SATURDAY BOWLING.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1372, 24 February 1912, Page 11

SATURDAY BOWLING.

_. , „,-... Vi'lits. Runs. Av'gc. Hickey (East A) 27 241 8.9 C. Hickson (Central)...' 10 146 9/1 Blamires (Central) ... 19 189 ■99 Gibbes (East A) 39 414 W [ B ienton (South) 28 321 lit Laws (South) 1.1 ics u.7 Bnco (Petone) ra 449 ]2 8 Saunders (College) ... 33 428 12 9 Luokie (Nortli) 18 035 j ;) j Bragge (Central) 32 445 13.9 E. B Jmld n (Hutt):...,3o: 419. 1,(9 Nash (East B) 15 o'B 15 " Rohinson 7 iCpn|Tal) ? ...^3.r,y i K. 3 tlalps (East ffi ..„'.'..;. 17''"275'"" 16.1 Pathck (South) . , 13 .21-1 . 16.5 n^'-'lS 0 ! 1 * ""•• 2 6 437 ■ • 16.8 Benhett (Petone.)' 17'. 333 m FirJ.ayson : ;(fcorth) ;.•....--= 20 ; - 399 19:9 Gnmmott (East B) :.. 11 otr on? nutohing 3 :(EastßV... 12 270 m A. H. Pringlo Hult) 15 349 23.2 Fmdlay (North) 13 '344 2 6 4

Now Blood In our MldJt. Are Chinamen eligible to play in district cricket? That is a question that will have to bo faced sooner or later in view of the display they gave on the Athletic Park on Monday last. It.is tru-j that they only had a single wicket game, but the display-crude and quaint ai it was-shows that "John" has a.s much energy in tho cricket field as in the cabbage patch, and if he could bo persuaded from talking the whole time ho is playing, he might be' developed' into useful mntcrial for district club cricket. This is oily mentioned as a contingency -one born of Wellington's poor showing TWnwff nta A iT ' e <j™H and tht > Chinese Kepubuc. It is true that so far Kling feoq bowls only underhand "grubbers," which Ah gee tries to hit by scrapim? the full length edge of the rlt ho ground, but tnc Chinese arc almost as imitative as the Jap, and a few lessons SSothn"^. !ronld rCC " fy m ' Ch triUins The Central Club might; for. example, commence recruiting in Hainin" Street vrhere the pick of the Republics reside.'

The New Wicket-wrecker-Hnzlitt. Hazlitt, who. secured 'tho wickets foi ' flew South Wales in tho State's latest csjayagainst P F. Warner's team, was up till this season, a Melbourne player He is tho son of "Iron-jaw" James W litt, one.ofjT._C. Wilhamsorivstaße ngers, a veritabTo Titan' ffi there is hard work to be done. Young lfazlitt pro- , raised to bo brilliant when plavin"- for Victoria threo years ago, end did some excellent work with both bat and ball, but owing to tho demands of the game interfering with his studies, .he 'Vent slow" for a timo. It would not be a surprising thing to hear ot him being selected to go to England this year. . • The District Schema. It is common talk among cricketers that the district scheino will get the knock of ltsine when tho annual korero of the association comes Tound again. Last year the preying feeW seemed to be ihat Diganisation by districts had not quite come up to expectations, but that it riiould be further tested before final imK ment was pronounced. " Since then feeling has intensified. Tho district scheme has a numerous band of declared enemies. Whether they are numerous enough to overturn it remains to be seen. c Ono objection to tho district organisation arises from the difficulty of satisfactorily adjusting boundaries. Some of the existing districts are much stronger than others, and to restore matters to anything like a state of Inlnnee would necesntafoayery radical readjustment indeed J District* which suprwt an A o'ul I)' team hay? troubles of their own. Pome' players, for instance, object to move from' ! on- tea n to tho other. In fact, the district organisation comes into c. nflict with tendencies and desires which would find easy and natural expression and -satisfaction under a club system. From tho goiornl standpoint di.-trict orfrnnisntinn is orderly und' methodical in a degree that would be impossible under a freer system. Its opponents maintain, i however, that it is mechanical and un-' yielding in a decree that qti"« e™.. '■ shadows this positive benefit. They contend that it stifles esprit de corps, and so tends eventually to stifle cricket. Those who advocate a return to the club BTstcm derive a good good of support for their,views from the example of (he chilis belonging to the local Wednesday .4s=oei.iHon. Wednesday cricketers ore upon the whole a much happier family limn t>»-e who .piny at the end of the week. The ! Wednesday men. though not rolling in wealth, are free from many of the worries, • financial and otherwise, that trouble their Saturday brethren, and seem to find the path of progress easier. It does not follow from the prevailin- ' discontent that the district schmne i« nb" i wilnWy doomed, but there i« little doubt , thnt if n"»ds a thorough overhauling, and I will got it. j

A Small Taste of Schmoll. Tho lively closing scene of tho South and Collego match on Saturday gave Schmoll an opportunity to display the qualities which have earned for him the reputation of being the best wicket-keeper in Wellington. Very often, particularly in a hustling finish, the work of tho wicket-keeper escapes notice, but it was impossible to ignore Schmoll. Ho was a personification of alert vigilance, and the College batsmen, for all then- desi-e to get runs in a hurry, simply did not dare to take liberties.

As it was, a number of them narrowly escaped the fato that overtook Griffiths, who was a victim rather to tho speed and skill of tho man behind the stumps thau to any particular failure on his own part. There are a number of promising young wicket-keepers coming on in local oricket, but the best of them have a long way to go before they can equal the standard that Schmoll consistently maintains, and of which ho gave ao tine an exhibition on Saturday.

The Astonishing Central Score. In tho Central and Hutt match, played at tho Hutt on Saturday .last, there was a much better exhibition of; batting than is usually seen oven in senior cricket in Wellington. Wilkinson and Beechey were tho top-scorers of the day, and both played fine cricket. Although tho fielding was not good, neither Beechey nor Wilkinson were let off" more than is usual In innings of such duration.

Beechey played his usual steady game, reserving his hard hitting.for safe balls, and playing cautiously to difficult ones. Contrasted with Wilkinson on the day'B play, Beechcv was only second best, oven putting aside" the respectivo totals of their scores.

Wilkinson quite surpassed his usual form, and changed from being an overcautious batsman, into tho hardened cricketer who feels that ho has got his eye in, and hits at almost everything. Ho played with great dash, and heavily punished all loose balls. Giving few chances, ho continued to pile his score up m threes and fours, driving hard and low lirst to the "off," and, maybe, tho next bull would bo taken on the full, and "belted" clean over the boundary. One ball he mnnaged to land on to tho top of tho grandstand, with a straight drive. Judd's howling was badily punished by both Wilkinson and Beechy. Tho ground was in good order, and the wicket was playing well.

A Contributor Holds Forth. A contributor arises -with battle in his eye, regarding some of tho Wednesday doings. .He. writes:—ln the ArtilleryUnion match 011 Wednesday last the fielding of the Union team was very loose. Tho way in which somo of the fieldsmen chased tho ball was pitiful to watch. Warne was one of tho greatest offenders, At times his run after a ball was little better than a walk, while some of the others have no. idea how to return a ball. If, in the deep-field, they merely jerk it in, and, if in close, they throwit in for all they are worth, not giving the wicket-keeper or bowler a chance to stop it, with the result that tho batsman gets two or three runs added to their' score. Fully thirty runs was scored in this way on Wednesday. Iu tho deepfield, three easy catches were missed by Warne, Harris, and O'Siillivan, whilo several chances in-field were not taken. In a talk with tho captain after the game, ho informed me that he had a lot of trouble getting the men to bowl when asked. If men refuse to bowl when asked by tho captain, such men should be dropped. In the Vivian-Post and Telegraph match, the fielding of the P. and T.was much below form, Caterer being missed badly whoa he was 34, whi]o the return, of the ball?vets?. too hard. The catch of the day was made by Slater taking Hill in the deep-field with the .sun vn bis. eyes. ..Tones, wicketkeeper, 'was in "good form. His two stumped wero done clean nnd well. I think ho is the best man behind the' stumps in Wednesday cricket. Vivians_ gave a good display in the field, their stopping and returning the ball was clean and.straight. The Orientals did not show at their best. Their ground-fielding nt times was veiy poor, and their returns slow. Rivals were a long way below form. None of the players seemed to put any life into their work. The absence of their secretary was noticeable. .He puts his heart into tho game, and the example encourages others to do likewise, and he is worth his place in any team for his fielding.

Some Wednesday Figure*, Tho following figures sufficiently indicate tho state of Wednesday cricket at present, and also gives an interesting indication of tho form of the players selected for the Wednesday representative team :— Batting Bowling Av'ce. Av'ge. \Vkts. •M'Gill 02.4 17.1 11 ♦Warms 58.2 6.8 9 •Smith 4-1.1 215 G 'Harris 39.3 ■ 5.4 31 "Sullivan 27.0 7.3 -i •'Greig 25.1 22.4 fi•Tnylnr 25.1 29.0 1 'Gourlay 2-U 14.4 25 Bailey 23.1 11.1 32 KnapD. 22.2 12.2 13 •Georgo ' 17.fi G0.2 3 ♦•Thompson 17.(1 9.8 18 JfKcnzio 16-7 JG.2 17 O'Siillivan 15.2 15.6 IS '"Dr. M'Evedy ... 15.1 85.4 G •Mills U.e, . 15.5 17 ••Cooper 14.0 5.7 10 •Ryan 14.0 14.fi 9. 'Ji'lntyro 8-0 11.6 13 •Indicates those selected. '•Emergencies.

Selection of Mid-Week Representatives, Ono is inclined to think that the Wednesday selectors have made a fair selection, but, at the Mine time, there are others who should have received consideration, viz., Bailev (Artillery), Knapp (P. and T.). M'Kenzie (Uivals), and O'Sullivan (Onion). As will be seen by the list appearing in this column, they Tiave better performances than some of both in the\tcam and as emergencies. . • "Maybe, My Cricketing Days are Over." There was a touch of pathos in Mr. ■Warner's lotlcr to tho "Westminster Gazette," written from Sydney on December! 6:—'As for myself, I fear I shall not piny again this tour. It is a bitter, bitter disappointment to me, but if anything could allay that disappointment it is the kindness and sympathy T have received from everyone in Australia, and not only in Australia, for messages have reached mo from every part of the world, 'lo be struck down at the commencement of a tour is indeed a cruel fate, but J have been so very lucky all my life that I must try not to complain. "Maybo my cricketing days aro over, and it they are it will be some solace to know that tho last time I played at my beloved Lords I made 121. the Inst timo I played at tho Oval I made 2-lli, and the last time I played in Australia I made 131. I say this in no boastful spirit—l am in no boasting mood just now—but it is at least a pleasant thought to one who is suffering from a knockdown blow. My team tell me that 1 am indispensable. I reply that no one in the world ever has been or ever will be that, and that in Douglas they havo a good fighting man to lend them."

On "Doing a Bit" in the Air. Young bowlers should give more attention to the swerve (says a writer in "The Arrow"). Quite a number of bowlers are able to do a bit in the air with the new ball. But there are further possibilities than that in the swerving ball, as tho English bowlers have reminded us. In IS'J7-8 and later Australia was helped to victory in "the ashes" by the swervo of If. A. Noble. To-day we find England helped to "the ashes' by the swerving bowling of 1~. 11. foster, K. F. Harm's, and J. W. Jt. T. .Douglas, Hie two amateurs in particular malting Hie ball swing, Douglas a little either way-