Page:Cricket, by WG Grace.djvu/319

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CRICKETERS I HAVE MET.
311

comes very quickly off the pitch, and he can break both ways. I have little hesitation in saying that he was at that time the best of the Australian bowlers on a good wicket; for he kept pegging away with a good length, and required a great deal of watching. His particular ball was one that pitched on the off stump and broke slightly away, and he was a lucky batsman who did not touch it either into short-slip or the wicket-keeper's hands. Like all of the Australian bowlers, he is very fond of a yorker. He is a good field and a fair bat, hitting out well and occasionally running up good scores; in fact, he is a good all-round cricketer, and a good fellow as well. His best bowling performances for the Australian Elevens in England, in eleven-a-side matches, were:

Overs. Maidens. Runs. Wickets. Average.
1878 296 144 394 38 10.14
1882 1206 488 1759 128 13.95
1886 1650 778 2221 123 18.7

Mr. George Giffen was born at Adelaide, South Australia, on the 27th March, 1852. His height is 5 ft. 9½ in.; weight, 12 st. 7lb. He has the reputation of being the best all-round cricketer in Australia: he has certainly proved himself to be the best that has yet visited England. In bowling he was not up to Spofforth's form or one or two others; nor was he so successful with the bat as Murdoch; but there can be little doubt that he combined both in a way no other Australian has yet done.

He first came to us in 1882, but 1886 was his great year, when he headed the averages with both bat and ball, and was the backbone of the team. I know that he has done even better in Australia than in England, but I have not his doings on the other side by me, and can only give what I know and what I have seen. One feat on the other side I must make room for: his