Holidays Depleted Cricket Teams Last Saturday 1

Chronicle (Levin), 13 January 1949, Page 7

Holidays Depleted Cricket Teams Last Saturday 1

Although last Saturday morning pointed to an exceedingly wet weekend, a sudden change occurred and a glorious afternoon saw the continuation of the Hall Shield cricket conL petition, but in the majority of cases sadly depleted teams, caused by the holidays and by two players being on tour in the South Island, and. a big representative game being played in Wellington. Nevertheless, the teams took the field with eleven players1 and results were five point wins for Weraroa, Old Boys and i Paraparaumu, while Shannon had an eight point win. This jgives Shannon a commanding lead with 41 points. Weraroa now has 30 points.

!. I am sure that all cricketers congratulate our representative team on their fine performance at the Basin Reserve last Friday and Saturday. We sincerely hope that they are able to repeat the good play in Dannevirke on January 24, when they will meet Southern Hawkers Bay for the Goldfinch and Cousins Cup. With all players available, a really strong team should be fielded. ' Of those who played in Wellington, Rice, Dome, Carmont, Galloway, Barraud and Saunders should hold their places, while F. Baumber and G. Sciascia will hold their berths, with the remaining positions possibly going to some of the following: Hyburn, Reeves, Wilson, Keenan and McClune. This leaves the team without a spin bowler, but a suitable one is hard to find. Gardiner has not fulfilled the early promise shown. However, I still think Horowhenua's chancet are bright.

Good Century And now for club matches. Congratulations must, go to Reg. Keenan on his century. His first 93 runs were scored at a good rate, but the last seven, all singles, were a little nerve-racking to those of us who were waiting to see that 100 hoisted. He celebrated passing the 100 with a glorious six. Old Boys5 ranks were so badly depleted that early in the week there was talk of a default, but they managed to put an eleven out and what a good game they played. Otaki were certainly without Herb Rice, but Old Boys went about their task in a thorough mann'er. McClune, always a forceful bat, rattled bn a quick 50, while John Lancaster, usually a dogged opener, was still unbeaten when the innings closed, with 54 to his credit, This player, although not a stroke batsman or one that gives confidence, is a very good opener and of great value to. his club. A word here on club spirit. JohiVs is tops. Many cricketers culd take a leaf out of his hook and their club would be the better for it. A word of praise to the College boys. It is very hard for them to muster a team during the holidays, for they draw on an area extending from Paraparaumu in the south to Foxton and Shannon in the north. Their lot is , made harder still by

I their two playing masters bemg 'away, so to whoever it is that is j keeping the ball rolling, Horowhejnua cricket enthusiaSts say "thank lyou." And now all cricketers, cricket 'followers and any others who wish | will have the opportunity of seeing ja cricket coaching film to be shown in Levin on February 16, Charlie Oliver and Umpire Pengalley will be there to add their words of wisdom, and to answer questions that anyone wishes to ask. Unfortunately, I was unable to see the representative game in Wellington on Friday and Saturday, but an observer has handed me some notes and here they are: — ] It was an encouraging sight to ■

sit in the Basin Reserve stand and watch a Horowhenua team give such a creditable performance against the strong Wellington Brabin Shield side. It was disappointing for the local team to see victory snatched from their hands at the last moment, but I doubt if any player enjoyed the game any the less for that reason. Praise For Reps.

Highest praise must go to H. Rice for his batting, bowling and captaincy. His example seemed to spur the rest of the team to a greater effort, but it was by1 no means a one man »how. Credit must go to the team as a whole for the splendid fielding^ which drew praise from many Wellington spectators. High marks can be awarded J. Dome, W. Galloway and C. Carmont for their batting, and to A. Saunders and E. Barraud for their bowling. N. Sciascia, although not a regular wicket keeper, deserves mention for his work behind the stumps. He held two hard catches and, from a total of 431 runs, allowed only four byes to pass him. In the field, diffieult catches were held by D. Lambert, J. Dorne and B. Heatherwick. The-^slow bowlers were greatly handicapped by short boundaries and could not be used to any extent. Last, but not least, a perfect wicket was provided by the Basin Reserve custodian, Mr. H. Wilkin, which was fully appreciated by both teams. Before leaving this game, mention must be made of some of the Wellington youngsters of whom I predict more will be heard: P. Phillipis, a deceptive swing bowler and a useful bat; T. Malloch, a fast bowler with an easy, natural action; J. Kelly, a keen and quick young keeper; J. Jones, a medium pace swing boAder with the hearc to bowl 28 overs on the spot all the time for little tangible result; C. Wilkinson, a left-hand bat with, power and style in all his shots; K. Smith, a very young free scoring bat with plenty of runs in his future. I think we can look to these lads to assist the Wellington Plunket Shield teams in years to come.