GOOD GAME TO WIN.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1348, 27 January 1912, Page 6

GOOD GAME TO WIN.

SHIELD CRICKET. CANTERBURY OPEN STRONGY- ' ON EASY TURF. OUR CATCHING AGAIN POOR, 'By Telerr*»i—-frMi AxuiMLeaJ Christchurch,- January 28. • Canterbury were called upon to defend the.Pfunkdt Shield again to-day, Wellington :thi3 time-being tho'aqn rants for New Zealand's cricket supremacy. There was a fair attendance, and those present saw ■ eia interesting ■ afternoon's cricket. The Canterbury batting was of tha. aggressive • order, and fan tho first two hours they ■ scored at the Tate of a. hundred ail hour.' The .Wellington out-cricket wus not impressive. None, of the bowlers seemed difficult, and, speaking generally, tho bats- ; man gotthomselves out rather: than boting'ticateir by tho tnmdlers. The ground ■ fielding was fairly good, though most of tho northerners wero elow.in getting to i anything-. that did nob como straight to ' them. Berendsen made a splendid showting, at. the wickets. Of the balls that .'■went .for byes, one was quite out of his ireach,. and another ho merely let go, (thinking, it must hit the wicket. The I three-catches , which he made at the wickf ets| were all'good'.ones.' Tho Wellington. team 'was as .follows:— 1 M.- J. 'Crombio (captain), 33. M. Beechoy, 0. BlamirM. V. Berendsen, Wi S. Brico, ID; G. Patrick,'A. H..Fenton, S..A. <MidJ. J.-Mahjoney/.W. Ri X. Gibbes, and 'J;r V. ;Sannders. ; ' Messrs.-Wilson ianH Caygill 'were . the I umpires, and Wellington and Canterbury I were, captained by Crombie and Reese reUpectiveiy. v ; ; - ! •. f Reeso' won .tho ,tesa, and had no hesita--1 tion; Jri'sending -WelUngton' into'.; the field. ,i At.ten.'nuniite Lusk and Hayes (Went out,!"'to',opeiTj Canterbury's inj nings,-'anil, Saunders opened the bowling 1 to Lnsk. wlio ex-Australian's sec- ! ond 'aSd third-.balls'past > "third man for i fbiirajtd-threc. had charge of the attack the 'other end, and a couple of ipait;s ?to li'nsk-sent .tho. first 10 on the 1 board.. The same batsman presently got two more pairs—tho last as tho result of , a dangerous-stroke through the slips. In ' the.following over he gave a difficult -chance in the slips, and then got under • the next, and lifted it high to long-on. ißoechey well, waiting right un- : der the catch, but dropped it. In the following over Hayes was caught at the wicket, Barondsen holding the catch cleverly'at the second attempt. 25—1—1. Norman followed, and presently Patrick, ; for the second time, beat Luslc without hitfing the wicket. The newcomeir soon t in a couplo of 'good off ■ drives, three and four resulting, arid'a fine pull stroke for four to Lusk sent ,40 up. Norman Tpacfied double figures with a pretty fouT past-third man, and Lusk got into the thirties with a fine "fourer." Fifty went lip for half 'an: hour's'play, and TOO'followed \i. few minutes later. ' Runs were now coming fast,- and this brought about . a change of bowling, Brice replacing PatTick, whos© ■ five overs had cost 24> runs. Another "fourer" to Lusk and singles sent 70 up, Lusk's share being 10, while Norman passed: 20 with a four through the slips. , then lifted Saunders nearly to the fence with a- fine off drive, and .the West Christchurch man reached his half century in 50 minutes, while Norman, with a sjjlendid off drive for four through the slips, brought ;0 against his name. This over-by Saunders costila tubs, and he was taken off ik favour of Gibbes. Fenton alio roplaced Brice, and'Noi'man, with a beautiful off .drive, sent the-century, up,' after exactly an hour's play. . Tho same batsman then got Gibbes to square-leg, thus reaching 40. In tho sa.me over, however. ho chopped a short-pitched ono to his wicket.

W. Carlton followed, but, withoiut scoring. he was caught at the wicket, the batsman appearing not to'relish the decision: Reese joined his club mate, but the lak tir opened out to ; Fenton, and gave Beechey another ■ catch at long-on, which was this time 'acconted. '

Hickmott was nest, and sent 120 np with a- nice four to leg. Reese got a quartette in the same direction, ami reached double figures with another fourto I eg. Hickmott aI jo reaching ten. A moment later good fielding,, by Fenton saved a four, but Hickmott off-drove Gibbes for four, and hit the next ball finely to squarc-leg, reaching 20 with the stroke.

At this stage Midlane retired with an injured haml/T. Carlton fielding for him. A fine ofl-drivo by Reese sent 150 up for an hour and a half's play..' Saunders replaced Gibbes at 151, but both batsmen got in some fine strokes; and kept the fic6ro going, merrily until Reese returned a ■ soft one' to Saunders.

Patrick was in next, and his Wellington namesake now replaced Fenton. at tho crease. _ The. - chango . steadied i. the runs for a time, but presently the score again mounted rapidly, 200.going up after two hcrars'-,,pla;v . ; ; •

' A'liew .ball was requisitioned, and Brice replacedSaunders.. Hickmott, who had ba-tteib without-, a weak stroke, . reached .Wii-.Jjut'" was ~ then taken- well at tho wickets. . •..., . . ... ■Sandman was the ingoer and,'after slow play, he' was bowled by a short one. IV Carlton filled- tho -vacancy, but was caught in the slips without scoring, and Boxsball joined Patrick. The .latter was j playing splendid cricket and tho score was advanced slowly. Saunders again bowlml in place of Patrick, and the htter's imraesake gavo Blamires a difficult chance, in-the slips. Two confident! appeals for ."leg before" , against Patrick were given-in the batsman's favour, and then : Boxshall, opening out, sent 270 up Three . riuis. later Gibbes replaced Brice, niid Boxshnll,'going, .for .a fqolish run, was ..run out, Berendsen Inking a difficult. return well. Bennett, the'last mail, was given out.' leg-before to a ball which apparently: pitched a foot outside the leg shimij, and the . innings closed, aftor 3} honr.-'-. play, for 277.. •Wellington .then had a quarter of an hour, to bat, .Crombio and Fenton opening thp. innings to" the bowling of Bennett and' Reese; The former bowled the Wellington' skipper with a good ball in lu's second- over, and Reese treated Fenton in' the same. way 'in the '.'next • oyer. Saunders' came 'in next and got Reeso finely to-tho les' boundary. Stumps were thVn : drawn.' 'The ; weather promises fino for tomorrow.' Canterbury—First Innings. H. B. Lusk. c. Beechey, bi'Ventim .....'. 61 W. Hayes, e. Berendsen, c. Saunders • 1 A: Norman, b. Gibbes 42 W. Carlton, c.; Berendsen, b. Gibbes...' 0 D. R-eese, c. and. b.'Siiunderg 27 R. G. Hickmott, c. Berendsen, b. Pat- • rick 52 W. Patrick, not out 62 D. Sandman, h. Brie# •, 2 T. Carlton.' c. Blamires, b. Patrick ... 0 C; BOxsh'ali; run out ■ 19 J. H. Bennett, 1.b.w,, b. Saunders 0 Extras. 11 Total . ......V.;.. 277 ' H6w tho Wickets Fell. 1-2 3 4 5 6 7' 8 9 10 25 107 111. 113 170 220 223 223 274 277 Bowling Analysis. Overg. MAns. Runs. Wkta. Saunders ... 19' 5 92 3 Patrick- ... 15 2 59 2 Brice 15 4. 50 1 Gibbes 7.1 29 2 Fenton 7 — . 36 1 • Wellington—First: Innings. M. J. Crombie; b. Bennett 4 A. H. Fenton, b. Reese 0 F. A. Midlane,-'not out 1 J. V. Saunders, not out •. 4 . Byes 1 ..'.TofaJ 4ot: tro iriokete ..•••W

J WHAT CHANCE? TELEGRAMS FROM THE TEAM. Private telegrams received in Wellington yesterday from members of tf\e Wellington team indicato the position with clearness. Ono of these messages ran as follows:— A blustering easterly blew across the wicket,, but, the conditions were otherwise perfect. Fortune is.favouring Canterbury fpr the third time in succession, for Wellington lost the toss, and catches were flying, np all the innings. Thongh most of these, however, were almost out of reach, but two worn missed which should hare lx;on accepted. Tho fielding, apart from these, was excellent, and Midlane . was superb. Hiekmott's batting was easily the best on the Canterbury side, but the efforts of Patrick and Norman were commendable. Lusk's display was poor, but lucky. Tho field is a good one for scoring, and the scoro is about equal to 220 runs on tho Basin Reserve, as shown by tho time occupied—3J hours. Our bowling was consistently good, and Patrick's trundling'was better than his figures-indicate. Borondsen was in good form, taking three good ones. Wellington started badly, endeavouring to keep up their wickets in the last few minutes, but the score is not beyond them if tho batsmen can accommodate themselves to the change in wicket. On the whole tho balls were keeping low, oncl were therefore easy. The wicket is not expected to wear well through four long innings, but the conditions are promising for to-morrow (Saturday). , " " FIRST DAY'S PLAY, BERENDSEN- AT HIS' BEST. (By Teleeraph — SDedal Oortespondent.) : Christchurch, January 26. If there were any Wellington - people present at tho match to-day they would h'ariUjr bo enthusiastic over their chance of seeing the shield removed to tho Empire City. The • northerners, however, are not in an irretrievable position. ■ On the contrary, considering the perfect wicket, tho- Canterbury total should-; have been much bigger, and,- if tho , invaders have the batting .talent to. take advantage of the,-plumb and fast pitch, -tho shield-holders should not-have any great first-innings' nurplns.'".' ' . The Wellington-..bowlers, judging by the ease witliwhich the Canterbury batsmen played; theni,' appeared, "to bo .only, ordinary. -.At any • rate,- ■ they rarely," •if ever, had the. batsmen in trouble, - and several- of the best - batsmen,were- got rid of luckily.. On the other hand, .one.' or ,tWo-'lapses on tho; part of the fieldsmen cost the side .a good-'many runs, tusk, besides being missed in the slips at 13, gave' Bcechey A catch as easy as a longfield catch could, be, but, though -he judged it jierfe'ctly, and looked as if he were going to hold it, ho dropped it. This was an expensive miss. Patrick was also missed in the' slips, but this was late in his innings, and was not so costly-a mistake.' • • • ■_■ Apart from the bowling figures, Patrick was certainly the best bowler on the Wellington side. Indeed, • ho was the only one who looked as; though he might get a batsman out. The others gave no trouble, and most ■ of their wickets wcro given them by the batsmen. . . ■ Very few mistakes were made in the ground fielding, 'though the Wellington men- did not, as a rule, display much energy in getting to ■ or chasing balls that did not come straight to them. Berendson's work as the wicket-keeper was quite the best feature. of Wellington's out-cricket. Only three balls passed him for byes, and ono of these he let go, thinking -that it .would - hit. Lusk's wicket. Another one was quite out of his reach. He gathered. in the from the' field very cleverly,, and .the" tliree catches, which he made were difficult, ones; ■

The Canterbury batsmen gave an exhilarating display, for, witli very few exceptions, the runs were scored by powerful and well-timed strokes. Of course, the fastness of the outfield made' this more apparent tlian real, and, if the weather hoick to-morrow (as there is every indication of its doing) the Wellington batsmen will have the same advantage. Hickmott, the High School boy, gave a thoroughly sound display that would have been creditable to a seasoned batsman. He was never in trouble to the bowling, picked out his ball to hit with unerring precision, ■ and scored his runs by first-class, shots in all directions. Patrick's; batting, was equally good,; his off-driving being a treat to watch. Lusk, apart from the chances which he offered, gave -an aggressive display that hugely delighted the onlookers. He showed scant • respect • for the bowlin?, took all the risks, and pnt a tremendous lot of power into his strokes. Norman's was a stylish display marked by very sound defence and beautiful scoring strokes all round the off-side of the wicket. Reese was at hig best in making his 27, and, induing by the way in which he was shaping, it was lucky for Wellington that Saunders held him off his own bowl-