CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 990, 3 December 1910, Page 12

CRICKET.

p.' :>■ EBi THE Bebakib.l WEDNESDAY BATTING AVERAGES:

.WEDNESDAY BOWLING. ? ; . . toij S3 ? i gag u •P 3 i= <• g. Darrccli, Rivals 10 7- 1.4 v.- M'liityre, Artillery ... 221 29 ■ 7.G Ji'Gill. Union 116 11 10.5 \ ; O'Sullivan,. Union ... 118 . 9 ■ lil v..little, Oriental 143 ; -10 14.3 .Billman, Oriental . ... 144" 10 14.4 V- Bailey, Artillery. 222- 15 14.8 Vivian"';.; 138". 9 "15.3

. Lord Islington, Cricketer. Lr " . So'lord Islington lias played! - This is > . good. One of the functions of a King is _ to "set the fashion"—even in such ■ ' things as hats. One of tho functions of ■ a Governor is to carry, forward tho ?•<: King's example.' So r hero we have' a fashion, and a rather noble one—the ■> ': fashion -of cricket. .Somewhere, somewhen, one of the encylodaedias stated that no game required such a union of , : mental and bodily efficiency as billiards. This -is indisputably, true. But a man ;- requires' also all . his; faculties to be, a , * ericketer,.and, being a.cricketer, lie reaps ono benefit whieli is not so likely to'fo.l----v low. from billiards—he. reaps health and --added efficiency, for. what' could be a bet- : - ter antidote for. the neurasthenia which ■V ,blights our. modern.'life than tho aroma of the daisies,.and the grass, and.tho rigor ofVa.;gamo in which 110 human; weakling , •; may play a' part.. This is no poetic moon'tehine, but a fact known. to doctors, and the .usual,young man who. is to be 'Been along the streets, bat under arm and bag /in' hand on Saturdays; knows.what he is i'-;doing. The writer' does not know whe- ; ther Dr. Findlaywill carry his design of . ."Utopia by Act of Parliament" so far as to make cricket compulsory, but he :( .-inightjdo' many things 'worse. Cricket reigning game a hundred years' from now-when some of .our more lurid -field struggles'are. forgotten and; realising -'.l \ this,-let us who are. cricketers just pause .. a moment to drink a silent un-wined, ..toast:- "Gentlemen! His -Excellency and the New. Fashion!"; : .... Brightening Play. - ; From the viewpoint of the person who .v ; Bits on the bank there was better, cricket at tho Basin- Reserve on. Saturday than ;V- had previously Wen seen , this season. : There .really was not a dull' moment. Blacklock, Wills,, and Naughton, the stars of the occasion, were 0110 or other of them at tho wickets during nearly the wholo period of play. ' Simultaneously bowlers'were making things, lively- 'for less adept. or less fortunate. wiejders of " the willow, and wickets wero falling at a' ''..satisfactory rate.. Even South, enduring '.avdrubbing' at the.hands of the aggressive' East B bowlers 'added their quota to' tho entertaining variety of the after-' . noon. - Add to. these things beaming sunshine and you . have a. good enough day. Blacklock's Able Display. • •' Blacklock rose superior to: luck, on .Saturday. Tho impetuous dash for an almost impossible run—it would have .-bqen quite impossible if the fielding .at the critical moment had been , of even mediocre quality—and his consequent nartow escape from summary dismissal .were characteristic. But so too, and much ■ more worthily so, was the brilliant bat-., ting display that followed. On Saturday • he was alert, vigorous, and- dominant,. IJis strokes were free and bold, and he altered them with ready , adaptability at > every change in the bowling. He fell a -. victim at last to ono of tho worst balls V. submitted him. for' consideration. .P'r'obably a measure of physical exhaustion had something to do with the matter. ' iThc Comet's Tail. V North batsmen, other than Blacklock. 'A played very indifferently and deprived of his assistance tho team- would have been ;in'. parlous case. Wynyard had to work ' . hard (for .his 20 and his comrades, with tho singlo notable exception, hardly i: stayed long enough to • do anything at ■ all. Apart from.their failure t'o shift Blacklock the Central B bowlers' all-put ; in'good work. - Stophonson (three for 15) :; vras Tough on", the - 'rear-guard. . record of three wickets, for'4l runs does .not read so well, but'it represents a more difficult and probably'a more valu : ; able performance. , . Vanishing Prospects. • . Central B will havo to liven up if they 1 desire to. improve their fast-vanish-'ing prospects in the match with North.. Fifty-two runs for four wickets is by no - ; means good enough under the circum- ! stances. Wilkinson and Porteous,;, who ; opened the batting, pursued tho policy of ; taking no risks that they could avoid. . Even so their immunity was not of long . continuance. Steady work by tho North ' bowlers had produced something very much bordering on trouble when stumps wero drawn. Patterson presented a catch to Blacklock when only four stood to ' his credit and Sisson was bowled by , Upham without scoring. Central B have a sufficiently uphill fight in prospect to make things interesting, but the..match V is not yet lost unless t'hey prove barren of resources. A Stubborn Defence. ' Monaghan, who top-scored for Victoria College. on Saturday, showed excellent -"'. form, imparting plenty of variety to his . strokes, and for a time evading the field. -' with siound judgment. Tho momentary : failure, that led to liis sending a catch via Hawthorne to Little was an unex- . pected disappointment. Niven,' too, was in ■ good fettle. His best stroke was an - off-drive, and he. made it repeatedly. . Dempsey, a player with plenty of verve, ' played a characteristic game, hitting out smartly and with , effect Bmlis was tho i ■ disappointment'of tho match. Opening with a hit .for three,, and following it with a' long-distance drive for five, he looked . dangerous at 'the outset, but sucenmbed almost immediately, caught by Naughton, off Mitchell's bowling. All things considered, Collego made a stub- , born" defence.;. The'bowling they had to faco was good nearly all tho .time. LJws ' had an off-day, but the remaining Central bowlers ail were dangerous, and took a lot of stopping. Bruce opened fire remarkably well. One .of his best deliveries was 'a tricky 'off-break that carried

Saunders's wicket. Later in the' match Bruce tell away considerably from his opening form. The "Not-out"> of Naughton. Central A, tlianlcs/chiefly to Naugliton, oponed tlioir first, innings against Victoria College very creditably. Since they have .97 runs in hand, obtained at the cost of a' singlq ,wicket, the match is to all intents and purposes decided. All the more credit attaches to the achievement for the reason ■ that Saunders was a prominent figure in opposition. Naughton, however, took to him, fearlessly and hard. Tho Central batsman was perhaps a .little shaky when he started, but once settled, ho laid the wood on, and was going strongly when stumps wore drawn. • With ordinary luck he has a reasonable prospect- of attaining the century. Birch played steadily, but ho showed none ■of tho enterprising vigour that Naughton displayed,.and fell a-fairly easy victim to Saunders. Blamires had not time to do anything worthy of remark, but ho and Naughton should form an effective partnership when play resumes,' Cricket Au Naturel. An instance of cricket under appropriate and altogether better conditions than ordinarily prevail in Wellington was witnessed at the vice-regal match at the college ground' ."on,. Monday. A singlo game was in progress in the middle of an ample area'of pleasant sward. Tho surroundings are no't perfect, tiut at least the margin of the ground affords an abundance of desirable places for spectators. Everything was in' splendid contrast to tho crowded cricket} at the Basin Reserve on Saturdays. To one who would fain see the summer game in a natural setting it is positively distressing to sec three senior games in progress, simultaneously on; a'single , area, riot to speak of junior and minor contests proceeding on tho fringe of things. All this merely to say that the summer game needs more and better grounds. In ,its natural setting, the game is an infinitely more attractive spectacle than the -jumble to be seen on tho Basin any Saturday. Grand opera would please no one if -played, in a drill hall with -Punch .and Judy,' Aunt Sally, and similar attractions ranged along the side-walls. Fins Bowling by Hale's. Tho outstanding feature of the East B-Wellington South. match, commenced last Saturday, was the fino bowling performance of E. 0; Hales, who captured eight South wickets at a total cost of 32 runs. ' He had the batsmen in trouble from the outset, and during the whole thirteen overs that he bowled, he kept a beautiful length. This made, it quito .unnecessary to effect a change of bowling during the innings, for Johnson at the other end was not punished severely, though ho only obtained two wickets. Of course, Hales's, performance is not as meritorious •as - it. would havo been against a .stronger team, but still the figures are there to help his season's average. There ought to be a word. or two about the East fielding. A good word for M'Kay and Crombie, and a gentle: rebuke for O'Shea at point, and Hales in the slips.. The remainder, .will be let off with a caution. A Team that did not Collapse, Of tho Wellington. South batsmen what can bo said ? Their collapse on Saturday was not the first. It was not even a rare occurrence. In fact, there Was no real collapse at all, but really a' normal performance, and the club ought to urge its members' to put in some steady practice at the nets, for the majority of them are sorely in need'of it. The bowling material of tho team appears to bo- of a fair average, quality, but tho fielding is so . very weak-that the bowlers', records must suffer. Burton was, perhaps, ■ the worst example, but there are. several others that want "brushing up" in this department of the game. Methods to be, Encouraged. On tho East B side, the .batting was .brighter, and the efforts .of Wills and Hales. were quite .up'. to • tho standard. Crombie appears to be out of fortune's' way for ' the present, as he was again disposed of boforo reaching double figures. .. Wills, certainly gave a couple of chances; during his,r innings, but his. innings was particularly-meritorious, on account. of the : manner in which he forced' the pace. Ho became excited towards the end of his term at the wickets, and it was really his fault that Millar was run out, but a little excitement is pardonable when the striker is approaching a three-figure score. Of a'-first century in senior grade cricket it is a generally accepted belief that the last twenty runs are made in fear and trembling. Wills probably felt, safe, and was ready to run for everything in -case his partners were unable to stay with him long enough for him to reach tho century. As soon as he was set, he' went in for high hitting, relying, on his power to get beyond the fieldsmen.. At tho closo ,he. was caught just inside tho boundary by Wagstaff, whose catch was tho signal for a'deal of applause. Hales reminded one of tho Hales of old. Ho went to tho wickets to ; score, and dealt severely and successfully with all tho "soft stuff" that came along.., To other batsmen let •it? bo {said/-"go thou and do likewise." East A and Hutt. : East A aro "on a good wicket," and seem certain of a three-point win against tho Hutt cloven. Hutt made a vory poor showing: on a perfect wicket, and with' a fast outfield. The bowling on the East'side was not very deadly (Gibbes excepted). Hicky was lucky in getting 6omo of his wickets, notably Staples's and Hickson's. Staples played one on from the leg side, and Hickson missed one on tho , log and tiie ball rebounded off the wicket-keeper's pads on to the wicket. Brice and Simpson.were the only batsmen to play with any confidence. Mahoney, tho East captain, showed fino judgment in placing his field. While Brice was batting ho placed men right out on the boundary, and. drives with Aplenty of power, behind them „oiily„ ono; run. In Re. Gibbes. Gibbes bowled really woll, and got a good deal of work on tho ball from tho leg side. It is a pity that this player does not try. to keep in condition; at present about half a ' dozen overs is as much as Gibbes can do. If .ho is to get a trip, to Auckland at Christmas' ho will require a great deal of training to see out a three days' game. ... Tho: "most promising bowler on tlijo East side is Grimmett. Although he did not get any wickets, ho repeatedly beat tho batsmen, wickets, and,' on occasions, the wicket-keeper. Ho has a tremendous break from leg, and, at tho same timo, keeps >a good length. This boy can at 1 times bowl a good "googly," and when he can get a bit more paco on, and a little less break, be will soon make a name for himself. \ Midlane and Tucker, . Tho' East batsmen soon had tho measure of tho Hutt attack, and k onco Midlane and Tucker found the paco of "the wicket, they made the most use of the good light and ■ the billiard-tablo pitch. Tucker was tho first to go, after a very stylish innings of 29. Tliis player's one fault is in the slips, and, on Saturday, lie tipped ono from Judd and was snapped up by Brice. Midlane played , very soundly, and, with ordinary luck, should get the first century of , the season. Watson, a new face to Wellington cricket, shaped well for a dozen, and should be an acquisition to East. Tho Hutt bowling was fast, but the Hutt ground is absolutely no good to fast bowlers, and the wicket gives them no assistance whatever, and the ball never rises above tho stumps. On tho other hand, a good break bowler would be in his element. Hutt badly needs une. The fielding of the Hutt sido was fair, Fred Judd especially doing good work. East's fielding was first-class, and Mahoney,-'especially; showed to advantage, his catch that dismissed Wilson being nicely judged.. Tucker did some good ground fielding, but missed ono very easy catch. : The wicket-keeping on both sides mu only moderate....

~ I 1 f '.V' . ro 3 -g- y K;\' ' ' h H & X . < *. Waters, Union 213 100 4 0 53.2 ■ ; Dempsc L vy Vivian ... 173 75 4 0 43.2 !■; -Blamiies, Artillery : 41 4-11 0 '■ 41.0 |. v. M'Gill, " Union ...... 131 72 4 0 .33.5 15-Cfcrding, Vivian . ... 129 75 i 0 32.2 ft/Hull, : : Tramways 98 42 3 0 32.0 ! M'Kav, P. and T.„ 91 35 s .3 1 30.3 j!'MTJldoivney, Orin'l 121 SG 4 1 30.2 j/V- Tyrell, P. and T. 120 78 4 . 0. 30.0 P/Little, Orieritid " 148' 50 5 1 29.6 Wyatt, P. and T ,81 38 3 1 27.0 I..v. Stainton, Bitds ... 79 50® 3 1 26.3 : AVeybournc, Artil'y 101 ' 57 s 4 1 26.0 George, liiva'.s ... 77 35= 3 1 '25.fi M-Evcdy, Eivals ...r 51 49 2 0 . 25.5 : i M'Kenzie, Eivals ... 74 32 3 1 24.6 j'i..'0'SnlIivan, Union 95 37 i 0 23.7 . Mu'.tord, Union ... G9 27 3 2 23.0 Plimmer, I'. and T. 13 28 2 1 '21.5 i ..: Knapp, P. and T.;. 60 41 3 0 20.0 Thompson, Orien'l:. 114 27 6 0 19.0 Carson, Vivian ... 71 48 .4 ,0 17.7 • ii Darroch,. Eivals ... 35 35 •-2 0 17.5 : ...Whelan, Union ... 51.. 32 3 0 17.0 Howe, Rivals ' ... • G3 .25 4 0 15.7 Shand, Oriental ....■, 78 - 41 5 1 15.G •.. Truscott, Oriental 47 27 -,3 1. 15.6 Bramley, Tramways 3S 35 3 0 12.G i: V. Smith, Artillery ... 62 ' 27 ,5 0 12.4 f.,'.Branz, Artillery ... 49 20 4. 0 '12.2 '•vGrcig, P. : and T. ... '38. 31* 3 1 12.2 ; Marshall, • Tramways. 36 . 22 3 0 12.0 I,; - M'lntyre, Artillery. 54 2-1 5 0 10.8 - Clapshaw, Tramw'ys' 32 15 3 0 10.6 i, Quee, Union ; . 21 10 2 1' 10.5 I . ■ "not out.'.' . . Iji addition to the foregoing, Toms (P. (i- endT.) has a not-out aggregate of 19; Pickpn (Oriental) has a no't-out aggregate Of 44. .-.