England Drubbed

Old men sat around in their clubs, drinking their whiskeys and sodas. Every now and then, someone would stride to the ticker and a chorus would call "What's the news?" The news was invariably bad, but the old gentlemen were always more hopeful after another whiskey and soda.

Outside in the streets, crowds surged restlessly in front of great sign boards. Newspaper offices were besieged. Thousands upon thousands of tympanic membranes were clamped to the receiver ends of thousands of radio sets. Telephones and. telegraphs buzzed and tapped. In the distance, Big Ben chimed 3 a. m. It was London.

Ten thousand miles over the sea on a strip of coconut matting 22 yards long was being played a test* match between England and Australia. The scene was set upon a sward near Adelaide, South Australia; and in the presence of thousands of people England was making her stand with the bat against the fast balls and ready hands of the Australians. Every movement of the 22 players was sent slithering through the ether to the isles of Britain.

Out of five test matches, Australia had won two. These were the crucial innings. Australia had knocked up 739 runs, England 728, and the last man was in. A run was hit, off sped the batsmen along the pitch--too late! An alert "Kangaroo" had shot the ball into the wicket keeper's gloved hands and a fraction of a second later the ball flew off the stumps just a fraction of a second before the English batsman could shove his bat over the "popping crease" (batting line). England was beaten. Loud cheers and glad faces in Australia. Silence and long faces in England.

*Test matches are so-called because they imply a superiority test between the two sides The term seems to have been used first in 1880 when the first Australian team