CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1079, 18 March 1911, Page 12

CRICKET.

tßx The Bkeakeb.l A PILL FOB MELANCHOLIA. Below is printed a comparison that ' should bo of interest to those who are fond of talking of the general decline in local cricket. Wo have been assured with "demnable iteration" of late that tho days- that are are not like tho days .that were. The hard logic of figures, however, drops the poor pessimist on his head with an audible thud. The table ■ 'given below shows tho leading batting | and' bowling . averages at the beginning of March, 1909, and at the same period . 1 this year.' The figures point decidedly to more successful batting, and tho bowling averages for the, present season compare not unfavourably with those of 1909. It ! may 'bo that our cricket is bad at times " —it was bad last Saturday. But where * Is th.e j "general decline" ?; . Batting Compared. March, -1909. •. March, 1911. Tucker ....... 04.7 Blaniires ... 6'.2 Muhoney 47.5 Bruce 50.8 ; : Payne 43.0 Blacklock ... 49.1 .Brice, 41.1 Midlane 46.1. .: Blacklock ... 33.0 Naughton ... 37.0 : Bruce ,32.2 Staples 36.4 M'Gill 32.0 Tucker 34.7 Monaghan ... '30.7 Brice .34.0 i C. Hickson ... 25.8 Crombie .... 33.3 Richardson... 28.0 Waters 32.8 Hodge 28.0 Mahoney ...,-30.1 Ashbolt 27,6 Wills ... ( itl.u ;, Bowling Compared. March, 1909. ' March, 1911. >. Monaghan ... 8.0 Hickey ........ ;9.4': Mason 10.0 Gibbe's ' .......7 ' 9.8" ; Miller 11.0 Graco 10.0 ; Tucker t 11.1 Upham • 10.5 Kodgers ...... 11.4 Hales 10.9 . Mitchell,-'-v.;.. 11.6 Pringle It' 2 The Beginning of the' End. There was no" blaze c£ glory about the : beginning of the end in Saturday senior ; cricket. On the contrary, cricketers beginning tli« th'rec-day games ,'which. had : given rise; to some hopeful anticipations", ' settled down into a steady jog-trot, and > the spectator was not often called upon : to_. cheer or otherwise exert himself. i :,}Vhen East A meet Centra! A a struggle is liable to happen at any time, but it ~ happened only in a modified form on ; Saturday. The game was of'tho kind . that justifies a spectator in pulling -bis ; .hat down over his eyes, assuming at atti- ; tudo of repose, and desiring to be called when things threaten to become exciting. Each team played shorn of some of tho C elements that normally confer its great- . est strength. Modified as it was, tho : game did amount to a contest of a kind. However, the fielding by both teams de- : serves a word of praise. It was sm'art, clean, and effective, and! failures of any ; importance were few. As to bowling, it . cannot be claimed, that tho , work of ; either. East 1 or Central trundlers rose to ; any pitch of-brilliancy, but that it answered all 'reasonable expectations the figures of the day amply demonstrate. .What Was Wrong With the Batsmon? Above all things else the match was remarkable^fqr almost unbroken unanifnity with which, flic men who ordinarily pile up big' scores were bowled or caught or-otherwise overwhelmed at slight cost in runs to their opponents. This aspect of the gamo lent it an element of delightful .uncertainty." As batsman after batsman appeared wWlias"often given bank and pavilion causo to cheer, it was '. difficult to believe that lio would follow iugloriously in tho wake of his discomfited predecessors. It was only at the -fag end of the aftei'noon that hope finally evaporated, and it becamo evident that the day of. the big batsman was somo other day. ' As has been said, the contest was keen, despite the failure of tho big men. An • outbreak of better cricket was liable at any moment, but somehow the possibility failed to materialise. Capable fielding and dogged bowling do not in themselves oonstitute an attractive spectacle, and the average spectator, a person who demands, . as tho price of his interested npproval, an all-round contest, with spirited batting . as an' integral feature, must have been disappointed. Tho Batsmen Who Count. A moral to bo partly drawn ■ from the turn of Events in tho premier contest on Saturday is that the teams engaged, like other, local teams, depend tco much for . their batting strength upon one or two batsmen. When these nabobs of the willow fail, and they have a habit of doing ; it all together, now and then, the team • they serve is loft, in porn straits. Tho weakness is one that good coaching, and .'.tho liope> of better cricket that is now i dawning may servo gradually to eradicate, but as tilings now stand it is provocative of aggravating lapses at times. A week or' two ago, in their last match against East A, Central, put up a batting performance that merited the description of first-class. -The difference between this and their poor showing on Saturdav Kprang mainly from tho extinction of one or tiro batsmen. The harmless necos- - , sary tail wagged about as effectively on the latter occasion as.it can ever be expected to do. East A's Lost Opportunity. East A deserve all sorts of discredit for failing to ■ make good use of the opening afforded by the collapse in their opponents' batting. As Midlane, Tucker, Gibbe?, and Mahoney one by one sadly went away, optimism lied, and an air of gloom settled down over the-motc.il. As things stand now it is anybody's game with the odds somewhat in favour of. Central. It is still ius'i possible, however, that, East may pull up to somo extent oil'their first innings. Among the batsmen stilj available tu stem the tide of the Central'attack are Baker and Howe, lately promoted from the B team, and each n promising bat. Possibly their efforts may serve to clap a creditable tail-picco to an innings that opened, and developed through half its length, in unmitigated disaster. ... A One-Man Effort. The dash of TwohiH'p opening attack and the steady vigour and methodical precision with which Dickson held up .what had seemed a hopc-U-ss collapse on the part of South wero tho features of visible importance in the game between North and South. The recovery of South restored interest in the game when it was in some danger of evaporating altogether. Even as it is the contest seems to have taken a big list in favour of North. From the capital opening that Blacklock made it is tolerably certain that North, with ten wickets still to lose, will obtain a big margin of runs on the first innings, and if South manage to recover lost ground it will amount almost to' a miracle. Dickson lifted the team out of hopeless defeat, and opened a ban? possibility of victory. One man could scarcely have done more.' East B and Central B, In tho Central B v. East B match, East B appear to have a good chance of winning, though often tho unexpected happens. On the first innings they are only 19 behind their opponents, with the loss of two wickets. Watson, jjio of tho two men out, had hard luck in having his wicket thrown down through Wilson declining to take on the run. In this innings Kobinson, tho Central B mediumpaced bowler, cut up rather badly. Ho seemed to bo little relished in consequence. Altogether Central B tried.four of their bowlers against Crombie and Johnston, who had got well set. Crombie was fortunate in being let off in the field, when at 25. A feature of the innings of Central B was Johnson's bowling. Several times he was missed in the field. Schlaadt batted with great success in -this innings.. though at the start Patterson cave most

[jromise. Sisson compiled a lucky 12. j Sisson's stylo is rather agninst him; before he can hit a ball ho has to get out of an awkward posture, and he scarcely ever seems at case. This match, if Central B collar tho bowling in their second innings, may yet develop interestingly. When tho tablo showing the aggregate points obtained by each team engaged in the senior championship competition was last printed in these columns an injustice was done to East B. The team was credited with onl,v"eight points, whereas in fact it has obtained ten, and stands on the list bracketed with Central A for second place. , Junior Championship. Following are the positions of the various teams competing this season for the junior championship:—

Central withdrew from the competition, and Wellington College did not play during vacation. --■■-« ' There are two more matclie? ,to be played, the season, for junior cricket closing on April 2. The Wednesday Finals. The final round in tho Wednesday games opened this week, and will conclude on Wednesday nest. Tho position of teams was stated in the columns last week. ' Schools Championship. 1 ThO''scUo6l<i' : ch|iihpi'(jnship "has been captured by the : Clyde 'Quay Sclio'oi, which played nine matches, \«ih sSVeny'aiid lost two. ; A bat presented by Mr. J. Dutliio for the member of the team obtaining the best batting average has been won by J. Anderson. 'Following are some of the leading averages obtained by members of the Clyde Quay team during the season: —Eatting: J. Anderson, total.. run?. 284, average 31.55; L. France, total runs 54, average 18.0; T. M'Carrison, total runs, 105, average 11.08; 1.. M-'Giny tottil runs 95, average 10.55'; 'K. 'Martin; 'total runs 41, average 6.83;- A. Heginbotliajn, total runs 19; average G. 33; K. Pitkowsky: total runs 31,' average 6.20;- •••• Bowling: J. Anderson, 52 wickets. 190 runs, average 3.G5; W. Hicks, 35 wickets, 139 runs, average 3.97; L. M'Girr, three wickets, 45 runs, average 15.0. , , • A Bowlers' Banquet. " . The final Test at Sydney, says a writer in the ''Bulletin," was joyful.in .its weird unexpectancy., On Friday - tho sticks were drawn with Australia. 281. for tho loss of three wickets, and the crack batsmen still in-the pavilion. Saturday was bright; so the cricket fiend rose early, sharpened lii.s pencil and "records" bump, and to the number of 24,321 rushed to Sydney Cricket Ground to revel in a mammoth total. Never was greater promise of a bumper score. But the bottom fell out, and instead of a baismens feast it was a bowlers' banciuet. Hie Australian tally was 345 for five wickets when . Schwarz seized the leather.' I hen there was chaos. ' Trnmpor, Hi 11, Hansford, Armstrong; and Cotter fell' before that wily bowler, and' the sido was. m a heap for 364-only 19 rtuis'nf/er commenced his butchery. His figures oil the day werp five wickets for six runs, and on the innings six for 47. Great was Schwarz! But-lie must sliare his glory with wieketkeeper Sherwell, who was catlikri"irt "his agility. - Schwarz tempted Hill, Eansford, mid Cotter, and Sherwell did the rest. No other visiting stumper has shown such excellent work as Sherwell; up to the end of the first innings of the last Test be bad stumped nine and caught eight—l 7 'of. the. 80 Australian wickets which had ftillen in theest campaign. 'Great is' Sherwell!

■ 9 ' ... V • -3 _ ' s. s •'■■N - .7 ,.3 ,> 0 -2. o , -PH . K* W H P< Petone 9 8 ' 1 23 27 St. Mark's i- 3 7 2 21 27 East 9 G 3 18 27 Hutt 9 .5 4~. '14 27 Johnsonville 8 4 ..4....',12. 24 Y.M.C.A ..... 9 4 5 12 27 Nortli 8 3 5 9 24 South 9 3 6 9 27 'Wellington Col. ... 6 2 4 6 IS Victoria Col 8 2 6. .- 6(?) 24 Central 6 ,1 5 3 18