19 October 1946
Larwood Greatest Fast Bowler Between the Wars.
Fast bowlers' rewards for hurling the ball swifter than full gale force (63 m.p.h.) are unjustly inadequate. They tear into action, reckless of sprained ankle, synovitis, hernia, and lumbago, yet their bowling averages are no better, often worse, than those of men who amble up comfortably to bowl.
YET there is no moment in any sport more tense than the hush as a fast bowler rushes up to fling down the first ball in a Test, especially if it is at Melbourne, with about 80,000 people all holding their breath at once.
In an attempt to grade fast bowlers in order of speed, I would place those who have bowled for or against Australia since World War I in five groups:
1. H. LARWOOD (England).
2. J. M. GREGORY, E. A. McDONALD (Australia).
3. L. N. CONSTANTINE (West Indies), E. L. McCORMICK (Aust.), K. FARNES, G. O. ALLEN, H. HOWELL (Eng.), R. J. CRISP (South Africa), H. H. ALEXANDER (Aust.).
4. J. W. HITCH, E. W. CLARK, T. J. DURSTON (Eng.), T. W. WALL, H. M. THURLOW, L. J. NASH (Aust.), H. C. GRIFFITH, G. N. FRANCIS (West Indies).
5. A. J. BELL (South Africa), W. VOCE, M. S. NICHOLS, A. R. GILLIGAN, W. E. BOWES (Eng.).
Harold Larwood was the greatest fast bowler; Ted McDonald the finest bowler of the men who could bowl fast. They were strikingly dissimilar - Larwood short (5 ft. 8 in.), blue-eyed, with fair hair standing up from his forehead as if the wind had blown it back; McDonald, tall (6 ft. 1 in.), dark-eyed, with black hair parted a little left of centre.
In action, either could have been a model for the sculpture of the twentieth century equivalent of the ancient discus thrower, but in an attitude suggesting greater mobility and enough heedlessnes of the rules of discus throwing to launch it overhead.
Larwood's nickname, "Loll" could not have come from anything he did on the cricket fleld. There was almost a military briskness in his 14 strides, as if he had practised his approach to a quick march by a regimental band. At the climax his left foot came down with a positive stamp; he tilted his head aside so arm could swish over vertically for the downward snap of the wrist that put the fly in flier.
McDonald's approach looked more gliding. He ran 18 yards, and there was something ominous about the way he came up, his arm swinging with rhythmic menace, the wrist coiling like a cobra about to strike. Double-jointed in the shoulders, McDonald could clasp his hands in front and without unclasping them, pass them back over his head and down behind him until they rested on his hindquarters.
No Australian bowler of any type since 1890 has taken as many wickets on a tour of England as McDonald's 150 in 1921. With Gregory he formed the most overpowering double-edged speed attack that ever cut Test batsmen down. They opened the bowling together in 22 English and South African innings; in 18 innings one wicket or more fell before the score passed the thirties; only three opening partnerships reached 50 (highest 65) when they played a full part in the attack. The terrible pair, especially Gregory, exploited the timehonored right of fast bowlers to test batsmen's pluck with steeprising balls. As no more than three fieldsmen were placed on the leg side, sometimes fewer, the batsmen's scope for hooking was not curtailed, but the Englishmen suffered heavy casualties.
Romping Giant
Jack Gregory was the greatest cricket-field personality I have seen. If in his day there had been the radio descriptions which swelled interest in the game soon after his retirement I believe he would have been the greatest drawcard in cricket history. At his peak he was the world's best all-rounder, a whirlwind bowler, entertaining left-hand batsman, superb slip fielder, acrobat and juggler all rolled into one - a romping giant of 6 ft. 3 in. and 14 st; agile as a circus tumbler.
After a few walkimg steps he rushed at the batsman with 10 bounds. The ninth was a kangaroo hop with the right foot; the hop and his final delivery stride each covered 8 ft. or 9 ft. Larwood was half a foot shorter than Gregory, but if anything he made the ball lift even more abruptly. With a ball that bowled G. F. Martin (Tasmania) at Launceston in 1929 he sent a bail 66 yards.
Watching Larwood in action, it was difficult to imagine that any body could ever have bowled faster, though old-timers were convinced that C. J. Kortright (Essex), J. J. Kotze (South Africa), and Ernest Jones (South Austraiia) had greater speed. I cannot credit that fast bowlers - unlike golfers, swimmers, runners, pole-vaulters, and other agile members of the human race - have failed to advance with the times but have fallen back. Just as he was the world's master of the nobler arts and crafts of fast bowling, Larwood exploited anti-personnel stuff more intelligently and dangerously than the others. Before bodyline was outlawed its defenders and apologists emphasised Larwood's accuracy, to give non-witnesses the impression of pace without peril. Those who could see for themselves knew better. After one ultra-short ball had whizzed over a batsman's head, a Sydney barracker called:- "Eh, Harold! That would have been a yorker if you'd bowled it from the other end."
Took Final Toll
As a fast bowler in Test cricket he died with his boots on. The hard Australian ground took final toll of his thumping left foot in the past weeks of the 1932-3 tour. Though most widely known as Larwood's partner in making batsmen's flesh creep, Bill Voce, five years younger, achieved much more success as a Test bowler in solo parts than by sawing away at a second fiddle of frightfulness. The powerful Notts left-hander, 6 ft. and 14 st. before he really filled out, was a hardy man of stamina. At 37 he quickly bowled himself back into England's team this year.
Queensland aboriginal Eddie Gilbert, short in build, but longarmed, took only four or five steps to the crease. There, he made a sudden bow as his arm flashed over and down until his hand finished alongside his left shin. Now and again he turned on scorching speed. On an underdone pitch at Brisbine in 1931 he began as if, instead of an arm he had a bazooka up his sleeve. The slips dropped back to nearer the boundary than the, wicket. and a bumper, sailing over the distant wicketkeeper (L. Waterman) landed near the sight screen. Gilbert took two for none in his first over, one of them Bradman, who fell down twice in avoiding fliers. In reply to commiseration about his sudden dismissal, Don said: "Luckiest duck I ever made." Batsmen estimated that in his first few overs that day Gilbert bowled faster than Larwood. He was then 23. There was something flail-like in the movement of his forearm, and at Melbourne in December 1931, the leading Victorian umpire, A. Barlow no-balled him 11 times in three overs. Queenslanders were so sure that Gilbert did not throw that a slowmotion film of his action was made. He was not sent to play at Melbourne again, but was passed by umpires else where.
Tim Wall was the most gentlemanly of all fast bowlers. Don't imagine that when the Adelaide schoolmaster hit batsmen it hurt him more than it did them, but if he had that streak of savagery most fast bowlers possess It was faintly marked. He bowled probably the best outswinger of the lot, especially when a gentle breeze blew from mid-on. His control Is attested by his having the lowest debit rate of all regular fast bowlers in Anglo-Australian Tests between the wars-a fraction less than 44 runs per 100 balls. He is the only man who has taken 10 wickets in an innings in Sheffield cricket.
Covered Miles
Wall ran up with a dozen long strides, delivered as he came down on the thirteenth, and - including five or six follow-through strides and his hikes back to starting point - he covered about 50 yards for each ball. On an average he bowled 85 balls for each wicket in Tests, so be covered two miles three furlongs, half-run, half-walked for each. In 25 innings against England Wall dismissed only four opening batsmen in his first turn at the crease, but he was a great-hearted trier who never gave up. He got rid of Hammond for under 40 five times, thereby saving the Australians many calluses on the soles of their feet.
Harry Alexander, thick-set Victorian fast bowler, was soon nick named "Bull" because of a number of characteristics, most conspicuous of which were his charge to the wicket, his bellowed appeals for snicked catches, and the size of his chest - broad, deep, and hirsute. The fine line of his Gable-style moustache betokened a steady hand in the mornings, but his bowling was more notable for speed than control. In his only Test, at Sydney, 1933, he broke two of Wyatt's bats. Jardine (twice) and Hammond were dropped in slips off his bowling. After Jardine complained to the umpire that Alexander's boots were cutting up the pitch, the bowler tried around-the-wicket deliveries, but was uncomfortable. Reverting to over-the-wicket, he bumped one ball over Jardine's head and another struck the English captain a bruising blow in the left side. For all that eventful bowling Alexander received the meagre reward of one wicket.
Made Ball Bounce
Fortune was kinder to fairhaired Laurie Nash, who, in two Tests at Melbourne, took five for 22 on a rain-damaged wicket against South Africa in 1932 and five for 104 against England, in 1937. Nash raced up so quickly that he had to steady himself in delivery, but he made the ball bounce. A chunky athlete of 5 ft. 9 in., and 13 st. 9 lb., he was more famous as one of the most brilliant players of the long-kicking, high-leaping brand of football favored in two-thirds of the Australian States.
When Australia's fast-bowling jeweller, Ernie McCormick, began marking out his run it looked as if he could do with a chainmeasure and perhaps a theodolite. His approach was the longest I can recall in Test cricket - 31 paces, which he covered with four preliminary skips and 20 running strides. When he missed count (maybe somewhere in double figures) in his first match in England in 1938, the six-foot Vicitorian was noballed eight times in his opening over, and 35 times in the 20 overs he bowled in the match. In the four years before World War II McCormick's opening overs were the fastest on earth. His arm-action was high and fluent, and his body-swing so energetic that it almost seemed as if he might somersault down the pitch after the ball. At full throttle he almost equalled Larwood's velocity. He took a wicket with the first ball of an innings against England and South Africa (the only bowler who did it twice).
In his 12 Tests against England and South Africa he took 36 wickets - one for every 59 balls, at a cost slightly below 30 runs each. That gave him a quicker striking rate than Constantine. Larwood, Gregory, and McDonald, and the best average of Australia's regular fast bowlers since 1919. Mac made fun of his left-hand batting, and told of an innings in which he lasted two balls. He played the first one and called "Wait!" resonantly to an impetuous partner. The next ball bowled him. As he walked away he heard the wicketkeeper say: "McCormick, eh? Obviously the tenor."
19 Oct 1946 - "BETWEEN WICKETS" - Trove
25 November 1943
DEATH OF ERNIE JONES
Australia's Fastest Bowler
The death occurred in Adelaide on Tuesday of Mr. Ernest Jones, the Australian Test cricketer, at the age of 74. He was generally recognised as the fastest bowler Australia ever produced. Mr. Jones, who represented South Australia, played in 18 Tests against England, taking 60 wickets at an average of 29.28 runs. He toured England three* times-in 1896, 1899, and 1902. In Sheffield Shield cricket he took 209 wickets. One of the greatest bowling performances was in the second Test in 1899, when he helped to rout England, taking seven for 88. His bowling was described on that occasion as "terrific." Critics placed him above such other Australian fast bowlers as "Tibby" Cotter, Jack Gregory, and E. A. Mac.donald.
In the first match of the 1899 tour, against the South of England, Jones bowled Dr. W. G, Grace in both innings, for 5 and 47 respectively. In the last match of the tour he again dismissed Grace for 7 and 29. He was also a first-class field, and a prominent footballer.
25 Nov 1943 - DEATH OF ERNIE JONES - Trove
Interesting. I wasn't aware that there had been a controversy surroundung Gilbert's action. After doing a bit of reading it appears that Barlow and some other Umpires had over-reacted. Maybe they were sceptical in believing that such pace could be generated from only 3 or 4 strides.Gilbert was unfortunate to be called imo. Barlow called him on his wrist action I believe. Considering most fast men impart extra effort by bringing their wrist into the delivery, barlow's is the most bizarre and unjust call for throwing.
24 Jan 1935
DOES EDDIE GILBERT THROW BALL SWHEN BOWLING?
Aborigine's Sensational Career
EDDIE Gilbert, the Queensland aboriginal fast bowler, is once more in the news. Doubt has been cast upon the fairness of his action by Victorian players and critics, following his five wickets for 77 in the recent Queensland v. Victoria match.
Gilbert's career has rivalled that of Bradman for sensations since he first came into prominence In 1930. At the close of the 1929-30 season Gilbert was brought to Brisbane for a trial at the nets. He had spent the better part of two days in the rain, but caused a mild sensation when he turned out for practice next day. The first player against whom he bowled was hit severely on the arm. The next, deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, retreated as far as possible, and the third was doubled up by the third ball he received.
AMBULANCE SUMMONED
Gilbert had previously been creating havoc among country batsmen on the concrete pitches of the South Burnett Association. In one match he scored 207 not out, then bowled five of the opposition and knocked out four others.
The injuries to some of the men were so serious that the ambulance from the next town had to be summoned. During the 1930-1 season, Gilbert took six wickets for 82 in the interstate colts' match against New South Wales. This gained him a place in the State side against South Australia, and he and Thurlow dismissed South Australia for 72. On the southern tour that year Gilbert took four for 44 against New South Wales, one for 78 against Victoria. and two for 82 against South Australia.
At the beginning of the next season Gilbert performed the almost incredible feat of dismissing Bradman for a "duck." Bradman, facing Gilbert for the first time in his career, saw two fast balls fly over his head. Then he tried to pull the next, and it flicked the edge of his bat on the way to the wicketkeeper 20 yards back.
Fairfax also went cheaply to Gilbert, but McCabe and Fingleton gradually wore the bowling down, and next day McCabe went on to score a brilliant double century. - The manager of the New South Wales team (Mr. A. Rose) alleged that Gilbert had thrown almost every ball of his opening over. He caused a big stir in the cricket world.
NO-BALLING EPISODE
Going south that year with the Queensland team, Gilbert struck more trouble in Melbourne, where Umpire Barlow called four successive deliveries in his first over against Victoria, and later no-balled other balls. Following the no-balling episode Gilbert spent the next winter trying to eliminate an apparent jerk in his action when he bowled his fastest ball, and in doing so lengthened his run. That proved disastrous, for it took away half his pace. Now he has returned to his old style, taking a run of a few steps before he swings his arm over.
In his first three overs he has tremendous pace and often makes the ball swing awkwardly. Stan McCabe and other New South Wales internationals who faced Larwood have expressed the opinion that Gilbert, in his first two or three overs on the Brisbane wicket is faster than the English express. On southern wickets, except perhaps in Sydney, the aborigine has never attained the same pace. Although he is probably the fastest bowler in Australia, Gilbert has never been considered for Test selection. Messrs. Hele and Borwick, the Test umpires, have considered his action quite fair, but many players are convinced that Gilbert does throw his fastest delivery.
These slow motion films (see original article) were made at a special demonstration after Eddie Gilbert had been no-bailed for throwing by Umpire Barlow in one Melbourne match. The pictures beyond a suggestion of an impending throw in the first one, do not reveal any throwing in his delivery.
24 Jan 1935 - DOES EDDIE GILBERT THROW BALL WHEN BOWLING? - Trove
Interesting to note the point made here. For a throw to be effective at increasing pace you'd think the straightening of the arm would have to occur up to the instant of delivery, which is indeed what the stills show. And it's not a small amount of bend either. I suspect his full action would be rather similar to Charlie Griffith or Gary Bartlett (55:17 in that video on the previous page), with the arm coming from behind the body.These slow motion films (see original article) were made at a special demonstration after Eddie Gilbert had been no-bailed for throwing by Umpire Barlow in one Melbourne match. The pictures beyond a suggestion of an impending throw in the first one, do not reveal any throwing in his delivery.
I don't think so. Barlow was just a bit of a dick. Others were called round the time. Notably Halcombe who believes it cost him his chance to tour England. Barlow was the first to call him. He also called Cotton twice and was at it even in the early 50s. Laurie Nash was called once and Stuart MacGill's grand father CWT was called too. In n earlier era Ernie Jones was twice called for pegging it. Subsequently Gilbert went off longer run and was passed by Barlow so I think the ump was suspicious of Gilbert generating so much from 4 shuffling steps.Reckon there might've been a bit of subtle racism going on there.
A GREAT BOWLER.
BARNES AND HIS METHODS.
OFF AND LEG BREAKS.
HOW BATSMEN ABE DECEIVED.
7 August 1912
The most talked of bowler since A. C. MacLaren sprung him on the world of cricket ten years ago has been S. F. Barnes, of Warwickshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire, and England. He was, when discovered, the best right-handed medium paced bowler in England. He is now the best of his type in the world; and has been so for some years wrote E. H. D. Sewell in the 'Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic' recently.
Barnes claim to the position of best bowler in the world is based on his ability to pitch a leg-break a good length on the wlcket, conjoined with the power to spin the ball for that break enough to make the ball turn on a good wlcket. Some have bowled the legbreak as fast or faster than he, notably Joseph Vine, but nobody has been able to make the ball deviate after pitching on a run-getting surface to the same extent as he.
That Is why I treat his leg-break as Plate 1 In Barnes menu. Good length varies according to the state of the pitch and the stature of the batsman, but for a bowler of Barnes' speed I have taken six yards trom the stumps as Barnes best length. The ordinary leg-break pitching six yards from the stumps may be played with safety for ever by a good batsman, chiefly by employing back play. But Barnes' bowling is so quick off the pitch that he compels forward play from nearly enveryone except players like Fry, Faulkner, and Spooner, who are the best exponents of the art of watching the ball from the pitch now playing.
For the rank and file there is, in forward play, the danger of the snick to first or second slip. If they hit freely the good length ball is very apt to go in the air to cover. The same ball, pitching on or about the four yards line, will be driven back along the ground anywhere between mid-off and cover according to the stroke employed. But Barnes very rarely drops the ball beyond the five yards line. He is not given to attempting yorkers so his half-volley is a rare thing.
The same ball if it does not bite will go straight on to secure the Ibw of a indifferent umpire since a glance at Plate 1 clearly shows that the ball, pitching at the six yards point does not touch the wicket unless it breaks from leg on pitching.
Pitched on the off-stump it would do to, even if it pitched eight yards from the stumps (see Plate 1), and this fact alone doubles the difficulty in his bowling. For the batsman in playing forward to such a ball (as some would do despite the distant pitching off the ball) has to be prepared for both the break from leg and the straight through.
I come to the second dish which our chef serves just as hot as, when not hotter than his piece de resistance. I am treating now of the off-break which pitches at point A and breaks enough to hit the wicket. The only reasons this ball is easier to play than this bowler's leg-break are that (1) it pitches off the wicket and the bat may thus be backed-up safely by the pads, and (2) because to right-hand batsman off-breaks are always easier to play than leg-breaks. I don't think this applies to left-handed batsman who give so very different reasons why it should not. In playing hard forward to ball A a catch in the mld-on direction is likely, especially if the ball '****s', and Barnes' pace is a direct invitation to the batsman not to play forward gently.
In the last test match at Lord's Barnes bowled one off-break to Schwarz which pitched fully eight inches outside the off-stump and missed the leg-stump. The batsman having no time to get his leg across. He would have cost his side four byes and himself a stinging crack on the thigh had he done so. This ball followed very shortly a good specimen of the one I have diagrammed in Plate I, and that, as Mitchell told me directly afterwards, he couldn't touch once a year.
Plata 2. Ball B. Here is another toothsome morsel, when you are on the fielding side bien entendu. Besides his ordinary (extraordinary?) leg-break and off-break, Barnes can also bowl the In-swerve. It often happens that a bowler, after applying leg-break spin, sees the ball 'float' inwards toward the batsman, or if It started on his leg-stump, away from him on the leg side. Against a head wind, or one blowing from third-man, Barnes can do this at will; indeed, be can do It on a still day.
The particular deception in this is that after long bored to death with fast leg-breaks and off-breaks, the batsman, on seeing the ball In the air well outside his off stump, apparently over-teased, gets across his wicket to collect the four runs offering through the covers. But this is no half-volley. Losing its initial momentum, but retaining much of its lateral spin, the ball now becomes more susceptible to the air preasure which is acting with great force on its righthand surface (looking at it through the would be striker's spectacles) - and therefore deviates suddenly from the off into the batsman. If he is too planted on his feet, set for the offside four, the umpire generally errs and gives him out lbw because such a ball will never hit the stumps after pitching a goodish length. If the batsman just sees in time what is happening, and is very quick on his pins to boot, he may get tack in time and make short-leg do the rest, or get out of his trouble as best he may. In any event this inswerver is not an easy ball. In considering it one has to remember especially that it is bowled more or less with leg-break action. This being so the batsman thinks, if It is pitching short, that here is a certain four cut, and if well up a driven four. Whereas it is neither, and thus determined attack has to be changed while the ball is travelling about four yards into solid defence. In the face of these facts, is Barnes' success to be wondered at?
In Plate 2 the third dotted line shows the course of the plain straight ball pitching on the off stump about eight yards from the wicket. This would hit the leg slump if unobstructed or it did not bounce too high. It is likely to produce Ibw, as pitching short it is sure to be attempted for runs on the leg side. Mistiming by a fraction of a second does the rest. In new of the foregoing, is there after all, any sense with the wish we sometimes hear that wickets should be enlarged and bats narrowed?
07 Aug 1912 - A GREAT BOWLER. - Trove
You may be right. I recently discovered another indigenous fast bowler from the turn of the century named Jack Marsh who was also no-balled out of the game, similarly to Gilbert.Reckon there might've been a bit of subtle racism going on there.
When Jack Marsh was excluded from playing against AC MacLaren's touring side in 1902 there was a sense of outrage in the press. I have no idea what a 'prig' and a 'funker' are but in 1902 they couldn't have been good.Off the thread topic now, but it does make you wonder why an indigenous player hasn't becomes a successful test quick when at the turn on the 20th century there were some seriously quick indigenous bowlers around the FC scene.
THE BARRING OF MARSH.
The unsportsmanlike action of the captain of tbe visiting English cricketers in refusing to play Bathurst (as it has been all along arranged they should) if the team of the City of the Plains included Jack Marsh, tho crack aboriginal howler, has raised a storm of indignation and a feeling of disgust in every true sportsman's mind.
The action is cowardly end shameful, worthy only of a prig and a funker. It cannot be because Marsh is black, for he's no blacker than Ranjitsinhji, and is quite at well-looking, while his name is much less severe on the reporters and easier for his captain to sing out in a hurry. No, it can only be because MacLaren and a few of his dudes are afraid to face the bowling of the best fast bowler in the game to-day.....
05 Feb 1902 - THE BARRING OF MARSH. - Trove
We'll never know the actual reason why Noble blocked the career of Marsh, but suffice to say he didn't like the aboriginal bowler at all, and ended up waging a personal vendetta against him.THE MARSH-MACLAREN DISPUTE AT BATHURST, 1902, AND THE POLITICS OF SELECTION
Why should MacLaren and Noble collude against Marsh? The reasons why Noble might act in such a way are as follows. It has been established that Noble would not pick Marsh for NSW. The Next Fifteen were sometimes picked by other selectors and although this was not the case in 1901/02 Noble might have considered that his opinion was doubted not only by some elements of the press and the crowds, but also by the NSW Cricket Association. By playing at Bathurst, Marsh would have the opportunity to reveal his skills in an international match and further embarrass Noble. The question of why MacLaren might be party to such an arrangement might seem complex given that he and Noble were opposing each other in a Test series. Instead, it seems relatively straightforward: by not facing Marsh in Bathurst, MacLaren was not only protecting his own players but effectively denying the man felt to be Australia’s best bowler the chance to be selected in the remaining Test matches and the upcoming Australian tour of England.
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/1994/st1002/st1002f.pdf
Winner (Melbourne, Vic. : 1914 - 1917), Wednesday 18 November 1914, page 6
CLEM HILL RETIRES FROM THE GAME
CRICKET AND CRICKETERS
INTERESTING CHAT
(From our- Special Correspondent)
ADELAIDE, 16 Nov 1914
Clem Hill announced during the week that he had decided to retire from cricket. It must not be thought for a moment that the famous lefthander really considers himself a 'has been' so far as the green sward is concerned, but there have been certain happenings locally during the last year or two which have hastened the end. Clem Hill has always said he would drop out while he felt in his prime, and would not wait until his public cricket showed that the eye had lost its keenness. This, coupled with the fact that a select few in this State have always been jealous of his power and popularity and have attempted to stay his hand, has brought about the retirement of one of Australasia's greatest batsmen who is but 37 years old.
This select little coterie a year ago for no rhyme or reason left the famous left-hander off the interstate selection committee, and this year engineered his retirement from the Board of Control. South Australian cricket will be a sufferer from such peculiar actions. However let bygones be bygones and Clem Hill certainly adopts this attitude. We had a long talk about cricket an cricketers the day he made his decision public, but not once did he allow his thoughts or talk, to turn to the petty spite which some of the leaders of cricket in this State have shown towards him. The great left-hander has a delightful and happy knack of reeling off incident after incident, and some day or other he may be persuaded to write for some newspaper 'the notes on the match' which are always appended to each day's cabled play of an Australian tour in England, and if he does there is a treat in store. He has had 20 years of interstate and international cricket and his impressions are well worth quoting.
TRUMPER ALONE
Just as we were breaking away I shot a chance remark;
'Who is the best batsman you have ever seen, Clem?' and the reply came without the slightest hesitation - 'One man stands alone. That is Trumper.'
'Above Ranjitsinhji?' - 'Certainly. Trumper is the champion on all wickets; fiery wickets, good, sticky, and slow, and that is the true test. Ranjitsinhji was wonderful on a good or fiery wicket, but on a sticky wicket there was no comparison between the two.'
'You played against Dr. W. G. Grace, of course ?' - 'Yes; my first match in England in 1896 was against Lord Sheffield's team at Sheffield Park. Grace was captain of the side. I made about 20 I think, and can tell you I was pleased when the doctor came and spoke to me. If I kept on, he said, I would make plenty of runs in England. I was only a youngster at the time, and I can assure you I appreciated the encouragement.'
'Comparing Trumper and Macartney?'— 'Great as Macartney is as a batsman, I would never compare him with Trumper. Of course, I have seen more of Victor than of Macartney. When you have been at one end of the pitch playing the bowling for all you know, and there, at the other end is your partner punching the cover off the ball, you get a wonderful estimate of him. That is how I have seen Trumper.'
'Of the other great batsmen?'— 'Exclusive of Dr Grace, of course, I consider Ranjitsinhji, Jackson, Tyldesley, and Hobbs, the best of English batsman. That is counting on test matches, and the standard of play there must be always the criterion.
The best of Australians in Test cricket were Darling, Noble, Armstrong, Duff, Gregory, and Bardsley. Of the allround players Armstrong and Noble were the finest Australians of my time, and Hirst the best Englishman. Hirst's bowling was 50 per cent better in England than in Australia. Of course, George Giffen was the best of them all his prime, but he was ending his career when I entered first-class cricket.
Of the Africans, Faulkner stands out as a batsman. When we were in Africa in 1902, however, Sinclair was a magnificent hitter and a fine fellow. Talking of hard hitters, we must not 'forget' Jack Lyons and Jessop, the former a scientific hardhitter, who seldom lifted a. ball; and the latter a pure and simple hitter, getting his runs mainly through wonderful foot work.'
THE BOWLERS.
'And the bowlers?' I continued — 'I always think Barnes' and the lefthander added - 'He keeps such a wonderful length, and is always varying his pace and flight. No. matter how many runs you are getting, he makes you play all the time, and he can do a tremendous lot of work.
Of the really fast bowlers, Ernie Jones (Australia) and Tom Richardson (England) stand alone, and probably the best Australian bowler on all wickets was Hughie Trumble— always dependable, with a long head, keeping a perfect length, and always working out a plan.
Of the slow bowlers I suppose Len Braund was the best I played against, and of the googlies Bosanquet and Hordern. Bosanquet, as the originator of the googly, was awkward when he first came here, but he did not keep the length of Hordern, who would have done great things for Australia if he had gone to England with an Australian Eleven.
'Concerning the batting and bowling of a few yearsback and that of today?' — 'There is not a great deal of difference in the batting, but there is a marked falling off in the standard of the bowling both in Australia and England. Take a bowling side that we had in 1902. There were Noble, Armstrong, Trumble. Jones, Howell and Saunders. That's a variety for you — fast bowler, left handed, slow, medium. Compare that with our bowling of today or that of England, exclusive of Barnes.
Jones was a wonderful fieldsman and bowler. We had the same compartment travelling to England for the first time, and Jonah was very seasick. One morning he woke me up and said, 'I Would just like to have for a minute the man who first put a cricket ball into my hand. I would kill him.'
A FUNNY GAME
Clem went on to say that it was often remarked in the papers that cricket was a funny game, and he added; 'No one knows this better than the players themselves. Why, the day I made my record score in College cricket I missed the second ball, and it just whizzed past the stumps and shook the bails, but they did not come off. In Sydney one year I nearly made a pair. Tommy McKibbon bowled me a long hop first ball and I reckoned on a certain four. Alf Noble however, sitting on my bat darted and snapped the ball up about 6 inches from the ground. Next innings the second ball I got from Noble was a pearl and completely beat me. I waited for the rattle and then I turned and found Jim Kelly looking in a most mystified way at the stumps, and he said, 'I could have sworn that hit the wicket.' My luck was in and I went on and collared something like I50.'
BRILLIANT CRICKET
'About the most brilliant cricket ever I saw was at Manchester in 1902 when Trumper and Duff, on a wet wicket, made 140 in one and a half hours against England. That was the tour Haigh, who had been carrying all before him in county cricket, was given a trial in the First Test at Lords. Archie MacLaren told us beforehand that we were up against a world beater on bad wickets. The pitch that day was a shocking one, still Trumper and Duff got about 30 off Haigh's first two overs and that was the end of him as a Test match bowler.'
DISAPPOINTED
'Those three memorable test match innings — 99, 98 and 97— must be regarded as hard luck ones?' — 'I was dreadfully disappointed. In the Melbourne match, where I got 99, Barnes bowled me a long hop, and I could have hit it for 4. Instead I tried to play it quietly to third man for one. The ball hit the edge of the bat, and ****ed up in the slips. In the next match, the one in Adelaide, at 98 Braund bowled a ball which my first intention was to drive along the ground for a couple. The ball dropped shorter than I expected, I quickly changed my mind, and tried a big hit. Jack Tyldesley caught it on the cycling track. He told me afterwards that he reckoned that caught on the track was not out and only went at the ball for devilment. To his surprise, he brought off a one-hand catch, and was amazed when he saw me making for the pavilion.
BIG HITS
'Talking of big hits, I have often tried to hit sixers, but have not got many. I only succeeded once in Melbourne, when, to my delight, I hit Warwick Armstrong into the public stand.'
BEST INNINGS.
And your, best innings?— 'Well, I hardly know which I consider my best. — the 188 in the Test match in Melbourne, or the 119 in the test match at Sheffield. Perhaps the latter. Barnes had a wicket to help him, and was bowling at his best. Joe Darling got a pair and so did Jim Kelly. Old Jim was very funny. He kept hitting tnem hard to cover and mid-off, and would not play one quietly and make a dash for a short one.
STEALING RUNS
'In this respect Harry Graham and Syd Gregory were wonderful. Once at the Oval when Richardson was bowling and the wicketkesper standing back they got a run every time the ball was off the wicket. The result was the keeper had to come up to the wicket. It is easy to steal runs if batsmen make up their minds. They must understand each other, and of course must be good judges of a run. Gregory, Trumper, Duff and Gehrs were all adepts.
FUTURE
'And your amusements in future?' - Watching the grand old game from the pavillion and playing bowls, tennis and golf.'
18 Nov 1914 - CLEM HILL RETIRES FROM THE GAME - Trove