The 1897-1898 cricket test match films

What is known about the films

Each film was made with a Lumière cinématographe (or a copy thereof), as is evidenced by the one-per-frame-side circular sprocket holes visible in the copyright sample frames.

The frame aspect ratio of each film is about 1.25 : 1 (though see the notes below for the second film).

Adjusted and scaled copies of frames provided for copyright registration are shown below.

1			2
3			4

The slightly sloping dark strip at the top of each of frames 1, 2, and 3 is not apparent on frame 4; there is no indication whether this occurred when the films were being taken or when prints of the negatives were being made. It could be due to a misadjustment in the cinématographe mechanism. If it was in the original negatives, it suggests that films 1, 2, and 3 were taken with a different camera from that for film 4; or possibly that the camera was adjusted before film 4 was shot..

1. Prince Ranjitsinhji practising batting at the nets

This is the only one of the four films of which a copy is known to survive. The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia has a copy of it as Title no. 623954: PRINCE RANJITSINHJI PRACTISING BATTING AT THE NETS, ASSOCIATION CRICKET GROUND, SYDNEY AUSTRALIA, DEC 1897. The image on the right is of a frame at about 12.5 seconds into the film and shows Ranji in position waiting for the delivery of the next ball. It is a detail taken from a videotape copy of the film. In the near background behind the practice nets is what appears to be a light-coloured wall but is in fact the sloping cycle track around the periphery of the playing field.4 It is surmounted by a short picket fence. Behind this is a section of upward-sloping, open land before a high picket fence, one section of which is missing. What may be a bench seat can be seen just inside this farther fence, in the top right of the image. And behind the fence is a small group of trees. Nothing but sky is visible beyond this. No bowler is in frame, and the only time the ball is obviously visible is as a blur on one frame before Ranji's fifth stroke.5 The man wearing a bowler hat standing behind the net behind the stumps remains almost immobile throughout the film. At one point another man briefly runs into frame to pick up the ball. So only three people are seen in the whole film.

Prince Ranjitsinhji practising batting at the nets Image courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

The frame images provided for copyright registration are laterally reversed: Ranji was a right-handed batsman, as seen in the image above. Also, the copyright frames don't match any frame in one of the YouTube copies of the film, indicating that the film is not complete.

The location for this film is the cricket ground proper. The practice nets were portable and could be set up at a convenient place, possibly chosen to account for the direction of the Sun or the condition of the ground. The shadow of Ranji is short, indicating that the time of filming was around midday, with the Sun roughly to the north: thus the location is somewhere near the southern boundary of the ground. The photograph below shows this southern area about 2 years later, with the cycle track (which again looks like a wall), two fences and sloping ground between them, and it is highly likely that this is where Ranji was practising.

Southern end of SCG, September 1899⁶
Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia

Some of the following notes are taken from the British Film Institute's Film and TV Database entry for the film (with amendments).

The original film is 11.3 m (37 ft) in length, and plays for about 47 seconds.
The camera is positioned in the silly mid-off area, behind the side netting.

Ranjitsinhji plays the following strokes:
a drive towards extra cover,
a push on the leg side off the front foot,
a pull over mid-wicket,
a drive to extra cover,
a drive to extra cover.
A man comes into the picture to retrieve the ball.
Ranjitsinhji then plays to leg off the back foot,
a square drive,
a pull over mid-on,
a drive to extra cover,
and then moves into position for another drive.

YouTube has several copies of this film, one of which is followed by a version in slow-motion.

2. Prince Ranjitsinhji and Hayward batting and running at the wickets, McKibbin bowling

For some reason the copies of the copyright frames are negatives and are stretched vertically so that the aspect ratio appears to be about 1 : 1, i.e. square, unlike the other films. (This is apparent because the stumps appear too long and the sprocket holes look stretched.)7 The camera is positioned behind the wicket at the bowling end, with a clear view to Ranji at the other wicket. The view is roughly to the south, and the long shadows indicate that the film was shot in the afternoon.

Adjusted image of copyright registration frame

3. English cricket team leaving the field

4. New South Wales cricket team leaving the field

The image on the right is from a photograph by Kerry and Co., entitled "The Englishmen take the field", on page 1073 of the 20 November 1897 issue of The Sydney Mail newspaper. Access to the playing field of the Sydney Cricket Ground at that date was by the steps, in front of the Members' Pavilion, to the top, outside edge of the cycle track that was around the periphery of the field. In the copyright proof strips for the 'leaving the field' films – see the sample frames below – these steps and the short paling fence around the outside of the cycle track are clearly visible in the foreground. As can be seen, the films were taken from similar points-of-view, though the camera was higher than for Kerry's photograph.

The Englishmen take the field Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia

Adjusted images of copyright registration frames of film 4 (left) and film 3 (right)

In the image below the background matches those in the copyright frames. The large structure on the left with the pediment and small black rectangle is the SCG scoreboard.

Intercolonial cricket match – adjourning for lunch, January 1897⁸
Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia

When were the films taken?

Or – at what match or matches were they photographed?

Some points regarding the first England–Australia test match are:

• The match was intended to have been started on Friday, 10 December 1897, but because there had been a lot of rain in Sydney prior to that date it was decided to postpone the game until 11 December; and then a further postponement was made till 13 December. (These postponements were the source of considerable controversy.)
• On the morning of 10 December both the English and Australian teams were at the Sydney Cricket Ground for practice, except that Ranjitsinhji and Hayward (from the English team) were not present. In the afternoon of that day it rained, and there was no further (outdoors) practice.
• Prince Ranjitsinhji had a serious throat infection (quinsy) and it was not certain whether he would be able to play.
• At no time in the match were Ranji and Hayward batting together.
• On 13 December Ranjitsinhji did practise batting before the afternoon's game, but his playing was reported to have been below standard (because of his illness).
• Ranji did not bat on 16 December.
• The last day of the match was 17 December, and England won (by 9 wickets).
• During this match, members of both teams wore black armbands out of sympathy for A. E. Stoddart, whose mother had recently died. Such an obvious detail is not remarked upon in any newspaper report of the films.
• No mention has been found of motion pictures being taken on any day of this match.

Also, no cinematographer would have been allowed on the field during test match play, both for his safety's sake and so as not to interfere with the game. So, without a telephoto (long) lens, any filming of play would have to have been done during practice or a mock game – which must have been the case for film no. 2.

The copyright records for the second, third, and fourth films give their dates as Decr 10 etc 1897 – note the etc. Presumably, whoever filled out the copyright registration forms was not up-to-date on the details of the match dates; as he was also not up-to-date on the name of the cricket ground. And the copyright record for the fourth film states that it is of the New South Wales team leaving the field. But the 13 through17 December match was with the all-Australia team (which nonetheless did include several New South Wales players).

A report in The Times⁹ (of London) states that the scenes were filmed on 16 December. In The British Australasian¹⁰ two days later, 16 December is also given as the date, and the English team is said to have won the day. The special correspondent for The Advertiser¹¹ (of Adelaide, South Australia) gives a date of 10 December for the film of Ranjitsinhji and Hayward. And this date is repeated in the report in The Era¹² of 12 February.

From 12 through 16 November 1897, the English cricket team played the New South Wales colonial team at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The last day of the match was 16 November, and England won. And there were reports of filming the players on this last day:

Some amusement was caused at the conclusion of the match yesterday by a number of the players going on to the field again and putting in some imaginary cricket for the special benefit of the cinematograph, the batsmen being Ranjitsinhji and Hayward, and the bowlers M'Kibbin and Richardson. About a dozen runs were scored, and then the players returned.¹³

A cinematographic picture was taken of the Prince and Hayward batting, Richardson and M'Kibbin bowling, Kelly keeping the wickets, and [Iredale] and Gregory in the field. Two pictures were taken, one while "Ranji" was batting and the other when Hayward was striking.¹⁴

These match well this report in The Era of the second film:

The moment chosen for photographing our men batting is when Hayward and Prince Ranjitsinjhi [sic] are in together. Both seem to be playing a very free game, and apparently are doing what they like with the bowling.¹⁵

Both Ranji and Hayward had been batting (and were not out) at the end of the match and thus had their pads on, so it would have been little trouble to them to return to the field for filming. It can thus be concluded that the film of them batting – film no. 2 – was made on this occasion – on 16 November 1897.

The Advertiser¹¹ says of this film that Ranji and Hayward are batting, and the former makes a splendid hit for four. We see them run it out, [...]. Was Hayward seen batting later in the film? Or, as one of the newspaper reports of the filming (above) states that two films were taken, does this imply that a separate film of Hayward was not successfully produced or not worth presenting?

Also, the English side were fielding at the start of the day's play, and the remaining New South Wales batsmen were dismissed in the first half-hour. So the English team leaving the field (film no. 3) could well have been taken at this point, with the New South Welshmen being filmed leaving at the end of the match (no. 4). This need not be the case, however, and, as pointed out above, film no. 4 may have been taken with a different cinématographe from that used for the other 3 films, and possibly on a different date.

Crucial points about the film of Ranji practising batting are that it was taken about midday (as evidenced by the short shadows), and that no person is seen in the public area behind the fence. (This should be contrasted with the photographs of players in the nets on pages 1072, 1073, and 1076 of The Sydney Mail of 20 November 1897, in the report of the England–New South Wales match.) Ranji may have been privately engaged to perform for this film, and probably on a day when there was no match play (because this started at noon). Furthermore, it is unlikely that the film was taken prior to or during the England–Australia match (in December) because Ranji was ill and was not batting at his best. On Wednesday, 17 November Ranji and McLaren went to the SCG in the morning for "photo"s,¹⁶ and this may have been when the film was shot.

To sum up, contrary to how the films were advertised and how they were identified in their copyright records, number 2, and possibly numbers 3 and 4, were taken on 16 November 1897 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, when the visiting English team were playing the New South Wales colonial team. The date of filming Ranji in the nets, film number 1, cannot be determined.

Other films taken at this series of cricket test matches

(1) The English and Victorian teams played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from 6 through 10 November 1897. In the following month in north-west Tasmania, Colonel Lumare's Cinematographe and Variety Company showed a film (supposedly) taken at this match.²⁶ In January 1898, in Hobart, Tasmania and nearby, this film was on show.²⁷ From 23 to 25 February, at the Academy of Music, Launceston, Tasmania, the test match, England v. Australia, taken on the Melbourne Cricket Ground²⁸ [my emphasis] was part of the programme, but the film was of the England–Victoria match, as reported in the local paper:

Some very fine scenes were shown by the cinematographe, including [...], also a clear view of the English cricket eleven at present visiting the colonies, which was taken on the Melbourne Cricket Ground on November 9 last. The cricketers were taken as they were proceeding from the pavilion to the reserve.²⁹

On 9 November 1897 the English cricket team went on the field 3 times during the day's play – at the start of Victoria's second innings, after the lunch break, and after the afternoon break – so the filming could have been done on any one of these occasions. Unfortunately, there is no record of it in the major Melbourne newspapers. The cinematographer, whoever he was, could have positioned himself with a view of the way to the field and filmed unobtrusively.

This film is the first film with a cricket theme shot in Australia.

(2) Mark Blow, of the Crown Studios and the Polytechnic, Sydney, made a film at one of the matches against England. The first mention of it was on 24 January 1898, when it is referred to in advertisements as COLONIAL CRICKETERS. FIRST TEST MATCH.,³⁰ but on the next and subsequent days it is called AUSTRALIAN CRICKETERS. First Test Match..³¹ On 1 February the advertisement in The Sydney Morning Herald gives considerable detail:

THE AUSTRALIANS LEAVING THE FIELD
during the First Test Match.
Messrs. Darling, Iredale, M'Leod, Hill, Gregory, Trumble,
Lyons, Trott, Kelly, Jones, and M'Kibbin.
THE TWO ENGLISH BATSMEN,
Ranjitsinhji and M'Laren.³²

The newest cinematographe pictures comprise one of the first test cricket match, showing the Australians, Ranjitsinhji, M’Laren, and the umpires going off the field.³³

The first England v. all-Australia match finished on 17 December 1897, and the Australian players listed above were those of the Australian team at that match. Also, Ranjitsinhji and McLaren were batting when the score reached a winning value (for the English team) and play stopped. There is no mention of a cinematographe being used at (the end of) the game, but this would appear to be when Blow filmed. If the film simply showed the players and umpires leaving the field, then Blow could have stationed himself with a clear view of the steps to the field and cranked away without being noticed.

(3) The second England v. Australia match was played from 1 to 5 January 1898 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. On the morning of the first day, advertisements³⁴ proclaimed that on that evening at an entertainment at the Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Ranjitsinhji and A. E. Johns, a Victorian wicketkeeper, would be shown in play by an "Edison cinematographe". Later newspaper reports^35,36 mentioned that the tossing of the coin (to decide which captain would choose the team to be first to bat) by Harry Trott and A. C. (Archie) Maclaren, the Australian captain and acting English captain, respectively, had been filmed, as well as Trott batting (though only to demonstrate his technique and not during the match). There was no report of Johns at the wicket and Ranji was still ill and did not want to expend more energy than necessary, so wasn't filmed. The films were presented by Alexander Gunn,³⁶ but it is not known who shot them.

Late in May 1898 advertisements for the Newbury-Spada 'Saturday Shilling "Pops"' concert on 28 May at the Melbourne Town Hall proclaimed (e.g.):

New PICTURES by
THE BIOGRAPHE.
The Sensation of London.
Ranjitsinhji at the nets, Ranji. and Hayward Batting, The English Eleven Leaving the Field, 5th Test Match; The Australian Eleven Leaving the Field, Sydney Test Match; and Hyde Park Corner, London.³⁷

At Carl Hertz's final show in Bombay [Mumbai], India on 25 January 1898 a film or films of Prince Rangitsingji [sic] and Stoddart's team of English cricketers was or were shown at the Novelty Theatre. Which of the above films this was or these were is not known.