A WEEKLY RECORD OF SPORTS & OTHER PASTIMES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1390, 16 March 1912, Page 12

A WEEKLY RECORD OF SPORTS & OTHER PASTIMES.

CRICKET.

[Bt tot Bbeaseb.]

Who Will Win? The senior ohampionship tourney looks more interesting just now than at' any time previously during the season. If East A beat Central to-day they will certaiuly finish in the leading position, but to uo tinat they must achieve something almost impossible. Central have a lean of sixty odd runs on the first innings with lour wickets in hand, and East will be exceedingly lucky it they ■ can force a win outngut. All things are supposed to bo possioie until the match is over, but this timo it appears as if Central will oount a two-pointer and draw level. , Then the Association will havo to decide what snail bo dono next. It was the intention tnat another round of matches should bo piayed before closing tho season, but this may not settle . . the argument, for East A and Central would Dβ very likely to beat any teams to which they may happen to bo opposed. The obvious thing tor ■ tjie Assoeiaciou to do-eeeius to be to match these two teams again, and this they will no doubt event- , ually decide to do. If this should happen the season will end tor other senior players to-day: Early in tho contest, when Hickoy and Gibbes, bowling tor Kast A, were apparently irresistible, and when no batting task proved to bo beyond the . team's ; . strength, East .were regarded as certain 'tfihficrs. 'Even now they would bo in the leading position, but lor a stupid piece of bungling on the part of someone on a wet Katuruay morning somo, months ago. They were to play at Petonei and, all the town, matches being declared oil', half the East side took it tor granted that there would bo no play ut Petone and did not put in an appearance. The result was that a half team was beaten by Petone. Central have in; tho meantime been improving' their batting, and now they can safely challenge comparison with any team playing in the city. It may be taken for granted that the two teams will play off, iind it will certainly be a good match. Another interesting feature of tho seaeon's play-has been , the success of Vic- ; toria '■ College. ■ Thera was a movement ,'afoot before the matches started to dis- '■.- rato this foam to-junior grade, and tho , College men have retorted by getting in- * to tho running for second place. ■■■ Again This "Glorious Uncertainty." The collapse of tho East A batting last week is not to be accounted for; it was Biinply ono of those things which happen ;' every now and then in cricket, and which go to make the game interesting, for '.without a. spice of uncertainty tho game would be scarcely worth playing. IV'itnout- discounting unduly Naughton's performance of six for 25 with the ball, . it is impossible to forget that he is, generally speaking; only a moderate bowler. Only four times, previously has ho been : given, a. turn this season, and his' total tapture was seven wickets at a cost of 108 runs—by no means a good record; However, the, fact is that he made all the East men very uncomfortable all tho time last Saturday, and it was to his new access of form that Central now owe their winning position. The only batsman who '. played him with an}; certainty was Baker, who really saved his side from the ignominy of being sent back with a total of less than half a century. The East attack hnd no sting, and Cen.tral's score was rather lower than it should have been. Gibbes, who was bowling, .a abo.ye his usual pace, '. . took.three.wickets-in-the first hour, andkept runs down, buttafter that he was , easy game. M'Gii-r bowled well, but took' only one wicket, and Nash was exceedingly lucky to get two. Tho best batting. form in the Central innings was that of Beechey and Jackson. The former is,nover stylish, but he was very effective in this innings, scoring his 58 (not out) with strokes to all parts of the field. Jackson, who made his first nppearance with the seniors, has surely been wasted all the. season. Ho is a good enough bat to play for any first eleven, if he can be relied upon. His defence is remarkably good, he times a ball beautifully, and he gets strong scoring shots with a minimum of effort. Blamires batted well for 20, but in the end broke his wicket clumsily in. stepping back to swing at a full toss. Douglas Disappointed. . . The English captain Douglas (according to the Sydney "Bulletin")- comments ' apropos of cricket generally: "I was a bit disappointed with the Australian batting. It is not nearly as good as it was, and I suppose it 'is only natural that men like Trumper cannot keep up their dazzling form for ever. Some of the cracks, however, have gone back more than was expected ... In a few years to come there will bo many very fine cricketers playing for Australia. Some of the best batting wo encountered was outside the Tests—and none better than that of Jennings.' , The Use of Rhodes. . Two English batsmen this season joined those who have made 1000 runs against Australia, viz., J. B. Hobfcs and W. E. Rhodes (says the "l'eferee"). Both .men have mide tho bulk of their runs in Australia, Hobbs . having met with exceptional success out here, though it is somewhat strange that' he has not yet played a,really big innings in Sydney. The career of W. B. Rhodes as batsman in these matches has been unusual. He began as the eleventh batsman on the side, having been originally chosen for his bowling. In his first 12 innings ho . wa3 not out eight times, and in his first 12 innings ho reached double figures twice only. But after that ho gradually , im- , proved, until tliis season ho far surpassed everything, else he has done in Australia, averaging C 6 in the Test matches, and scoring 179 in the second Melbourne match, besides making two centuries against Now South Wales. A Book' Cricketer. Mayne, one of the Australian Eleven for England, attributes any success ho has achieved to the study of books on cricket. •"I have," he said, "a great library of cricket books. I have picked up all my cricket out of books. I didn't know a thing about it, and embraced hints a3 to how to etand, hqw to hold the bat, and how to make Die various strokes. C. B. Pry's book has keen of most value to me, Jim Mackay told me that he had to thank books for his skill. He sworo by W. G. Grace's book." Mayne has never paid much attention to bowling, but has on occasion broken up useful partnerships in big cricket. Ho has, however, made a close study of fielding at point. In this position he ranks with the bust. He has caught more men for South Australia than any other player in the team, tho wicket-keeper included. Ho gave a sample of his quality on ono occasion on the Sydney Cricket Ground, where ho caught Ivelleway, Bardsloy, and i Cotter in the ono innings. Laver and ' ><oblc have , both gono put of their way to : congratulate him on his work in the field ■ in this.position—one, by tho way, that few : ■playew hanker after. ( Miscellaneous Notes. : Mr. J. W. Trumble, who went to Sydney ; to endeavour to work up a movement in ] opposition to the Board of Control's actions respectiu!! tho Australian team, is an elder brother of (he famous bowler, Mr. Hugh Truv'.ble, who is now secretary of the Melbourne C.C. J. W. Trumblo visited England with the 1886 team, and had a ' crcditabln all-round performance. ' Regarding the personnel of the men who J nre going, opinion-* here are almost undivided thnt C. E. Doliiiir.; should have been selected {-nys nn Adelaide writer). ' He has a splendid record in first-class , uiatche.s, and it would assuredly have i been better, if his incdicul studies find not ■ prevented him from ploying in the parly , matches o)' Ihe season on the Adelaide Oval. For years he has'plnyad nearly ; all his innings a'rty from his own ground, s so that good judges-here think that the ' more or less orcjicrkiiPiital team poing to England should have.included Dolliiipr. ■R. E. Gregory played Foster with better judgment and greater skill than anyone i else (says tbn Sydney "Ifcfcnw"). He , covered his' wicket with his body, but ( used his bat, the ball rarely touching hi* ' Ucs or 'botlv. This kind of attack, when 1 iiu- Hflw-le.r'liri.« all the vitality of youth,

and is able to keep a length , , is most perplexing. Indeed, jt is more or less dangerous, In a physical sense, to the batsman. To Foster's bowling, more than any other single element in iho cricket of the team, therefore, I attribute the great success of tho cnmpaign. A feature of tho orioket upheaval (says tho Sydney "Bulletin") was the promptitude with which the gentlemen who had been invited to go to England responded to tho invitations. Acceptances went back by the next mail. The Eleven, having been duly and lawfully picked, then held a meeting to elect a manager. It was unanimously decided that as the gentleman who was going to Jook after the board's eharo of the business had consented to act as players' manager, he be duly elected. Here endeth tho cricket row. Wednesday Enterprise—Getting a Team From Australia. Most who know anything about Wednesday cricket in Wellington will hnrdly require to bo told that, under its present management, it is going ahead. Ihe following letter, which explains itself, indicates tint it intends to go a stop further. The letter, which has been dispatched by Mr. J. C. Cusack (secretary of the Wellington Wednesday Association) to Invercargill, Dunedin, Timaru, Christchurch, Pairaorslon North, Ancklaud, Wangauui, and Napier, is as follows: To the Hon, Secretary, Mid-week Cricket Association. Sir,—A- leading member of our association (Mr. A. A. George, captain, of liivals Club) is leaving for a trip to Melbourne, and, on behalf of tho above association,' will endeavour to arrange tor a team from Melbourne to visit Now Zealand next season, with a view of playing n match with each of the mid-week associations in .tho Dominion. In the event of such arrangements being made, would your as'sccm- ; tion be prepared to."arrange a match, in your centre, and, if so, could you' <■ give any idea, what amount your association could guarantee? I would ask that you place tin's before your committee as soon as possible, and let me have a reply at your earliest convenience.—l am, etc., J. C. CUSACK, Hon, Sec. . An Eight-Men Team. The Hutt-East B match, which was opened on the suburban ground on Saturday, attracted very little attention, and so far has been a very unattractive game. The fact that East S could only muster eight men to send to the wickets robbed the contest of interest from the start. Then, when Hutt went in to bat, East B had practically only Hales to do tho bowling. The other bowler of note in tho B team (Grimmett) had bsen taken by the A team to strengthen their eleven in- tho important match against Central. Under ' the circumstances, East did not do badly in knocking up 143. Their commencement, was gloomy indeed, the first two batsmen retiring without scoring. The next man in (Hutchings) did what ovory spectator likes to see the man at the wickets dp—he went for the bowling. By free, clean cricket Hutchings scored nil round the wicket, 'and played a capital innings for Jiis 43. Other batsmen brought the scoro up slowly, but the innings looked likely to close for less than the century, when Hales went in, and stuck them very stubbornly. He oniy made SI. but he had uphill work, and 'm , was heartily applauded for carrying Ws bat, and helping considerably to prolong the innings when things were at their worst. Tho Hutt men have, as yet, but commenced their innings, but as Halee is the only recognised bowler in _tho team which.has entered the contest "for" East, Hutt may have the opportunity fair aggregate of runs.