CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1687, 1 March 1913, Page 16

CRICKET.

. [BY THE SPEAKER.] . Blamires' and his Thousand. V When, Blamires .went in to bat for Central last Saturday he needed only 24 runs to .complete his 1000 for the season. By careful play he could probably have got the two dozen. As it is, ho still needed 19 when h'e left the crease. 11l was a beautiful ball from Fenton whioh" got him. Fenton bowled him two or three slows and then one slower still. This ball beat-Blamires, just skimmed over his bat, and landed on top of his bails..

Since the New Year, Blamires has run up 700....,50 me of his. best scores have been made: iii Wednesday cricket, and he has now made 1030 for. 22 completed innings. -'His average is therefore ■.•17.7—a very fine one indeed for bo many matches. Tho following are tho details 28 and 3G. v. Hutt—Saturday match. 5 v. North—Saturday match. 0 and.39 (not out) v. Rivals—Wednesday match.: ! : . ... 22 v. Victoria College—Saturday match. 2G arid:4 v. Union—• Wednesday match. 27 and 8 v. South Melbourne—Representative match. , 0 und 0 v. Auckland—Representative match. • 48 y. Nomads—Representative match. 53 and 89 (not out) v Oriental—Wednesday match. 12 v. East A—Saturday match. 39 and 5? v. South Melbourne—For Wednesday team. 27 and 35 v. East B—Saturday match. 27 v. Doctors—For Clergy of Wellington. 115 v. Vivian—Wednesday match. • 31 (not out) for Methodist Conference. 87 for Methodist Conference v. Wednesday Association team. ■''' ' 181 (not Out) v Oriental—Wednesday match. 5 v Wellington South—Saturday match. G9 (hot out) v. Artillery—Wednesday match;' ' • '' ' It may perhaps be of interest to add that .the genial padre, good fellow, anil capital cricketer will possibly be' leaving Wellington about''the second week in April, to take up duty in his charge at Hawera, to-which he was recently op.'pointed', by the"Methodist Conference. Position of ,the Senior Teams. .../. ■ As the local.senior championship has now peached an interesting stage, the position of- tho teams is-worth' mention. The North, Club,, which , made such a-fine recovery last Saturday, has not yet suffered defeat, and stands at the top of the ladder, having gained four three-point win 9 ttnd three two-point wins. East A and Central have each had four threepoint wins, one' two-point win, and two losses. The following table, shows: "'"i Points. North .'. 18 East A 14 Central ...14 South : : . 8 . Petone 7 Hutt 5 East B i' Victoria College a... 2 Fenton's Results. Fenton, of the South Club, > who captured seven Central;wickets at-an average cost of -10 -rims -per- wicket in the matoh which was completed last Saturday, has a fine record as a trundler this season. Altogether he has taken 52 wickets in the 1912-13 championship matches.

"Not-out Naughton." Naughton'a G9 not out on Saturday brought his average up from 27 to 38. Ho has scored 231 runs this season, and in. twelve innings he has been six times • . ";no Burton's' Batting. '• • Burton, one of' tho prettiest bats ■in tlio city, and in dome rospects one of the jliest, . his ; wielded South' ..a very profitable willow this season. .His average prior to last Saturday was 34.2—308 runs, . eleven innings, twice not out. Against Central on Saturday he scored .15, so his average- is new 32.3. ■; ... ■>'

The Mid-Week'Men's Eastor.' Effort : Mr. J. C. . Cusaok announces that the i .Wednesday'Association''are sending two . teams to Auckland,' senior and junior. •Both matelra will lie played in Auckland on Easter Monday and Tuesday. The i ■ :• two Wednesday teams will leavo Welling- ■ ton by tie midday, express on the Saturday.

. ..Threa More Matches Wanted. " In all probability, . the Wellington. '' Criqket Association will have three more 1 championship matches to play this 6eason. . The City Council is being asked'to allow . .the use of the Basin Heserve up to Saturday, April 12, inclusve. In the oyent of . jthis being arranged, it will be possible for the leading teams to change places on the ' ladder before the season closes. . One Bowler Lesi To.day. . Cwey is abseat from Wellington' on a .holiday, and will be unable to assist ■North to-day. Lambert will fill his place ■ for the match, Wellington East A v. Hutt. The wicket in this match was a little ' i wrft, and,the main .feature, of the garao ' waa the bowling "of TV. ''Gibbes, who got the fine average of 13 wickets for 80 runs— : n. really good performance. i He bowled a ■fairly slow >ball that swung in from the ' .off, and then broke back from leg, and if ; fhe had kept oil with that ball I think his averago would have been even better. The only batsmen who shaped anything like • were Patton and Eodgers, who both gave ~ a very fair display. The fielding of East was exceptionally good, end the catoh by whioh Tuoker disrmissed Eodgers in. the first innings was a real good one.

, One thing very noticeable in this match Traa that W, Gibbes, the .East skipper, might have tried some of his other bowlers. One oajmot help thinking that this is rath*r a weak point of his. If he changed his bowlers oftener in matches it ■would iprobably lead to better results from the team's point of view. What Vlotor did to John, When talking to a representative of the ''Ceylon Sportsman" anent Australian cricket, the Rev. E. F.. Waddy declared that Victor Trumper's v6ry best performance was his innings' for ' New South Wales against Victoria in 190G, when ho a 'magnificent 101 on a bad wicket, : on Which Saunders and Lavdr were especiI ally nasty. No one else on the side ,iv(is able to do much. "I. remember," said the Eev. Mr. Waddy, "tho first) ball Trumpar faced with Saunders was a break which ; just shaved the off stump. That was the last ball of the over. Crossing over to Saunders he said: 'Look here, Jaok, I shall go for your bowling, and knock the : cover off the ball.' And Tie kept hia word, for he hit tho left-hander for 21 in the ■next over, and crossing over ho got about 18 in. an over off Laver. In that 6tylo he got 101 in a manner I have not seen ■ surpassed. Tes, Victor Trumper is a 'marvel." ' iMorton Minor.and "The Breaker,". ■ "The Breaker" is at present in hiding ! because Morton minor, of Wellington, is said to bo out looking for him with a ! cannon. In last week's notes it was chronicled that in Morton minor the College had a bowler of considerable promise. ■That was all right, but the following statement that he was "a midget of about .'sixteen" was all wrong. In point of fact • he is not fourteen, and expects to be much less of a midget and much more of a ;bowler by fhe time ho is sixteen. Possibly this explanation will appease the : wrath of Morton minor, but until he is ■assured.of the fact "The Breaker" is inclined to remain in hiding out in tho ~wilderness beyond Paekakariki, just in '• case of accident. •. , Hardham in a New Role.

Petonc nro just, sorting out some new • -bowlers. A week-or two ago Tregcar got lift great average, niul last week Hardham .'..was put on, and finished up with four for ' 13. He seems to have cultivated ft swerve

that is most puzzling to batsmen, and he gets a good bit of work on. When Hardham delivers, one would expect to see an express ball, but ho only sends up a medium-paced one, although ho has tho action or a fast bowler. If Hardham can. keep up to this bowling form, he should be frequently heard of in futuro years.

Brice seems to be getting back to his old bowling style, and his average last week compared very favourably with previous performances. Finlayson, although not getting wickets, -is etill bowling well, and is a most valuablo club man.

■ Stephenson and Hales did most of the trundling for East. The former did well, whilst the-latter can still hold Ms own. Petone's "Three-pointer." Thero was no close finish about the'Pe-tone-East B fixture lost Saturday, and had the scorers been up to the game, Petone would have got taeir win for tho loss of three wickets. They got three points, however, and could not have got any more. The play of Smith, Stephenson, and Dooley at the wickets for East was really very clever, but all threo spoilt a good afternoon's score by throwing, away their, wickets. Not one of the trio was bowled, and the confidence they displayed looked as if Petone would have never got them out.

M'Kenzie, who has got some bif scores for Tetone this season, was again in great form, despite the fact that he .was feeling the effects of a week' 3 strenuous camp with the Territorials. Ho got 59 in great style. The score included a dozen boundaries. ;Quaife out in Africa. W. G& Quaife, tho Warwickshire cricketer, is coaching at Kimberley, where lie has mado many good scores, his batting average up to date being 100. He has also been very succcssful with tho ball.—"Athletic' News." Old Somerset in Strait*. Tho Wellington Cricket Association is not the only cricktt body that has financial worries. "Tho Athletic News" states that at the annual meeting of the Somerset Cricket, Club recently held at Taunton, ono or" two pessimists suggested that the sponge should be thrown up. They wcto in a vast minority, and a decision to continue was carried* almost with unanimity. Thanks to tho Shilling Fund a deficit of £327 on 1912 has been wiped out. Indeed, the new year will start with .£l7O in hand: A paid secretary, whose selection wafl left to the oommittee, is to'be engaged, and the .£2OO he will receive has been almost guaranteed by generous supporters of tho game in tlio county beyond what they would ordinarily subscribe. A Veteran Captain." Mr. A. E. Newton,- the oldest man playing first-class cricket, ii to captain Somerset this - year. Mr. Newton is Bplendidly equipped for the captaincy, for his association with' tho game extends over a period of thirty years. Furthermore, despite the weight of fifty years, he is an excellent wicketkeeper, a post in which it is a decided asset to any side to possess a resourceful leader. '

An amusing story ig told concerning the new leader. It is to the effect that an old lady, -after watching him in his crouching position behind the wicket, was so impressed by his pluck, that she said: "How very keen Mr. Newton must be to sit down and watch the game from such a dangerous position!" The Somerset captain's cricket career may be summarised briefly. Born at Barton Grange, Taunton, on September 12, 1862, he was educated at tho Rev. C. E. Carr's, at Kxmouth, and Eton, where ho was in the eleven from 1879 until 1881. Subsequently he played for Oxford in 1885, in which year also ho wa,s one of Mr. E. J. Bander's team to America. In 1887-8 he visited Australia under the captaincy of Mr. G. F. Vernon, when in'matches against picked Australian elevens on the Melbourne ground he played innings of 77 and 54. His first appearance for Somerset, it is of interest to note, was as far back as 1880.— -"Athletic News."