Petering out

100 Years Ago: 6-16 March 1925

West Maitland: Northern Districts of New South Wales v M.C.C. (two-day match, not first-class)

Day 1

NORTHERN N.S.W. 157 (G Wells 45, G Bell 33; M W Tate 2/10, A P Freeman 2/43, J W Hearne 8/18). M.C.C. 50/2 (M W Tate 21*, R Kilner 13*).

Arthur Gilligan put the home side in to bat, and they were doing well at 109 for three wickets despite showery weather. Then Jack Hearne, belatedly put on to bowl, found his best form and skittled out eight batsmen in quick succession, the home side batting 15 men. Their side includes Jim White, the Cambridge University pace bowler, and when M.C.C. batted he quickly dismissed Andy Sandham and Dick Tyldesley for 4 each, making the score 17 for two at one stage.

Percy Chapman is sailing to New Zealand next Thursday for New Zealand, where he will marry Tom Lowry’s sister. Jack Bryan will also sail with him, as he will return to England via America.

Day 2

NORTHERN N.S.W. 157 and 153/7 (G Bell 68; R Tyldesley 3/17, J W Hearne 2/52). M.C.C. 327/7 dec (M W Tate 30, R Kilner 66, H Sutcliffe 136*, J W Hearne 26, W W Whysall 33*). Match drawn.

Herbert Sutcliffe, coming in at No 7, scored a fine unbeaten century, but aggravated a strained arm. He plans to have it X-rayed in Melbourne next week. For the Districts team G Bell in the second innings played a powerful innings of 68, with 2 sixes and 8 fours; at one point he hit Jack Hearne for 22 runs in an over.

Adelaide: South Australia v M.C.C.

Day one

Sandham Fifty, but M.C.C. Feeble

M.C.C. 179 (A Sandham 59, E H Hendren 38, M W Tate 30; G H Palmer 4/50, A J Richardson 5/52). SOUTH AUSTRALIA 76/2 (D E Pritchard 45*, V Y Richardson 27*).

A combination of Test match blues and travel weariness after an overnight journey from Melbourne no doubt helped to explain another poor batting performance by the touring side. Andy Sandham applied himself very well, steady and dedicated, but lacking a lasting partner; both Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe are rested from this match. Frank Woolley hit up 14 in almost irresponsible fashion. Patsy Hendren played well for a time and their partnership of 51 was the largest of the innings, while Maurice Tate hit powerfully for 30. George Palmer, left-hand fast-medium, and Arthur Richardson both bowled very well. Clarrie Grimmett, given a great ovation by the crowd after his Test match triumph when he came on to bowl, got Jack Hearne caught at short leg off his first delivery, but that was his only wicket of the innings. All the Englishmen played him with the utmost care, except for Maurice Tate, who hit a six and a four off him in one over.

South Australia went in not long after tea, and made a bad start, Arthur Richardson being bowled by Arthur Gilligan without scoring and the second wicket fell at 13. Then David Pritchard and Vic Richardson settled in for the rest of the day, obviously intent on not wasting the advantage their state had gained over the tourists.

Day two

Great Lead by South Australia

M.C.C. 179 and 15/0 (A Sandham 8*, W W Whysall 9*). SOUTH AUSTRALIA 443 (D E Pritchard 87, V Y Richardson 43, P D Rundell 90, J W Rymill 146, C V Grimmett 39; M W Tate 4/105, A E R Gilligan 2/68). Overnight score was: South Australia (1) 76/2 (Pritchard 45*, V Y Richardson 27*).

M.C.C. continued to suffer today as the South Australian batsmen took heavy toll of their bowling. Vic Richardson was soon out with the score at 95, but then followed three fine innings by scarcely known batsmen outside their own state. David Pritchard scored a fine 87, and then Percy Rundell and Jack Rymill put on 151 for the fifth wicket, though both should have been run out early in their innings but for bad throws. Rymill in particular batted superbly for his score of 146, and Clarrie Grimmett showed that he can also bat usefully in a supporting rôle when necessary. The English bowling was indifferent and Maurice Tate was obviously very tired, going for 105 runs in 22.1 overs.

South Australia eventually took a first-innings lead of 264 and got M.C.C. in again before the close. The openers survived, but M.C.C. have a huge task ahead of them tomorrow, and at this stage of the tour perhaps lack the physical and mental strength to face up to it. It is not easy to have to play comparatively insignificant matches after the Test series is over and the players just want to get home.

Day three

Whysall Finishes Well, M.C.C. Fail

M.C.C. 179 and 264 (W W Whysall 101, A Sandham 64, E H Hendren 59; C V Grimmett 7/85, A J Richardson 3/86). SOUTH AUSTRALIA 443 and 1/0. South Australia won by ten wickets. Overnight score was: M.C.C. (2) 15/0 (Sandham 8*, Whysall 9*).

M.C.C. made a magnificent fightback against South Australia in their second innings — right up to the point where Andy Sandham was bowled by Clarrie Grimmett for 64 when the score was 166, the first wicket down. After that the innings virtually turned into a horror show and M.C.C. ended their tour with another humiliation. Dodger Whysall was the main figure in that superb opening partnership, reaching 101, his only century of the tour, in just under 2½ hours. He played a wonderful positive innings as he showed the way for his team-mates to bat, only to depart immediately after Sandham and find his innings had fallen on blind eyes.

Only Patsy Hendren took up the gauntlet and played a fine attacking innings, reaching his fifty in only three-quarters of an hour as wickets tumbled at the other end — Hearne 7, Woolley 3, Kilner 9, Tate 2, Freeman 1 and Gilligan completing a pair. When he left another 15 runs were needed to avoid an innings defeat. With 14 from Dick Tyldesley, this was achieved — just. Grimmett had reasserted his dominance over the England batsmen, finishing with seven wickets for 85 with superb bowling. Whysall used his feet superbly to counter his deliveries and Hendren also gave him some stick, but the others were easy pickings. Arthur Richardson backed up Grimmett very well.

South Australia had to go in again, Sandham was given the honour of bowling the last ball of the tour, and a single off it ended the match and the tour in M.C.C. embarrassment. However, overall the results have been much better than on the last M.C.C. tour of 1920/21. Arthur Gilligan in particular has won the hearts of the Australian public with his buoyant, cheerful spirit, charm and smiling face, in contrast to the dour demeanour of Johnny Douglas four years ago. However, as a player he had a disappointing tour, except as a brilliant mid-off fielder.

Brief Comments on the M.C.C. players in Australia

Jack Bryan. He played some useful innings when he had the chance, which unfortunately was not often.

Percy Chapman. He occasionally played a brilliant innings, but too often got out just when he seemed well set. As expected, he fielded brilliantly.

Johnny Douglas. As always, he gave full effort, but had little success with bat or ball.

Tich Freeman. He did not have a very fortunate or successful tour, although his efforts in the First Test with both bat and ball were most praiseworthy.

Arthur Gilligan. Probably the most popular captain ever to tour Australia, an excellent leader on and off the field, although more in an inspirational rather than tactical way. He fielded brilliantly, but had little success with bat or ball.

Jack Hearne. Once again he was prone to illness and injury, failing with the bat but sometimes bowling usefully.

Patsy Hendren. He batted brilliantly on occasions, showing he can succeed in Test cricket. He was often a brilliant fielder, but not always a reliable catcher.

Jack Hobbs. At the age of 42 he showed he is still as good as ever both as batsman and fielder.

Harry Howell. He must be very disappointed at having been given so few opportunities on tour.

Roy Kilner. It was a serious mistake to omit him from the first two Test matches, as in the last three he was the most reliable bowler after Tate. He also batted usefully.

Andy Sandham. With the success of Hobbs and Sutcliffe, he didn’t adjust too well to having to bat in the middle order, and had a disappointing tour with the bat, although always fielding brilliantly.

Herbert Sutcliffe. Exceeded all hopes and expectations with four Test centuries and a record run aggregate for a Test series. He and Hobbs were the only batsmen in the team who really lived up to or exceeded expectations in the Test series.

Bert Strudwick. Kept wicket superbly at the age of 45.

Maurice Tate. The outstanding bowler of the series, and surely the best in the world at present, showing amazing stamina and skill, even when handicapped by a toe injury. His all-time record wicket aggregate for a Test series does not show how many times he beating the bat without hitting the stumps. And he had to do the job with so little adequate support at the other end.

Dick Tyldesley. A very disappointing tour; ineffective with the ball, perhaps because Australian batsmen are more willing to go down the pitch to him than the English.

Frank Woolley. Sometimes he batted brilliantly, but was not very consistent in the Test matches. He sometimes bowled usefully, but only because there was so little support for Tate, and Australian pitches don’t really suit him.

Dodger Whysall. He had a better tour than many expected; chosen as reserve wicket-keeper, it was expected he would get little opportunity, but he played three Tests as a specialist batsman and made some very useful runs.

On a sad note, our crystal ball has shocked us with the news that three of these touring players will be dead within six years! But it won’t tell us which ones.

WISDEN

The 1925 Wisden has just been published, covering the soggy 1924 English season, including the South African tour, but the England tour of Australia is of course completed too late for inclusion. The Five Cricketers of the Year are Dodger Whysall, Dick Tyldesley and Jack MacBryan, together with the South Africans Herby Taylor and Bob Catterall.

LAHORE

Muslims (253 and 362/5 dec) drew with Europeans (205 and 73/9). The Muslims declared too late in their second innings to allow Nazir Ali to reach his century, and so the Europeans were able to wriggle out of defeat by just one wicket. Dilawar Hussain (112) and Nazir Ali (102 not out) scored centuries in the second innings.

Sikhs (141 and 108) lost to Muslims (200 and 51/4) by six wickets. No batsman played an innings of more than 35 in a low-scoring game. Jai Singh took seven wickets for 85 in the Muslims first innings, yet finished on the losing side.

WELLINGTON

Wellington (209 and 217) beat Victoria (190 and 217) by 19 runs. It seems Victoria are having a harder time than they expected in New Zealand, although they are without their Test players. The promising young Stewie Dempster scored 57 in Wellington’s second innings, while the all-rounder Ted Badcock took six for 72 in the Victorian second innings, and nine for 141 in the match. Bill Woodfull with 37 and 56 was top scorer in each innings for Victoria.

DERBYSHIRE

Derbyshire County Cricket Club reported a loss of £669 9s 5d last year; they already had a big deficit, and they are now £1509 11s 7d in the red. A special fund has been opened, which it is hoped will raise about £700 of this amount.

An experiment will be tried in giving a county match to Ilkeston, neighbours Nottinghamshire being the visitors. Guy Jackson will captain the side, and it is expected that the former Nottinghamshire all-rounder Garnet Lee will be available for the team this season.

NEW ZEALAND

Auckland: AUCKLAND (415 and 190/4) drew with VICTORIA (434).

The opening batsman Ernest Horspool (143) and Cec Dacre (127 not out) both scored centuries for Auckland. Victoria lost three wickets for 19 in reply, but the middle order fought back strongly, with the Cambridge blue Harold Austin making 87 and Vernon Ransford 106. When Auckland batted again there was no time for an outright result, but Dacre scored his second century of the match, 101 not out. Starting on 20 March, Victoria play two four-day matches against the full New Zealand side.