Day 1:
At Hamilton Crescent, Partick, yesterday, the Scottish eleven made a good start in their three days' cricket match with the men of Ireland, occupying the wicket all day, and scoring 297 for their completed innings. At one time it seemed as if the aggregate would be a bigger one.

There was under four and a half hours play, an hour, between half past five and half past six, being wasted owing to rain, which came on just after the fall of the last Scottish wicket.

Scotland's first pair J. Kerr and A.W. Angus gave the side a great send off. They batted all the time, an hour and a quarter, before lunch, and the Scottish captain scored about three times as quickly as the Watsonian representative, who, however, acted a good part in keeping up his end while Kerr scored.

The Greenock player hit out freely, and got many runs by hearty driving on both side of the wicket, and on several occasions he turned the ball cleverly to leg. He had one fine straight drive for 6. The opening pair carried the total over the hundred before they were parted, and of the 115 got for the first wicket Kerr had no fewer than 75.

It was a lusty pull that brought about his dismissal, the Irish fielder taking the ball close to the boundary line. Altogether he had been at the wicket for almost exactly an hour and a half, and his best hits, apart from the 6, were seven 4's, and five 3's. The innings was one of Kerr's best.

As so often happens after a long partnership, the remaining batsman followed almost immediately, Angus leaving two runs later. His was a sound and patient display.

J.M. Tennent gave little trouble before falling at 122 to a neat catch in the slips by the Irish captain, R.H. Lambert, who many years ago played for a season or two for Leith Caledonian. Then G.W.A. Alexander and D.A. Riddell took the score to 183. Both started shakily and quietly, and both had "lives" in the slips, Alexander before he had scored and Riddell soon after he had done so.

Later, both men played some delightful strokes, and the Fettesian's display was more polished than that of the old Glenalmond boy, who has often played better. Alexander should have been stumped when about 20. He was two hours all but ten minutes in reaching his 50, which represented slow progress for him, and in an over by G.N. Kelly, which brought him to the points, he had three 4's and a single. The over also contained a wide.

Alexander had six 4's in his innings, and got his runs all round the wicket. G.L.D. Hole was in a long time for 16, and owing to his lameness a number of runs were lost.

In all, eight Irish bowlers were tried, and it was the last one, J.R. Wills, who proved the most effective of all. He had five overs, and took three wickets for 5 runs. Though some runs were given away, the fielding was, on the whole, good, and with the wicket assisting the bowlers, the batsmen had to be wary.

The weather was dull in the early part of the day, but bright and fine in the afternoon, with heavy rain in the evening. Probably the attendance suffered because of the nearness of the game to that between Mr J.W.H.T. Douglas's team and the West of Scotland, and, all told, it would not reach one thousand.

Day 2:
Against Scotland's total of 297 obtained on Thursday in the international contest at Partick, Ireland batted most of the day yesterday, and finished 22 runs behind on first innings.

The Scottish bowling was weak, and the fact that G.L.D. Hole was unable to take a share in the attack, owing to suffering from rheumatism, emphasised the weakness. The absence of J.A. Fergusson and H.D. Wright was sorely felt. There was a great lack of variety, as well as sting, about the Scottish attack. Excepting J. Kerr, all were about the same pace, without a fast man or a slow man, and without a left-hander.

During the early part of the day the Irishmen had a firm grip of the bowling. The Scottish fielding, however, was good all through, and G.W.A. Alexander and D.A. Riddell did some fine scouting in the outfield. Several clever catches, too, were taken, notably those by Kerr and W.N. Walker, the latter's being a particularly fine effort at short leg with one hand.

As was the case with Scotland, Ireland's opening pair gave the side a splendid lead, and so easily did they bat that the bowling was made to look very poor stuff. Both W. Pollock and L. Bookman did well, and the former was always the faster scorer as well as being the more finished a batsman as regards style.

His was a great innings, and never a chance did he give during the three hours and a few minutes he was at the wicket. It was sound, correct, and safe cricket that he played, and he generally contrived to keep the ball on the ground, except, perhaps, when he went to hit Kerr's slow balls, one of which he straight drove over the ropes.

There was a nice polish about his strokes, and it was only after passing the century that he took any risks. Not till then did he give a chance, and that was to Major Noble in the outfield off Kerr's bowling when 130. Soon afterwards he fell a victim to the same fieldsman and the same bowler. He and Bookman put on 111 runs for the first wicket, which total fell short of Scotland's first pair partnership by only four runs.

R.H. Lambert, veteran cricketer though he be, played in good style for his 30, and showed that he had still some of the strokes he used to show in his Edinburgh days over a score years ago. When five wickets were down for 254, it looked as if the Scottish total would be far exceeded, but Ireland had a long "tail," and the last five wickets increased the score by only 21 runs, and of these ten were extras.

It was noteworthy that up to 250 the only extras that had gone to Ireland's credit were two wides, which was a tribute to the wicket-keeping of R.S. Cranston, the Brunswick and Fifeshire man.

The successes which Walker and Kirk met with at the close of the Irish innings greatly improved their bowling figures, Kirk having three of the last five and Walker two.

Scotland went in for fifty five minutes batting at the close of the day, and in that time 47 runs were scored for the loss of one wicket. During that period the Irish captain tried five bowlers, and it was from the last ball of the day that Lambert got through the defences of Alexander, who had batted crisply and well, and in better style than in the first innings, though, as then, he was let off in the slips before he had got a run.

Angus put up stubborn defence, and played to the time for the drawing of stumps. The Irish fielding was close and good.

At the end of the day Scotland were 69 runs ahead, with nine wickets in hand, so that there is every prospect of a full day's play today.

The weather all day was fine, quite summerlike, with the sun shining brightly in the afternoon. There would be an attendance of about 2000.

Day 3:
The coming of "time" saved the Scottish team from defeat in the international at Partick, and it was a moral victory the Irishmen were able to claim. They were but three runs behind when stumps were drawn, and had four wickets in hand. Not only that, but wickets were lost in the closing minutes in the effort that was then made to force the pace. That effort, however, was delayed too long, too long were the Irishmen content to jog along, and if the Scottish fielding was always good, the same could not be said for the bowling.

Nor was it used to the best advantage. The Scottish captain seemed frightened to make changes, and both T.D. Watt and J.A.W. Kirk were kept on much too long at a time early in the innings when Scotland should have been all out for a win.

Kirk bowled twenty one overs in succession before J. Kerr relieved him at 93. It is true the Scottish captain had not much choice in the way of attack, for G.L.D. Hole, as on the previous day, was not fit to bowl, though he took his place in the field. But Kerr showed a decided lack of initiative and enterprise in the handling of his team.

Watt helped to keep down the runs at the end by maintaining a good length and compelling the batsmen to play. Liberties could not be taken with him, and R.H. Lambert paid the penalty when he attempted to do so by being caught in the slips.

A great effort the old Edinburgh cricketer had made to pull off the game for Ireland, but while that was so, one could not help feeling that if he risked a little more the moral victory might have been converted into a real one.

It was, however, a masterly display that he gave, and when he came so near success it was hard luck that he did not actually achieve it. His fault was that he cut matters just a little too finely. With so many wickets to spare he might have risked more sooner. Most judicious was he in the balls he picked out for hitting, and his strokes were invariably kept on the ground. For fully two hours he was at the wicket, and when he left, fifth out, only some six minutes remained for play and 12 runs were wanted for a win.

With 1 run added, C.E. McCausland was taken at the wicket in what was the last over, and the next batsman, G.N. Kelly, ran to the wicket. Eleven runs were still needed. That the fieldsmen were excited as well as the batsman was shown when Cranston missed stumping Kelly, and though the ball lay but a yard or two from the wicket a run was stolen.

The wicket-keeper tried to throw down the wicket at the bowler's end, and another run was got from an overthrow. But when the end came the Irishmen were still 3 runs behind the necessary total to win.

D.R. Pigot also did well, and he and Lambert put on 90 runs for the fourth wicket. Pigot was bolder in his methods than his captain, and, if not so finished a batsman, played capital cricket for over two hours. Both had six 4's, and both had some fluky strokes, and Lambert got a "life" in the slips when W.N. Walker when 31.

What had happened earlier in the day was eclipsed by the interest and excitement of the finish. The Scottish batting, with few exceptions, was not good, and G.N. Kelly met with marked success with the ball for Ireland. He bowled well, and got the ball to swing across with his arm to leg.

A.W. Angus batted patiently, and seemed settled for a big score. J.M. Tennent got 22 singles and then a 4, and N.D. Noble was the top scorer of the innings. He had many good strokes, and his contribution was a valuable one for his side.

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