| Ground: | Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow |
| Scorecard: | Scotland XI v Australians |
| Event: | Australia in British Isles 1930 |
Day 1:
Owing to the wet state of the wicket, the start was delayed for three quarters of an hour; then a deluge of rain of about twenty minutes duration brought about an interval of an hour and three quarters soon after lunch, and accounted for the loss of fifteen minutes at the close of the day. There were bright spells, but the day was a very broken one.
The Scottish side took first innings, after Captain Alexander had won the toss, and at the finish had lost six wickets for 140 runs. Thus it is that the Australians have been in Scotland since Wednesday morning, and not one of them has yet had a ball delivered to him.
The Australians had a good side out, with their captain W.M. Woodfull, and D.G. Bradman included, and the absentees were C.V. Grimmett, V.Y. Richardson, W.A. Oldfield, and A. Fairfax. The touring team had to bowl and field practically all day with a wet ball, and their trundlers, with the possible exception of P.M. Hornibrook, did not appear to be an impressive company.
Hornibrook, who could evidently get some work on the ball even on a dead wicket, had a long turn at bowling. With a rest owing to rain, he sent down 24 overs in succession, nine of which were maidens, and he took three good wickets for 40 runs.
A.F. Kippax, who does not bowl often, was the sixth man to go on, and his figures were of an extraordinary character, 5 overs and 5 balls, 5 maidens, one run, and one wicket. E.L. a'Beckett bowled but two overs, and both were maidens.
The others did not give a great deal of trouble, and, with the conditions so much in their favour, it seemed as if the batsmen might have adopted a bolder policy and hit out with greater freedom. Some of them, it was all too clear, did not adopt their usual natural styles.
As a result the rate of scoring was slow all through. Apart from that, however, there was little wrong with the batting, and, as at Edinburgh, there was no suggestion of nervousness or stage fright on the part of any of the seven who went to the wicket. And if the bowlers were handicapped, it was always difficult for the batsmen to get the ball to travel, and the Australian field was always excellently placed and the stopping safe and sure.
It was no easy matter to get the ball away. A feature of the day's cricket was the accurate returns made by Bradman from the long field. Twice he hit the wicket from far range.
J. Kerr and B.G.W. Atkinson opened the Scottish innings with every confidence. They did not score with any freedom, but they never appeared to be in trouble with the bowlers, and before their partnership was broken four men had been tried against them.
Atkinson was the first to go, at 37, and it had taken an hour to make these runs. He had played good cricket, and had shown much more restraint, than is his custom in club cricket. It was to Hornibrook he fell a victim, and that bowler had gone on with the total at 29. A hard return he took off his own bowling to dismiss the Grange man.
At that time Kerr had made but 9 to Atkinson's 23. Bent on talking advantage of the conditions, A.K. McTavish soon got to work, but with 10 only to his credit he was finely taken in the country by Bradman. It was a good smack he fell to, and a good catch. The fieldsman had to run fast to the ball, and had to jump to take it. A little more of the Royal High Schoolman would have been greatly to the liking of the crowd. Two wickets were down for 47.
Kerr had wakened up, and indulged in a 4 or two, but both he and Alexander left at the same total, 71, so that matters at that point were not going well for the home eleven. The captain of the side edged an off ball from the fast bowler, T. Wall, into the hands of Hornibrook, who was fielding in the slips, and who had thus had a part in taking of all the wickets which had fallen.
Kerr went in front of his wicket to pull a ball from the left-handed bowler, missed it, and found himself bowled round his legs. A stubbornly defensive innings was that of the Greenock man, who had a stay of an hour and forty minutes for his quarter century score. It might be said that it was more characteristic than usual. It is noteworthy that Alexander was the only batsman who did not reach double figures.
W. Nicholson and B.R. Tod added 37 runs for the fifth wicket, and Tod and Ackroyd 32 for the sixth. All three showed good style, and Nicholson distinguished himself by hitting a 6 off the bowling of S. McCabe, a fine straight drive. The Edinburgh Academical, who was top scorer, had some risky strokes in the direction of the slips, but not one of them went actually to hand; indeed, no real chance was refused during the day, and play came to a close immediately he was caught at third man by the Australian captain.
He showed the right temperament for such an occasion, and played all the bowling with assurance and a great deal of skill. His defence during a stay of close an hour and a half was excellent, and he was never in any trouble in guarding his wicket.
All round, the batting was very sound, if never of a stirring nature, and the aggregate of 140 for six wickets was quite a creditable one.
About six o'clock the light got very bad, and a quarter of an hour later, on the fall of Tod's wicket, the players scampered to the pavilion owing to heavy rain, and there was no further play. For considerable periods during the day the Australians kept out in the field during persistent drizzles. With most of the good batsmen out, the Scottish Eleven will do well to reach a 200 total.
There was an attendance of about 7000, and as between 5000 and 6000 of them would pay 2s admission money, the Scottish Cricket Union would do pretty well financially despite the broken weather. The afternoon rain, however, would keep many away.
Day 2:
After the Scottish innings had been closed in the morning, without being continued, the tourists stayed in all day, and a big crowd had the satisfaction of seeing D.G. Bradman make another three figure score.
In compiling a total of 140 in two hours and a half, he afforded them a splendid opportunity of judging what sort of a cricketer he is. He hit a 6 and nineteen 4's, and played some delightful cricket.
W.M. Woodfull also gave a characteristic batting display, and further good scores were returned by A. Jackson and E.L. a'Beckett, who have not been amongst the most successful men of the Australian team.
Scottish cricketers were keen to see the Australians batting, and keener still to watch D.G. Bradman at the wicket. They were disappointed at Edinburgh, and on Saturday at Glasgow, but they had their heart's desire gratified yesterday in the second day of the match with a Scottish Eleven at Hamilton Crescent, Partick. And there were some 8000 present while the touring team ran up a total of 337 for the loss of nine wickets after batting almost exactly five hours.
Nor did Bradman fail them. His stay was one of nearly two hours and a half, and in putting together his 140 he was seen in three distinct moods. There was a sample of the real Bradman when, without any flurry or fuss, and to all appearance no great effort, he scored at a rapid rate; he was seen, too, as if he could not force the ball away; and then again he joined in a lively spell of hitting at almost every ball which was pitched up at all well.
When he was at his best, himself, was in the early stages of his display, and when he got out to get his 100 before lunch, which feat he just managed, thanks to some severe punishment inflicted on B.R. Tod from a couple of overs bowled by him before the interval. To score seemed the easiest thing in the world to the Test record breaker, and the most noteworthy thing about his batting was the facility with which he placed the ball where there was no fieldsman.
The characteristic of his play was strikingly demonstrated more than once when an effort was made to close up avenues for his strokes. When he was going at his best his batting was a treat to look at, and one could easily imagine that he could have stayed all day had he so desired.
His slow period was when he was in the thirties and forties, and he was batting for a long time for a few runs to complete his half century. He retired at lunch time with 100 exactly at his credit, and on resuming he attacked the bowling in the heartiest fashion possible.
The additional 40 runs were recorded in some twenty minutes time. He was reckless then, and at the "fireworks" display he was not particularly successful. Some of his hits were by no means cleanly taken. Most of his runs were got on the leg side of the wicket, and it was only late in the innings that he ever lifted a ball off the grass.
It was batting of the safest order he indulged in up to the time when he practically threw away his wicket. Not a chance did he give.
He and W.M. Woodfull put on 198 runs for the second wicket, and in the end the captain of the side may also be said to have done his best to get out. It was a typical Test match display Woodfull gave. His first hour at the crease yielded him 13 runs, and at the lunch break he had made but 40 after a stay of two hours and a quarter. It was very painstaking and serious cricket. Was he out to break the bowling of the Scots, as is his mission in the Tests?
After lunch, he joined his young colleague in seeing how hard and how often they could hit the ball, and his last 25 runs came along in fifteen minutes. It was in marked contrast with his earlier batting. He had but five 4's altogether, and four of them came late in his innings. Most of his other runs came from cautiously tapped singles. The spectators must have been very glad when he changed tactics.
Bradman, who was in for a slightly shorter period, and who had more than double Woodfull's total, had a 6 and nineteen 4's. The 6 was from a straight drive from A.D. Baxter's bowling. Bradman scored 140 of the 212 made when he was at the wicket.
There was an eventful half hour after lunch what with the lively slap-dash hitting, and the fact that four wickets were captured in quick succession. W.H. Ponsford had given no trouble early in the day, he was out for 10, and two runs after Bradman left both A.F. Kippax and S. McCabe lost their wickets at the same total, 224. Half the side were out then.
Then came another long and very profitable stand by A. Jackson, who is a Scotsman, and E.L. a'Beckett, who together raised the score to 291 before being separated. Both played very cautiously, and had to take some good humoured barracking from the crowd.
It was very correct batting on the part of both men, and after Bradman, Jackson was probably the soundest and most attractive cricketer of the whole eleven, though, of course, there was little opportunity afforded of judging in the cases of Ponsford, Kippax, and McCabe. Jackson took two hours and ten minutes to make his 52.
There was a fairly long tail, and if T. Wall stood for a considerable time with Jackson, and enabled him to pass his 50, it was more by good luck than anything else that he lasted out time, and deprived the Scottish side of the satisfaction of getting the side all out.
The Scottish bowling was very good. Baxter, who had a lot of work, did well to secure four wickets, including those of Ponsford, Bradman, and McCabe, and Preston did far better than his figures would appear to suggest. He frequently beat the batsmen without hitting the wickets, and that happened twice in the case of Woodfull fairly early in his innings, and later in the case of Jackson.
The Australian captain was also missed by J. Kerr off Preston's bowling when he had made 48, and the West of Scotland professional should have caught Jackson off his own bowling just after the Australian had made 50.
These mistakes were, however, practically the only ones made during the day. The fielding all round was worthy of the highest praise, and was repeatedly cheered, and it is worthy to note that A.K. McTavish hit the wicket three times, so accurate was he with his returns.
B.G.W. Atkinson also hit the stumps in throwing at them side on from close to the square leg boundary. The Scottish eleven did quite well, all over, though it was noteworthy that the placing of the field was not nearly so effective as had been that of the Australians on Saturday.
Perhaps that was due to a considerable extent to the greater skill of the Australian batsmen. The wicket probably was too wet and lifeless for the batsmen, and it could not have given any great aid to the bowlers. There was little or no sun, and the pitch, which was newly prepared yesterday morning, seemed to go easy all day. The Saturday wicket had been too seriously affected by the weekend rain to be played upon.
It must have come as a surprise to many that the Scottish innings was closed straightaway in the morning at 140 for six wickets down. That was probably done to give the crowd the full day to see the Australians batting, but, of course, it took away from the match any seriousness it ever had. No attempt was made by the Australians to win. They did not declare, but batted on to five o'clock, when stumps and the match were drawn.
The crowd was bigger yesterday than on the first day, and the drawings of Saturday of £450 would probably be raised to well over £500. These figures are exclusive of schoolboy tickets, and of stand and enclosure receipts. Over the two matches the income would be over £1500 so that despite the broken weather the Scottish Cricket Union must have done very well out of the engagements financially.
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