Day 1:
Gloriously fine weather favoured the hastily arranged match between the Australians and a team representing Scotland, which was begun yesterday on the Grange ground at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh.

It was a great occasion in the annals of Scottish cricket, and it was exceedingly gratifying to find a crowd of about 6000 or 7000 patronising the first day's play, the only pity being that the Scottish side were so far behind when stumps were drawn, as, even though the home players do well today, everything points to the Colonials securing a victory on their single innings.

Financially the match ought already to have proved a success, and, should nothing more be drawn at the gates to-day, the Grange are certain to be in pocket over the venture. And well they deserve to be, for many a time have they lost a lot of money trying to popularise the game in Scotland by bringing down English teams.

When stumps were drawn last night the Australians had made 283 for six wickets against Scotland's 109, and the latter score looks all the more miserable when it is considered that the wicket was all in favour of the batsmen, and that the Australians were without two of their best bowlers, H. Trumble and W.P. Howell, who, along with Victor Trumper, were resting in view of the third test match, which begins at Sheffield on Thursday of this week.

With the exception of the men who got double figures, J. Anderson, G.L.D. Hole , C.M. Campbell, and G.W. Jupp, none of the other Scottish batsmen made anything like a show against their far famed opponents, and the first named's fine and confident display was easily the best on his side.

The batting of the Australians was sound all through rather than brilliant, and though runs always came at a good pace, they were batting some two hours and forty minutes, there was certainly nothing sensational about their exhibition, and no mighty hitting which could have roused the spectators to excitement and have given them something to talk about for days to come.

The Scotsmen at the last minute had, unfortunately, to do without the services of T. Johnston (Grange) who, though on the ground and practising, found it advisable not to take part, owing to an injured arm, and A.W. Duncan (Edinburgh University and Grange) got the vacant place.

Before going into the details of the match, it may be mentioned here that the present Australian team was the fourth which had played in Scotland, the visitors in years past being the combinations of 1878, 1880, and 1882, so that it was almost exactly twenty years since a colonial eleven played on Scottish soil.

Five matches had been taken part in by previous visitors, including two against the Gentlemen of Scotland at Edinburgh, and four of these had been won by the Australians, and the fifth, against an eighteen from the West, was left drawn. This, therefore, was the first occasion upon which a team representing all Scotland had opposed the colonials, and the strangers had no reason to grumble at the reception they got in the Scottish capital.

The weather, if a little sultry, could hardly, on the whole, have been improved on, and the large crowd of spectators, among whom were many ladies, were most impartial in distributing their cheers, every bit of fielding by a colonial and every fine stroke played being readily taken notice of by the crowd, which, however, did not forget to cheer the fall of each of the visitor's wickets.

J. Anderson and W.R. Sharp opened for Scotland against Jones and Noble, and after four maidens had been sent down runs began to come steadily from the Perthshire man until Noble got past Sharp's defence with the total at 14.

G.L.D. Hole then joined Anderson and quickly got to work. He was not many minutes at the crease, but during his short stay he had three boundaries and a two, and the spectators were waxing enthusiastic over his hitting when a neat catch by Carter low down in the slips sent him back. Meanwhile, Anderson was playing away with every appearance of confidence and by means of pretty cricket he had made 33 before a brilliant catch by Darling at point brought his useful innings to an all too speedy close.

R.H. Johnston began his brief sojourn in a manner which delighted the crowd by slashing the first ball he received to the boundary, but his great anxiety for runs before getting his eye in proved his undoing, for in his next over he seemed to be caught in two minds, with the result that he was yorked by Hopkins.

At the lunch interval four wickets were down for 71, which was rather disappointing, especially considering the fact that shortly before the score was 60 with only two men out. And immediately after lunch things continued to go badly for the Scottish team.

C.M. Campbell, himself an Australian, who had been showing good form before the interval, fell a victim to a brilliant bit of fielding by Gregory, who threw down the wicket from far out in a manner which surprised the batsman and spectators alike, and earned for the fielder a hearty round of cheers.

A.W. Duncan shaped very poorly, and he and H.J. Stevenson were dismissed with successive balls, the latter being caught at short leg. Of the others G.W. Jupp alone gave any trouble. By means of three 4's, two 3's, and three singles he quickly knocked up 21, and then, in attempting to drive the fast bowler, he failed to get a proper hold of the ball, which fell into the safe hands of Gregory at cover point.

A.N. Hunter, like Stevenson, only got one ball, and the innings, which had lasted two hours and a quarter, realised but 109, a much smaller total than at one time seemed probable. Six wickets fell after lunch in three quarters of an hour for 38.

All through the innings the fielding of the Australians was a treat to see. Not a "life" was given by them and seldom was a run thrown away.

Pepall and A.N. Hunter began the attack for Scotland, and A.M. Noble and R.A. Duff were the batsmen. From the very outset runs came fast, both men scoring well and steadily, though there was nothing particularly brilliant about the cricket up to the time 40 was obtained, that figure being reached after only twenty minutes play.

Two later H.J. Stevenson went on at Hunter's end with underhand lobs, and he puzzled the batsmen a bit, and for a time kept down the rate of run-getting, but after a while, when the novelty had worn off, the slow ones were hit about very freely.

A feature of the batsmen's display was their accurate placing, for though the fielders were standing all around the ropes, not a semblance of a chance was ever given until at least 100 was hoisted. Shortly afterwards the Scottish score was passed amid cheers after fifty minutes play.

Numerous changes in the attack had previously been made, but they were of no avail until C.M. Campbell, who had gone on at 86, got Noble out for obstruction. The outgoing batsman played a very attractive innings, and it is interesting to note that this was the first occasion upon which he had got the length of 50 during the present tour.

He was one of the safest run-getters in the 1899 team, and he has been very unfortunate this season. Included in his score were five 4's, four 3's, and seven 2's, and he never gave anything approaching a chance.

The much heard of Clem Hill was next in, and he was responsible for a quickly obtained 21 out of the fifty scored for the second wicket, and most of his runs were obtained by drives along the ground. His dismissal at 167 was loudly cheered, and so was that of J. Darling seven runs later. The latter, the captain of Australians, was out to a very bad stroke.

Meanwhile, Duff continued to give a sterling exhibition of sound cricket, always scoring at more than a steady pace, and at the same time playing a thoroughly safe game. When a hundred for him seemed a certainty, he fell, with the total on 197, to a smart catch at wickets off the first over sent down by Stevenson, who had gone on again at 190.

S.E. Gregory and A.J. Hopkins gave a great deal of trouble, and caused R.H. Johnston, the captain of the Scottish eleven, to ring the changes on all the bowling at his command. They looked like playing out time, so thoroughly set did they appear to be, but, at a quarter past six, after the wicket had added 69 runs, a curly one from Stevenson found its way past Gregory's defence, and five wickets were thus down for 266.

The next pair did not stay long together, and when stumps were drawn for the day at 6.30, Hopkins was still not out with 42 to his credit. The Scotsmen, 174 behind and four wickets still to capture, have an uphill fight to face today, and there will de exceptionally good performance if they can make a draw of the game or even save the innings defeat.

Day 2:
This match was resumed at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, yesterday, and at the start there was a gratifying attendance, over a thousand people being present, and as the day advanced the crowd increased to over 3000.

The display given by the Scotsmen on Monday did not hold out to them much promise of a successful issue yesterday, the rapid scoring of the colonials, after their excellent fielding during the innings of the Scotsmen, pointing to an easy victory for the visitors. With six wickets down for 283, the colonials resumed yesterday, Hopkins, the overnight not-out (42), being partnered by Kelly.

The weather at the start was again favourable, though somewhat cloudy, and as the sun broke through at midday, and continued to shine throughout the day, the game was played under the best conditions.

The Scotsmen made a promising start, for Kelly was thrown out by Campbell, who was fielding in slip, shortly after his appearance at the wicket. Carter then joined Hopkins, but was smartly caught by Jupp off Pepall. These two wickets fell without a run being scored.

Jones then partnered Hopkins, and Stevenson took up the bowling for the Scotsmen. His lobs, however, gave little trouble to the batsmen, who got several runs at his expense. Pepall again took the ball, and with his second ball Jones should have been caught at the wickets. Afterwards Jones hit rather freely, sending the ball to the boundary on a few occasions.

After twenty minutes play the colonials had reached 300, and almost immediately after this Jones, whose innings was characterised by strong and fearless hitting, was smartly held by R.H. Johnston at long off.

Saunders was the last man to join Hopkins. This partnership, while gaining runs very slowly, played careful cricket. On one occasion, however, R.H. Johnston was unfortunate to miss Saunders at cover point, but shortly afterwards he accomplished it, catching the ball almost on the ground.

The Colonials innings yielded 305, and Hopkins the not out, had 42. The feature of the closing portion of the Colonials' innings was the bowling of Pepall and the general all-round excellence of Scottish fielding.

It was a smart performance to dispose of four batsmen inside half an hour, and it gave rise to the hope that the second innings of the Scottish side would be productive of a creditable score. Pepall, after going on for the third time, had three wickets for 14 runs, and four wickets fell yesterday for 32, the total innings lasting three hours and twenty minutes.

Shortly after one o'clock Anderson and Sharp opened the batting for Scotland to the bowling of Noble and Hill. From the first ball sent down by Noble, Anderson had a pretty stroke, sending the ball to the boundary.

This was the only score of the over, and then Clem Hill took up the attack. This, by the way, was the second time during the tour that Hill shared the bowling. With the last ball of this over, Sharp had a nice cut for 2. As was the case on Monday, the fielding of the Australians was a special feature almost from the start of the Scottish innings yesterday.

Runs were slow in coming, the alacrity of the well-placed fielders nipping up many of the best attempts of the batsmen at run getting. The batsmen played very carefully, but seldom missed an opportunity to snatch a run. Just on the lunch interval Sharp was caught at short square leg by Hill, the batsman's score then being 9.

After lunch Anderson was partnered by Hole. The score was then 19 for the loss of one wicket. A double change in the bowling was made, Duff and Armstrong being the next trundlers. With only two runs added, Hole was snapped at wickets, and during his stay of fifteen minutes he only secured a solitary run.

Campbell then joined Anderson, and opened well, hitting out very strongly, and seemingly he was bent on scoring quickly. This, however, proved difficult work, and when he had scored only 2, he was clean bowled by Duff, the score then being 24 for three.

Anderson's next partner was Jupp, but he, like Campbell, was dismissed by Duff. So far Anderson had played a careful game never giving a chance. True, the runs came slowly, but only the superb fielding of the colonials rendered profitless many of the Perthshire player's finest strokes.

The bowling of the Australians was effecting a rapid disposal of the Scottish side, and with such players as Hole, Campbell, and Jupp put out for practically no score, the prospects of a respectable Scottish total were not particularly bright. However, with the advent of R.H. Johnston, and the hard hitting which usually characterises that player, the rot was stayed for a time.

The first ball he received he sent to the boundary, and he followed this up with one or two singles. Then Anderson brightened the Scottish outlook by several clever strokes, evoking cheers of the crowd for a smartly hit boundary and a nicely taken 3. Shortly after this he was caught by Carter at the wickets. The score was then 40 for five wickets, and an early termination of the match looked likely.

Kelly then relieved Armstrong, and from his first ball Johnston secured a 3. Duff gave place to Hopkins at the other end. Johnston, who was then assisted by Duncan, seemed to benefit by the changes thus effected in the bowling. Together they gradually added to the score, and gave the best display so far seen of the Scottish side, but unfortunately when shaping well Duncan was easily caught by Noble. The batsman hooked his stroke over his head, and Noble running in from point easily caught the ball.

Stevenson then appeared at the wickets, but he had a very short stay. The rot of the early portion of the innings seemed to have returned for no sooner had Stevenson been replaced by Pepall than that player was out first ball, being caught at mid-off by Saunders. The fact that eight wickets were down for 70 told its own tale. It was something like a procession of batsmen to and from the pavilion.

Like the immediately preceding players, Downs was easily caught shortly after taking his place at the wickets. The tenth wicket fell when Hunter, with his score at 7, was caught by Saunders at mid off. R.H. Johnston remained at the wickets till the close, his score being 30, chiefly the result of vigorous hitting. The total of 91 was 18 less than the first day's score, and Scotland therefore suffered defeat by an innings and 105 runs.

There was a good deal of grumbling during the two days at the lack of provisions for the comfort of the spectators. In particular, many ladies were surprised to find that it was impossible for them to obtain any refreshments.

On a hot summer afternoon they felt, and no doubt many of their male friends shared their feeling, that a cup of tea would have been very welcome, and that was borne in upon them all the more forcibly when they saw the club members and their friends enjoying the comforts of which they felt in need.

The sitting accommodation, too, was far from adequate, but in justice to Grange, it should not be forgotten that the match was arranged so late as Thursday, and that the large attendance came as a surprise even to those responsible for the fixture.

On another occasion of the same kind, the Grange club, it is to be hoped, will profit by their experience of the past two days, and make a greater effort to meet the reasonable demands of the visitors to their ground.

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