Scotland v Australia 27, 28 & 30 July 1934 by Cricket Scotland

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Ground:	North Inch, Perth
Scorecard:	Scotland v Australians
Event:	Australia in British Isles 1934

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DateLine: 2nd February 2013

 

 

Day 1:
Scottish batsmanship was seen in a poor light yesterday in the first day's play of the match between Scotland and Australia at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. On a wicket which was easy, and should have been favourable for run-getting, the Australian bowlers, and neither C.V. Grimmett or W.J. O'Reilly was playing, carried all before them.

 

Scotland's eleven could make no more than 107 runs, and of these New Zealander C.S. Dempster had 69.

 

Two Australian bowlers, L. O'B. Fleetwood-Smith and H.L. Ebeling, were mainly responsible for the collapse, and notably the former, who is a left-hander, and who came out of the day with the fine figures of six wickets for 45 runs. His Colleague Ebeling, had three for 31, and T.W. Wall, the Test match fast bowler, could claim but one wicket, and that the last one.

 

Fleetwood-Smith, who bowls "googlies," had all the batsmen, bar one, in serious trouble, and some of the efforts of the Scots were extremely feeble and half hearted. He was getting the ball to turn not a little, but, well though he bowled, his figures were flattering because of the ease with which he claimed most of his victims, four of whom were bowled.

 

He went on at 32, and remained to the close of the Scotland innings. Ebeling, too, gave a lot of bother. He sent down 21 overs all in one spell, but it was really timid and irresolute batting rather than specially good bowling which accounted for the Scottish debacle.

 

Dempster demonstrated very emphatically that that was the case, and it was well for Scotland that a call was made on his services. His was a particularly fine innings, and he showed that with confidence, plus skill, and a straight bat, the bowling could not only be played successfully but scored from. He gave no chance, and while at the wicket played but two poor strokes, when he put the ball up awkwardly, but on both occasions well out of the range of the fieldsman.

 

His batting was in a class apart from that of all his colleagues, and he had hard luck in not going right through the innings. First in, he was last out, and he gave Wall his only wicket.

 

The Australian batting was very sound, and though there were no thrills or heavy hitting about it runs were always coming at a good rate, except when the opening pair were together. They were very serious about their work, and could hardly have been more careful and cautious had they been playing in the final Test at the Oval.

 

The brightest batting of the day came from S.J. McCabe, who proved himself to be worthy of his reputation as one of the most prolific scorers in the side. He and Dempster were the outstanding batsmen, and while the Australian got most of the runs on the off-side, the New Zealander greatly preferred strokes on the on. Very few of his runs were obtained by cutting or in the direction of cover point, and during the whole day there was not seen one lusty, full-blooded drive.

 

Adept were the Australians at keeping the ball on the ground and in their placing. If there was a fault to find with Dempster, it was that he too frequently sent the ball straight to a fielder. That, perhaps, was largely due to the way the field was set to prevent him getting full value for some of his strokes.

 

The fielding all round was good, and both wicket-keepers, W.A. Oldfield, for Australia, and A.R. Simpson, for Scotland, did good work behind the stumps. Otherwise, few opportunities were given for catches, and no "lives" were conceded on either side.

 

Dempster not only batted with distinction, but did some splendid work in the field, and was the best man in the game in that connection. Apart from him and McCabe in batting, and the success of the two Australian bowlers, the day was rather lacking in outstanding feature. At no time was there any big hitting.

 

O'Reilly was twelfth man for the Australians. They brought twelve men only to Edinburgh, and the tall spin bowler was the one to be rested. A.L. McClure, of the Grange, acted in a similar capacity for Scotland, but neither his services or those of O'Reilly had to be called upon.

 

Generally, the day was fine, though occasionally there was a threatening of rain, and when that fell slightly during the lunch interval there were fears that there would be a repetition of the weather of four years ago, when the Australians were last at Raeburn Place, and there was play for but two hours instead of three days.

 

Probably the high wind blew the rain away, and if so it did the game a good turn, even if it made matters more than a little unpleasant for both the players and the spectators. On several occasions the wind blew the bails off the wicket. And when the sun was out of sight the wind blew distinctly cold.

 

There was quite a good attendance, and nearly 5000 would be present during the course of the day.

 

Lord Provost Sir W.J. Thomson was present at lunch, and, on behalf of the citizens, gave a hearty welcome to Edinburgh to the Australian team.

 

Scotland's opening pair, both men from over the Border, batted with a good deal of confidence to the bowling of Wall, fast, and Ebeling, medium, and if the scoring were slow neither batsman seemed in serious trouble.

 

It was the New Zealander Dempster, who did most of the run-getting, and his strokes on the leg side were cleverly executed. His partner was strong in defence, and frequently used his pads to Ebeling. So cautious were the batsmen that the first ten overs, four of which were maidens, produced but 14 runs, and the game had been in progress for half an hour. It was immediately after that that the first 4 was hit, and it was by a deft turn of the wrist that Dempster got the ball to the leg boundary off a short pitched ball from Wall, and another boundary came from the fast bowler's next over, and it was a somewhat similar stroke in the same direction.

 

The score was getting along nicely, but at 25 Gibb was beaten by the break of a ball from Ebeling and Scotland's first wicket had fallen.

 

T.M. Hart, the next man in, did not stay long, and all he accomplished in the scoring line was to get a lucky 4 from a snick behind the wicket on the leg side. Fleetwood-Smith had just come on in place of Wall, and it was with the fourth ball of his first over, which was a maiden, that he got rid of the Old Oxford University "blue."

 

Hart, who seemed to be decidedly shaky, sent the ball tamely square to leg and E.H. Bromley took an easy catch. Two men were out for 32, and Scotland's position was not a good one. An hour's play had brought but 39 runs, and Fleetwood-Smith was still giving trouble. Even Dempster for a time was not too sure in facing his tricky deliveries.

 

The New Zealander continued to do most of the scoring, and during his partnership with A.D. Innes before lunch, the 50 went up after play had lasted eighty minutes. The interval score was 57, and of these Dempster had 35 and Innes had just reached double figures.

 

The Glasgow Academical had never been confident and his runs were got flukily. He had the briefest of stays after the resumption. The first ball, from Ebeling, which kept low and seemed to break from the off beat him completely and Scotland had lost another wicket.

 

Next came J.F. Jones and his sojourn at the wicket was brief without being merry. He got a leg in front of a ball from Fleetwood-Smith and up went the hand of Deyes.

 

At that stage the googlie bowler had sent down seven overs and had taken two wickets for 15 runs. A. Smith, the Kilmarnock all-rounder, was also out for obstruction, and this time Ebeling was the bowler. The fifth wicket had raised the total from 58 to 71, but the last comer, like the Stirling County man had failed to "break his duck." There was a third successive "blob," and it fell to the lot of T. Spowart, who had an early "go" at the slow bowler, missed the ball, and Oldfield had him stumped as smartly as anyone could wish to see.

 

D.S. Hiddleston also joined the melancholy order of "duck makers" and it was a specially good ball which disturbed his wicket. After a considerable stay, W. Anderson, the Scottish captain, was successful in breaking the sequence which he did by cutting Ebeling deep for a couple.

 

Meanwhile Dempster was holding one end right gallantly, and, if never scoring fast, his total kept mounting steadily. He was always at his ease, and, making almost all his runs on the on-side, he reached his 50 out of 72 in five minutes less than two hours. Not many 4's could he get; the field was too well set on the leg side for that, but he was never idle for long, and he was saving Scotland from a bad collapse.

 

Anderson helped Dempster to put on 25 for the seventh wicket before he fell a victim to Fleetwood-Smith, who had troubled the batsmen more than any of the other bowlers. A.R. Simpson made the fifth of the Scottish eleven who had failed to score.

 

With J.S. Farquhar, the last man in, it seemed certain that Dempster would carry his bat right through the innings, but that was not to be. He just touched a rising ball from Wall, and Oldfield was quick to take the chance. A most valuable contribution that of the New Zealander's, and he was at the wicket during the whole of the innings, which lasted two hours and 39 minutes. He had five 4's.

 

The Australians began batting with W.H. Ponsford and W.A. Brown, and the Scottish captain made quick changes with his bowlers. Farquhar and Smith opened, and each had delivered but two overs when they were relieved, Anderson going on for the Perthshire man and Hiddleston for Smith.

 

That was just before the tea interval, and on the resumption of play the original pair took over the attack again. The Kilmarnock man bowled well, and three of the first four overs he sent down were maidens, and no more than 2 runs did he give away. With the total at 30, Ponsford, one of the Australian heroes of the Leeds Test, was got rid of through a catch at the wicket, and if the rate of scoring accelerated greatly when McCabe arrived, Scotland met with another success when 63 runs had been made, Brown being out lbw to the Scottish captain.

 

Matters became distinctly lively when A.G. Chipperfield joined McCabe with the latter doing most of the scoring, and Hiddleston's bowling was severely punished, 32 runs being hit off his four overs. He could not get a length, and with a quick-footed batsman like McCabe many of his deliveries were made "full tossers."

 

McCabe was always attacking the bowling, and his innings was a most attractive one. His cutting was very good, and after the 100 had gone up in ninety one minutes, he reached his 50 in an hour's time. Chipperfield went at 105, also caught at the wicket, and that was the last of the Scottish successes for the day.

 

McCabe's full not out innings lasted an hour and a half, and the Australians got their 144 in two hours and ten minutes. It may be said, however, that Scotland did very well to get three such good batsmen as Ponsford, Brown, and Chipperfield out for a comparatively small score. All three had made hundreds in England.

 

Anderson's two wickets cost 46, and Farquhar's one 34.

 

The Australians finished 37 runs ahead, with seven wickets in hand.

 

Day 2
As was the case when the Australians were in Edinburgh on the occasion of their last visit in 1930, there was interference through bad weather in their game with Scotland at Raeburn Place. Just when play was about to begin at half past eleven in the second day of the match, rain began to fall, and it was so heavy that for a time pools of water gathered here and there on the ground.

 

It must have reminded the tourists of the Leeds Test. The pitch, the whole of it, was covered with tarpaulins, and it was intimated that there would be no cricket until after lunch. After the rain had ceased, the captains and umpires went out, and it was announced that another inspection would take place before three o'clock.

 

Heavy rain fell again, however, and once again the wicket was protected. A little later, the rain having gone off again, A.F. Kippax and W. Anderson, the captains, proceeded to the wicket, and soon afterwards the public were informed that there would be no play on Saturday.

 

About a thousand or more people were in the ground, and although no money was returned "pass out" checks were given for free admission to the match today. Immediately the decision was come to abandon play for the day, the sun shone brightly, and there was no more rain during the course of a fine afternoon.

 

Many must have thought the abandonment premature, and that if another inspection had been ordered at four o'clock there might have been two hours' play or at least one.

 

Most of those present went away quietly, but obviously a considerable number of those present were greatly dissatisfied, and, gathering about the west entrance, demanded their money back. Some of them had travelled considerable distances and could not return today, and it was pointed out that the intimation posted at the gates that no money would be returned had not been put up until late in the afternoon.

 

An official came along and tried to pacify the crowd, but without success, and he offered to take a deputation to the pavilion to discuss the matter there with the Scottish Cricket Union Committee. Three went as a deputation, and the rest followed and took up a position at the foot of the pavilion steps. Soon the deputation returned with the information that no money could be refunded, and after some delay the crowd dispersed, but not before many of them had given further expression of their discontent. Only a few were inclined to cause trouble.

 

The game will start today at 11.30, when the Australian not out batsmen will continue their innings, and continue until 6.30 p.m. instead of 5.30 as originally intended.

 

Yesterday the members of both teams spent the day at Gleneagles as the guests of the Scottish Union.

 

Day 3:
Scotland managed to secure a draw in the game with the Australians at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh , but even at that the home team as a whole did not take a great deal of credit from the match.

 

It was saved with two wickets only in hand, and Scotland was still 108 runs behind the Australians' first innings total o£ 331 for the loss of but five wickets. And one would have liked to have seen the touring side making a greater effort to have gained a victory.

 

Some of the bowling , and no fewer than seven men had a turn with the ball did not appear to be very deadly, and the visitors did not give the impression that they were desperately keen to get the opposition out even during the last hour or so. Just at the close they made something like a spurt but it was then too late, and the Scots were successful in playing out time.

 

The climax was reached when B. A. Barnett, the reserve wicket keeper, was put on to bowl the last over of the day. He had never been known to bowl before, and with his first ball of the present tour he managed to get rid of the Scottish captain, thanks to a very fine catch by E. H. Bromley, who took the ball low down after running in a considerable distance to the leg position.

 

S. J. McCabe was got rid of cheaply early in the day, and his was as attractive an innings as there was in the game, but, following his departure, the next pair, Barnett, one of the not out batsmen, who started the day with seven runs at his credit and A. F. Kippax defied all the efforts of the Scottish bowlers from half past eleven to lunch time and then until after three, when the fifth wicket fell.

 

They batted with the greatest of ease and it seemed as if they could have stayed at the wicket as long as they pleased. It was probably the intention of the captain, Kippax, to apply the closure after both he and has partner had made their centuries, a figure Barnett has not reached during the tour but Barnett was out to an easy catch when 92, and the innings was then closed.

 

Both men played the soundest of cricket without ever taking any liberties with the bowling, and they put on 177 while together in a stay of two hours and twenty minutes. There was more style about the batting of Kippax, who showed a greater variety of strokes than his partner, but there was no doubt about the defence of Barnett.

 

No attempt was made at big hitting by either and neither displayed the sparkle of McCabe, who batted with great freedom and played well up to the reputation he has made for himself during the present tour.

 

As for the Scottish players, C. S. Dempster may be said to have been the only one who was in the same class as McCabe and Kippax as a batsman , and it was a keen disappointment to the spectators yesterday that he was so quickly dismissed in the second innings. He was out to a bad stroke, but it was a very fine slip catch which sent him back, and perhaps he was handicapped by an injury.

 

It is interesting to note that not a catch which went to hand was dropped on either side in the course of the match. The fielding all round was very good. The Scottish bowlers too did quite well, at least the three men who bore the burden of the work, and if the captain got most wickets, both J. 5. Farquhar and A. Smith did better than their figures would seem to suggest.

 

The Scottish batsmen concentrated purely on defence in the second innings. P. A. Gibb stayed a considerable time for his 9; J. F. Jones showed far more confidence than on Friday, and Smith and D. S. Hiddleston, with a stand of well over an hour, were largely instrumental in enabling Scotland to secure a draw, even though it was not a particularly glorious one.

 

The Kilmarnock man may be said to have taken most credit for the fact that the whole side wore not got out. His defence was very sound and he had several good strokes in making his not out 36. It was a praiseworthy effort, and he was at the wicket for an hour and fifty minutes.

 

Smith indeed was largely responsible for saving Scotland from defeat, and he had to stand up to the deliveries of all the best of the Australian bowlers who were engaged in the match. Neither McCabe nor A. G. Chipperfield was brought on until fairly late in the innings, and neither was successful in securing a wicket. ; H. I. Ebeling did best, but L. O'B. Fleetwood Smith was not nearly so troublesome as he was in Scotland's first innings.

 

Scotland had an early success, and did well to get rid of McCabe, the highest scorer of the tour, after just quarter of an hour's play, and for the addition of but 10 runs to the total. It was a grand c and b catch which led to his dismissal, and only a big man like Anderson could have taken the ball. The Scottish captain had to jump high for it, with the ball going away from him all the time, and travelling fast but the fieldsman took it safely with both hands and gained a hearty round of cheers.

 

It was a bright innings, that of McCabe, and contained nine 4's. Then came Kippax, the Australian acting captain , and the steady rate of scoring continued, although a brilliant bit of picking up and throwing in by Jones almost got rid of the stubborn Barnett.

 

Jones hit the stumps and it must have been touch and go for another wicket for Scotland. Barnett proceeded on his way quietly, content to wait for loose balls, and Kippax soon overtook him and passed him. A double change was made in the bowling, but the newcomers Hiddleston and Smith, met with no success, and after the 200 had gone up as the outcome of one hundred and eighty-five minutes' play, and a new ball had been called for, the original bowlers, Anderson and Farquhar, came back again.

 

As on Friday, Hiddleston bowled four overs, and on this occasion 24 runs wore hit off him, as against 32 at his first spoil.

 

About this time Dempster pulled a leg muscle and had to retire, A. L. McClure (Grange) coming on as twelfth man. There was a race between Kippax and Barnett for 50, a 4 and a 3 in one over off Anderson helping the left-hander but the captain was the winner by a margin of 5. Kippax reached his half-hundred in eighty minutes and Barnett took three-quarters of an hour longer.

 

The Scottish captain added to his stock of bowlers by bringing on T. M. Hart for the first time in the match and it was from the Oxford University "blue," in his second over, that the only 6 of the match was obtained. Barnett hit it, and it was a hearty drive, with a decided pull in it, which brought him the distinction. The ball hit the wall on the Water of Leith side of the ground.

 

The two batsmen, keeping close together all the time,, were in no trouble with the bowling, and by the time of the lunch interval Barnett had again got ahead of his partner the aggregate being 267, and Barnett having 62 and Kippax 58. On resuming , and when it came to be a matter of interest who would be first to reach the hundred, Barnett popped a ball up tamely and he was easily taken by the bowler, Hart. It was a bad stroke and just before the same batsman had played a similar one which the bowler might have got to if he had been quicker off his mark.

 

The pair had put on 176, and the partnership had lasted two hours and twenty minutes. With the fall of Barnett the innings was closed having lasted ten minutes under five hours. Barnett had one 6 and five 4's. and Kippax six 4's.

 

Scotland 'had fully three hours left to bat, and Dempster, who had a runner, started in as confident a style as on Friday. Nearly all the runs obtained came from his bat, Gibb concentrating on defence, but with only 16 scored the New Zealander, who had 14 at his credit, was brilliantly taken in the slips, left hand, by Ebeling off the bowling of T. W. Wall.

 

He had batted well, but, unfortunately, his stay had been a brief one, and his departure augured badly for Scotland. Soon followed two more disasters, for Hart played far too late to a ball from Ebeling and had his wicket broken, and one ball sufficed for A. D. Innes. His first was his last.

 

Gibb was next to go caught at the wicket, and four wickets were down for 30. Fleetwood Smith came on at 31, but he did not bowl well, and a couple of 3's were hit of his first over, one by Jones and one by Smith. These two looked like staying, but after they had added 22 for the fifth wicket Jones was "yorked " by Fleetwood Smith and 12 runs later Spowart had the ill-luck to be run out, and six wickets were down for 64.

 

Thus, with an hour to go, there were but four wickets to fall, but Smith stood steady as a rock, and, getting valuable help from the Selkirk captain, Scotland succeeded in playing out time although before the end both Hiddleston and Anderson had to retire, the former taken at the wicket and the captain caught in great style off the first ball of the last over. Smith and Hiddleston added 41 runs for the seventh wicket.

 

Though there were six men who did not score in the first innings, there was no case of any batsman getting a "pair of spectacles."

 

The weather yesterday, if dull at times, continued fine and there was no rain. There would be an attendance of between 2000 and 3000, making in all about 7000 for the match.

(Article: Copyright © 2013 Cricket Scotland http://cricketscotland.com)