THE AUSTRALIAN TEAM IN ENGLAND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 210, 3 September 1880, Page 4

THE AUSTRALIAN TEAM IN ENGLAND.

In a letter received in Sydney by the ; last Suez mail from one of the members ' of the Australian Eleven the writer, ' under date June 28, states : — " So far we have played twelve matches, win- : \ ning ten, and drawing two. It is very- ! likely that W. G. Grace will get up an .; ! All-England eleven to play us. All i> our boys have improved in England — , Bonner especially. He is batting in ; rare form, and don't the slow bowlers j catch it ! What with his hitting and \: his height, he is causing quite a sensa- •■ tion, and it would not surprise me if j 1 he headed the average. Our success ; hero in England is annoying them greatly, and people are crying out for a , pood representative team to meet us. , Wo beat Belfast easily, and next went : ; to Dublin where we had to play eighteen !■ of the University, who were considered • a'hot lot. We had six wickets down | for 20 odd, and we finished up with a j total of lio. Slight played a grand innings : and the match resulted in a in a draw, owing [to the rain, but we - 1 would have won. The attendance was , very good. We next played Binning- , ham, and won in one innings. Mid- ; winter played, but did riot do anything ; , Palmer bowled in both innings, and his (Midwinter's) bowling got warmed. Our next match wasj at Northampton, and we here got the best win we have i yet had, with the exception of York- : shire. They had G. F. Grace. W. R. Gilbert, Tom Emmett, M. Riley, Jupp, Humphrey, and Potter, all of whom ' played for their county. A, G. Steel ! and Ulyett had been asked to play,

but they did not tnrn up. The seven •were considered quite enough ; but, much to everybody's surprise, we won by eight wickets. The wicket was awful, and they could not look at our bowling ; while we shut our teeth, and put up with some hard knocks, so as to win. It looked as if they lnid got up this team to crush us, but they found their mistake. We played next against Harrowgate, which included G. F. Grace, W. R. Gilbert, and Barlow, and won by ten wickets."