CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 936, 1 October 1910, Page 12

CRICKET.

THE CONTROLLING CAPITAL.

' [By The Beeakeb.]

Coldly considered, some of the : arguments advanced at the meeting of the Wellington Association on Tuesday night by those who favour retaining tho headquarters of New. Zealand cricket in Christchurch, seem just a little wanting ,in weight/ The fact that good work has been done by the present Christchurch officials has'little bearing-on the point at issue. The Cathedral City , has not a monopoly of capable officials and there is no justification for suggesting that >it has. As to the influential backing which the summer game receives in Christchurch this would, , no doubt, be duplicated in Wellington under parallel oircumstances. It is at headquarters that support of this kind naturally appears. In any case " this is merely another side issue. The successful prosecution of. cricket depends mainly upon cricketers themselves, and it. is in the light of their own convenience that they should determine, the location of executive headquarters. The moderation of local cricketers, as ex--emplified in the decision ;of- the association', is'no doubt praiseworthy, but they would be wise not to carry, the spirit of self-abnegation too far. The cry that Wellington is after everything is parochial ' and/ nothing else.' The . fact that other important sports bodies, have es- ; ' tablished their headquarters here and that i cricketing fraternity will probably ultimately follow suit, does not prove Wellington; a greedy octopus. It is Bimplj r a recognition of the fact that it' is conveniently placed as a Dominion centre. -. . ; . ; Fast Wickcts. ' j

■ Anyono wandering up to the Basin Reserve during the past few days: was liable, to find" John V. Saunders regarding'with -pardonable pride a bit of work that takes rank as an achievement. ;Of late he has concentrated attentionon the strips of ground, 1 at either end of the reserve,' set / aside for, practice, wickets. These/are' now all ready for' play and their . area has been. improved out of recognition. The ' hard smooth surface,'; with the .grass shaved close, resembles, a well-kept bowling green. . This excellent result; is the' fruit: of much labours. Not only has the ground been repeatedly .rolled and mowed, but inequalities have one by one . been cut down or filled up.' The result is a - range of shard .fast wickets that should delight the hearts of enthusiastic bowlers. At least they will be so. when the season advances. At present all 1 the lumps' and hollows have not- been overcome. : But it-is'a. different "Basin" now, compared with what it was a fortnight ago. The roller in use at the Basin Reserve' ia a clumsy engine that might very well be supplemented by one of handier size. The big roller is all right for making an extended tour of the ground with a view to its general improvement, but for the neater work of preparing wickets a i'oller more easily controlled and directed would bea decided acquisition. A Memorabl# Visit. ;: A" reoeption. in honour,' of the South Africans is being arranged by. the New South Wales - Association. The "first., visit of our South African fellow-colonists 1 to Australia will probably be memorable'to the players, remarks -the "Referee," apart, altogether from their experiences' of the cricket field. The. Australian Associations andibther. bodies: in cricket will give.them a 'hearty welcome, and we may depend that our cricketers, whether successful or not, will do: their'best to give them a beating.; It has been very wisely decided that the New South Wales Selection Committee shall select at least 20 players for practice three weeks before the date fixed for: ; the commencement . of each match, arrangements to be made for. practice;' at-, the, Sydney. Cricket: Ground on three days each week. The trustees are also to be asked to' allow- the: public to view the practice without charge. Thus old customs are being revived. : The Ex-, ecutive Committee is to be congratulated on these measures,: for they disclose keen interest in an .organising side of cricket far .too much neglected ■ for, some . few years. ,- • .1, -...:.

!ln the Old Country, . , ;• On the strength of the experience of two or three wet seasons it has been asserted! that county cricket is losing its attractions, for the public/ A genferalisationvof ; this' kind is. considerably weakened, if not overthrown, by a single exception, and the • exception was forthcoming in the large attendances at the county matches commenced last Monday. At Old Trafford the were estimated ' at 25,000," while 18,938 paidifor admission;'at .the Oval the/ number of persons' contributing to. the gate receipts was 16,309 jv-'at Canterbury the' crowd was. the' largest ■ever seen on the first day of the weok, while at Southampton the record ' was likewise broken.. From Bristol, Birmingham,' Derby,- and Northampton come 'similar reports. The truth is that .the weather has more influence upon the attendance at county matches than all the other, causes that have been suggested for the decline in' interest that has been assumed, though in certain instances there .is reason to believe that the. 'efficiency of a county team or its style of play is not without influence on the support that it revives.—"The-Field" (G/8/1910). A Legal Point. A curious point in law was recently submitted ..to the M.C.C. The striker "A" drove a ball back (o the bowler, a< couple-of feet from the ground. The bowler.-with his hands/turned- the ballon to the stumps,'and seeing that bats-, man there ("B") was out . Of his ground, iappealed.. Tho : .umpire gave "B" run out. But tlie ball rebounded 'from the' . stumps' to midon, who- made tie catch. Who; was out?: The M.C.C. agreed that the striker "A" who committed the first offence by offering a catch which went to mid-on. (no-matter .by'what route) was out, and that "B" should remain at the; wicket. '

This ruling may be endorsed by few oricketers, comments the "Eeferee," thougli it will be accepted, since M.C.C. rulings are practically as binding on eric-' keters as tlie laws themselves. .. Easy-going Batsmen. When an. Australian team is in England its batsmen are in the habit of running whenever, there is a reasonable chance, and, according to "Tho Field," tho. result js that English batsmen. to some oxtent try to follow thoir example, "it is generally, however, to be noticed that- in the following year they drift back again into tlicir old way of neglecting opportunities of running, and the Sussex eleven recently gave a remarkable example of this. They must have lost at the very least 30 runs whioli might have been made with ease if tho batsmen had not forgotten that, because afieldsman in a certain position is supposed to bo able to save tho run; he cannot always do so.. Although the ground was soft, and tho ball travelled at only a. moderate pace, mid-offs and cover-points were sometimes placed so. far out. that they .might, almost have been described as I. fielding in the country.. Yet without [ oven .hurrying they saved tho singlo in I: a way which must have! amused tho SurI roy captain."