CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1313, 16 December 1911, Page 12

CRICKET.

[Bt Tub ISheajcee.] OUR OWN HOME AFFAIRS. A Letter from Templars C.C. Tho following letter, which sufficiei explains itself, has been received;— Sir,—l road with interest "Th Grade's" letter to you, re our cris team. His statements (reneraJly grossly inaccurate. Iu the lirst iiiace stales that wo aro seasoned veterans, only ono member is over twenty-th years of age, this disposes of tile It "veteran." Secondly, ho ftatefl t some of the players have averages o: century or more. Not at any piirt of sea.son has any member's avoTago excc od fifty—this by two players—tho rem? ing averages falliuy into rainparative significance. Then be further draws u] his imagination by saying that "soli of tho members of the team actui play senior Wednesday cricket. 'l'lier< only one player iu that competition, f I think you will agree, sir, that this no extraordinary criterion as to a inn capabilities as a cricketer as some of teams at present in that oompetit would lx) hard put to it to defeat boiue (ho present third grade teams: One reason why we did not aspire tho junior competition was tho cxpe attached to it. We have only eleven pi ers in the club, and most of them co not afford the extra expenditure li would bo incurred by so doing. In conclusion, sir, 1 would draw y< attention to this fact: We have been r ners-up for this competition for the p three yoar.s and twioe in tho fourth-cl championship previously, and never d ing that period have we made any oc plaint against the winning team oa 1 ground of their being too good. M of the present team have played w tlie club fiinyo its inauguration sot years ago, so if the players are really good as ''Third Grade" declares, then I club is deserving of every credit for 1 standard they have attained. Do you not think wo deserve some oompenso for our persistency? I tr; "Third ,Grade", will modify his views this matter, and before peaking inislo: ing remarks with a deliberate intent] of causing dissatisfaction, too nil) mo inquiries as to their accuracy.—l a etc., E. RYAN, See., Templars C.C , December J2, 1911. Pctonc and East B. A few weeks ago East A encoantoi disaster at I'etone under circumstam that entitled them to a certain ainoi of sympathy. On Saturday hist East" went out to bring back the ashes, ai instead, to put the matter bluntly,'wi knocked galley-wml. There aro "no i cuses to be offered. It was a fair a sijuare _ contest, and the visitors w< down like grain before the reaper. Tli hatting was weak in the back and will ami drooped almost from the start. Tin bowling was mediocre until Smith liven up the _ attack towards the end of 1 l'etone innings. The locals woro indebt for a good deal to Brice and Barber, b every team has its stars, and it detrai nothing from tho performance of I'eto that it has a bright particular constef lion revolving amidst its lesser lights Tho Irrepressible Taplin. Some batsmen pino for runs and soi are greedy for them, but the yearni for runs that fills the soul of Taplin is Ihi Jiff that stands out by itself. Befo he eamo in on Saturday, Brice and 1 partners had been giving a verv go exhibition of run-getting. They profit by every mistake in tho field, and looked us though thoy were cxhausti: (ho possibilities. Taplin brought n< light to haw on tho matter. With hi it is run first and consider the con* rjuenetvs afterwards. A cartoonist won picture him with ono too touching t ereji.se and the rest of liini straining i wards (lie other end. That is his babitu attitude. Tho peculiar thing is that ] was not run out. Tho fieldsmen 1 wo keen us mustard to get him, but somehci he slipped through their clutchcs : tiii n l t'me. Onco O'Shea had a clear sb at the stumps. A hit would have eo Japi iii his wicket, but there was a mi instead. Xext moment Taplin had g, home, turned, and was sprinting for a Other run from the overthrow. VVagstaff was responsible for the fine bit of fielding seen at IV.tone on Satn day. Brice had made a long drivo to tl boiinuury—and tho ball travels fast ov, the clean Petone out-Held—but Wa-stai with a racing run and a swift stoop f '«• i, * oi . I( "' SllC(; eeded in arresting t.| flight of tho ball and cutting down tl boundary .score, Tlio East Jj skipper had one shot in li locker which ho did not fire. O'Shea slow lobs are effective sometimes .who tho efforts of more graceful bowlers fai ami there seems no very good reason wh f.iey should not have been tried on Spin; day. Why Not Hit Hard? Hard-hitting batsmen are alwa\ favourites with tho cricket crowd, an only some bowlers prefer a man who lay the hat on resolutely to a more carcft player. So much admitted, it is surpri: ing that last batting is not cultivate more, especially as tho small minorit who practise it achiovo very fair succes in a general way. The timid playor wh scratches gently and uncertainly betrav a i Iks weaknesses' to tho trundlor, lot the latter find the blind spot in icngtii and in tho end lie is sure to mako mistake, ihe mistakes of the hitter, o tho other hand, arc quite likclv to lan. the ball out of the ground. .All this ar plies specially to cricket on tho Hasi' Jipservo, I'or on gome of tho wickets i is impossible to placo the field properlv and some of the boundaries aro ridieu louslv near. Last Saturday Blacklock, batting forsorvh against East A, demonstrated t< everybody » satisfaction that a man cai stay at tho wickets lonp enough to mak< a big score without playing the potter iu.? gauie. llis idea always appears to bi that the first object of a stroke should bi to make runs, wherefore he rareiv pafc a ball back down the carpet.' Some 01 his strokes last week were such jus Ik darod uot liavc risked had it been pos siblc to place the field out properly, bul he knew he could reckon on dropping th< ball uut of harm's way over a hanclj fenceWeakened Bowling—A Good Score. So it was that he smashed up the East bowlers' averages, and perhaps jangled their nerves a hit. Certainly Hicfo'y tosxid down some very cheap stuff to him, which was duly dealt with, and Gibbes was little less fortunate. Hickey is without doubt, one of the most dangerous slowbowlers in the town against men who lircl'er to go io work warily, or fearfully, iiut against a busy batsman he is often ;asy game, (libbes is always dangerous, ■arving paeo and length in a puzzling way iilulever his luck happens to be. Another mail who showed excellent form vith the bat was Phillips, but his score yas obtained by different methods. Ho itrikes one as a batsman who ought to mprove under eflicicnt coaching. Some of lis strokes are beautifully executed, but io lacks temperament or enterprise or uuiething. The attack was somewhat demoralised yhen Sheridan, Finlayson, and Findlav vere Ixitting, but all of them took full of tho weak bowling and smackd up their runs fast and freely. Considerng the bad beginning wade by the side 71! was an excellent score. But so also was the score of Hickson ml Howies, who hit up 82 without soprating before stumps wero drawn. Anyliing may happen now, but, given fine leather, a good wicket, and ordinary uck, East may win the match yet. Jccchey to the Rcscue. Tho most notable feature of the first tago of tho South-Central i>::>tch last toturday was the batting of V'wrhcy for !cntral. The match has been left at an uterosting stage, but (he details of the latch are not in themselves very enter:uning. South were sent in first, and lade a rather poor stand, only knocking p 126. And of this small total Laws Dnlributed 30 and Patrick 24. Patrick as looked upon as likely to compile a inch larger score, and his early downfall as a big loss to South, lie went out !irough a remarkable catch, of tho kind iiat comes oil' onco in a blue moon. The all ho hit was travelling hard enough ml high enough to be safe in ordinary ireumstaueos, and seemed to be rushing ifely over tho heads of tho field, when io long arm of Blamires shot up ami ist reached it. With Patrick and Laws 3M, ths toaai'i exit ir« a rapid ono.

Control then wont to tho crease, and, for Eomo timo, tho batsmen lost their wickets holus bolus. I'ivo men had come and gono for trilling amounts when Boechey appeared. South expected to get Beechey ciuight in tho flips, and, accordingly, set a large army thereabouts to do tho trick. But Beechey has not been caught yet, and his tally is now G3. Central has six wickets down for 128, so the match is either side's, though (ho odds look a little in favour of Central.

Clearanco of Stock,of best makes of Cricket Bats, at heavy reductions. Estate of late George Denton, 58 Willis Street.— Advt'.