CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 776, 28 March 1910, Page 5

CRICKET.

DOMINION AND AUSTRALIA. CENTURY BY SMITH. CLEAN. FREE, DASHING INNINGS. AUSTRALIAN TOTAL: 260. There was a satisfactory attendance at the Basin' Reserve on Saturday, when the second test match between the iAustralians and a New Zealand representative team was commenced. Among those present were the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) and party, and a number of enthusiasts .' from various parts of tho Dominion. Mr. D. Hay, the sole. selector of tho New Zealand eleven, was also an interested spectator. It is almost certain': there would have been a much larger attendance ; had the weather been moro genial, i Towards mid-day, threatening clouds' pnt in an appearance, and a little later ' on the nor'-wostorly which was raging increased considerably in violence. As I the afternoon wore on, it became so , dully that most of the Australians requisitioned sweaters, and none of the | spectators could have been sorry to see stumps drawn for the day at 5.30, by which time the,light ,had faded appreciably. Summary: Poor Generalship. Except for Smith's very fine innings there was nothing remarkable about the play on Saturday, but Smith's innings, with its perfect timing and .vigorous' hitting was alone well worth going' to see,;and the .Wellington public got a genuine taste of this stalwart and aggressive batsman. Armstrong won 4he toss from Reese, and, as the wicket was apparently a good one, he took the usual course of sending-his side in. The wicket, it may be remarked, proved to be in capital order, and it required a, powerful wrist indeed to get the ball to turn at all. Indeed, at one stage during Smith's career at the wickets,' 1 the tactical mistake made by Reese of having a fast bowler _ and a , fast medium on- at the same time — neither of ,them breaking even "in the estimation of a hair" — served no better than to "play the batsmen in." There was pace, and good length, but that was all, andj as soon as a batsman had played an over or two'and taken the pace of the pitch, strokes for threes and fours came as thick as "autumn leaves in -VallofnIjrosa." In their initial innings, which occupied 2 hours and 40 minutes, Australia knocked up 260 runs. Of the fatal Smith;-as indicated, compiled 102: —his second century in the course of the tour. From the outset the sturdy Victorian shaped confidently, imparting plenty of vigour into the business before him, .and, although now ; and.again the. bowling puzzled him a little, it may be said • ' that he gave a dashing, clean,' crisp • display, hitting hard all round the wicket. Bardsley, , the next highest scorer, with 36, made a number of, fine hits on the leg side: His display was not. so animated, however, as had been anticipated. To the disappointment of the crowd, both Armstrong and Hopkins failed with'the 1 bat—neither getting into -double figures. Like.-Bardsley, Hopkins was given out L'b.w,- but in his case there was just an element of doubt as to the correctness of the decision.

>As regards the shoving by the New I . Zealand team, it cannot be said that it was' up to the standard which might have been expected. That the Domin- ' ion is weak in bowling was again clearly demonstrated; and what there was of it was not very-brilliantly manipulated by Reese. Although; fairly smart at the outset, the' fielding became very slack at timol, especially in tho matter-of rmining in' to short; strokes. _Of'tho tnmdlers, Brice has so far justified his inolnsion in the eleven, for ha proved himiMlf to be the most successful bowler on his side, and secured the creditable average of five wickets for 70. Bennett, especially during the afternoon, was not seen at his best. Although 10 runs ' were knocked off his fust over Sand-

man, later, trundled well, emerginK -with an averag9 of two' wickets for 32 ,10ns, which must have been gratifvin" to himself and his friends, seeing that Tie wis making his debut in the hlgheit class of cricket in this.country. When sturajps wore drawn v New. Zealand, it will be seen, had lost three wickets for 66 runs. The' match will be resumed fcc-day.

The Teams. Following were the teams: —

!SS- TC. captain (Vio,) AIX Hopkins (N-S/W.). .'A, CL_ Facey (Tasmania). a R.' 'Goay OLS.WO a EeUewsy (N.S.W.). a Emery (KLS.W3. I. Wanie (Vic). W. Bardsfey CN.S.WO ,W. J. Whitty (N.s/ra:>. IX Smith (Vic.). E. E. Mayns (S-A.). NEW ZEAIffiJD. D. Reese, captain (Canterbury). E. Sals (Auckknd). A.Haddan (Auckland). E. Herons (Auckland). R Brice (Wellington). H. D. Siedebetg (Otago). S. Sandman (Canterbury). N 0. Boxshall (Canterbary). 3, H. Bennett (Canterbury).A. Sims (Canterbury). 1L B. Lnak (Canterbary). Australia Takes Strike, Shortly after 12 o'clock Mayne, the Sooth Australian colt Who has batted so well during iie tour, and Wame, the well-known Victorian player, opened the batting for Australia. Brico howled from the southern end against the wind, whilst Bennett had charge of the attack from the northern end. Mayas at once cut Brice to the boundary, while Warn© drove ■Bennett's first ball for three. Both, -batsmen were then content wifli Bingles till Mayne hit another four off Bennett. The latter then wheeled up_ a maiden, and tieh, with the_ opening ball of his . fourth over, Brice heat Mayne all the .way. 18—1—13. KeHoway, who filled the vacancy, is a promising .player, but he is not nearly so brilhant a bat as his predecessor, and there was practically a lull (Jnring the next two overs—Warne making-two singles. In Bennett's fifth iwer, however, Warne hit out vigorously at a ball, but failed to judge its rise from the pitoh; and just touching it, Boxshall took him behind the '. wwkets. 20--2-r7- .'.'.-'-..• With the advent of Smith the rate <if scoring immediately quickened. KelTeway got a two and a three off Brice, arid then Smith opened what proved to be a lengthy account with a single. Staring Brioe's seventh over Smith se-

cured two boundaries and a single, and in this over the first bye of the innings was registered. Smith Getting Under Way. When: Smith next faced Bennett he at once added -two boundaries to his total and the half century appeared as a result of three-quarters of an hour's play. . Reese, at this stage, relieved Brice with the ball, the first over yielding three, .runs. Smith again punashed' Bennett's bowling, gaining a boundary through faulty fielding on the part of Haddon, and then a brace. Reese's second over opened with a three to Kelleway. Off his second-ball Kelleway made a.stroke 1 to mid-oil aJid commenced to run, but Bennett- picked up smartly, and just before Kelleway got back into his crease threw down his wicket. .71—3—14. ; . ■ There was a hearty round of applause when Armstrong went in. to assist Sandman, whose inclusion in the team has caused so much comment looallv, was at this stage, given a trial with the ball. Off his trundling, Armstrong got a single, and later a boundary, whilst Smith did equally as well. The over had proved expensive, but it had served to rid the Canterbury-lad of a good deal of his "stage fright." Witfh the/score at 89, of which Smith had now made 44, the luncheon adjournment was. taken. > Upon resuming, at 2.25 p.m., Brice and Bennett again took up the attack, and, in his first-over, after, lunch, Brice succeeded in completely baffling Annstrong with a good length ball, which sent down the off-stump, and, naturally, the bowler came in for hearty applause, which was well merited. 93— 4-6. ..'. ... .. Some Expensive Overs. Bardsley, the .new-comer,' started off very carefully. Erst be got a single to leg off Brice, and then a boundary oft' Bennett, in 'the same '■' direction. Smith, at''.this stage, had apparently little, respect for'the bowling. " "With a. couple of boundaries off-Brice. he brought up the century and raised his own total to SO, while, immediately after, Bardsley dispatched the;ball,to the tjrack with a pretty leg glance. Bennett's next over ; was also expensive, for. Bardsley at once got-a three to leg, and Smith followed with.two, stinging, off-drives'' to the boundary, and a single. When he had scored 70, Smith skied a ball. from Brice back over his''head',, but, owing to 'the sun, Sims was. unable to. get a view of the ball until it was too late. The ' Victorian continued his lively career, and off Brice's next over, he scored.a six to square-leg, and a tour. Sandman and Reese now went on to bowl, -andj in/ Reese's 'first; over, Smith knocked him to square-leg twice for 4. Only a few more runs had been compiled when Smith 'hit out to Reese, and the ball beat him'. lSb^-S—lo2. ,"'V

Emery 'how became associated.'.with Bardsley, who was 'contenting, himself with singles. Just before the second centnry appeared Bardsley was nearly run-out as the~result of a smart return by Sandman. Bennett now went on to : bowl' with Reese. ApparentlyEmery thought; that things-, were. getting dull, for he lashed out to Reese, the effect being that on the first occasion the ball went out oh to the road -in front of the Caledonian Hotel, and its successor found the boundary. "Brice resumed bowling; in lieu ; of Reese at this juncture. . '''"'..

.A Slight Diversion. : With a view to further brightening up the incidentally showing up;a'weak point in the fielding— ;Emery and Bardsley now began to risk their wickets on account of the slightest tap, and pretended-to run whenever, the ball was overthrown to the slightest extent. Boxshall found the, love of •entertainment contagious'; knd, !'aBl?a ( slight diversion, on one occasion, when the.bails were off, sought to prevent; Emeryfrom returning to his-crease'by throwing ,his arms around him! A little 1 -later the batsmen "sneaked" another run, and under the belief that an overthrow would reach the boundary; Emery lay down, with the result that runs were lost'.': •' Bardsley was soon ■' afterwards given but l.b.w. to ; Brice. ' 231—6—36. Hopkins, who has done so poorly with the bat during the - tour, now joined Emery. After gaining s single and a brace he , secured a boundary with a good hit. Only another single had been added by him when ho fell a victim to an l.b.w. decision off Brice's bowling! -Hopkins looked at Umpire M'Kenzie, and was heard to remark to a neighbour,' "Why, it hit my bat!" : and then retired with a somewhat injured air. -"247—7—8.'-'„ ■■:■■

V Nothing In the "Tall." . Facey, the "express" Tasmanian bowler, had a-brief stay at the wickets. The first ball he received—a straight one from Brice—he sent to mid-off, but no run resulted. Upon the delivery of the next ball, however, he had the misfortune to tip it-into Sim's hands in the slips. Brice uow had an average of five for 64. 247-6-0. Whitty, the ingoer, did not seem to relish the bowling, but he hit > out at one from Bennett, which went to the boundary. Once more Sandman was put on to bowl in place of Bennett,'and in his first over no got Emery's wicket with, a ball which beat him all the way. 253—9—32. • Although there was only one wicket to go, the teams seemed to readily fall in with a suggestion that the afternoon tea adjournment should be taken at that juncture. The crowd. showed its surprise, for if the adjournment had been made it would have meant further delay as soon as the innings closed and ■the players went back to their places. 'Gorry- was the '. last man, but after he had got a single,- hiS" partner, Whitty, began to hit out, securing a boundary, and then he hit high to the long-on boundary, where Sims effected a brilliant catch. 260—10-8.

the New Zealanders Batting. Just upon 4.30 o'clock the New Zealand representatives commenced their initial innings; Lusk, of Canterbury, and Hemus, of Auckland, opened to the (bowling of Whitty from ■ the south and Faceyfrom the north end. Lusk made no runs off Whitty's first, over, being content to take stock of the deliveries. Off Facey's fourth ball Hemus was nicely caught well behind the wickets by.Gorry. o—l—o. ■ :■''* This was a very disappointing start, but the hopes of the spectators again ,'rose.with. the advent of Sale,.the,clever Auckland batsman. During Whitty's second, over Sale scored a two and a three, and in Whitty's succeeding over he got; a boundary with a capital hit to squareleg. Lusk did not get going properly until Facey's third over, when he made several well-placed strokes. Runs continued to come slowly. In Facey's fifth over Sale gave a high chance in the slips,' the ball just touching the tips of Warne's fingers. With 40 up Whitty missed Lusk at deep mid-on off Facey. Two Cheap Wickets/ In the Tasmanian's sixth over. Sale had the misfortune to be run out. He cut a ball, to Kelleway deop in the slips, and a run was commenced, but Lusk did not continue, and whilst Sale .was making no attempt to get back the ball was returned and the bails lifted. 44—2—24. Haddon, of Auckland, had a : very brief spell at the. wickets; in fact, he just walked in and out again, for Facey, with his next ball, clcaii bowled him. 44—3-0. Reese, the captain of the home team, was the ingoing batsman. For a time there was practically no run-getting. With a neat cut for four Reese brought up the half-century, as a . result of nearly an hour's play.- At 5.30, when stumps were drawn, no further wickets were down, whilst the score stood at 56.

AUSTRALIA. First Innings. Mayne, 4111411, b. Brice 13 Warne, 31UL, c. Boxshall, b. Bennett • < Kolleway, 23111213, thrown out, b. Bennett. : 14 Smith, 11141411412412211423211144 14441121461441414, b. Reese... 102 Armstrong, 141, b. Brico 6 Bardsley, 141311111411111211111 111111, 1.b.w., b. Brice... •• 36 Emery, 1211124641312111,'b; Sand- _ man • 3 £ Hopkins, 1241, 1.b.w., b. Bnoe :■ » Facey, c; Sims, b. 1 Brice 0 Whitty, 44, c. Sims, b. Sandman... S Gorry, HI, not 0ut..,...-'. 3 . Byes, 17; leg-byes, 14 Total .............v ........"••■• 260 Bowling Analysis. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Brice 18 1 <Q 5 Bennett ... 18 .. 4 .il ,;1 Reeso , 9 — , 06 . . .. 1 Saudraan ... 7 ... — 32 * NEW ZEALAND. First Innings. Lusk, 4213114121, not out .... 20 Hemus. c. Goiry. b. Facey , 0 Sale, 12314231142, run out ........... 24 Haddon, b. Facey —• 0 Reeso, 141, not out o :".',.'■" Byes. 2, leg-byes 4 .' ° Total for three wickets ......... 56 . . Bowling Analysis. - . Overs. Mdns. Runs; Wkts.' Whitty ...... 9 3 22 ;- Facey 0 0 28 2 THE AUSTRALIAN TEAM. .'.-'.' : . BATTING.AVERAGES. ' - Up to the present match the batting averages of the Australians in New Zealand stand as follow:-- >• -■. /■- : "- | 1 '■■!..'_•'" I -, ■ '■ I' v -as ■■■$■■ s- . . 3 o ■■■•so. ■~■§ . > ■ iS. !5 t5 S• -- 'E-i .<!,.! Arnstrong 7-3. 149" 377.'. 62.8 Mayne 1 13. 3 136 643 54.3 Warne ..•. 3 J 54. .84 42.0 Bardsley ... 13 2 97 387' 35.1 Kellewav 10 0 52 255 25.5 Emery 11 3 : 60' 206 25.7 Simpfon ... 13 1 51. 2*. 18.8 Smith .... 11 1 ,107 .20l 25.1 Dodds ... 10 0 53 110 .11.0. W . 7 1 '■■24. 66. 110 Whitty ~.10 2. 21 .64 8.0 Gorrv ...... 63 .11* 24 8.0 ...: 7 2. 11 22 . 4.4 •Mackenzie 10 0,0 — ;* Denotes not out. .■ BOWLING.AVERAGES. • ... The bowling averages' are as unWkts. Runs. • Avg. •Warne .......... 7 136 -18.0 Whitty .50 522 .' .10.4 •Emery' ?6 .483 1.4. KeUeway ........ 12 .150 ]fj Armstrong, ~..16 . : 351 21.9. 'Hopkins 16 237 14.8 Simpson. , 4. 80 amj Facey 13 -U9 , ?,4 Gorrv ............ 0 ° — Mayle 2 10 5.0 ,Sm& / ....;.. v ... ; 3 •;-..■. 20 .;:;,: 6-6 HAWKE'S BAY AND WELLINGTON, FAIRLY EVEN. GOOD WICKET; POOR BATTING. (By Telegraph—Press Association.)""

Napier, March; 26, ■■The interprovincial cricket match 1 between teams representing Wellington. and Hawke's Bay was commenced today on the Recreation Ground:- Theweather was beautifully fine, and an excellent wicket had been' prepared. The ■ attendance of. spectators was-not large\ however. The Wellington captain won the toss, and elected to bat sending Burton and Birch in. Runs' came slowly, until Burton played one, back to Fenton, which was smartly taken. ' 12—1—6. Midlane followed, and, at the end of 45 minutes* play, 50 appeared on the hoard, of which Birch had contributed 81. When he had added another. 5 he gave a chance, 'playing one bald and high' back to Smyrk, -whose attempt .to secure it just failed. , When the score had reached 70 Fulton relieved Smyrk, and, with the fifth ball of his second over, secured the dismissal of Midlane, who was beautifully caught, at deep squareleg by Smyrk. 73—2—22, Birch, had at this period scored 43, the. partnership between him and Midlane having put on 61. Roberts joined Birch,' and, with the score at 92, Nelson took the ball from Fenton at the'railway end; the latter having got one wicket for 38 runs. : The century soon afterwards, ; was hoisted, and runs began to come more freely, but, at.115, Birch was, cleverly snapped up at the .wickets by Ashcroft, off Nelson. 115-^-3—62. Kinvig followed, but fell a victim.to 'his first ball from Nelson. 115—4—0. Patrick was. next, hut, after- he had added two, he was splendidly caught at fine slip.by Fulton. 119—5—2. The next man was - Finlayson, and he assisted Roberts in raising the score to 127, when the latter got his leg. in front to Fulton., 127—6—28. Aldersley filled the vacancy, and, a few overs later, Finlayson was stumped .by Ashcroft, off Nelson. 133—7—7. Smith followed, and, at the luncheon adjournment, the score stood at 147 for seven wickets. On resuming, Fenton took up the bowling, and, off his fifth ball, Aldersley was caught in the outfield by Anderson. 145-T-B—ll.- Hales then became associated-with Smith, the-latter: soon afterwards i bringing 150 up, ,but, a couple of balls later, Smith was clean bowled by Fenton. .154—9—12. The last man, Hickey,.had only added two when Fenton found his stumps,.and the innings closed: for. 156. Hawke, and Smyrk were the first ; te appear for Hawke's -Bay, and-seven .were scored off-the first over. .Patrick 'bowled from the other, end, and. ,the batsmen 'set-to work in; a rather lively manner, and had 20 oh the'board for less than fifteen, minutes' play, • and, -five minutes later, another 10 liad been added. Three' runs .later, however, ISmyrk poked one into the hands of the bowler, Hickey, and retired. 33— I—l 4. The Hawke's Bay .captain, Macassey, was the next'.man in, but soon lost Hawke, who got his leg before one from Patrick. 37—2—20. ■Fulton filled. the vacancy, but was clean bowled by ' Patrick 'before scoring. 87—3—0." Hindmarsh joined Macassey, and, when only a single had been added, Macassey played 'Patrick on. 38—4—-3. Fenton-was next, but he had only scored seven when he put an easy one into Hales's hands. 47 5Z—7. O'Brien was seventh man, and 50 soon afterwards appeared for fifty minutes'- play. O'Brien's .stay was, however, only -a short one, Hickey finding his sticks - when he had made three. 53—6—3. Bailoy now partnered : Hindmarsh, and these two made something of a stand. At 82 Finlayson, the fast left-hander, relieved Hickey, and, when 91 had been scored, ho effected a separation by' clean bowling Bailoy. 91—7—16. ■ Anderson was next, but soon lost Hindmarsh, who retired, bowled by Finlayson, for a well-played 24. flfi—S—24. The vacancy was filled 'by Ashcroft. and Kinvig relieved Putride with the ball. ..The century went up for an hour and a half's play, ami, when a couple bad been added, Anderson waa bowled for Kiriyig, -102—9-2,

The last man, Nelson, failed to negotiate his first ball, and the innings closed for 105.

Burton and . Birch opened WeUing- jj ton's second innings, and, when Birch ~ had scored 21, Fenton got past his defence.' 34—1—21. Midlane was agam third man in, and, with Burton, brought the total up to 47, when the latter was cloverly caught by Macas- , sey. 47—2—20. Roberts was next,' and 50 went up for thirty-five minutes' play, and, immediately after, Midlane was beaten by Nelson. 51—3—6. The „ retiring batsman was succeeded by Kin- j rig, who started warily. . Roberts fol- ~ lowed suit, and they wero both in at the call of time, when the score stood j at 64 for threp wickets. Scores:— v WELLINGTON. j First Innings. I H. Burton,'c. ■ and b. Fenton ....... 6 J A. Birch, c. Ashcroft; b. Nelson ... 62 F. A. Midlane, c. Smyrk, b. Pulton 22 t E. Roberts, 1.b.w., b. Fulton 28 J. D. Kinvig, b. Nelson 0 c W. Patrick, c. Fulton, b. Nelson 2 ° A. Finlayson, st.. Ashcroft, b. Nel- ( son ...: '. ■ ' \ A. Aldersley, c. Anderson, b. Pen- ' ton '. 11 r P. Smith, b. Fenton , 12 A'. Hales,.not out :........' 3 r C. Hiokey, b. Fenton 1 •■■ Byes : ....._2 * Total ! - 160 « • '■ ' Bowling Analysis. s Fenton, four wickets for 42 runs; j Nelson, four for 55; Smyrk, none for -15; Fulton, two for 42. Second Innings. ' ( H. Burton, c. -Macassey, b. Fenton 20 \ A. Birch, b. Fenton 21 i F. A. Midlane, b. Nelson 6 E. Roberts, not out . : 4 c J;-D. Kinvigj'not out .....:.. 9 f Byes •••— i j, Total for three wickets .'. 64 -, ■."■■'■ 1 Bonding Analysis. ' ] Fenton, two wickets. for 31 runs; I Nelson,: one for 29. • j ; HAWKE'S BAY. i ' . - • First Innings. . , E. W.' Smyrk, c. and b. Hiokey ... 14 j G'. Hawke, 1.b.w., b. Patrick ..: 20 ] J. E. Macassey, b. Patrick 3 , P. R. Fulton, b. Patrick : .. 0 . J. Hindmarsb, b. Finlayson 24 • A. Fenton, c. Hales, b. Hickey ...... 7 . J. O'Brien, b: Hickey 3 B. Bailey, b. Finlayson ..:.-.. 16 N. Anderson, b. Kinvig ............ 2 P. Ashcroft, not out :..... 7 F. A. Nelson, b. Finlayson 0 Byes ....:....... 9 '.: Total ..:....:,...1„.....;......~.. 105 Bowling Analysis. • Hickey, three wickets for 49 runs; ' Patrick, three for 33; Finlayson, three for 10; Kinvig, one for 4. RECORD LOW SOORINC. AN OLD MATCH RECALLED. (By Telegraph.—Press AiBoolatlon.) Auckland, March 26. • The Havelock cricket eleven, who were all clean bowled without scoring on the Domain.last Saturday, securing only two byes, were believed to have put up a world's record. An almost parallel case, however, occurred in Hamilton, in the early days, in a match between the Zihgari Club and the Borderers, the particulars of which are given in the files of the "Waikato Argus" of February 8, 1876, the match having • been played-'- on February 5. •Batting first, the Zingari made 52 runs, to which the Borderers replied with ; 48. The home players in-their.-second . venture 'made 49. The", report' then .reads:—'-'The Borderers, on commencing their second innings,'-'having only 54 runs to;get,-felt somewhat sanguine of but the splendid bowling of A. E. Cox and J. AVood, the fortune of glorious war or some other unexpected cause, led to a totally different.result— a result unique and remarkable in the annals of cricket. Every player was out ' without a run being got from the bat, seven, runs only being scored, consisting of six byes and one wide ball, the innings being over in the space of 40 minutes: The following we're the scores:—R. Lancon, e. Burgess, b. Cox, :0; T. Bond, b. Cox, 0; Captain Morrison, b. Cox, Oj P. Bond, run out, 0; G. Carter, c. Bellars, b. Wood, 0; E. J. T. Steel, b. Cox, 0;. Waddington, . b. Wood, 0; H. Lublin (not out), 0; Eschofield, c.i.Sandes, b. Cox, 0; H. Tanner, c. Mowbray, b. Wood,'o; P. i Connell, c. Burgess, b. Wood,'o;-byes, .6; wide, 1; total, 7. Bowling analysis: . A. Cox, 5. overs, 5. maidens," 0 runs, ■ .five wickets; J. Wood, 4 overs, 4' ; maidens, 0; runs, four wickets.'' ; • IN OTHER CENTRES. i MARLBOROUGH AND WAIRARAPA. I i IBy TeleEranli.—Special OorreßDondeHt.) '■■ • • :'•.-■ Masterton, March 27. The cricket match between the Waira- ' rapa and' Marlborough representatives j was concluded'on'Saturday on the park f oval." Glorious weather prevailed, and '" ' the wicket was in fairly good order. The J match was'won by Marlborough, who ' knocked up 172 in tho first innings ' against Wairarapa's poor score of 7'J. 1 iln the second innings Marlborough compiled 105 for four wickets, andi'declarod 5 their innings closed. Wairarapa made a better stand in .their second ■ innings, 1 and succeeded in-registering a score of * 176, batting one man short. In Marl--1 borough's first innings W. Church 48, A. M. Mills 39, E. Judd 23, E. Reid not out 14, were the best scorers, and, in the second innings, W. D. Chisholm made 46 not.out, H. Martin 25, and " Mills 19. The.only Wairarapa players to reach double figures in the first in- £. nings were W. Redmond 14, N. Madson riot out 12, and A. Styles 12. In their second venture H. Moorehouse compiled " 60,. D. Logan 30, and H.' Moss 23. ..

MANAWATU AND PATTTATUA, Palmerston, March 26. A'match between teams representing Pahiatua and Manawatu was played on the Palmerston Sports Ground to-day. Pahiatua won the toss and, batted first, the principal scores being—Spear 61, and Swainson 14. The innings closed for 133. Manawatu then went in, and, collaring the bowling,' quickly ran up 241 (Goldspring 88, Bartlett, not out, 45, Roberts 42', Coyne 26, and Skelley 16), Goldspring'fi . score included one six and eleven fours. BULLER DEFEATS WEST COAST. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) Westport, March 26. The. annual cricket match, Buller v. West Coast, was concluded to-day, Buller winning by 12 runs. Knapp (West Coast) played a fine innings for 62 runs. , THE TEST TEAM. . [To, the Editor.] . Sir,—l am grieved indeed that "Gaff" bas been annoyed at my letter in your columns, but-1 must confess that'my cold facts, and closely-reasoned and substantiated conclusions must have proved bad reading for him. However, I do not propose to waste your space and my time in a further lengthy criticism o'f bald assertions. "Gaff's" letter consists of 21. lines of abuse nf myself (about which I do not propose to worry)'," 18 regarding the "run out", .a-amjß»at. on. figures), aai a l«s«l

proportion of the remainder in an attempt to prove (if it proves anything) that no Wellingtonian can be selected to represent New Zealand, because Relf, Bennett, and Macartney do -not live here! Could anything be more absurd, and less worthy of reply? "Gaff" devotes six lines to a eulogy of Mr. Hay, whom we are asked to look on as infallible. Quite so. But how does "Gaff" reconcile this.with his assertion in his original letter? We are there told that Wellington was lucky in getting Brice in the team — "there are better fast bowlers than he in New Zeaalnd." It would seem that "Gaff's" fierce anti-Wellington feeling has led him into an untenable position. He must admit (a) that Mr. Hay is not infallible, or (b) - that " Gaff's" judgment may sometimes' be at' fault, and it was these two possibilities that I set out to prove in my first letter. It is most gratifying to me to see that "Gaff" has arrived at the "half-way" to my way of thinking. •As regards the "run out," Gaff's charges are now reduced from three to one, and as regards that one, I repeat (at the risk of raising "Gaff's" ire; that opinions differ, as can be seen from a perusal of the reports on the matter, in Wellington newspapers. Just one word of explanation. I did not write my letter as a friend of Midlane. In this matter his figures are liis best friends. As a matter of fact, however, I have known Reese as long as I have Midlane, and I have no personal feeling in tbe matter_ at all. I am quite prepared to put Midlane's exclusion down to "brain storm," "mental aberration," "subconscious mind," or any other charitable solution that "Gaff" cares to offer. What' I am not prepared to admit, in the face of tho facts and figures shown,, is that the exclusion was justified, or in the best interests of New, Zealand cricket.

Might I humbly state that, as "Gaff" does not follow my lead into facts and figures, this correspondence is now closed as far as I am concerned, as the opinions and assertions of a man whose name and capabilities I dp not know, are of no further interest to me. In any case, as far as I can hear, Wellington, with the exception of "Gaff," is quite unanimous in regard to Midlane's exclusion, and as regards "Gaff," well, "There are none so blind as those who will not see." "Gaff" will _be sorry to hear that I am not blushing. I am a modest young man, but I do not carry my modesty, to the extent of blushing at the "naked truth."—l am, etc., '. BLOWN THE GAFF.