1893 to 1898 Part 3

BHRDCA Heritage BHRDCA Heritage – Catalogue Entry # 8 – January 2014 1882 to1902 Part 3 – 1893 to 1898 Part 3 looks at the period of the 1890’s depression when formal competition was suspended for five years. Any corrections, additions and any questions should be referred to Andy Lambert in the first instance at [email protected] Part 3 – The 1890’s Depression 1893-94 Despite the success of the Eastern District Trophy and the detailed report in June 1893 the ecomonic crisis of 1893 had suddenly taken hold and this had an immediate impact on Melbourne society, including cricket. On 30 January 1893 the Federal Bank failed and by May 1893 no less than eleven banks had suspended trading. As a result Victoria fell into a sudden sharp recession due to the collapse of land prices, speculations and holdings. Players were suddenly out of work and as a result clubs were unsure if they could field teams. This put the future of the Eastern District Trophy in doubt and by September 1893 no mention of the competition was made in the Reporter newspaper regarding the coming season and it appeared that the competition would not be held in 1893-94. The minutes of the Camberwell AGM held in September 1893 included the following note. It was decided not to enter for any trophy until at such time as the club was certain there was to be no local cup. Camberwell and Boroondara eventually entered the Sports Depot matting competition, in which clubs were knocked out by Christmas if they had not won enough games. Other clubs in this competition included teams from Malvern, Coburg, Brunswick, Abbotsford and Clifton Hill. Before the season started, Camberwell played a practice game against East Melbourne’s first XI. The opposition contained future Australian test players, Frank Laver (15 tests between 1899 and 1909), and Peter McAlister (8 tests between 1904 and 1909), along with the legendary Albert Trott (5 tests – 3 for Australia and 2 for England). Fifteen years later the relationship between Laver and McAlister disintegrated McAllister blamed Australian selector Laver for not been selected on the 1905 tour to England. The relationship soured further when the player appointed manager of the 1909 English tour (Laver) would not assist the board appointed tour treasurer (McAlister). Despite the players’ support for Laver, the Australian Board of Control stuck by McAlister and in 1912 it all came to a head at [email protected] 17 January 2014 BHRDCA Heritage a board meeting when Clem Hill and McAlister came to blows and six of Australia’s best players refused to go to England. Unfortunately it is this that McAlister and Laver are best remembered for, despite McAlister’s 11,893 runs for East Melbourne in district cricket, which included 31 centuries and Laver’s 158 first class games. Laver also posted scores of 352 not out against St.Kilda in 1892-93 and 341 against Fitzroy in 1902-03, whilst in test cricket he took an 8-31 against England. In this game, Laver made 41 out of East Melbourne’s 128, to which Camberwell responded with 33 with Albert Trott taking 4-2, which was of no shame to the Camberwell batsman as Trott took 1674 first-class wickets and remains the only player to hit a ball over the pavilion at Lords. Following the practice game the season commenced and Camberwell defeated Malvern and Clifton Hill in the first two games, but lost to both Boroondara and Brunswick and were subsequently knocked out of the competition by Christmas. In all, Camberwell played 13 games during the year, winning 4, losing 4 and drawing 4. W.Spear averaged 28.5 for the season with the bat, which included a score 145 against Malvern, whilst James Steele (who left Box Hill to play with Camberwell) averaged 25.5, including 94 against Malvern – who Camberwell thrashed by an innings and 225 runs. With the ball, C.Bankhouse averaged 6.00 The majority of other clubs created their own schedule of ‘ordinary’ matches. Reigning premiers Box Hill played 19 games, winning 8, losing 6 and drawing 5. Their best batsman was Williams with 361 runs at 24.06, whilst Phil Plaisted (283 runs), Hodges (230 runs including 84 not out against Blackburn), and Beck (224 runs) featured. Plaisted was the best of the bowlers with 48 wickets at 10.50, whilst Blackburn took 37 wickets and Beck 27 wickets. At their AGM Mr.J.Sergeant was re-elected President and Plaisted was nominated club Secretary. Surrey Hills played 21 games with 2 wins, 6 losses and 13 draws. R.Falconer made 242 runs at 17.28 which included a score of 109 against the Surrey Hills College. P.Leigh made 164 runs and took 31 wickets, whilst R.Blood took 39 wickets at 9.25. Councilor Beckett was named President and W.Kent and F.Fletcher shared the secretarial duties. At Canterbury’s sixth annual AGM, Mr.B.D.Smith was re-elected President and Mr.A.Walker was elected secretary. In all, the club enjoyed a successful season, playing 21 games, winning 13, losing 6 and drawing 5. W.Dodds won the batting average with 405 runs at 36.9 which included 97 not out against Wentworth Avenue. J.Gunner made 191 runs including 96 against the Melbourne Bohemians, A.Robinson 244 runs and F.Mackie 250 runs. With the ball, Tom Mackie had his best season yet with 85 wickets at 6.59. This included 8-23 against the Bohemians, 8-34 against St.Kilda, and 8-28 against Doncaster. Mackie was supported by J.Allen (39 wickets) and A.Walker 34 wickets. Other clubs to be mentioned during 1893-94 included Burwood, Blackburn and Mitcham. Another club mentioned was Doncaster who enjoyed the services of G.Bullen and Sam Whitten, whilst club coach William Meader made a top-score of 73 against his former club Box Hill. Ferntree Gully received limited coverage with I.Lording (116 not out) and E.Lording (105 not out) both making tons against a local church side. [email protected] 17 January 2014 BHRDCA Heritage The Wesleyan churches also continued with their competition with teams from Boroondara, Auburn, Essendon, Lower Hawthorn, Cremorne and Coburg. Teams representing the Australian Natives Association (ANA) also began to emerge around this time. 1894-95 At Camberwell’s AGM in September 1894, a merger between the Camberwell and Boroondara clubs was discussed with the view this combined side would have more luck against the inner-city clubs playing in the Boyle & Scott and Sports Depot trophies. In the end the merger did not eventuate and as it was, neither side received much coverage in the Reporter during 1894-95 as coverage of the Sports Depot competition dropped off during the season. Boroondara withdraw from the Sports Depot competition mid-season and played local matches only. The season started with Box Hill played East Melbourne in a pre-season game. As with the corresponding game against Camberwell in 1893-94 East Melbourne included Frank Laver, Peter McAlister, and Albert Trott – but none of these three contributed much although East Melbourne still won comfortably which was to be expected from one of the leading clubs in in Melbourne at the time. The season itself consisted of series ordinary matches, with Box Hill, Surrey Hills, and to a lesser extent Canterbury receiving most coverage. There were not many games of note, with arguably the best game of the season in March, when Box Hill defeated Surrey Hills by 140 runs, with Box Hill posting scores of 201 and 157. Both William Meader (12-90) and Phil Plaisted (45 not out and six wickets for the match) enjoyed fine games. Meader had started his third season with Doncaster, but returned to Box Hill at Christmas. Another highlight was A.Edgoose making scores of 100 and 78 in March for Box Hill. The bigger clubs submitted their 1894-95 AGM notes to the Reporter newspaper for publication. Surrey Hills played 16 games, won 9, drew 6 and suffered one loss to Box Hill in the last game of the season. A highlight during the season was dismissing Gwenrose for 14 and 5 in one game with J.Bowen taking 8-3 for the match. W.Falconer made 257 runs at 19.00 to win the batting average, whilst captain R.Blood made 285 runs. With the ball, Kelso averaged 3.00 whilst P.Leigh and Davis both averaged 5.00. At their AGM, the committee quashed any rumors stating clearly there would be no merger with another club. By defeating Surrey Hills in March, Box Hill ended the season unbeaten with 8 wins from 17 games. William Meader returned from Doncaster at Christmas to make 128 runs at 42.66. A.Edgoose made 338 runs, which included 100 against New Collegians, 78 and 51 not out in separate matches against Mitcham. Frank Bishop made 242 runs with 80 against Surrey Hills his highest score, Phil Plaisted made 209 runs and L.Williams 338 runs. With the ball, G.Blackburn took 25 wickets at 4.92 – including 8-14 against Doncaster, Plaisted took 32 wickets and L.Williams 21 wickets. Meader took match figures of 12-90 against Surrey Hills. At their AGM, the club discussed creating a tennis club to leverage from the growing popularity of this sport. Canterbury’s AGM was not recorded in the newspaper, but the efforts of Tom Mackie should be noted. Mackie took figures of 6-18, 6-33 and 6-23 as part of his 21 wickets found for the season and he made three scores over twenty (32, 31 not out and 26).

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