CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1872, 4 October 1913, Page 12

CRICKET.

[By thb Breaker.] •■ _ t The Now Chairman. rViends of Mr. 0. G. Wilson, the new chairman of the Wellington Control, ij know him quite well for four things. lastly, he seos far ahead . of' the E moment. Secondly, hardly anyone could j bo swifter and more direct in putting | his viow to a meeting, onco his mind is, made Tip. .Thirdly, he has a club-like ( way of falling .on anything which smacks of humbug. Fourthly, once he ie bent on. ''overcoming a 'difficulty 1 .hardly anything will stop him. -Theso ' are fine attributes in an executive chairman, ' and; in stating them, tho j picturo is>not overdrawn. • * By birth .Mr., Wilson is a Victorian), i and lie has seen a lot of cricket^— mostly { as captain of his side. During the 1 years,]B9s-3902 ho was oaptain of the < ■ St. Kilda Club, and represented Vic- t toria against Tasmania on four occa- i sions. The club has made him a life I member. The call of business brought £ him to Inveroargill in 1902, and, from i then on till 1905 ho 1 _ captained _ the j Southland interprovincial eleven. From < 1905 till 1912 he played for the Dun- ( '©din and Csyrisbrook, Clubs in : Dnnedin, J and the chronic habit of. ''somehow at- I ways being captain" manifested itself 1 again—he was captain of the Otago t ' representative Bido. ■ Since ho camo to i Wellington in 1912 ho has been a North i Club ' man <and representative' player. . 'After his, long list of captaincies it i seems scarcely necessary to add that he 1 skippered Wellington. Mr. Wilson is,'of course, well loiowb 1 as "the man benind the gun" when it i comes to raising funds for'grounds and l i bo forth. A garden fete in Dunedin l netted £1200 m 1912, and £800 in 1913. j The Wellington Citizen's Carnival in ■ 1913 produced over £1900. With both ] of these movements' ho was prominently j associated. It is characteristic of the bnll-dog wav which he has that the idea of fetes ami carnivals was his solution of a-difficulty which presented itself m , Dunedin when an effort to open a now Cricket ground in that city had been twice defeated on the casting vote of - , the Mayor. >•/ ,Tho New Yeaf." Tho Wellington ohampionship oompetitions for 1918-14 commenoe next Saturday. If the wickets are in onler practice at the nets will be indulged jn' this afternoon. Tho oun fixtures should be available at an early date. 'A Great Programme. Everything points to a good season. Tho advent of new blood to the city i has revived enthusiasm, and there is on oxcellent bill of faro to pass around. 'An Australian team is coming,, and the leading provinces will figure on the jJasini., New Zealand will send a team ■ to, Australia; and Wellington will no' 'doubt go abroad l a •. little. But while that all sounds very nice and cheery, thero is another side to Wellington's story. Wo want goldl / We are all ready to go' along and enioy the good things; let us bo as ■ willing to help those who hold together the organisations through' which' all these good things come. Wanted—Goldl " .The Wellington Cricket Aasooiation owes £560 and has no money to pay up. By deducting the estimated, value of "assets," tho balance-sheet showed the deficit as £380. But that is blinking the fact. ' Tho association, owes £560; the 1 association needs £560 to get clear of debt. . -To wipe out this debt the association has a scheme which is at present _ in progress —the big art union. The idea is a good one, and if everyone lends a hand cricketers and tho army of cricket followers will havo the pleasure of seeing the slate clcao and unblemished next month. Enthusiastic Workers. , The Art Union Committee has_been meeting weekly ever since July 25. Up to, tho present tho enthusiasm has been such that people have conw forward and taken'throe-fourths of the tiokots for 'disposal. Those who are not showing the interest they should are some of the players. This_ is rather strange,' for surolv those active cricketers realise that by" putting the governing body out of debt they will enable the Manage- ( ment Committee to consider the question of reducing tho very heavy charges that, are at present levied on all clubs. ladies to the Rescuo. The ladies; too, aro doing their Bharo —or, perhaps, somebody else's share. There is a Ladies' Committee, whioh meets every fortnight. Miss Buchan is secretary, and she reports '.that very satisfactory progress is- being made. For October 9 the comiWittoo has arranged a euchre .party and dance at the Now Century Hall, and to this, no doubt, the cricket world will give the . , generous support deserved. ; _ • £150 value in prizes is being offered by tho Alt Union Committee. The' first prize is worth £100 —a good shilling investment. The drawing will be made on November, 7, There is only a month to go. Clubs and Players. : There will bo eight teams in the senior competition this season—North, East, Central, .South, Victoria Collogo, Hiitt, Petone, and Old Bovs. , Victoria College will have three teams in the field—one first, ono second, ono North Club, to which the Senior Championship went last year, will 'have three teams playing this season, one m each of the first, second, and third Mr. Arthur George, who devoted his time to Wednesday cricket in previous seasons, may play for South in the Saturday Competition this year. Tho V/lokota Available. " The wickets available this year will probably include four on tho Basin, two on Kolburno Park, one at Newtown Park one at Wakefield Park, and one at Anderson Park. Thiß will he nine on tho Corporation reserves. Then thero are the Hutt, Petone, Karon, and Johnsonvillo, and College grounds. What Will "Hast B " do? The Association's decision to disallow clubs , entering more than one senior . team for the championship competition has a direct bearing on tho little band • wh ; oh' has stuck together foi 6ome time as "East B." Will they now play as a' junior team of the East Club? Or will they join South. If tho latter coarse is taken, tho sonior competition will bo more interesting. This seems the probable decision of tho players concerned/for oricketors aro not 'likely to throw away a chance of first-grade criokot. Somo of the "close corporation ' as Kast B liavo been oalled. may, of noiirso, find a place in tho East 6enior . cloven. Revising the Rules. The news that the rules aro to bo revised 'and got out in booklet form is very wolcomo. There has not boon a new issue for some time, and at present amendments aro scattered _ in various places throughout the minute books mid so on. Messrs. M. J. Crombio and .J. Day, who have already given tho matter 'some quiet consideration, havo been appointed to cope with tho

revision question and report to the , committee. The now booklet will not ( bo a pretentious volume, but merely a oatalogu© of the rules. ( Provlnolal Plana. , In. previous years Wellington has had j rather too little idea of when it was | going to play its representative matches. This year's, committee has decided not j to leavi the programme to unravel it- ■ self, and is already calling on Auck- . land, Canterbury, and Dunedin to make . known thoir plans. ; Quoor Position. A \ cry queer position was on tho vtrgo of arising out of last Wednesday's meeting of the Association. Last year tho principle of three selectors for tho representative teams was departed from, and a solo selector waß chosen. Mr. 0. 6. Wilson was elected to tho position. At Wednesday's meeting Mr. J. Fanning raised tho question again lof one or three selectors._ Ho favoured tlirce, and wanted the principle decided right away. There were seven voters present. Messrs. Fanning, C. Hickson, and A. George favoured a trio. Messrs. F. Midlane, Goldsmith, and E. M. Beochey preferred one selector. The other member present was tho chairman (Mr. G. G. Wilson). Thero were two members absent —Messrs. M. J. Crombie and F. M. Martin. It was stated that Mr. Crombie favoured one'selector," and Mr. Martin's views were unknown, but to balance matters he was reokoned .to.be a three-selectors man. Then someone suggested postponing tho matter for a full attendance of members. .... Earlier in the meeting Mr. Beechey had resigned his seat on the committee as he already held office as secretary, and sat and voted with tho committee. Consequently it was decided to erect another member of the oommitteo. Reverting now to tho selector matter, the position was t/hat if the question was postponed the now member would probably decide tho problem. However, it was resolved to settlo the argument that night, and Mr. C. G. Wilson's casting vote was in effect in favour of one selector. Now Zealand Team for Australia. Much interest will centre this season on the visit of a New Zealand team to Australia. Were there a, greater similarity in the wickets in tho two countries tho interest would be even keener. Harry Trott, at the. end of his last tour, said he could pick a New Zealand toara to give,any of 'the Australian State i teams a good game, but that the match would have 'to be played on * New Zealand wicket. _ Mr.. D. Reese, writing of this forthcoming tour, says Nobody in. the Dominion, or oourso, suggests that New Zealand can beat New South Walos, Victoria and South Australia, but it is felt that the best teams should be played by these States, for New Zealand is out to find tho standard of her play and learn how sho stands among the cricket countries of the world." Mr. D. Roese's Opinion. Of - the wicket-B problem, ho writes In tho Sydney "Iteieree :—"Will tho Now Zcalanders adapt their play to the fast Australian wickets? I think most of them will, though it is reasonable to assume thai some may not enhance their reputations. The style of play of:.most of New Zealand's best batsmen is such as to give one confidence in thoir ability to roproduco their best home form on tho other side. Most of the bowlers in the team will be quite capable batsmen, and this inclusion of aU-round-ers will make a well-balanced side. On paper, as a bowling side, this team does not look quite so good as the last, and yet, how strength on paper can mislead ono? In the last team ninety-nine out of one hundred people in New- Zealand would havo said.that Frankish and Fisfhor wore tho two best bowlers on the side, and yet Fishor got ono'wicket on the tour; Frankish ; only four. Great natural bowlers, both of them, on New Zealand .wickets, but not enough resource . for Australia's best wickets and batsmen. The. men to got most wickets last time used somo strategy, and their figures would hare boen muoh better had they been supported by tho fielding. The fielding this time will bo, lam sure, just about'on a par with that of tho best Stato teams, and so I believe that this year bowlers will .emergo from the .tour with results infinitely better, than those of last tour. They would need to, if any measure of success is to bo attained. Without quite knowing what ! progress- Queensland has ma_do, I quite expect New Zealand to fully extend them, while in the country no doubt good sides will be met. With regard to the three major States, tlioy Should, of courso, win; but it is on tho cards they may get a surprise, especially if tho. fortunes of tho game should STviag New Zealand's way.' Hutt and P&tono Notes. Tho Petone Cricket Club has arranged a first^of-season' match, married v. single. In ,the ranks of the club there seem to be quito a large number of young men who are desirous of making mark this year, and this match will give thorn somo opportunity of indicating what their form is like. Although the club has'lost M'Farlane, the members aro hopeful on tho season's outlook. ■ Tho pitches are in good order, and practice has commenced. Tho Hutt Cricket Club are starting with a practice match to-day. The team will be strengthened by the addition of If. E. Barton (Wellington South). Mr. . Staples (acting-secretary) states that he , will bo unable to continue, tho duties t of that office, and onco this matter is [ settled things ought'to go along well. , Tho Old Boys. i Tho resurrection of tho Old Boys' ■ Club is an interesting result of the death of tho district scheme. The club expects to run four teams, a first, a second, and two thirds. Those who will | wield tho willow and bowl the ball for i tho ex-collegians aro J,. P. Blacklock, , [ T. M. Grace, E. M. Bpechey, E. O. | . Hales, R. L. Mason, D. Hay, J. Hay, j S. Wills, and L. Goldfinch.