A Flick of the Fingers by Michael Burns

A Flick of the Fingers by Michael Burns

Author:Michael Burns
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2015-08-14T16:00:00+00:00


Crawford was among many who were unable to watch, ‘“Hutch” and I could not stand the strain so we strolled to the Grand Hotel and awaited the news there in fear and trembling. Ten minutes afterwards the barber from next door came in to say that we had been victorious by one wicket, but he was told to get out before he was hurt. No sooner had he got out than the news came that Barnes, Fielder and Humphries had played a wonderful game and met with a marvellous reception.’

The tail had wagged, and ‘Observer’ in the Argus did not hold back, ‘The youngest among us may live to be old men and never see such another game of cricket as the Test match between England and Australia played to so sensational a finish upon the Melbourne Cricket-ground yesterday.’

In a letter penned by a Scottish female eyewitness, unearthed by Timothy Gleeson in the 1980s, the writer describes her feelings at the end of the match, ‘I realise I am as limp as a rag. If we as mere spectators felt the strain so much, what must it have been to the players? Here’s to our saviours – Barnes, Humphries and Fielder – and here’s to the dear old Mother Country! God Bless Her!’

Not all were overwhelmed by the gripping finish, with a letter to the Argus from a grumbling ‘Grandstand’ complaining of time wasted by the bowlers, ‘It seemed absurd for Crawford, who was taken off for three overs and then put on again, to have his four trials at the wicketkeeper.’

One other deflating incident in the aftermath of the victory was a report of three England players falling foul of the local licensing laws. Because they were non-residents, Fielder, Hardstaff and Rhodes were charged with unlawfully drinking on the premises of the Old White Hart Hotel. The court proceedings were brief. Constable Haslett confirmed that the three men were residents next door in the Grand Hotel, and Mr Dwyer, the presiding magistrate, then passed judgement, ‘Defendants are fined 20/-each.’

The hearing in the Melbourne District court was on 10 January, by which time the three miscreants, along with their team-mates, were 450 miles west, sweltering again in the Adelaide heat. ‘One hundred and fifty-four in the sun and 108 in the shade,’ was Crawford’s reading, and he felt that ‘two matches in succession was really too much of a good thing’. So it proved. For three days the third Test was evenly fought, as England, still without captain Jones, gained a first-innings lead of 78 and Crawford, batting at number eight, scored 62 in an unusually careful innings that pleased Major Trevor, ‘He did not make the mistake common to most hitters who choose to alter their usual tactics. He did not eschew hitting altogether, but combined good judgement with restraint. His innings lasted nearly an hour and a half, and, during that time, he did not make a bad stroke. He invariably punished a short-pitched ball severely, and over-pitched balls he drove along the ground, using his height well as he did so.



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