CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 984, 26 November 1910, Page 4

CRICKET.

i [By The Breaker] i fSATURDAY' BATTING. AVERAGES.

j\/'lndicates "not out."\ j- : lit' addition.' to . tho foregoing,' M'llaKon I" (Central B) ,has a not-out aggregate of 43.

'■ ' / Tfib' above /.a'ro < tho bowlers; Avhp' iaye: I. taken'- ten wicket* .or more. : " Rather an Ott' Day. ■ i/ ./Saye, froiu 'the. viewpoint of_ aspiring bowlers,'hungry 1 for wickets, cricket was r-unexciting $t" the/Basin oil Saturday -'. Wickets i'oll with/abnormal r'apidityr anil- •, interest in their downfall naturally S/ivaned/a littjb -as disaster, .by frequent . Repetition,, became commonplace. I/Evoiv s''Buch-Ta :.capablo' performance as: that {of -Gibbes, ./who.-Captured six 'Wellington ■ . South wickets at .a cost of 21 runs,- hard- - ly/attracted/ the notice it.deserved. It. V ; .was/:.of"■ cotirscj/a "day " out-. for;;-.!tho : . bowJors'.-. it -was ,'moro in t lie; nature.'of;'a ;day qIF.■ Honourable ox- . (options to tlkj/cohtrary 'notwithstanding : ■ 'thcAwbrfcofcfieidsmen iilvSatunlay jjcnioiv is -ia' tiling of •shreds/and: r : "pat.?hes.iyl|.Hvo,irld be iiivididiis to;>par- : i« ticiflririseji? ioiw'thb • sinjplo reason; -,'tliat // horrible f.exSmploaifto v numerous to . ;i Casualij- ybfeirving play at-.the's-Basiii' ono might .•'imagine'-' that tho J'vairvof. We'lliiigton fatal ; to "good i . -fielding, were it not' for a player here }'/■ and|there wlio. ristei,al)bve ithe common ' j. lierp.. We rfiayjO l who '- -takez 'at ball nearly every l time- when it comes 2- any where treasonably -.within reach. Also ffM«''lai«i.'.btKrs;:and they-are"almost in : a-.m'aiority. '/. These ■ are - faults -that time . will i ibhay. no . doubt. ; . Saturday. cannot >V be. described/-a's a/day ' of bright cricket. ?•: It' had;.rather'-the ;air/.of.,'an. -;01f.. ; - .idajv. yj?robijbly:■ the -interruption of tlio previoiis"Saturday and the consequent lapse' vof • a 1 fortnight between/playing.,day6 -liad- . something-to "do. .with the matter. Howy v- ■ ever > assiduously 1 cricketers may practise' ;'.i':the-constant: call of tho weekly-;.contest .' is a-valuable''influencein keeping 'them t- : 'np- ! to.jjftghting- 'form, and - it -; is. only '//iiat'iirat that.'.a'break'in .the continuity ":/ of "playing days/should have'its effect.. . • -Making*; Headway. /■■"' .-. i// v; V' ''if; r ■• '■- The performance' of.TEast B' in-the last ,match;played is/by way of being w'hat; in America thej', call an "uplift." That a team of little standing, which has been. •/■ freely: ussd.'a's.a buffer, between its com.'panipn A eleven- and the edge of cir'cumstances slibulc\ .soundly.- beat last year's/champions in a. straight out contest; is to lb/rated as no' slight' achieve-' : ment. -' In a'/fair -view, .East- B..could harMy be'blaratd- if it'obtained: all kicks, arid no lialfpbnce'in tho rourid 'of cricket-

ing contests.. It ..has .been freely ■' bled in tho past- to strengthen its .upjier eleven. That it should discover a tendency to cast ail the role and standing of the ugly .duckling is altogether praiseworthy. Tho success of tho team in each section of tho • contest with. Central A was duo to reasonably good play by a ■ majority of its iienibors', -and not to tho fortunate success* " of"one>-or two. Last 'Saturday's work; i*ai not so good as that of tho previous playing day, .but .it was nevertheless good eno.ugh to justify a belief that tho improvement shown by the-'team-' in- this-match -was , no" "nioro flush in the pan, but an indication of real development. The Central batsmen who remained to be dismissed ■ in; tho 'first innings were, quickly sent-to' tho ri"ht-abput. ■■ TKo\ East : 'B fielding was, good, and? half -la 'dozen batsmen of-the team attained '.double figures :in\. tho second innings." ; It is a good enough record to justify East B in attempting to'keep on. rising. Meriting-.the Attack. Of the East B batsmen on Saturday MfKay obtained- nearly 'twice as' many runs as. aiiy of .his companions, and deserved iSiem/' /.Ho played 'cautiously, and there were lengthy spells of light hitting between .his big strokes. When a suitable opportunity-presented itself he mado .the: most of : it,; and- drove- with vigour and eft'eot. Goldfinch gave- several chances crp he finally sent, a catch to Naughton.' Johnson, upon his showing in the firsts innings,, might very well have beca s&nt in earlier. As it was lie was second scorer, and not out when the second innings...closed.' Remaining .batsmen played father, raggedly;; although several' compiled -tolerable ,1 scores. This, of course, docs not apply to Crombie. It was unfortunate :that ho . be run out'when lie : had mado ■ only nine. Eveii thns early jri the. season'his scores in tho region of"-half a century had become almost', an' institution, until the opening of tho ■ third round witnessed an interruption to tfceir flow. It will be a welcome occasion to 'the mar. on tho bank, when r CromWe climbs to concert pitch , .again.*'V :•".'•<' -' -'" '.' ■Oiie of the' Superstitions, .'...,> The old cricketing saw, "&' is : bad luck to change your bat," was borne out in at least one on Saturday; J«ash, white'■ piaving v u.':-UEeful,';inningS:,:for .bast B, damaged his. bat, - and hadla new one brought out. The nrst delivery to which- he ..stood: up-; after effecting the exchange carried'his wicket. -The sound and damaged bats were, carried, over the latter part of the; journey to the pavilion sidovby'sifle; f :>;V.K'X:'. ■' Kobertsis a cricketer who .seems to have a.good grasp of tho catching habit. He '• took .' one ■.' from, . O'Shea. .-.prettily on Saturday/ after' a quick run rearward from the slips. . . ■ . ■ " The Spur of .Defeat. . ,/_,.,__ w ■...' "The stunning calamity that descended on South last Saturdays-was utterly unrelieved. As an;, exhibition of hrst-class cricket; the performance -of ■ the team was- -ludicrously*, inadequate. When? an eleven lenocks up no more'than .fifty runs' in a completed innings ...on. a. wicket, the only- forget all about it as soDn' as' possibles-Kipling has a tale somewhere of . a battalion • of !. recruits that broke in.face'of the enemy when -.it .first-rsmelt wpowder. burned m an'»er.' Next 'Vtink; 'that battalion ■■ enjfraced in conflict/so the story goes, it • was a forocipus. whirlwind that swept its If, the prm-. ciples that operated here will extend to the case of cricketers who are not recruits - tho next .- team that .encounters b.Wcl.liiigtoir S6utir'shoiild"'h'ave'- a: rough: "and'troubler "passage;'-" v . r '--'" Norris, judged by the form he- exhibited playing for South on Saturday, is a remarkably.-fine, specimen, _ of J;he iVnSihisliffl .Jio'gsißfJipes. di\ tfje ' xs% jig. >™ jivhen he|gefehis;i*a a sT)all«t,travels .fast. Vrll fariKVrf liisfskvlk were I proportionate to , his ; lindeniaMe . -power, he would be a very terror to bowlers. As it is,, however, ho plays often in a ■puzded yay-afmost gropingly.. .The Imll Mat obllidednvilh;* Sjleg'|tumni..:bn. Satprise. ' ;■-' '■■' 4 '« - The Gibbes-Grimmett Effort, Prominent agents in; the wrath- that struck South on .Saturday were Gilrt.es arid Grimmett/of the East A team.' The .joint -performance,..of...these tw/), bowlers iudged on "figures, would ;tako a lot-of beating.- Only-two: of the batsmen whom ■thV-soeasily- overcame, .reached,, double fisures and ,the. remainder obtained an a?bra»o of less : than two runs apiece. Xn adiievement of this kind speaks for itself.' Gibbes is'a much better cricketer than, some seem-;.to imagine, ■.:, Hutt v. Central B. , ; ,; Plav in this match was very slow/and unmtexesfcTi'g:'- HMttyvdn- too.ngh, rbiif'-they- had"none"too-much"-time, the. match being finished about.twenty^minutes beforo time. Tho wicket on Satur-dTV-:was r -slmi)ly'' ; perfe c ' t ' r a'nd"is-:imprpving evrar weekH Hutt Continued thejr secondInnings;.- and deolaredw.'Wheri. they had 104 on m> book' for .'theloss.of three wickets : leaving" Central '17fl.to' ajake.ln. ttoo and -a'hafr hburs.-Thieathey, Wed >tov do. Aldersley- '-'top scored".for Hutt with «„ but/was very lucky.; 'This .player- hajsome', fine strokes, and .scores a ..lot. ot;.

runs by moans of the pull to square leg. Sfaples batted for nearly two hours for 2S, which is very poor going. "RiUiji" AVjlson scored 10 by line strokes, and has evidently struck form. Brico did not trouble- the field, being howled with a shooter for nil. Judd tried hard to .hit, but his timing was at fault. Hickson was uuablo to play. He has not recovered from a badly strained leg, and it will probably bo a week or two beforo ho is available. This a- unfortunate for Hutt, as Hickson was showing good form. 'Central's batting in ■ the second innings wjas slow. The batsmen, as a rule, poked, and relied on runs from snicks through the slips, which were made easier through the slack fielding on the. part of the Hutt team. Gourlev kept the fieldsmen nlive, ami continually stole short runs. JEfis judgment in calling for a run. was excellent, and'.could be copied with advantago by the rest of his team, or, in fact, any team. Stephenson scored 33 n'ot out, but his innings was not inspiring. Wilkinson showed the best cricket, aiid played- very soundly, but he foolishly threw his wicket away at the finish. Itutt's bowling was not. at all deadly.. The'bowlers seemed to bo taking things too easy, thinkini, no doubt, that the batting would not bo ,very brilliant. Brico was off colour, and only secured one wicket for 38 runs, but a catch or two was dropped off'his bowling—one by ■Pringle, which should have been easily caught. A catch'in a. match such as this does not, as a rule, mako such a difference, but it does. not .do to drop casv chances when playing , teams such as East A. for example. P. Judd secured threo wickets for l/TTUus.-aml bowled really well. He had most of tho l>a(s T . men thinking, and should bowl oftener. Pringlo bagsed-three.--for 16;' and Pilcher and E. Judd one /each. vJhitt. have not improved a ■little--lit in "their fielding, and a couple of ■ good' slips ,are badly needed. It is regrettable that tho Hutt Club, cannot persuade-Rogers' and Cato to play; they would assist greatly. Isherwood will he playhiß next Saturday, and will strengthen the. team. Tho grass was cut much shorter,'than .previously, but it could do with, a bit more 'off yet.. . ■ ....- • : . y \. .'. Weak Fielding. ; -... '.. ..... ~; Weak fielding was a : featuro of the Victoria College-North match, completed.last Saturday. There were.ono''or two bright'] incidents, notably Richardson's lefthanded catch in the slips that dismissed Fanning, but that did not inakoun for the failures on the North side, and per-■] haps not even for Richardson's, owii weakness in the field. The. number of runs that were added through weak fieldinf* during tho two days of- the match would probably run into three- figures, the runs from "overthrows". alone being considerable. * Probably every.- player in the two teams that made a double-figure: score, or secured a, wicket was-well Satisfied, with his work. It would'.hardly striko him. to count up the runs he;gave away to his. opponents through his laxity in the field. .'Undoubtedly •luo Avorst-. offenders, were the grey-headed" members of the North team, of whom there are quite a number. ' Age and long service should, of course, be. no bar to a man playing senior, cricket, so long, as he retains his form,., as does . TJpham, but-it should bo a bar- when a player has lost all form as have many of the veterans playing in senior ■ cricket this year. They may mako an occasional doublc-figuro score, but they can easily give it. away again in tho, field. ' ■ ' j ■■ • ' Good' Bowling. . . .. Upham appears. to bo still .the same consistent- bowler ■ that ■ he' lias' been for years.' It was.given out at tho start of tho season that he- was giving the game "best; What would tho North Club have done without., him?.. There ..aro, somo promising''young' bowlers in Hip 'toani, but there is no one fit to replace Upham, whose 'deliveries •■: arc -with! as much respect at.6 o'clock,as they 'aro at half-past 2 o'cloci,:, and he generally gets a number of wickets between those liourf. Where'he is consistent others are! erratic. With Saunders on tho opposite side to Upham, it : was .natural that bowling- rather than batting should bo (ho feature'. ; of the', match.,. . Saunders was in something like fpriiv. and ihad the ijelding been at all decent; lie''. ( would probably have caused panic among tho batsmen. Victoria College.lias -several young batsmen, who appear to be on .the improve, and with Saunders. and Monaghan as trundlers, the, team should put up a good fight with any in .the competition. Their meeting with East/A should be particularly, interesting;...', ~,.,..., ~; ~ ...

hCShea,EastB '...'.... 51 25* 3 1 51.0 ■ Cfoiiiliie.-'Easl B-.;:.;.~1S9 ~63~~'O'-- 5-37.8' iVJohnson,. East B 63 38 1 2-31.5 fi Staples; Hutt ...: . 92 31 2 3 30.6 J; Bruce;. Central A ... 59 30** 2 2 29.5" 5-•Tucker,.East.A,...... 117. 45'. 1, .4. 29:2 ;.' SWnhbnson, Central B : 114w:46 : ' lv-4 »;■ Elahires, Co'ntral:A-:'57'40 v 1' 2.''28.5 pBurhs; ■College."-.'......* 112-■ 79*--I 4 ; 28.0-' svMbhajjhan, College ...110 51 0 4 27.5 I.-Midlane; East A .... 98 30* 1 4 21.5 f.-Blaqlcldck, North ... 117 33' 1 5 23.4 r.Gibbe?; East,A ..'...„• 69 40 0 3' 23.0 p Stalnibn; .College .... 90 48 0 i 22.5 ( M'Kay,::Ea£t- : B .'..;... 89 39 0 4 22.2 J.-Mahoney, East A ;.. 82 51 l.;4'20.5 f. SoutH L.J.-.-itH 30 ' 0-' ; 5"20.4 '■■'-NaughtonV Contral 'A • 79. 28' 'I.,. -1 .19.7' i ■WilWhsori, Central B 118 43 0 (J 19.G '.Goldfinch, East'B ... 91 47 0 5: 18.8 k-Sannders, College ... .67 32 . 0, 4 16.7 ?-.Aldersley, Hutt .:.....-82 41 0 ,W 1I/.4 !■•■■■ M'Gill;-- East"'A .'....; 49 30 0 ' 3 1G.3 ; Bricc, Hntt Go 40* 1 i 10.2 ' .Williams, North 16 18 0 1 16.0 r Birch, Central A 65 21 0 i 1C.2 1 Finliyson, North •..'...'78 39 0 5" 15.6 •"'..Phillips,' North ........ "G2 35' 2. 4 15.5 ; Hawthorne, Contral A ■ 4-t 23" 1 3 14.0 t.Wyriynrd, North ..J4-25 0...3' 14.G •;■■/Wilson, South:;........ 29 22 0 2 14.5 ; CollbVt, East A 57 1G 1 4 14.2 [-.Patterson, Central B 70,34 ' 0 ,5 14.0 ! laws, Central -A K ... 42.- 31 ,• 0 .' 3 14.0 -;Wilsou, Hutt .„........'07 i 34 0 5 13.4 ? ; Caddick, College-'..-• 40 13 '13 13.3 ;■.Grace, .South ' 65 31 ' 0 5 13.0 t-.Sisson, Central B .... 65 31 0 -5 13.0 ''.Roberts, Central A ...-50 -28 0 '4 12.5 i'Norris, /South '. 50 23 0 4 12.5 ; Sheridan, .North, 4 ....., 37 ; 21° .IV 3 12.3 s-Farining, College/ ••—"'I 61>\21 J "0Y 5 .'.12.2 I" Hickson, Hutt -.......:.-49 30 '0 4V12.2 S;Gorirlay, Central- , B- .23 22 0 2" 11.5 ;, Wills, East B ■.:.;...'..;, 23 19, O. ; ;2:-.11.5 i Grimmett, -9 r 1 11:5 ;"■:■ Walters, South'-...;...>.-56 24 0 5 11.2 ;, Butbidge,' College ;.. 5GV27- 0 ■ 5 11.2 r .Chapinahj iast -B .':. j22 : 20;. 0'-- 2; 11.0 |. [East B .......... 50 -23 L 0/5.10.0

BEST BOWLING. !■ . . Av'ge'per' ; • . Wkts. Runs., AV'k't. Hickey, -East'-A"' 22 ' ,169 ■ , " W •'■■JtJpKam, North 14 ' 116 8.2 V Gibli'fs, East A;...... 10 150 ; 9.8 r: Jtonaglian, College 19: 188 9.8 : Sauiiilers, College, ... 1G 102 : 10.1 . Brice, Hutt 18 186 . .10.3 'I.aiWi. Central vA;.... 10- 1'7 11.0 v ; Fniillay; Kortli ...... li ,170 _ . . 12.1