CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 663, 13 November 1909, Page 9

CRICKET.

' (Bγ Tim BnEAKEU.)

Batsmen on the Basin had a good day last. Saturday. Tho best achievement was that of East A in their match against South. East had.to set themselves to a heavy task at the .last, nnd they moro than did it. Tucker and Hutchings opened splendidly, and took the/ sting out of the bowling; Then followed tho partnership of Mahonoy and Midkne, the latter coming within five of the century. Midline was lucky, and should have been, out half .a dozen times, and Mahoncy also gave some chances., The fielding was not commendable, and some of tho team could take a leaf put of burton's book in this respect. ,Tho crowding of boys found No. 3 wicket has repeatedly been the cause of annoyance to senior, cricketers, and last Satyirday again a lad stopped a fast drive with his ankle, and was knocked down. On the first day of the match, College v. East B, N - . Hales was run out beopuse the ball was "fielded" ■■ by a schoolboy. Last Saturday there were no fewer than thirteenVgames on tho far side of the Basin, apart from l the three'senior matches, and the danger to life and limb was correspondingly high. ■ Owing to a printer's error, the- scoro of Hickey in tho second innings of East B.laft Saturday, .was set down as nil, whereas it should'have read seven. ; .-■; ' ...

F. Alpe, who played for Ncwtowri, has left the field pwing to eye. trouble, but he was in the scorers'; box last Saturday. . ' ' • The ketone victory over Wellington North was entirely unexpected. ■ The visitors were favoured by the toss, and, taking strike on a/good wicket, began to hit out freely. They worked up a total of 134 runs in the first innings, including 47 by' Bennett and 41 by Senior.: North replied with five wickets for 55 on the first day. '' . ' ' When play resumed on Saturday last, it was soon evident that matters wore becoming interesting. The home team put on runs in fine style, and at the fall of the ninth wicket .60 rims had been scored in forty minutes, and the figures on the board, were 120. North required 15 to win on the first innings; it being highly improbable that both teams would complete two innings. ' . At this stage, it looked very much as if North would \ pull' the game out. of the fire, and their efforts in this direction were.ably' seconded by the Potono. fieldsmon. For example, while Upham was batting two singles wore-converted into threes through mulling by Powell and Bold. • .

The last partnership, consisted of Moore and Hanson. .At 3.10 p.m. tho scoro stood at 125, and tho excitement increased. Manson hit a pretty three to the gate, bringing 131 up. .Moore's wicket never looked safe, but there was evGry hope, he'would last until' 4 more runs were notched. The fates ruled otherwise, and at 3.14 p.m. Brice bowled down his off-stump with a ball v that turned ; a' bib. • Tho city team only scored 132, and thus I'etone gained, a two-point win. It will be noted that North scored 77 runs in SO minutes. ■ At 3.25 p.m., Joyce and Dalgleish returned to the wickots, and faced'Luckie and Upham. They batted cautiously at.first and then opened out.' : Dalgleish made room for Senior, who, with Joyce, instituted, a! profitable, partnership. Senior registered 6ix threes and a four, four of. the threes coming in qnick, succession. ■ '.''■'■ i ; • . I ■ Richardson was given three fairly easy catches. He missed Joyce and Green, but held Brice. ■ , . . The feature of the :inninge .was tho display given by Joyce. This pbiycr scored 67 by careful cricket, and was run out in the end by a' swift return.: by Luckie. :' . Hutt were clearly not up to the standard set.by Central, either last Saturday or the .previous week. This remark must not be.regarded, so much as criticism of the suburban men as praise of the city men, for ! Central certainly. have , a very good all-round team.. As batsmen they.have Beechoy and others like him. In -bowlers, they posSsts'-'the, variety, which is;tho. germ of 'Ibatsman'e'rot',", _case\very contagious among the. speoies,i cr'ick"oter, and ; in?fielding they, are "club standard." But onepoiht must be noted—that the wicketkeeping isnotquite up'tothe' standard of. tho bowling.' Whether it was. that, 'in the match with Hutt, the; deliveries of Laws, Kinvig, andHickson' were difficult to intercept, -the fact remains that out of Hutt's total of 40 in tho ■first innings .13' 'were to the credit of "extras." ■' '.-'■' : .'" ■ '■' . .-■ ,"•■■. ;- -.. ' .'..

In the second innings of the Valley eleven, a good beginning v waß made. -Wilson, after the first few strokes, seemed at home-with-the bat, and his stay at the mckefe'might .have 'made/Cent^e'TOtpry--bne':of ! e^j(;tw8 v had he. not attempted to get a l ' run'where' there was , not one;;'.; But attempt he did, and the ball,: thrown ;'An . swiftjy.- by- Naughtoti, scattered, before 'AVilson' gained, the ..oreaseY '.;•{: ,-'V;';■;'.;,■,': •-.-',/•■';■',' ''■■■ , .•-." A little later Staples played'.forward : to Laws.ahd lost. his.wicket; Pringle revived, the hope of' Hutt' , for. a short...time, until he forBOt: about .'-the--'field,- and.; placed ; a high ball where a low one would have been much lees dangerous; Judd 'was disposed o£ in similar fashion and then commenoed a steady rattling amongst the timber, showing that Hickson, Miller, and; Kinvig. had got their lengths and the batsmen's' wickets. ■'. " :A.good deal of discussion occurred at last week's .special ■ meeting : of the .Wellington Cricket- Association,- on the proposal," brought down by the South District Club,- to amend the district boundaries. The rngtibn submitted by the - south "delegates' wa§ worded as follows:— "That ithe.-'boundaVy of the Wellington.; South District be extended-'to. include that portion of the city of Wellington, bounded on thenorth by Hospital Eoad and Gully to the Town Belt, thence on!the: east by the Town Belt to Mein Street, on the west by a small portion Adelaide Eoad and the whole of Eevans Street, on the south by the whole of Mein Street, at present included in the Wellington East District, and that, the Wellington East District bo amended accordingly." Supporters of the motion said that, as the boundaries ran' now, they were likely to lose the financial assistance or certain shopkeepers, but other delegates could not understand why merchants would not lend their support to one district quite as , heartily as to another. "The shopkeepers may give us valuable support," remarked , a player, "but just becauso of that they must nolj be allowed to rule cricket." ■■ Then, the proposed alteration would' have robbed Bast A team of Lomax.and wonld»havo taken from their district two other men—Dixon and Wilson—who are likely to play. The last-' named two, it-was stated, had decided to refrain from engaging in the matches until the boundary. question was settled. • . j ■ Some disinterested delegates considered that the proposed alteration in the boundaries of the two districts was a good suggestion, inasmuch as East could well-spare the little area which South desired to lay hands on. It' was part of the Southerners' argument that they had been able to enter only three .teams, whereas East had full five teams. Loyal East delegates declared that they had only, one or two odd men, and they could not afford see the change made. The.proposal was negatived by 12 votes to 6. ■■- - Cricketers in theiSouth District may have a grievance, in that no opportunity was given" at the annual meeting to discuss the boundaries. This was due to the ruling (disputed by many) that the rules as drawn,up and adopted at the special meeting required no confirmation. •;■-.'. ... ■ ' : An amusing remark fell from a North delegate. He mentioned that Broad, a young fast bowler, was ■ arriving .in Wellington Eoon, .and would reside in the present Central District The other side of his street was North District, however, and if the boundaries were'to beeasily changeable, North Clnb.wonld be'snro to inakea big effoTt to bring about an amondment, here. ; : '

"The balance-sheets'of the clubs'will not show, any remarkable figures,, at the' end of tho year," remarked an association- official. He pointed out; hoivever, that bulky credit balances could not reasonably be expected at the end of' tho first season, but that all, of the clubs would.be possessed, of 'valuable assets. A number of tho clubs are preparing to hold bazaars and concerts, with a view to raising funds to establish themselves on a sound financial basis. Somebody urged last week, when it was stated, that the ..association was. not going" to collect, a great deal from the clubs, that the funds of the controlling body also might be benefited by ..a concert, or a bazaar or an auction. ....'-.'. . ;.. .... .' ■ Another important jinatter was. discussed at the association meeting—the registration fee payable by members. Rule Ua had been inserted at a previous, meeting to provide: "All members of district clubs practising on th« Basin Reserve: shall pay an annual registration fee of 2s. Gd.,such fees to bo due and payablo on or before the first day, of December in each year." ', Mr: Luckie submitted an amendment last week that the rule,should be amended to read: "All members of district clubs practising on the Basin Reserve' shall , - pay a registration , foe 'of 2s. 6d., 'and;, all members of clubs not practising .on the Bjisin Reserve shall pay a registration fee of-ls.ii.6d.;' such fees to be due and payable on orbetoro JDcoember 1 in each year, provided ' that; this rule does not apply to WellmgtdnCollegoVhnd St. Patridc's Collcg'o clubs.. ; , A long discnesion' ensued, in' the. course wiich it was proposed that playoxs.who practised on the Basin Keservo should pay 35., and others Is. One of the ketone delegates, Bennett (who has come out , as one of/the best bats of the team) spoke strongly for his club. He protested against any amendnient of the new rule, by which Petonc players would be oalled. .upon to po,r a-registiation fee. "." joa

ask a le. 6d. capitation fee, I'etane will go to tlio wall," he said, and went on. to explain that most of the members' of hie club wore mostly apprentices and tradesmen <on email wages. How could apprentices earning. ss. a week, and schoolboys, with absolutely no -'income, meet all .the obligations of club membership,, pay. train fares, and: defray tration fee in addition?- . ■• ■'•- ■■■ ■' '.-' The advisability of amalgamating .the Hutt and Petone criefcot districts wos mentioned in the course of this discussion. .More than once the governing authorities of the two boroughs bavo pondered the proposal to unite, and tho principal, although not yet approved by the councils, is snrely one which should be affirmed by the Suburban cricketers. A combined Hutt , acd Petone • team would,.T>e able'tb'niakea good fight for championship. honours. ■::;',:,'■;