Day 1:
The South African cricketers entered upon one of their holiday fixtures yesterday, when, at Hamilton Crescent, Partick, they played an eleven of Scotland which was neither strong nor representative. They kept the wickets all day, and during the four and a half hours that play lasted they put on the great total of 466 for five wickets, which would seem to suggest that the Scottish eleven will have their work cut out to save the innings defeat.

The Colonials left out Sherwell, Schwarz, Hathorn, and Sinclair, the very men, indeed, whom the crowd would have most liked to have seen, Sherwell, the captain, and the saviour of the recent test match at Lord's, Schwarz, the famous "googlie" bowler; Hathorn, the stylist of the side; and Sinclair, the six foot four giant and big hitter of the party.

The crowd, however, which at its strongest would number close upon 4000, saw lots of good cricket, and in any case saw two more centuries added to the South Africans' record, and a third is likely to follow today.

One of the two who reached three figure totals, Nourse, the left-hander of the party, showed the sounder cricket, and he got his runs in almost exactly an hour less than Tancred, who at the outset of his three hours' stay was too cramped and careful to be interesting, though he opened out later, and had some capital pulls and straight drives, one shot coming under the latter category, a 6 out of the ground, being a particularly fine one.

Edinburgh cricketers should know Tancred's style by this time, for in his two visits to Raeburn Place, he has put together totals of 163 and 250. He is not a pretty player, but when set agoing he is effective, though previous to yesterday he had been anything but a success during the present tour, and his early caution may be excused on that account. Of the first 43 scored, Tancred only had 4.

He was lucky yesterday in getting two "lives," one from Broadbent in the slips, a sharp one, but a palpable chance, when he had 12, and another, one of the simplest possible, from Barbour at square leg, when 71. He had one great drive for 6, and seventeen 4's; and Nourse had fourteen 4's in his score.

The left-hander, and ex-drummer in the British Army, the only man on the side to play himself in, but afterwards he hit hard, and seldom did he lift the ball off the turf. Never a chance did he give, and most of his runs were got by hard forward cuts, off drives, and hits to leg.

But Shalders, if he only got 47, played a finer innings than either, and he was out to a brilliant catch by the Kilmarnock professional, who took a very hot return and brought an end to the first partnership, after it had realised 82 runs.

The stand of the day , however, was that between Tancred and Nourse, who put together 167 for the third wicket, and it was then that the Scottish captain was in greatest straits with his bowling. Perhaps he might have changed his attack oftener, and early in the game he seemed to take too much out of Broadbent and Nixon, and especially the Uddingston professional.

The usefulness of a change was finally exemplified by the fact that Tait, who had his first turn with the ball at 95, got a wicket in his third over, after sending down two maidens, and found another victim in his first over, on going on at a future stage. Faulkner and S.J. Snooke hit out freely towards the close, and so did Vogler; but just before stumps were drawn Faulkner was missed by Broadbent at third man.

Seven bowlers in all were tried. The fielding of the Scottish side was only fair, Tennent, Lyle, and Luyt doing especially well; but Barbour, apart from the easy catch he dropped amidst groans, gave away a few runs unnecessarily. Play at the start was quiet, even dull, and at no time except near the end did the Colonials take undue liberties with the bowling, or run unnecessary risks; from the game they played they looked as if they were quite anxious as the promoting club, the West of Scotland, to have the game going on over Saturday.

The drawings yesterday, when the weather was brilliantly fine, would amount to well over £100, so that, provided there is another good day the financial success of the engagement is already assured.

Day 2:
Two days sufficed to conclude the match at Partick, and yesterday evening the South Africans had won by an innings and 371 runs. It was an inglorious display given by the home eleven, and the only conclusion Scottish cricketers could have out of it was that the team was far from being a representative one.

As a matter of fact only two of the eleven, Tait and Broadbent, are included in the side to play for Scotland at Raeburn Place on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and the experience they gained at Hamilton Crescent should be a great advantage to them next week. From a Scottish point of view, the conspicuous success of the young Aberdeenshire played was about the only gratifying feature of the game and the Uddingston professional, though in a lesser degree, also did well.

Of the 184 scored by the Scotsmen from the bat in the two innings, Tait had no fewer than 92 runs for once out, and high hopes will be entertained regarding his doings in the most important of the two Scottish engagements. There was again fine weather yesterday, and the attendance would number about 3000.

The last five wickets of the Colonials did not give anything like the trouble the first five had done, and all were captured in little over an hour's time before lunch for the addition of only 107 runs.

The grand total of the side was thus 573, the biggest score the South Africans have made during their tour. There was nothing noteworthy about the batting, and the first two wickets yesterday went to Broadbent, who, as on the opening day, had opened the bowling with Nixon. These were the overnight not outs, Faulkner and Vogler, and both were dismissed in the same fashion, for obstruction.

Faulkner gave a capital exhibition of free, forcing cricket, and of the three century makers on the side, his batting was clearly the most interesting to look at. It was as safe, too, as it was sound, and by far the greater proportion of his runs were got from strokes in front of the wicket, and well along the ground. His stay occupied almost exactly two hours, and his principal hits were sixteen 4's, two 3's, and six 2's.

The last pair, Smith and Kotze, went in for smiting, and were so successful that they brought about a double change in the attack in favour of Johnson and Tait. The fast bowler had some rare good smacks, one, in particular, a straight drive over the ropes. Broadbent bowled with considerable success, and his three wickets yesterday cost only 57 runs. Unfortunately, however, for the look of his analysis, his one victim on the previous day had been so expensive that 129 runs had been hit from his bowling.

The South Africans batted in all for fully five hours and a half, which represents extraordinary fast scoring.

If Tait's display is left out of account, little can be said of the Scottish first innings. It was a succession of failures, and perhaps that gallop of Kotze and his express deliveries had a disconcerting effect on the batsmen. In any case, they fell a ready prey to his fast ones and the leg breaks of Nourse, and the side were all out in less than an hour and a half for 68, which, however, it is comforting to know, was 14 better than that made by Leicestershire against the Colonials in the opening match of the tour.

Lyle had a good shot or two, but Tait was really the only one to add to his reputation. The Aberdeenshire representative faced both bowlers with the utmost confidence; he could not have shown more of that excellent quality had he been playing in an ordinary club engagement.

He had five 4's, and if he had one lucky one through the slips that was his only bad stroke, until at 33, he played one softly into the hands of Tancred at point. Tancred, however, had either the sun in his eyes or he was mindful of the favours bestowed upon him on Thursday; in any case, whatever was the reason, he dropped the simplest of catches, and, not only that, but in attempting to throw down Tait's wicket sent the ball to the boundary.

Tait, however, did not profit any further from the mistake, for two balls later, just when it seemed certain that he would carry his bat through the innings, he was ninth man out, Kotze claimed him as one of his seven victims.

The fast bowler had a very nicely set field. He had only one man on the on-side, at mid-on, and five men behind the wickets, one of them away deep between third man and point. Off his bowling, three men were out to snicks; the other four had their stumps uprooted.

The only stands of the innings, and these were but poor affairs, hardly worth mentioning, were those made by Tait and Lyle for the fifth wicket, which realised 21 runs, and by Tait and Maxwell for the ninth, which put on 17.

There was some talk that the South Africans, notwithstanding their tremendous lead of 505, would go in again instead of compelling the home side to follow on, but while that, from a business point of view, would have suited all right, and would have kept the match going well into the third day, it would not have been cricket, and the arrangement come to at the interval was that if the Scottish eleven were again disposed of that night, another match would be started today, whom the South African team would include Sherwell, Schwarz, and Sinclair, three of the great attractions of the party.

The Scottish side were disposed of again, and the new game will thus be entered upon. The Scotsmen did better in the second innings, it is true, though Johnson left with only one run scored, and Lyle with but 4 on the board.

Then, however, the improvement began. The Colonials started their bowling this time with Faulkner and S.J. Snooke, the former sending down a choice variety, with "googlies" included, and the latter taking a run almost as long as Kotze, and sending down a ball not a great deal slower. White, another exponent of the "googlie" cult, also had a turn with the ball, but it was not until Kotze, in the hope of ending matters, came on again, that the real trouble began.

Tait was once more the hero of the innings, and in him a Scottish batsman of the right stamp for such engagements has evidently been found. He batted as before with great assurance and skill, and, going in third wicket down, carried his bat.

The pity was the first innings order was changed. He showed no fear of the fast bowlers like the others, standing up to Kotze's fastest deliveries, and hitting them, too, as if the burly colonial were but an ordinary Scottish trundler. It was a great day for the plucky Aberdonian, and may be said to have demonstrated the advantage of county cricket training.

Tait had an enthusiastic reception on retiring to the pavilion. It is noteworthy that Vogler did not bowl in either innings.

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