100 Years Ago: 8 November 1924

Declaration backfires

Day 2

Adelaide: South Australia v M.C.C.

Richardson’s Gamble Fails

SOUTH AUSTRALIA 346/4 dec (A J Richardson 200*, N A Walsh 34*; A E R Gilligan 2/51, M W Tate 2/56). M.C.C. 230/2 (J B Hobbs 50, H Sutcliffe 75, J W Hearne 58*, F E Woolley 25*). Overnight score was: South Australia (1) 334/4 (A J Richardson 192*, Walsh 31*).

There was more overnight rain, but the pitch is only covered before the first day and not during a match itself, so batsmen had to face a rather sticky pitch this morning as it dried, while the outfield was muddy.  The home captain Vic Richardson allowed his team to continue their innings until his namesake Arthur reached his double-century, only the fifth ever scored against an England team in Australia.  Then he declared, a decision that was felt to be a mistake by many critics, and so it has proved.  The declaration was a strong point of discussion among locals, most of whom opposed it.

Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe opened the M.C.C. batting on the drying pitch, which was bouncing awkwardly, but was not as lethal as Richardson had obviously hoped, and his bowlers did not make the best use of it; the experienced Bill Whitty in particular was disappointingly inaccurate.  The two batsmen played skilfully, although cautiously, and ran well between the wickets, and were never greatly troubled by the bowling.  Hobbs left for 50 in just under an hour and a half, bowled by a short ball that kept low, and Jack Hearne continued the cautious mode almost to excess with Sutcliffe, even as the pitch played more easily.  It was sufficient to survive and build a good score, but the crowd grew restive, and were grateful when at the end of the day Frank Woolley played a few good attacking strokes.

If you would like to contribute to this newsletter, please either respond to the email in which you received it, or leave a comment below.