There is nothing like the opportunity to test yourself against a tough or better opponent, either a team or an individual, to give yourself a yardstick as to how you can perform against the best of the best. Matches against visiting teams has generally become a rare event in this day and age, where structured competitions reign in regional teams to play against each other on the basis that their competition is the major beneficiary. In the years before Federation however, before the formation of the Kiama District Cricket Association, all matches had to be organised by each team, and they would often spread invitations far and wide in order to find opponents willing to travel and play. The cream of these matches would be the chance to show your wares against the best of the Sydney Clubs, and perhaps make a name for yourself.
On
Saturday 23 May 1874, the Kiama United Cricket Club hosted a visit by the East
Sydney Cricket Club. It was quite a coup for the district to have this team
travel down to partake in a cricket match. Though there were many cricket Clubs
in Sydney, the organised Sydney Grade competition did not come into being until
the 1893/94 season, and so at this time in history they also played on an
'invitational' basis. This was the East Sydney club's final match of the
1873/74 season, and was by far the furthest they had travelled in the name of a
game of cricket.
The
game took place at the Church Point ground, though;
The game did not commence till nearly 12 o'clock, the Sydney
men having arrived by steamer at a late hour. The day was fine, with a slight
but cold wind from the west, which made it rather unpleasant for spectators as
well as players. [1]
Opening
the batting for the East Sydney team was its captain, Dave Gregory and Vyner.
Gregory was an accomplished batsman of the time, and was coming off having just
represented an Eighteen of New South Wales against W.G. Grace's touring team,
and previous to that the Combined Fifteen of New South Wales and Victoria
against the same opponents. Vyner did not last long, being bowled by McCaffery,
and his place was taken by another of New South Wales' best, Charlie Bannerman,
who had also played in the above games alongside his captain. However, he too
soon fell to the wiles of McCaffery for just 4. The skipper stonewalled for
some time in order to retain his wicket, while at the other end he was joined
by McKern, who was much livelier in regards to his stroke play and manner at
the crease.
Eventually
Gregory is picked up by McCaffery, who has proved to be a nagging opponent,
giving little room for freeing your arms. His 16 has been a stabilising force
at the top of the order. He was replaced by his brother Charlie, who made 11
before he too became a victim of McCaffery's "straight bowls". The
arrival of Burke at the crease does not slow the tempo, and the East Sydney
team looked to be on the way to setting an enormous total as their score
reached four wickets down and 73 runs on the board.
But
wait! Here comes an interesting character to the bowling crease. Why, it's
Alexander Gordon! Even though he is increasing in years by now, he is still
well renowned around the South Coast districts, as he has been a prominent
player in many teams throughout the area over the past twenty years. In fact,
there had been some commotion about a decade earlier, when the game he was
playing in had been abandoned by his team, after he had been called for
jerking! It doesn't seem to have stopped him playing though, as he has still
turned up in various teams to lend his abundant skill to their cause.
It's
funny to remember that he has been called for jerking in that aforementioned
match too, because as he begins his spell, it is obvious that he has in fact
reverted back to an ancient art form. He is in fact bowling - underarm! A
strange turn of events, but what has been the trigger for this? Has Gordon,
since that infamous day against Wollongong, been called again for jerking? Has the doubt in his bowling action been brought
to the attention of the Big City team, and thus brought scrutiny about it? Or
has Gordon himself just decided that, on this occasion, on this ground, that it
is the best course of action for him to take? In researching this era of the
Kiama Cricket Club, I have come across no correspondence in any form that
suggests that Gordon has again had his action queried, officially or not (in
fact, the more that one reads, it becomes increasingly obvious that the
original "no ball" call in that match back in 1864 was the result of
a grudge held by the umpire than of anything positive in the nature of the
bowling action). Thus we can only speculate as to what the reason was for this
change. Whatever the reason was, however, it had an immediate impact on the
match at hand:
At this stage of the innings a change was made in the
bowling, A. Gordon going on with underarm; and the result showed that the old
style must not be despised. In his first over he shivered the timbers of Burke
and Bailey; and in his third over disposed of Barton; and Beard and Freeman
falling to M'Caffrey, the innings ended for 94, having lasted about an hour and
a half. [2]
In
three overs, Gordon had taken 3/9, while from a position of strength at 4/73,
East Sydney had lost 5 wickets for 21 runs in 5.2 overs, and the ten man
visiting team had been bowled out for 94, a total significantly less than was
imagined just 20 minutes earlier.
The
Kiama team took heart from the swift conclusion of their opponents innings, and
would have felt confident that they could put up a good chase of the target
they had been set. However, it was not to be, as the opening attack of Charlie
Gregory and Burke ran through them with ease.
Something good was expected of Christie, but he had a short
life; Burke brought him to grief with a very deceptive ball, pitched behind and
breaking between his legs. A Gordon went in next and left his wickets
unprotected against a straight one from Burke. R. King was foolishly run out.
S. Gordon and C. M'Caffrey were the only two who showed good batting on the
Kiama side, the former making 11 and the latter 10. The innings ended about 3
o'clock for the grand total of 55. [3]
After
the luncheon, which was taken on the ground, there was little time for the
Kiama team to force their way back into the match. After all, The East Sydney
club had had little trouble in the first innings setting themselves up for a
big score, and with only a couple of hours to go until sundown, it looked an
impossible task in which to force victory.
Their
cause was made easier when first Charlie Bannerman, and then Dave Gregory, the
club's two most experienced batsman, failed to show at the wickets, proclaiming
themselves to be "retired hurt". Along with only ten men to start
with, it meant that Kiama had now only to produce seven wickets falling in order
to have a second precious chance at the crease with the bat. Gordon was this
time called upon to open the bowling, and again he is a cut above, once again
relying on his underarms to do the job. Gordon bowls ten overs, of which three
are maidens, and finishes with the terrific figures of 4/13. Amazing stuff.
Spinks is not left in the lurch here, his nine overs producing 2/12, while
McCaffery’s single over closes out the innings with a wicket off his final
ball, dismissing the undermanned city team for just 37 runs.
The Kiama men had to go in again to get 76, and only about
half an hour to play, which proved too short to make the required number. S.
Gordon and R. King went in and gave some leather hunting to the Sydneyites [4]
They
did indeed! With no time to waste at all, with a maximum of half an hour likely
to be left in the day, Samuel Gordon and King take on the role of
enforcers. They nab six runs from the first over by Gregory, and then THIRTEEN
from the next by Burke, as well as another six from Gregory’s second over.
After just three overs, the Kiama team has raced away to 0/29 – an unheard-of
run rate in the colonies at the time, and maybe… just maybe… the Kiama team are
a chance of snatching this game!
Burke
is immediately replaced by the leg spin of Bannerman, who has ‘remarkably’
recovered from whatever ailed him to stop him reaching the batting crease, and
he bowls an advancing Gordon for 20, a fine innings in the circumstances.
Suddenly, the going is a lot tougher for the batsmen, not the least because of
the deepening dusk that is falling around them. Bannerman proves to be a much
tougher proposition, bowling both McCafferty for 1 and Alexander Gordon for a
duck, before stumps are drawn with Kiama at 3/34 from seven overs. Kiama’s
correspondent wrote that:
Three wickets fell for 34, leaving seven wickets to fall to
make 42, no very hard matter, we think. The match was decided by the first
innings, and the ball handed over to the Sydney captain. [5]
One
would suggest that perhaps a little bias could be seen in that statement. 42 in
these games is still a long, long way to go.
"The first eleven of the club paid a visit to Kiama, and
played a match with the Kiama Cricket Club, whom they defeated. Our team was
very hospitably treated by the members of the Kiama club during their visit. A
return match will be played in Sydney this year". [6]
Despite
goodwill from both teams, it appears that a return match never eventuated. No
doubt the building competitiveness amongst Sydney teams, and the East Sydney
club’s growing importance and leadership role in this, meant that games against
the ‘lesser lights’ of the colony were more difficult to justify. The fact that
three or four of the club’s better players had not made that initial trip to
Kiama may well have also been part of the reason not to fulfil the return
match.
However,
it was an important match in the annals of Kiama cricket history. Not only did
arguably the region’s finest cricketer of the era again prove his worth and
canniness against worthy opposition, and not only did an unheralded Kiama team
hold their own against a superior opponent. It was also a fillip for those that
played in or watched the match take place. Within three years, East Sydney’s
captain Dave Gregory was appointed to captain the first all-Australian team to
play the all-England team on level terms – eleven on eleven. It was played at
the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877, and is retrospectively considered
to be the first ever cricket Test match. And Charlie Bannerman was also
selected in that game, going on to score the first Test century, and eventually
retiring hurt (not quite in the same manner as the Kiama game) for 165, still
the highest score by an Australian on Test match debut. It’s a long way from facing underarms at
Church Point, Kiama to winning a Test match – the FIRST Test match - at the
M.C.G.
[1] Kiama
Independent and Shoalhaven Advertiser. Thursday 4 June, 1874
[2] Kiama
Independent and Shoalhaven Advertiser. Thursday 4 June, 1874
[3] Kiama
Independent and Shoalhaven Advertiser. Thursday 4 June, 1874
[4] Kiama
Independent and Shoalhaven Advertiser. Thursday 4 June, 1874
[5] Kiama
Independent and Shoalhaven Advertiser. Thursday 4 June, 1874
[6] The
Sydney Morning Herald. Thursday 17 September, 1874.
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