I don't recall seeing this posted here, although some documentaries people have posted show parts of it. And even if it has been posted before, I don't care.
I'm also somewhat intrigued by how this ended up at Movietone, given that with their defining feature—y'know,
sound, they wouldn't appear for another 23 years.
This is a film of the 1905 Australian side, with demonstrations filmed at the Nursery Ground from 1.37 to 5.36, showing many of the players of that side, including Noble, Hill and a Warwick Armstrong that
didn't yet weigh 133 kg. Victor Trumper is shown at 3.19.
In general, the batting techniques shown here look much more modern than the footage I have seen of C.B. Fry, Ranji and W.G. Grace.
Of particular interest to me (bowlers being more interesting and all) is the footage of fast bowler Tibby Cotter, two deliveries showing a rather loose slinging action and a rather odd sort of run-up where the length and movement of some the pre-delivery strides seems reversed from what I would normally expect.
At 5.35, there is some footage from an actual match, showing Cotter bowling two deliveries at a long, blurry distance. One cannot see the ball, but the speed at which the batsman plays at the bowler seems similar to that I've seen of later fast bowlers, and the slips seem to stand back far enough. The rest of the film is mostly pictures of the crowd, where the women wear silly hats like those mocked in
Punch cartoons.
