Australian Cricket.—Naturally popular in a British colony, cricket made but little progress in Australia before the arrival of an English professional eleven in 1861-1862, which carried all before it. Subsequent visits, and the coaching of imported professionals, so promoted the game that in 1878 a representative eleven of Australians visited England. The visits were repeated biennially till 1890, and then triennially. The visits of the Australian teams to England aroused unparalleled interest and acted as an immense incentive to the game. A great sensation was caused when the first team, captained by D. W. Gregory, on the 27th of May 1878, defeated a powerful M.C.C. eleven in a single day, disposing of them for 33 and 19, the fast bowler F. R. Spofforth (b. 1853) taking 6 wickets for 4 runs, and H. F. Boyle (b. 1847) 5 for 3. Their prowess was well maintained when in September 1880 Australia for the first time met the whole strength of England, such matches between representatives of Australia and England being known as “test matches,” a term that was applied later to matches between England and South Africans also. Although in 1880 the old country won by 5 wickets, the honours were fairly divided, especially as Spofforth could not play. Dr W. G. Grace with a score of 152 headed the total of 420, but even finer was the Australian captain W. L. Murdoch’s imperturbable display, when he carried his bat for 153. From 1882 onwards the Colonials, with two exceptions, at Blackpool and Skegness, only played eleven-a-side matches. Such bowlers as Spofforth, Boyle, G. E. Palmer (b. 1861), T. W. Garrett (b. 1858), and G. Giffen (1859) became household names. Nor was the batting less admirable, for Murdoch was supported by H. H. Massie (b. 1854), P. S. McDonnell (1860-1896), A. C. Bannerman (b. 1859), T. Horan (b. 1855), C. J. Bonnor (b. 1855), and S. P. Jones (b. 1861), whilst the wicket-keeper was McCarthy Blackham (b. 1855). This visiting side in 1882 was the greatest team of all; 23 matches were won, only 4 lost, and England was defeated at the Oval by 7 runs. In 1884 English cricket had improved, and the visiting record was hardly so good. The match against England at the Oval will not soon be forgotten. The Colonials scored 551 (Murdoch 211, McDonnell 103, Scott 102), and England responded with 346, Scotton and W. W. Read adding 151 for the ninth wicket.

The team of H. J. H. Scott (b. 1858) in 1886 proved less successful, for all three test matches were lost, and eight defeats had to be set against nine victories, but Giffen covered himself with distinction. This was the first tour under the auspices of the Melbourne Club. McDonnell’s team in 1888 marked the appearance of the bowlers C. T. B. Turner (b. 1862) and J. J. Ferris (1867-1900). The former took 314 wickets for 11 runs each, and the latter 220 for 14 apiece. To all appearance they redeemed a poor tour, 19 matches being won and 14 lost. The 1890 tour, though Murdoch reappeared as captain, proved disappointing, both the test matches being lost and defeats for the first time exceeding victories, though the two bowlers again performed marvellously well. After an interval of three years, M. Blackham captained the seventh team, which was moderately fortunate. H. Graham (b. 1870) and S. E. Gregory (b. 1870) batted admirably, and the 149 of J. J. Lyons (b. 1863) in the match against M.C.C. was an extraordinary display of punishing cricket. In 1896, though they did not win the rubber of test matches, the colonials were most successful, 19 matches being victories and only 6 lost. S. E. Gregory, J. Darling (b. 1870), F. A. Iredale (b. 1867), G. Giffen, C. Hill (b. 1877), and G. H. S. Trott (1866-1905) were the best bats, and the last-named made an admirable captain. H. Trumble (1867) kept an excellent length, and E. Jones (1869) was deadly with his fast bowling.

The Australian representatives in 1899 demonstrated that they were the best since 1882, 16 successes and only 3 defeats (v. Essex, Surrey and Kent) being emphasized by a victory over England at Lord’s by 10 wickets, the only one of the five test matches brought to a conclusion. M. A. Noble (b. 1873) and Victor Trumper (b. 1877), both newcomers, batted superbly. The latter, v. Sussex, made 300, the largest individual score hitherto made by an Australian in England, the previous best having been 286 by Murdoch in the corresponding match in 1882. H. Trumble scored 1183 runs and took 142 wickets for 18 runs apiece, and Darling not only made a judicious captain, but scored the biggest aggregate, 1941, up to then obtained by any batsman touring with a colonial eleven in England. On the home side, Hayward did sound service with the bat, and his stand with F. S. Jackson in the fifth test match yielded 185 runs for the first wicket.

In 1902 another fine Australian eleven, captained by Darling, won 23 and lost only 2 matches. They won the rubber of test matches at Manchester by 3 runs, but lost the final at the Oval by one wicket after an even more remarkable struggle, G. L. Jessop having scored 104 in an hour and a quarter. The other defeat was by Yorkshire by 5 wickets, when they were dismissed for 23 by Hirst and Jackson. The rest of the tour was characterized by brilliant batting. The performance of Trumper in making 2570 runs (with an average of 48) surpassed anything previously seen; R. A. Duff (b. 1878) also proved a brilliant run-getter. W. W. Armstrong (b. 1879) was useful in all departments, and J. V. Saunders (b. 1876) proved a successful left-handed bowler.

In 1905 there was a marked falling-off, as England won two and drew the other three test matches; but only one other defeat, by Essex by 19 runs, had to be set against 16 Australian victories. The persistent bowling off the wicket by Armstrong, and the inability to finish games within three days, were the chief drawbacks. Armstrong eclipsed all previous colonial records in England by heading both tables of averages, scoring 2002 (average 48) and taking 130 wickets at a cost of 17 runs each. He also compiled the largest individual score (303 not out v. Somerset) ever made on an Australian tour. M. A. Noble also exceeded 2000 runs. For a long time the fast bowler, A. Cotter (b. 1882, N.S.W.), failed, but eventually “came off,” just as F. Laver (b. 1869), who had taken many wickets in the earlier part of the tour, was becoming less formidable. Duff saved the colonials by a great innings in the fifth test match; Trumper was less certain than formerly, and Clement Hill more reckless; whilst J. J. Kelly (b. 1867) on his fifth tour was better than ever before with the gloves.

The Australians who visited England under the leadership of M. A. Noble in 1909 were generally held to be a weaker team than most of their predecessors, but they greatly improved as the season advanced, proving that the side included several cricketers of the highest merit, and as a captain Noble has seldom been surpassed in consummate generalship. Their record of thirteen wins to four defeats offered little evidence of inferiority, while the large number of twenty-one drawn matches was accounted for by the cold wet weather that largely prevailed throughout the summer. Two out of the five test matches were unfinished, and Australia won the rubber by two matches to one. In all the test matches England was under the command of A. C. MacLaren, but the great Harrovian was no longer the batsman he had been some years earlier; Jackson had abandoned first-class cricket; Hirst and Hayward were becoming veterans; and, speaking generally, the English batting was decidedly inferior, and it collapsed feebly in three of the test matches. England’s failure, for which poor fielding and missed catches were also responsible, was the more disappointing since they began well by winning the first test match at Birmingham by ten wickets. C. B. Fry and Hobbs knocking off the 105 runs required to win in the second innings without the loss of a wicket. In the third test match, at Leeds, England was deprived of the services of Hayward and Blythe through illness, and an accident to Jessop during the match compelled the side to play a man short. It was in bowling that the Australians were thought to be least strong; but Laver’s analysis in the Manchester test match, when he took 8 wickets for 31 runs in England’s first innings, was the most notable feature of the match; and although his record at the head of the bowling averages for the tour, 70 wickets at an average cost of 14.9 runs, had frequently been beaten in earlier Australian tours in England, it proved him a worthy successor of Spofforth, Boyle and Turner. Armstrong, although he did not equal his record of 1905, again scored over 1000 runs and took over 100 wickets, his exact figures being 1439 runs and 120 wickets. The most remarkable Australian batting was that of two young left-handed players who on this occasion visited England for the first time, W. Bardsley (b. 1884) and Vernon Ransford (b. 1885), the latter of whom headed the averages both for test matches (58.8) and for the whole tour (45.5), his principal achievement being an innings of 143 not out in the test match at Lord’s. Bardsley, who was second in the test matches averages (39.6), fell into the third place slightly below Armstrong in the averages for the tour; but he alone scored over 200 in an innings, which he accomplished twice, and over 2000 in aggregate for the tour, and he established a test match “record” by scoring 136 and 130 in the match at the Oval. Of the twenty-two “centuries” scored by Australians during the season Bardsley and Ransford each made six. Trumper and Noble each scored over a thousand runs, and Macartney was an invaluable member of the side both in batting and bowling. As a wicket-keeper Carter worthily filled the place of Kelly, and the fielding of the Colonials fully maintained the brilliant Australian standard of former years.

The following “records” of Australian cricket in England up to 1909 are of interest:—Highest total by an Australian team: 843 v. Past and Present of Oxford and Cambridge Universities in 1893. Highest total against an Australian team: 576 by England at the Oval in 1899. Lowest total by an Australian team: 18 v. M.C.C. in 1896. Lowest total against an Australian team: 17 by Gloucestershire in 1896. Highest individual Australian score in one innings: 303 not out by W. W. Armstrong v. Somersetshire in 1905. Highest individual Australian aggregate in a tour: 2570 by V. T. Trumper in 1902. Two centuries in a match: V. T. Trumper 109 and 119 v. Essex in 1902; W. Bardsley 136 and 130 v. England in 1909 (test match record).

The following table shows the Australians who headed the batting and bowling averages respectively in tours in England up to 1909.

Batting.

Year. Inn. Not
out.		 Runs. Most. Aver.
1878 C. Bannerman, N.S.W. 31 1 723 133 24.10
1880 W. L. Murdoch, N.S.W. 19 1 465 *153 25.80
1882 W. L. Murdoch, N.S.W. 61 5 1711 *286 30.50
1884 W. L. Murdoch, N.S.W. 50 5 1378 211 30.60
1886 G. Giffen, S.A. 63 9 1453 119 26.90
1888 P. M‘Donnell, V. 62 1 1393 105 22.50
1890 W. L. Murdoch, N.S.W. 64 2 1459 *158 23.33
1893 H. Graham, V. 55 3 1492 219 28.36
1896 S. E. Gregory, N.S.W. 48 2 1464 154 31.38
1899 J. Darling, S.A. 56 9 1941 167 41.29
1902 V. T. Trumper, N.S.W. 53 0 2570 128 48.49
1905 W. W. Armstrong, V. 48 7 2002 *303 48.82
1909 V. S. Ransford 43 4 1778 190 45.58
* Not out.