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Short Leg – Clem Hill's 188 v England at the MCG in 1897/98 – Part 2
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With Part 2 of this episode of 'Short Leg', Tom Ford concludes the re-telling of Clem Hill's famous innings at the MCG against England in 1898, in which he scored a match saving, series-winning score, with the help of off-spinner Hugh Trumble.
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CREDITS:
Presenter & Producer: Tom Ford
All music used in podcast comes from the University of California Santa Barbara's remarkable collection of wax cylinder's from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which are free to download and use. You can donate to the upkeep of these recordings via their website [https://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/].
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Transcript
Introduction to Clem Hill's Legendary Innings
00:00:07
Speaker
Welcome to part two of this short leg episode on Clem Hill's 188 against England in Melbourne in 1898. My name is Tom Ford. We pick up the story as Hugh Trumbull joins Clem Hill in the middle, hoping to salvage something of Australia's top water collapse.
00:00:29
Speaker
Utilising
Partnership Building and Recovery
00:00:30
Speaker
various bowlers now, Stoddard was desperate to break the steadying partnership. Hill reached his 80 as Trumbull climbed patiently to 17, Australia 6 for 120. Hill began carting haywood and bricks to the boundary. It was off the bowling of Haywood that Hill particularly took a life into. The Argus recalls, in the same over off Haywood, Hill placed one to the onside and scored his 100. A burst of applause all round the ground was kept up for some time. Several of the Englishmen were joining in the cheers. Hill was batting 2 hours 49 minutes for his round.
Reaching Milestones and Tea Break
00:01:09
Speaker
Hill later said, I must confess that I was pleased to see the three figures opposite my name because I had never before had that success in a test match. It was some time before I recovered from the applause.
00:01:24
Speaker
The partnership was not broken as the Australians reached the tea break at four o'clock. The total was 151 for the loss of six wickets. Heel not out on 107 and Trumbull supporting him on 20. Heel reminisced that, Hughie and I had changed the complexion of the game. I remember when I reached my sentry, somebody called out in a stentorian voice to McLaren, hello Archie, the kangaroo is still hopping. Again it was during the tea break that the experience of Trumbull shone through, keeping Hill in his place. Hill picks up the story.
00:02:04
Speaker
At the tea adjournment we were still together. I had a shower and changed into dry clothes and felt as fit as when I started. I mentioned to Trumbull as we were coming out that I was feeling refreshed and added, I think I shall have a go at them now. Huey looked at me very seriously out of the corner of his eye and said, you young devil, you have to stop right there. Go along as you have been doing.
Strategic Play Post-Tea
00:02:30
Speaker
and so Hill did. On resuming Stoddart joined the bowling efforts, but to little avail as Hill continued on his merry way. Hill got him away, stated the Argus, with the pool that scored him so many runs this innings.
00:02:45
Speaker
With a nice easy off drive he put Richards into the fence bringing 170 up and his own score to 120. The next one was a bit short and again the cheers rang out for Hill hit it with his usual certainty and force to the on for four.
00:03:03
Speaker
Such was the situation for the English that when the score reached 197, the wicket keeper Bill Storer had a bowl, with Frank Drus replacing him behind the wicket. His first delivery to Hill was a full toss, and Hill stepped forward and swept it to the boundary to take the total past 200. Shortly after, Hill reached his 150 and Trumbull even opened his shoulders to cart-stod out to the boundary in consecutive deliveries. The Melbourne crowd were full of voice as the Hill-Trumbull partnership also reached 150.
00:03:40
Speaker
At around 5 o'clock a cool change was welcomed, not least of all by the tired English bowlers, who, having had the Australians struggling at 6 foot 58, were now facing the possibility of chasing a sizeable total.
Record-Breaking Partnership
00:03:55
Speaker
With Australia on 223, the breakthrough was finally realised when Stora, the wiki keeper, bowled what Hill later described as one of the worst balls bowled during that day, and Trumbull smacked it in the air to long on, and the magnificent diving catch was taken by Jack Mason. Trumbull dismissed for 46, an effort he achieved in 2 hours and 46 minutes.
00:04:21
Speaker
Australia now seven wickets down. The partnership between Clem Hill and Hugh Trumbull was a remarkable one. Having come together when the team was on 58 they combined for 165 runs of which Hill made 118. At the time it was the highest seventh wicket partnership in all test cricket and to this day remains the highest seventh wicket partnership in the long history of Asher's cricket.
00:04:50
Speaker
Australia's keeper JJ Kelly joined Hill at the centre late on day one, and joined in the now free-flowing stroke making. To much consternation from discerning onlookers, Stoddard had yet given Wainwright a chance to bowl, when finally he was brought on to replace the tiring Hearne. Loud cheers rung out again as Hill surpassed Joe Darling's score of 178, hit in the previous Adelaide Test match. Kelly brought the total to 270 with a slashing off drive off Wainwright and shortly after the batsman reached stumps on an eventful first day.
Hill's Near-Perfect Innings
00:05:27
Speaker
Australia was 7 down for 275. Clem Hill not out on 182 and Kelly was 22 not out. As he walked back to the pavilion Hill recalled the tremendous reception he received from crowd and opposition alike.
00:05:46
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The Englishmen were very generous in their congratulations. I always had a preference for fast bowler. Tom Richardson told me afterwards that he seemed to have become a fast bowler for my special enjoyment. JT Hearn, Richardson's opening bowler partner, later confided to Neville Caddis that, I never saw finer batting in my life than Clem Hills at Melbourne. Clem had battered for just shy of six hours in stifling hot conditions. It was a near faultless innings, with only a single difficult chance offered in his sixties when the faintest of knicks touched the outstretched glove of storer. Not yet 21, he had stamped his reputation as cricket's wunderkint, a boy wonder and the future of Australian cricket.
Historic Series Win and Recognition
00:06:36
Speaker
As was customary a century ago, a rest day was scheduled for the Sunday, much to the relief of Hill, who used it to recover. As he later wrote, On the Monday I added six more runs and was then caught off Hearn in the slips. In the next innings I went for a duck. Such is cricket. Indeed, Hill's great innings came to a close early on the official second day of the test when he nicked a ball to Captain Stoddart in the slips off her. His total of 188 was, at the time, the highest test score ever recorded at the Melbourne cricket ground, surpassing Stoddart's 173 on the previous tour, and the second highest test score in Australia behind Sid Gregory's 201 in Sydney in 1894.
00:07:26
Speaker
Perhaps most impressive of all, it remains to this day the highest test score ever by a batsman under the age of 21, eclipsing efforts from other notable batsmen such as Neil Harvey, Hanif Mohammed, George Headley and Don Bradman. Australia were finally dismissed for 323, a far cry from the disastrous 6 for 58 they found themselves in on day one. In reply, England struggled, all out for 174, not a single individual score more than 30.
00:08:01
Speaker
Ernie Jones taking four wiggles and Stoddart's team were asked to follow on. A much better effort from the tourists saw them reach 263 in their second innings at a lead of 115 runs, Ranji and McLaren scoring 55 and 45 a piece. Charlie McLeod and Joe Darling scored most of Australia's runs in their chase and as noted above, Clem Hill out for a blob. Australia won by eight wickets and took an unassailable series lead of three matches to one.
00:08:36
Speaker
The formality of the fifth and final tests saw Australia win by six wickets. Joe Darling stamping his great series as a batsman with a match winning 160 in his team's second innings. Australia completed their series win four matches to one. But it was Hill's masterful and near faultless innings in Melbourne when his team was up against the wall which won the series for the Australians and cemented his position as Australia's great batsman of the future. Neville Cardes, who had moved to Australia at the outbreak of the Second World War, wrote in 1940, against the backdrop of anti-German sentiment, that, "...Klemihl's 188 at Melbourne wrote a precious and inspiring page in the Book of Cricket. A book, by the way, which will read long after many a more pretentious book, Mein Kampf, for example, had been relegated to the dustbin of mortal history.
00:09:32
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Neville was only ten at the time of Hill's innings and of course on the other side of the world. A more accurate description comes from Tom Horan, writing as Felix for the Australasian, who witnessed Hill's heroics and wrote, In the annals of Australian cricket there is no batting performance to surpass that by Clem Hill today. It was magnificent, unique. Like another Coriolanus, he might fairly say, I alone did it. The more I think over his display, the more I am struck by its extraordinary merit. Indeed, it is due to him to say that his innings will rank as historical.
Legacy of Clem Hill's Innings
00:10:12
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You may take my word for it that Clem Hill's innings on the 29th of January 1898 will be talked of when the smallest boy who saw it will be white with the snows of time."
00:10:25
Speaker
In 2013, writers Dave Wilson and Patrick Faraday, the latter having been a guest on this podcast as the biographer of Wilford Rhodes, put together a book which compiled a list of the great innings of the previous 140 years of test cricket. While such a compendium has been attempted many times before, this approach was unique. They attempted to rate each innings according to 10 criteria. The ten factors were listed as the size of the individual score, the conditions of the wicket and weather, the bowling attack, the percentage of the score in relation to the team's score, how many chances the batsman offered, the speed in which he scored, the impact on the overall series and the impact on the match, intangibles and compatibility.
00:11:12
Speaker
When considering all these factors, k Clem Hill's 188 in Melbourne was ranked number six overall, that is the sixth greatest individual scorer in the history of Test cricket. He was the only cricketer from the golden age of cricket to feature in the top ten, the highest ranked Australian, and his 188 bettered any innings from Don Brabman, whose highest ranked innings came in at number nine. Such a list is of course objective, but the science and detail taken to rank them provides stimulating food for thought.
Episode Conclusion and Call to Action
00:11:47
Speaker
Thanks for listening to this Shortleg episode on the 20-year-old Clem Hills 188 against England in Melbourne in 1898. If you're enjoying the podcast and wish to donate, visit buymeacoffee.com slash Golden Age of Cricket, or find the link in the episode description. My name is Tom Ford. Until next time, it's bye for now.
00:12:18
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