GOOD SEASON

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 64, 20 September 1939, Page 5

GOOD SEASON

CRICKET YEAR REVIEWED IMPORTANCE OF UMPIRING A successful ..season was recorded in the report of the secretary, Mr J. C. Howat. presented at last week's annual meeting of tJie Rangitaild! Cricket Association. Mr Howat's lengthy report said that interest had been shown by players and supporters and that the standard of play had improved generally. Other points from the report said that the time of starting had been lax and there were instances of matches being played at a late hour when there was the chance of an outright win, from which it seemed that the hours could be extended. The season had been a. lengthy one, the association probably being the first to start competitive cricket and the last to finish it. If the prospects were the same for the coming season it would be necessary to cut out one competition, as zoning and grading would lesson the interest. After discussing meetings of committees during the season Mr Howat said that the Rangitaiki members had received no word of what the executive committee of the Bay of Plenty Association was doing. The question of the Attrill Cup was still in the dark. The Bay association covered a. large area, but did not seem to be doing anything to help the sub-association. SCORING. Mr Howat detailed the results of the competitions and mentioned that score sheets were not being returned in a satisfactory state, only two clubs having sent in fully-checked results. This point should be watched by scorers who should check all totals and bowling analysis. Batting had improved during the season, but that did not indicate that bowling had been poor. During the season 16,827 runs had been scored, at? an average of 10.2 over the whole association, compared with an average of 5.4 last season, and 6 the previous season. All the wicket partnership records had been broken, except one which was equalled. The highest score Avas compiled by L.. TJ. Spring with 14S not out. breaking" C. GiHam's existing record of 111. Spring's Avas the only century, and he led the average with 35.2, double that of last year's leader. He also scored most runs with , his nearest rival being H. Chambers with. 53S runs.

BOWLING. "With all games played on concrete pitches except on the Paper Mills ground for the early matches, batting having improved, and the fielding not too brilliant at times, the l bowlers were handicapped. Another point was that some of the bowlers did not bother about setting a field and catches were lost through the absence of a fielder. C. Gill am, who secured most wickets last season antl headed the averages repeated hisfeat 5 and was the first player to take' 100 wickets in club games in. a season. A special feature in Ms bowling and that of O. Laurie's was that every fifth over was a maiden, and thev secured a wicket every second over. Fielding was patchy. The" outfields in most instances had not been good, and hindered good displays of batting and fielding. Mr How at said that until the umpiring was better cricket was not going to make the headway it should do. He thought the formation of art umpires association was one of the first moves that should be made this season. There were several instances last season of wrong decisions, and this only tended to cause bad feeling and did not encourage batsmea or 'bowlers. He thanked those umpires who turned out, as it eased the burden on the players when this thankless job was attended to.