England fall to fourth defeat

100 Years Ago: 26 February to 4 March 1925

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Sydney: Australia v England (Fifth Test Match)

The fifth and final timeless Test match starts at Sydney with England confident and hopeful that, having now defeated Australia at last, they can continue their post-war recovery with another victory. Good weather is expected at the start of the match, but may become unsettled later on, so winning the toss could be important. Andy Sandham has regained his place in the England team, at the expense of Percy Chapman, who becomes twelfth man. Chapman’s fielding is always brilliant, but he has not scored very many runs, and Sandham has worked hard to earn his place — and is little inferior to Chapman as an outfielder.

This leaves Arthur Gilligan as the only amateur in the side, a risky business says my cynical self, as if he breaks down again, we could have the appalling situation of a professional (which would be Jack Hobbs) leading England on the field of play! Chapman, who will finally be qualified to play for Kent during the coming English season, is shortly off to New Zealand to marry the sister of Tom Lowry.

Australia have made two changes to their team which lost the Fourth Test, replacing Arthur Richardson and Warren Bardsley (again) with the New Zealand-born South Australian leg-spinner Clarrie Grimmett and the stylish New South Wales batsman Alan Kippax, both of whom will make their Test debuts. The teams are:

Australia: *Collins, Ryder, Andrews, Taylor, Ponsford, Kippax, Kelleway, Gregory, +Oldfield, Mailey, Grimmett.

England: Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Sandham, Woolley, Hendren, Hearne, Whysall, Kilner, Tate, *Gilligan, +Strudwick.

Day 1

Tate and Kilner Restrict Australia

AUSTRALIA 239/7 (J Ryder 29, J M Gregory 29, T J E Andrews 26, W H Ponsford 80, A F Kippax 42, C Kelleway 9*, W A S Oldfield 0*; R Kilner 4 wkts). ENGLAND to bat.

England resumed their bad luck with the toss, Australia winning it for the fourth time in the series. However the home side rather wasted their advantage today, as only Bill Ponsford really came good with the bat, and England will expect to bowl them out for less than 300 tomorrow. Maurice Tate, although only taking one wicket, and Roy Kilner bowled superbly for England, backed by fine fielding. Jack Ryder was the new opening partner for Herbie Collins, who was out for only a single today, caught at the wicket by Bert Strudwick in Arthur Gilligan’s first over. Jack Gregory was sent in first wicket down, rather a strange move, but he and Ryder took the score to 55 before he was run out by a bad call from Ryder.

The other top batsmen never established themselves, and England were doing well to have them at 103 for five wickets, before the debutant Alan Kippax joined Bill Ponsford. Both played very skilfully and confidently to add 105 runs for the sixth wicket, although Ponsford was missed three times just after reaching his fifty. Until then he had looked solid and dependable, while Kippax impressed with his style; some critics compare him to Victor Trumper. Kilner removed them both before the close, though, and Australia will resume tomorrow with only the obdurate Charles Kelleway of the major batsmen left. Despite losing the toss, the first day belonged to England.

Day 2

England Batting Failure

AUSTRALIA 295 (W A S Oldfield 29; M W Tate 4/92, R Kilner 4/97). ENGLAND 167 (H Sutcliffe 26, F E Woolley 47, R Kilner 24, M W Tate 25; J M Gregory 2/42, C V Grimmett 5/45). Overnight score was: Australia (1) 239/7 (Kelleway 9*, Oldfield 0*).

On the first day the Australian batsmen had wasted the advantage of winning the toss; today it was the turn of the England batsmen to waste the advantage they appeared to have won by bowling Australia out for below 300. Neither side could blame the pitch, which is in perfect condition. When Australia continued their first innings Maurice Tate had Charles Kelleway lbw before a run had been added, and although the last three batsmen all reached double figures, Australia were dismissed for 295. However, the fighting spirit of Bert Oldfield, Arthur Mailey and Clarrie Grimmett with the bat must have been good for Australian morale.

This gave England, with their tremendously strong batting line-up on paper, an excellent chance of putting together a big score and building a good lead. Instead they wasted it; some thought that dismissing Australia for below 300 had made them take their task a little too casually, without the same great determination as usual. They cannot expect Hobbs and Sutcliffe to give them a great start every time, but when they fail they have a right to expect a strong middle order to pick up the tab, but this did not happen. Jack Gregory turned in probably his best spell of bowling of the series, and picked up Jack Hobbs without a run on the board. Hobbs glanced his seventh ball of the opening over down the leg side, and Oldfield, anticipating, made a superb leap to take the catch. Then Gregory gave Herbert Sutcliffe a torrid time in his third over, which included a snick over the slips and a dropped chance. Andy Sandham was run out from a quick return by Grimmett for 4, and Sutcliffe, having scored 22 out of 28, was caught in the slips off Kelleway. Only once before this series had Hobbs and Sutcliffe failed to make at least 100 runs between them in an innings, and that time it was 86.

Frank Woolley played the best innings, batting steadily, but Patsy Hendren, Jack Hearne and Dodger Whysall all scored a few and then got out in a steady stream. Gregory and Grimmett proved to be a good bowling combination, and the small, wiry Grimmett’s spin deceived and dismissed both Woolley and Jack Hearne. Seven wickets were down for 122, all of them outstanding batsmen, before Roy Kilner and Maurice Tate fought back with a partnership of 35. But after three hours England found themselves all out with a deficit of 128 runs, and may well have thrown the match away. Woolley was the only batsman to pass 25, and Grimmett took five wickets for 45 on his Test début. Australia certainly won the second day and overall it was probably their best bowling performance of the series.

Day 3

Andrews Sustains Australia

AUSTRALIA 295 and 203/6 (J M Gregory 22, T J E Andrews 80, J M Taylor 25, H L Collins 27*, C Kelleway 22*; J W Hearne 2 wkts). ENGLAND 167. Overnight score was: England (1) 167 all out.

Are the batsmen of both teams mentally exhausted? It seems like it from the batting in this match on a good pitch. Australia, despite being allowed a first-innings lead of 128 by England, made another poor showing in their second innings, apart from Tommy Andrews. Herbie Collins did not open the innings as usual as he had injured a finger while fielding, so Jack Gregory now took on the rôle of opening batsman, going in with Jack Ryder, who was bowled by Arthur Gilligan in the second over for 7. Andrews came in at No 3 and became the only batsman of the day to pass 30, his best partnership being one of 67 for the third wicket with Johnny Taylor. He was out just before tea, and when Bill Ponsford was soon afterwards run out the total was 156 for six at tea. Play descended into sheer boredom in the final session, when Collins finally came in and, in partnership with the inevitable Charles Kelleway, blocked out the day. The crowd was probably relieved when bad light ended play early.

When Tate had Taylor stumped, he equalled the record of 34 wickets for England in a Test series, set by Sydney Barnes in 1911/12. But England finished the day 334 runs behind, while Australia still have four wickets to fall, so the odds against their winning are increasing.

Day 4

England Going Down

AUSTRALIA 295 and 325 (H L Collins 28, C Kelleway 73, W A S Oldfield 65*; M W Tate 5/115, J W Hearne 2/84). ENGLAND 167 and 88/5 (J B Hobbs 13, A Sandham 15, F E Woolley 28, J W Hearne 18*, W W Whysall 1*; C V Grimmett 3 wkts). Overnight score was: Australia (2) 203/6 (Collins 27*, Kelleway 22*).

An Australian batting revival and an England top-order collapse have condemned England almost certainly to another heavy defeat tomorrow after being set 454 runs to win. Australia soon lost the wicket of Herbie Collins this morning, but then Bert Oldfield played yet another defiant and valuable innings for his country in partnership with Charles Kelleway, and the 116 they put on for the eighth wicket removed all reasonable hope for England. Oldfield when 19, though, was dropped at the wicket by his counterpart Bert Strudwick off Maurice Tate, who as usual this series put in a tremendous effort of superb bowling. Kelleway as usual played a solid innings of impenetrable defence, batting almost 3½ hours before he was finally dismissed for 73, Tate finally getting his reward. Tate then mopped up the last two batsmen, Arthur Mailey and Clarrie Grimmett, without either scoring, but it scarcely mattered at that stage. This took Tate to 38 wickets in the series at an average of 23.18, the most wickets ever taken by any bowler in any Test series.

England had little hope of scoring 454 for victory, but they could at least put up a strong fight — onlyuthey didn’t. Jack Hobbs had made a duck in the first innings, and this time it was Herbert Sutcliffe who failed to score, bowled by Gregory in his second over after being missed at the wicket in his first. Then Grimmett came on and dismissed Hobbs and Andy Sandham in quick succession to make the score 32 for three. The only bright spot of the England batting was provided by Frank Woolley, who played some good strokes, but then just before the close he was caught at cover point and English spirits plummeted still further. After so much fight during the series, they look like bowing out in disgrace.

Day 5

Fourth Loss to England as Grimmett Completes Triumph

AUSTRALIA 295 and 325. ENGLAND 167 and 146 (J W Hearne 24, W W Whysall 18, M W Tate 33; C Kelleway 2/16, C V Grimmett 6/37). Overnight score was: England (2) 88/5 (Hearne 18*, Whysall 1*).

It took a little over an hour this morning for England to surrender to their fourth defeat of the series, and perhaps their most disappointing. Today they seemed to bat with an air of hopelessness rather than defiance. Dodger Whysall did hit Herbie Collins for an unexpected six, but only Maurice Tate provided any real batting entertainment as he hit the highest individual score of 33 for the innings, after being dropped twice. The hero of the innings was the wizened little debutant leg-spinner Clarrie Grimmett, who took 11 wickets for only 82 runs. England had met him before early in the tour playing for South Australia, when he took five wickets for 108 in the match, so they were not unfamiliar with him. With Mailey in the team, Australia are thus playing two leg-break and googly bowlers, although they have different styles, with Grimmett being faster through the air and more accurate than Mailey. Most of the English batsmen had no idea which way each ball was going to turn.

The blunt fact is that there can be no excuse for such a strong batting side as England to be tumbled out for 167 and 146 on a good pitch. But for the only two England innings of the season both Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe failed with the bat, and the middle order proved to be quite incapable to doing any sort of a job without them and went to pieces. It is ridiculous that England, with the two best batsmen and the best bowler of the series in their ranks, and overall the better fielding side, should have gone down four-one to Australia, though it is significant that in all five Tests victory went to the side that won the toss. Australia overall showed more depth and determination than England did. And apart from Roy Kilner, who wasn’t even selected for the first two Tests, Tate’s support with the ball was very weak, with no other bowler averaging below 45. Still, England were not overwhelmed to the same extent as they had been against Warwick Armstrong’s teams of 1920/21 and 1921, and can hope for more success when they play on home soil against Australia next year. A three-two win to Australia would surely have been a fairer scoreline to the series.

This tour is not over yet, as before they sail M.C.C. have a minor match against a northern New South Wales team to fulfil, and then a return state match against South Australia — and Grimmett.

COUNTY NEWS

Leicestershire have just held their annual meeting, and announced a loss on the season of about £1800; a bank balance of over £1000 had become an overdraft of £658. Fortunately they had launched a special fund which raised £1079 which enabled them to keep going. George Geary’s benefit match had brought him £640, a club record.

The Warwickshire annual report states that 22 of the 39 scheduled playing days at Edgbaston last season were washed out or badly interfered with by rain. They had a deficiency of £3175 on the year, although an appeal for help had brought in over £3500.

INDIA

Hindus (162 and 127) lost to Sikhs (141 and 149/6) by four wickets. Pandit Hansraj of Hindu took eight for 29 in the Sikhs first innings, while Jai Singh of Sikhs took ten for 107 in the match.

NEW ZEALAND

Christchurch: CANTERBURY (426) drew with VICTORIA (232 and 448/7).

Canterbury gave Victoria quite a shock by running up 426 and then making Victoria follow on. Only the captain, Edgar Mayne, with 80 did much in Victoria’s first innings. In the second innings they put up a much better performance, though, with Bill Woodfull opening the innings and batting through for 212 not out, while Carl Willis made 104.

SOUTH AFRICA

Solly Joel’s team left South Africa today for England on the Union Castle liner Balmoral Castle after their tour against all-white and almost all English-speaking opponents. Their captain, Lionel Tennyson, expressed his gratitude to Mr Joel for organizing the tour and to the South Africans for their hospitality. He thought the South African team is now stronger than it was in England last year, and in particular praised the discovery of their opening batsman Jack Siedle, who is also a brilliant fielder. He said there were many promising young players in South Africa who only needed good coaching to succeed at the top level.

Buster Nupen, bowling round the wicket and getting big turn from the off, varied at times with the leg break, was an outstanding bowler on the matting pitches, while Alfred Hall also bowled very well. Fred Susskind did a fine job as batsman and slip fielder, but Herby Taylor could not find his true form and appeared tired after the long and difficult England tour as captain.

The English team had been handicapped by a long tail in batting. Ernest Tyldesley was their best batsman, followed by the opening pair of Percy Holmes and Ted Bowley, the latter also being a brilliant slip fielder. Tom Jameson came good after a difficult start, while Jack Russell scored some useful runs without reproducing his great success with England two years ago. Jack MacBryan scored one good century, but otherwise did not often find his best form.

Of the bowling, George Geary was the outstanding success, a real workhorse, and was very well backed up by Alec Kennedy. Charlie Parker did quite well, but best of all at Cape Town where the matting is laid over grass rather than gravel or antheap, as elsewhere. Ewart Astill and Father Marriott had disappointing tours, unable to produce their best on matting. Edward Bartley proved an excellent wicket-keeper.