"The one Test we did win"
100 Years Ago: 12-18 February 1925
Melbourne: Australia v England (Fourth Test Match)
Jack Hearne will return to the England team for the Fourth Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, replacing Tich Freeman. Arthur Gilligan has decided he is now fit to play.
Australia too have made just one change in their team for this match, recalling Warren Bardsley in place of Vic Richardson. This gives New South Wales eight representatives in the Australian team.
Day 1
Sutcliffe Again as England Win Toss!
ENGLAND 282/2 (J B Hobbs 66, H Sutcliffe 141*, J W Hearne 44, F E Woolley 26*). AUSTRALIA to bat.
As usual, Herbert Sutcliffe came good with the bat for England, scoring his fourth century of the series. What was NOT usual was that England won the toss for the first time this series and, far from being thrown into disarray by such an unusual situation, took full advantage of it — for which Jack Hobbs and Sutcliffe take the most credit. Sutcliffe set up two new records today — he is the first batsman to score four centuries in a Test series, and his 710 runs so far — in only the fourth match — beats the record of 662 in a series made by Jack Hobbs in Australia in 1911/12. He batted throughout the day for 141 not out with the greatest patience.
So for the first time this series England were able to bat first on a slow and easy pitch. They enjoyed some early luck, as Sutcliffe on 9 was missed near the long-leg boundary by Bill Ponsford, normally a superb fielder, and Hobbs on 19, edged a ball only just wide of third slip, both off Jack Gregory’s bowling. Both batsmen settled in, though, and took the score to 70 without loss by lunch time. They took their partnership to 126, their fourth century opening partnership this series, before Jack Ryder came on and had Hobbs brilliantly stumped by Bert Oldfield for 66, scored in just over two hours. Jack Hearne came in to play in his usual correct, steady style and put on 106 with Sutcliffe, who reached his century soon after tea, going from 83 to 101 in just two overs. Arthur Richardson finally had Hearne caught for 44. Frank Woolley made a slow start, partly through Sutcliffe monopolizing the strike, but in the last hour or so of the day the batsmen both pushed the score along well against the tiring attack, with Arthur Mailey having a rather inaccurate day. The Australian fielding today was not very good either. Sutcliffe and Woolley are still there for tomorrow, when they will be looking to make a really big score — after all, in a timeless Test it doesn’t matter how many days you bat for.
Day 2
England Bat Two Days
ENGLAND 548 (H Sutcliffe 143, F E Woolley 40, E H Hendren 65, W W Whysall 76, R Kilner 74; C Kelleway 3/70, A A Mailey 4/186, J Ryder 2/83). AUSTRALIA to bat. Overnight score was: England (1) 282/2 (Sutcliffe 141*, Woolley 26*)
England continued to grind out the runs today, and had their tail not collapsed they would still be batting tomorrow morning. It was Australia who tasted early success, though, as the prolific Herbert Sutcliffe was trapped lbw by Arthur Mailey in the first over of the day after adding only two runs to his overnight score. Frank Woolley also did not last long, as he was brilliantly stumped by Bert Oldfield, also off Mailey. Patsy Hendren and Percy Chapman then began to bat in entertaining fashion, scoring 39 together in half an hour before Oldfield brought off another brilliant stumping to remove Chapman.
The situation changed after lunch, though, as Dodger Whysall dug in grimly and Patsy Hendren went into his shell until he was finally bowled by Jack Russell at 394 for five. Overall, though, his was the best innings of the day. Then came another long partnership as Roy Kilner joined Whysall and the pair put on 133 for the seventh wicket, with Kilner the more enterprising of the two. But after tea the scoring slowed again, with the bowlers trying the off theory to restrict the scoring and to try and induce frustration. The score reached 527 for six before Charlie Kelleway managed to tempt Whysall down the pitch and had him stumped. He next removed Arthur Gilligan first ball and then Kilner, before the last pair of Maurice Tate and Bert Strudwick put on 19 in 12 minutes. Arthur Mailey, who had been very expensive, finally ended the innings by having Tate caught in the deep, and with that wicket play ended. The future of this match now depends on the Australian batsmen, who are quite capable of challenging the big England score.
Day 3
Australia Struggle
ENGLAND 548. AUSTRALIA 168/5 (H L Collins 22, A J Richardson 19, W Bardsley 24, W H Ponsford 21, J M Taylor 47*, T J E Andrews 33*; M W Tate 2 wkts, J W Hearne 2 wkts). Overnight score was: England (1) 548 all out.
The play was spoiled by rain falling on and off throughout the day. Australia began their innings in confident fashion, with Herbie Collins and Arthur Richardson scoring freely off rather inaccurate bowling, especially from Arthur Gilligan, perhaps struggling with a wet ball. Finally Maurice Tate broke through to get Collins caught at short leg and Jack Ryder bowled off his pads two balls later. Warren Bardsley came in next and played a most uncharacteristic innings, hitting freely to score 24 in 18 minutes until he was too eager to take a quick single and was run out by Jack Hobbs. When Arthur Richardson was out four wickets were down for 74.
The showers now began to have their say and the players were on and off the field. Johnny Taylor was playing a fine innings and finally found a good partner in Tommy Andrews. They took the score from 109 for five to 168 with some excellent positive batting without further loss, but after another shower the umpires decided that the ball was so slippery that it would be unfair to the fielding side to continue. This angered the crowd, and some of them invaded the field to inspect the pitch, causing slight damage as they did so, and one of the stumps was stolen. In the end play was abandoned for the day, with three policemen coming out in place of the umpires to draw stumps.
Day 4
Taylor Defies England, but Australia Follow On
ENGLAND 548. AUSTRALIA 269 (J M Taylor 86, T J E Andrews 35, J M Gregory 38; M W Tate 2/70, J W Hearne 3/77, R Kilner 3/29) and (following on) 175/4 (J M Gregory 45, J M Taylor 59*, J Ryder 38, C Kelleway 23*; R Kilner 2 wkts). Overnight score was: Australia (1) 168/5 (Taylor 47*, Andrews 33*).
England may almost be said to be staring victory in the face after the fourth day of this match, but it is not quite secure yet, as Australia finished the day still 104 runs behind them with six second-innings wickets left. England again enjoyed some good fortune, as the pitch before lunch was difficult, owing to overnight rain and the crowd intrusion yesterday. The left-arm spinners Frank Woolley and Roy Kilner soon had Australia in trouble as they got considerable turn, and Tommy Andrews and Charlie Kelleway fell early victims to Kilner, while Johnny Taylor edged a ball that fell just short of slip. Seven wickets were then down for 172, but Jack Gregory joined Taylor and the two added 72 by positive batting, although Gregory was dropped twice. The pitch grew easier during the afternoon. The innings ended just after lunch, 279 runs behind, and Australia had to follow on. This is the first time since their tour of England in 1905 that Australia has had to suffer this indignity.
They made a dreadful start, with Herbie Collins and Warren Bardsley, opening the innings together, both out to Kilner and Maurice Tate respectively with the score on 5; Collins scored 1 run from 4 balls, Bardsley no runs from 6. Tate was getting a lot of lift from the pitch. But Gregory and Taylor then came together to play their second rescue partnership of the day, this time putting on 50 together. Jack Ryder then replaced Gregory and played a sturdy innings, before Kelleway saw out the day with his usual great caution. Taylor played two superb innings today, scoring 101 runs in the day, and the fate of Australia will depend very much on what he is able to do tomorrow. Australia have not lost yet, but some remarkable feats will be needed now to prevent England from gaining their first victory of the series.
Day 5
England Win at Last
ENGLAND 548. AUSTRALIA 269 and (following on) 250 (J M Taylor 68, C Kelleway 42, W H Ponsford 19; M W Tate 5/75, R Kilner 2/41). England won by an innings and 29 runs. Overnight score was: Australia (2) 175/4 (Taylor 59*, Kelleway 23*).
Today England completed their first victory in a Test match over Australia since 1912, before the war, and by the handsome margin of an innings and 29 runs. Australia began the day with their last six wickets needing to make 104 more runs to avoid an innings defeat, but, largely thanks to more superb bowling from Maurice Tate, they failed.
Arthur Gilligan struck first, taking his only wicket of the match when he had Johnny Taylor well caught in the slips by Frank Woolley for 68, Australia’s highest scorer in both innings. Only Charles Kelleway made much of a stand after that, batting doggedly for 99 minutes to score 42 before being out to a fine catch by Bert Strudwick at the wicket off Tate, whose eventual figures for the morning were four wickets for 21 runs. He ended it all by bowling out Bert Oldfield after an hour and a half’s play this morning. The crowd applauded the England team generously, and Tate in particular; some critics compared him favourably with the great Sydney Barnes. However, other critics rate Barnes as the better bowler of the two greats, due to his greater variety of delivery than Tate. The victory is a great breakthrough for England, after 11 defeats in the previous 13 matches since the war, and the evidence now that Australia are not unbeatable should given them confidence for the future. On Australia’s side, this was their first defeat since 1912; they have also played South Africa since then.
Bloemfontein: Orange Free State v S B Joel’s XI
Day 1
Jameson Leads Tourists’ Run Feast
S B JOEL’S XI 442 (E H Bowley 67, G E Tyldesley 96, A S Kennedy 35, T O Jameson 133, F W H Nicholas 78; B C Susskind 4/58, C M Maritz 3/91). ORANGE FREE STATE 12/1 (R T S Dick 1*, C M Maritz 6*).
It was a fine day at Bloemfontein, with a good batting pitch and weak opposition for the tourists. However, Percy Holmes missed out on the run-scoring, as he was bowled in the first over of the innings without scoring by Bernard Susskind, brother of Fred. Ernest Tyldesley was again in brilliant form, though, and with Ted Bowley put on 124 for the second wicket. He was caught out after lunch at mid-on for 96, aiming for the four that would have brought him his century. There was another excellent partnership of 173 for the sixth wicket between two lesser names, Tom Jameson of Hampshire and the Army, and Fred Nicholas of Essex. Nicholas hit 78 in 1¼ hours, and Jameson almost twice as long for his highest first-class score of 133. The Free State bowling was weak and their fielding poor, with a number of chances being dropped.
Day 2
No Play — Rain
S B JOEL’S XI 442. ORANGE FREE STATE 12/1 (R T S Dick 1*, C M Maritz 6*).
Continuous rain at Bloemfontein prevented any play being possible today.
Day 3
Fine Batting by Free State
S B JOEL’S XI 442. ORANGE FREE STATE 384 (R T S Dick 51, C N Maritz 56, D J de Villiers 37, S K Coen 103, T E Holmes 45; A S Kennedy 4/85, C S Marriott 2/103, C W L Parker 2/50). Match drawn. Overnight score was: Orange Free State (1) 12/1 (Dick 1*, Maritz 6*).
After such a poor bowling and fielding performance from Orange Free State on Friday, before the Saturday washout, the tourists were no doubt taken by surprise at their good batting today. The score reached 100 before the second wicket fell, and at this point it was clear that no outright result would be possible. The highlight was a fine century by Stanley (Shunter) Coen, who batted for just under 2½ hours.
WEST INDIES
Port of Spain: Trinidad (219 and 247) beat Barbados (211 and 242) by 13 runs.
At Port of Spain today, Trinidad completed a narrow 13-run victory over Barbados. The main performers for Trinidad were Wilton St Hill with scores of 66 and 64, and Joe Small with bowling figures of five for 34 and four for 62. For Barbados, Percy Tarilton scored 68 in the first innings, George Challenor 56 in the second, and Herman Griffith had figures of five for 66 and four for 58.
SUSSEX
The Sussex County Cricket Club have announced an overall positive balance of £554 1s 2d on last year. Robert Relf’s benefit match brought him £554 1s 2d, and a fund on behalf of the widow of the former wicket-keeper George Street, who was killed in a motor-cycle accident last year, collected £1074 11s 4d. Next season Sussex will play all the other 16 counties, except for Derbyshire, home-and-away, a total of 30 County Championship matches.