it looked most,decided<>dda against the- Amioodeans, who held council at every “saver,” amt were l plainly anxious about the issue. Blackball! again'retired' fioin the wicket.'' Spofforth again put on the demon pace. His first ball Stiidd received on the bat with a crash ; the next ho had to ward off as it rose • furiously at bis face, and the missile flow off the'edge of the bat into t ie hands of Scott, at point. The exaltation of the Australians was amusing to beh Id. Blackball! bounded about like a schoolboy. Sp.iff nth threw up his cap, and even the lofty and somewhat saturnine Bonner gloomily Minted headover heels on the tun. Evidently the Colonials deemed that they had broken the charm of the British play, ant so it seemed, for in the next over but one, and before the scores were raised, Grace was taken off Spofforth exactly as Btudil had been.

Then, indeed, did onr Southern cousins most extravagantly demonstrate, while an apprehension thrilled our thousands through Bat though Read, wbo succeeded ‘trace, was clean bowie l by Spofforth at 70, yet when Mr Steel foliowe , and the three figures speedily showed on the board, we took heart again, and assured ourselves that seven of the first bats in Britain were guarantee for the necessary margin. Alas! too soon we shuddered to behold the bads fly off Lucas’ wicket —a teat Boyle was es» peciilly put on and . ommisaimed to no. This was serious, but there was no ground for panic. But when Lord Harris, partnering Steel, tha crack Cam' u lcG bat, was caught and bowled by Spofforth at US, we began to hold our breath, and our interest in the upshot grew, 1 might say. fierce. But the end was nearer, an I the collapse more complete th in wo bad any notion of. Mr Ridley succeeded Steel, and Sp offorth, completely altering his bowling, delivered slow full pitches in imitation of Boyle, who was his vU a vis.

The Auslra inn fielding was now superb, and informed us how little chance any but the best of tha best players can have against such an eleven also playiug at its best. Not a ball could get outside the circle Murdoch placed round the wickets, a id the cat-like quickness of tho fielding seemed to embarrass and cow the batsmen. Ihe honour of the close tell to Blackham, who stumped Lord Harris. Mr Roller, and .Mr Christoplierson in a stylo occiared by all present to be quite unequalled by anything they had ever witnessed at the wicket.

At a quarter past 4 o’clock the prospect still favoured the Eng! sh E even. At 10 raiiiat'-s.to 5 they were all out for 141, the enemy winning by 43 rune

It was a splendid victory, thoroughly earned, and aujgcsis tons critical cricketers, tliat our visito s when in full form ore about as goad as an v thing we can tint against them. Backiinn anil SpolTirth shared the laurels of the triumph with Midwinter, whose double not oat innings of 107 obtained against the English howling is, 1 think hy a long way the most brilliant bit of butsmausliip hitherto recede! in the chronic cs of the season’s cricket. It is ooaapu od the Australian team will pocket LluO a man over the three days’ battle on the Oval.