100 Years Ago: 18 October 1924
Resilient stand saves tourists
The latest in the ACS’s planned series of auctions kicked off last weekend. It closes at 22:00 BST on Monday, October 21, and should have plenty to interest those who follow cricket in Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The auction also contains some statistical material, a small selection of narrative books by EW Swanton, and a tranche of 35 lots on women’s cricket. Register now to avoid missing out.
Day 2
Perth: Western Australia v M.C.C.
Douglas and Kilner Rescue M.C.C.
M.C.C. 330/7 (A Sandham 28, H Sutcliffe 36, A P F Chapman 34, J W H T Douglas 62, R Kilner 103, A E R Gilligan 20*, M W Tate 20*; L F Freemantle 4/118). WESTERN AUSTRALIA to bat. Overnight: no play yesterday.
The weather was fine in Perth after all the rain on Friday, but the pitch was soft, very slow at one end, and was very difficult at the start of play. Western Australia won the toss and wisely put M.C.C. in first. Herbert Sutcliffe and Andy Sandham opened the innings, and with cautious batting did well to put on 61 for the first wicket, only for both to get out immediately before lunch. The leg-spinner Dr Leslie Freemantle was actually the only bowler to cause the batsmen real trouble. Frank Woolley and Jack Hearne were next out for 7 and 15 respectively; even Woolley took half an hour to score his runs; the fourth wicket went down at 99.
Percy Chapman as usual sought to be aggressive, but even he was more restrained than usual — necessarily so. But Johnny Douglas and Roy Kilner came in to find the pitch becoming gradually easier, and after tea Kilner in particular began to attack the bowling. Douglas scored 62 in just under 2½ hours, not bad going for him, but Kilner raced to the first century of the tour in just over an hour and a half, hitting 4 sixes and 11 fours before being out trying to hit the ball another six. With only one day (Monday) left for play, M.C.C. may be expected to declare overnight and aim to bowl Western Australia out twice in a day.
Sydney: New South Wales v Australian XI
N.S.W. Dominant
NEW SOUTH WALES 645 (C Kelleway 101, H Carter 58, A A Mailey 25*; P M Hornibrook 2/141, C V Grimmett 3/138, A J Richardson 2/113). AUSTRALIA XI 240/7 (A T Ratcliffe 132*, V Y Richardson 22, C Hill 40, P M Hornibrook 4*; A A Mailey 5 wkts). Overnight score was: New South Wales (1) 476/7 (Kelleway 18*, Nothling 3*).
New South Wales continued to pile on the runs, with Charles Kelleway becoming the fourth century-maker in the innings. He and Hanson Carter shared a dashing ninth-wicket partnership of 99, and then with Arthur Mailey put on 59 for the last wicket. Kelleway’s century was the slowest of the four, taking him just over two hours!
The Australian team in reply lost their first two wickets with 11 runs on the board, and four were out for 110. Then Clem Hill, aged 47, came in, and the crowd gave him a great ovation and sang “For he’s a jolly good fellow” while the band played the tune. Then Arthur Mailey gave him an easy four off the mark. He put on 98 with the surviving opener, Andrew Ratcliffe, who happens to be a New South Wales player himself, and was to become the fifth member of that state to score a century in this match. He survived two chances, one an easy chance to Jack Gregory of all people. He was still there at the close, batting steadily rather than joining the attacking spirit of his opponents, unable to find a long-term partner after Hill, and without him the team’s innings would have been quite disastrous.
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