Page:Cricket, by WG Grace.djvu/174

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
166
CRICKET

good wishes for the success of one of the finest cricketers Surrey ever produced. Individual scoring was good during the months of May, June, and July while the weather was dry and the wickets hard; but heavy rains set in early in August, and continued for the remainder of the season, which caused the pace to slacken considerably. A record was established by Mr. W. N. Roe, on the 12th July, playing for Emmanuel L. V. C. against Caius L. V. C. at Cambridge, when he scored 415 not out, exceeding Mr. Tylecote's score at Clifton in 1868 by 11 runs. Medical work took up much of my time that year, and I played less than formerly.


In 1882 the visit of the third Australian team was of great interest. Only eleven-a-side matches were arranged, an indication that the visitors meant to test the full strength of English cricketers. Murdoch was again at the head of the eleven and said to be batting better than ever. His huge score of 321 for New South Wales v. Victoria, in the early part of the year, proved that, and led us to expect greater things of him than he had done in 1880. He brought with him the best of the first team, and the weak members had been replaced by such good names as G. Giffen, T. W. Garrett, H. H. Massie, and S. P. Jones.

Their first match against Oxford University was a revelation of their powers, and established the reputations of three of the new members—Massie, Giffen, and Garrett. Their second match, played against Sussex, just as clearly showed that the old members, Murdoch, Palmer, Spofforth, and Bannerman, had gone forward and not backward. How well they fought against the best of our county elevens is a matter of history; not meeting with a single defeat, and conclusively proving that they were worthy of being classed