ENGLISH OPINIONS OF THE AUSTRALIAN ELEVEN.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 181, 29 July 1878, Page 4

ENGLISH OPINIONS OF THE AUSTRALIAN ELEVEN.

The followinir oxtracts from '*feailej's Magnzinp" wj!| doubtless bo interestinsr : — Unless iiprearancps are greatly belie:}, M*y-«lny of (he present year of grnce will usher in a Benson far more eventful tli.m nny that has yet been recorded since the game first grew into the shape of a nntional pastime. Indeed we me on ihe eve of a year that wil', in all likelihood, hove to be marked with a white stone in the cricket calendar. The visits of two Elevens from widely distant portions of our Colonial Empire, of entirely diffont raff!?, and broadly marked diffrrenfffi of Muf and association?, should moke the enmpaisn on which cricketers are just entering historical. What the shades of the old heroes of the Hnmbledon Club,— the Small?, the Alfwards, nnd the other worthies, who first, gava to cricket a local habitation and a name, might think of the wonderful a Ivnnee of the gnm« sincf* the days when Broad-Holf-penny Downs formed the scene of the great Contpst, nnd the sport had not then passed beyond the confines ot Hamp shiie and adjacent counties, it would be difficult to know now. The leading spirits of even the la3t generation would h'we stared could they h<»ve known tbnt a visit from a purely Coioni»i Eieven, composed mainly of men who had learned the rudiments of the (zame thous&nds of miles away from English shorfp, wbb so sood to become an established fact. The opinions of thos3 who have hnd practical experieuce of Australian cri.-ket eeema to be a little at vaiiance. Mr W. G. Grace does not seem to have the same belief in excellence expressed by tome of the twelve who last visited Australia under the captaincy of James Lillywhite. The inference though, is naturij, that a comparison between Colonial cricket, in 1874 (when Mr Graca ■ rode rough-shod ovpr fifteens and twentytwos; and 1876 (when Eleven of the Colonies proved equal to the task of beating LiHywhite's Eleven on even terms) must be vastly in favor of the more recent date. No doubt the Australians will suffer from the difference in climate, and from the variations of temperature here, as English cricketers have suffered from the excessive heat of the colonies. But it would be ridiculous v to underrate the merits of players who have shown such consistently good form duricg their recent farewell tour, as have the twelve who are bo soon to try their strength against the English cricketer?. They will no doubt find a seusible difference in the state of the grounds here to whnt they are accustomed to, and it is rep.aonable to suppose that the wear nud tear of six days' cricket in the week, with intermediate travelling, will tend to remove a little of the freshness of their play. Much of their success may depend on the weather, end should it be in the order of events that we are to have a wet summer, their chances should be proportionately small, nfter the hard and lively wickets on which they are accustomed to perform. That they have some very fine cricketers among; them is evident, nnd C. Banoerman, of New South Wales, has already pained for himself a reputation that will direct special interest to his batting in England. In the two Bannermans and HoraD, they have three good ba(B--men; in Kendall, Alien, Boyle and Spoflbrth four good bowlers; in Blackbam a wicket-keeper said to be almost, if not quite, na smart as Pooley himself. C B'jnnerman is something after the style of Mr A. N. Hornby in batting ! and fielding. His fine innings of 165, not out, against Lillywhite'g team, at Melbourne, cannot have been forgotten, an I, indeed, bis generally high scores in the farewell matches of the Australians, sometimes on bad ground, prove (hat he is a very dangerous baiaman. I Hia timing of the ball is remarkably accurate, he meets the bail hard, with a perfectly straight bat, punishingjaeverely when he chooses. Not unlike Tom Humphry in build, he ia taller than his brother, who is described as a steady bat and a good leg bitter, and the best field in the team. Horan lacks C. Bannerman's style, and is something after Jupp's mode of batting, but be is a difficult wicket to gut, and will no doubt give trouble, Allan and Spofforth are bowlerß of the tearaway class. The latter ia said to be specially deadly with yorkera. Boyle is described as a bowler with a very high and easy delivery, magnificent field, especially to his own bowling, nnd a dead catch. The eleven, though some of them are not in the bloom of youth, are sure in the field, and excellent throwers, and it is to be hoped that they will receive the hearty welcome they thoroughly deserve among English cricketers, as the pioneers of what may prove to be a aeries of visits from Colonials."