Surrey v Australian Imperial Forces
Kennington Oval, Kennington
31st May, 2nd, 3rd June 1919 (Three-day match)
Scorecard

Marylebone Cricket Club v Australian Imperial Forces
Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood
5th, 6th June 1919 (Three-day match)

Up to this week, the boys cannot be said to have been greatly tested, but this week they had two fixtures that saw their abilities arraigned under sterner pressureAustralians Tested, Nottingham Journal (Nottinghamshire), Mon 2 Jun 1919, p. 2. . The first was against a near full strengthUnion Football, The St George Call (NSW), Sat 17 Jun 1911, p. 2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article209178279 Surrey–the reigning County Champions Cricket In England, Leader (Vic), Sat 14 Nov 1914, p. 21. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92042239 . Eight of the XI played previously against an Australian XI, four of them in Test matchesImage snipped from recreated score card, and there were no less than four Wisden Cricketers of the Year in Ernie HayesUnknown, June 1912: The cricketer Ernest George Hayes, 1912, photograph, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Ernie_Hayes_1912.jpg , Bert StrudwickGeorge Beldam, Herbert Strudwick c.1905, c.1905, photograph, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Herbert_Strudwick_c1905cr.jpg , Bill HitchUnknown, Smith’s “Albion” Gold Flakes Cigarette Card of Bill Hitch, part of the 1912 Cricketers series, 1912, photograph, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/1193364_Bill_Hitch.jpg , and the famous Surrey batsman”Jack” Hobbs In Form, The Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times (NSW), Wed 27 May 1914, p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109821468 , J.B. HobbsUnknown, circa 1925: Sir Jack Hobbs (1882 – 1963), English cricket player, c. 1925, photograph, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Jack_Hobbs_c1925.jpg .

The crowds knew it too–a company of 10,000 Hitch and Hobbs at the Oval, The Sporting Life (Yorkshire), Mon 2 Jun 1919. joined General Birdwood and many other distinguished officersThe Australians’ Tour, The Sportsman (London), Mon 2 Jun 1919, p. 3. in what was set to be the biggest match of the cricketing season so far. The Australians lost three good wickets for as many runsLively Cricket Down South, Dundee Courier (Angus), Mon 2 Jun 1919, p. 6. early in their first innings, and Lampard should have been out at 30, Hayes in the slips dropping two catches off RushbyCricket, Daily Herald (London), Mon 2 Jun 1919, p. 7. . The “Aussies” showed splendid pluckPlucky Australians, Sheffield Daily Telegraph (Yorkshire), Mon 2 Jun 1919, p. 6. and Surrey paid a heavy penaltyThe Penalty of Dropped Catches, Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer (Yorkshire), Sat 30 May 1914, p. 12. for the dropped catches, the fifth wicket eventually falling for 81 Image snipped from recreated score card . For Surrey, only Hobbs was of the best brand–in a brilliant showing he took out his bat for 205 of the Surrey total of 344The Australians’ Tour, The Sportsman (London), Tue 3 Jun 1919, p. 3. and handed the home side first innings honoursLongfield, Cricket, The West Australian (WA), Fri 29 Mar 1919, p. 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23868415 .

The great feature of the second innings was the long stand by Pellew and Lampard, their partnership ending through when Pellew hitting the ball into his face and having to retireSurrey v. Australians, The Scotsman (Midlothian), Wed 4 Jun 1919, p. 6. –something that is becoming a problem in this team. With a lead of 348 and over 3 hours left to play in the day, the feeling amongst the crowd, made quite evident from the shouts from the ringsideThe Australian’s Tour, The Sportsman (London), Wed 4 Jun 1919, p. 3. , was that Kelleway could well have afforded to declare at that point, but he did not do so until three-quarters of an hour later. This course, rather unpopular with the spectators, enabled Lampard to reach three figuresSurrey v. Australians, Belfast News-Letter (Antrim), Wed 4 Jun 1919, p. 3. . And it was not just the barrackers who raised some concern that Kelleway is beginning to put individual performances ahead of the teamThere is no direct evidence of this, but can be inferred from context about to be laid out. . Even General Birdwood alluded to it when he lunched with the teamsSurrey v. Australians, Belfast News-Letter (Antrim), Wed 4 Jun 1919, p. 3. .

Here I must talk of one of the behind-the-scenes sensations of the tourH.L. Collins, And They Call Me “Lucky”, The Sun (NSW), Sun 9 Mar 1941, p. 8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article231202369 . Prior to the match, upon inspecting the wicket, which by all accounts would be fast and favourableInternational Cricket, The North West Post (Tas), Thu 12 Sep 1912, p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202370470 to the Australians, Kelleway made a remark to the groundsmanH.L. Collins, And They Call Me “Lucky”, The Sun (NSW), Sun 9 Mar 1941, p. 8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article231202369 about a patch on the lower side of the fieldThe Australian’s Tour, The Sportsman (London), Fri 6 Jun 1919, p. 3 that so offended the man that he made a report to the Surrey committee, who went so far as to communicate their views to the A.I.F. authoritiesH.L. Collins, And They Call Me “Lucky”, The Sun (NSW), Sun 9 Mar 1941, p. 8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article231202369 . During the lunch with General Birdwood, several players also made their feelings knownThis is a construction from context concerning Kelleway’s fervent insistenceN.S.W., Notes on the General Conference, The Methodist (NSW), Sat 9 Jun 1917, p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155431828 on retaining rank (and associated pay structure)Although in this article Barbour is denying this rumour, it is a reasonable assertion given evidence presented following. A.I.F. Cricket Team, Evening News (NSW), Sat 10 May 1919, p. 2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article120840629 in the team. Of course no Australian cricketer would stand for that in playing the game with his palsNot Out, The A.I.F. Eleven, Referee (NSW), Wed 26 Mar 1919, p. 9. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article120311824 , preferring to exercise the customary Australian right to choose their leaderTouring Cricketers, The Advertiser (SA), Thu 7 Aug 1913, p. 17. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5796002 . The General agreed, and called for Collins. What follows is a close paraphrasing of the conversation I overheard:

’Collins’ said Birdwood, ‘I want you to take over the captaincy of this side from Captain Kelleway.’ Collins was staggered. ‘Captain Kelleway is a good cricketer,’ said Birdwood, ‘but unfortunately he quarrels. I understand that he has already had three arguments – including one with the caretaker here before the game began. I’m sending him back on the next ship.’This is the only time I have used something from after the immediate period that is not from one of the players themselves. However, Jack Fingleton was one of the most respected cricket journalists of the 20th century, and would have had the opportunity to speak of this incident with many of the players from the tour, on many occasions. Although this conversation is not reported elsewhere, neither is it rebutted. Jack Fingleton, Masters of Cricket: From Trumper to May, (Heinemann: London), 1958, p. 102.

The outcome was that Lance Corporal Collins would be in charge of the Majors, Captains, and Lieutenants for the remainder of the tour. Furthermore, the players also decided that from now on the official motto of the tour would be that malapropism which greeted all Diggers as they sought respite from the war at “Dot” Brunton’sMay and/or Mina Moore, Dorothy Brunton (1890-1977), c. 1920, photograph https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Dorothy_Brunton_%28cropped%29.jpg Digger’s RestDorothy Brunton Tells Some Digger Stories, The Mail (SA), Sat 27 Jun 1931, p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58846541 in Regent Street: “Abandon all rank, ye who enter here”Jack Gregory Says He Got Into Cricket on His Name, Sporting Globe (Vic), Sat 2 Jan 1937, p. 8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article190329242 . The official wordI had chosen “official line from”, but that seems to be an anachronism. ‘Official line’ was a shipping term. ‘Official word’ was much more common in England than Australia, so this is an example of the transnational cultural transference. Arbroath May Be Strengthened, Dundee Evening Telegraph (Angus), Fri 6 Jun 1913, p. 5. from the team, for appearance sakeI have no evidence there was some sort of cover up, however, I have inferred this from the fact that this was the widely reported reason for Kelleway’s absence. The real reasons don’t come out until years later. Initially had ‘decorum’s sake’ but there was only one result in both the UK and Australia. ‘Appearance’s sake’ or ‘appearance sake’, however, have hundreds. I have used ‘appearance sake’ as my source uses it. I chose this source because it is from a well-known cricket journalist ‘Mid-off’. Cricket Notes, Gippsland Standard and Alberton Shire Representative (Vic), Fri 4 Dec 1914, P. 2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121137109, is that Kelleway was out of the M.C.C. match with a strainBowlers Superior, Sheffield Daily Telegraph (Yorkshire), Fri 6 Jun 1919, p. 7. .

Prior to the next game at “The Headquarters”One Hundred, Not Out, Cricket Centenary at Lord’s, The World’s News (NSW), Sat 24 Jan 1914, p. 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131497287 , Kelleway joined the players in the room and declared he would not be ‘sacked’ by Birdwood, and started to unpack his bag. Collins approached Kelleway and said ‘Charlie, this puts me in a pretty awkward position. Won’t you think it over?’ ‘I’m playing,’ said Kelleway. But the other members of the A.I.F. team, after going into consultation, told Kelleway that they would not take the field if he did, and Kelleway gave up and repacked his bag. It is worth noting that Fingleton has the ground wrong here. It would not have been at Brighton where this happened. There is ample contemporary evidence that it was at the Surrey match that General Birdwood lunched with the team, and the next match was the M.C.C. match at Lord’s. This arguably undermines the truth of the entire episode as relayed by Fingleton, but can be reasonably explained as being an error of memory. Jack Fingleton, Masters of Cricket: From Trumper to May, (Heinemann: London), 1958, p. 102.

The day prior to the M.C.C. match brought the first rainHenry W. Nevinson, Day of Surprises at Epsom, Daily Herald (London), Thu 5 Jun 1919, p. 1. the snug little islandThis is a quote from Thomas John Dibdin’s song ‘The Snug Little Island’, first published posthumously in 1841. Sections are quoted in ‘Little Dorrit’ by Dickens, and the popup is from: The Snug Little Island, Observer (SA), Sat 13 Mar 1915, p. 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163151197 It was also published in 1914 and 1915 in the Chronicle (Adelaide), Register (Adelaide), and the Maryborough Chronicle (QLD). The choice to use it here is motivated by the quantification section of the thesis, as well as the transnational examination. It highlights the transnational nature of language at the time, as well as increased bonds of empire as Australians searched for links with home. had seen in weeks, having been in what some of the farmers, much to our amusement, described as ‘an awful drought.’In addition to being a descriptive piece of language, in the Australian voice, this article also shows how some of the other discharged servicemen used their time in England awaiting repatriation. Bendleby, Australian Breeder Abroad, The Australasian (Vic), Sat 8 Nov 1919, p. 10. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140249522 The M.C.C. game was the first result after three consecutive draws. It is astonishing to meNot Out, History Making in Cricket, Referee (NSW), Wed 9 Aug 1916, p. 16. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121174074 that in this country, so heavily handicapped by climatic conditionsA Practical Address, The South Eastern Times (SA), Fri 2 Apr 1920, p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article200962824 , the cricketing authorities have reduced First-Class cricket from three days to twoThe Cheltenham Week, Cheltenham Looker On (Gloucestershire), Sat 15 Feb 1919, p. 5. . Whilst our boys are getting a full three days to find a result, it really shows that the Australian way of playing to finishCricket, Daily Mercury (QLD), Wed 3 May 1911, p. 8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article172441164 is more satisfying. Perhaps one of the few advantages of having just three First-Class sides is that we get a definite resultCricket, Truth (QLD), Sun 4 Aug 1912, p. 3. , even with such vast distances which have to be traversedPersonal, The West Australian (WA), Sat 3 Jan 1914, p. 11. .

Of note from the M.C.C. match was the inclusion of Charles WinningC.S. Winning (Left), W.L. Trenerry (Right), Unknown, London, England. May 1919. Two members of the AIF Cricket Eleven, which toured the United Kingdom in 1919, 1919, photograph, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C389701 , whom some of you might remember from the NSW Colts team in 1914N.S.W. Colts Chosen, Winner (Vic), Wed 23 Dec 1914, p. 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155524005 . He showed good form with the bat, although he was run out on 19 attempting a short runToday’s Cricket, Sheffield Evening Telegraph (Yorkshire), Fri 6 Jun 1919, p. 7. . However, in the second innings he had Young Jack Hearne caught with his first ball in first-class cricketUseful All-Rounder, The Sun (NSW), Tue 28 Oct 1924, p. 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223569178 . The Marylbone Club’s batting was anything rather than a triumph for English battingThe Australian’s Tour, The Sportsman (London), Fri 6 Jun 1919, p. 3. , and the match easily wound up on day 2 with a ten wicket win to the AustraliansAustralian Cricketers Defeat M.C.C., Kalgoorlie Miner (WA), Tue 10 Jun 1919, p. 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92902680 . In fact, the boys were so confident following the slaughter of wickets English County Cricket, The Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times (NSW), Thu 6 Jun 1912, p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109738143 on the first day that they took up an invitation for a social night at George Robey’sUnknown, The English Music hall comedian George Robey in character as The Prime Minister of Mirth, c. 1897-1916, postcard, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/George_Robey_as_The_Prime_Minister_of_Mirth.jpg Chevrons ClubGeorge Robey Ball, Globe (London), Wed 4 Jun 1919, p. 6. An excerpt of the cinematograph film showing George Robey painting the Dinkie Doo Peace Mascot can be viewed at: https://www.britishpathe.com/video/george-robeys-mascot . Amongst the guests were two Generals, a Duke, and a Lord, along with a large number of theatrical people from the city’s theatresThe Clubman, Last Night’s Ball, Pall Mall Gazette (London), Fri 6 Jun 1919, p. 5. . The Club was formed for discharged N.C.O’s and men, whom Robey refers to as ‘the backbone of the country’The Clubman, The Chevrons Club, Pall Mall Gazette (London), Sat 7 Jun 1919, p. 3. , a sentiment many of our boys heartily agreed with, given the recent controversy.