NOTES ON CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1913, 22 November 1913, Page 8

NOTES ON CRICKET.

« [By The Breaker.] . LAST SATURDAY'S SCORING. Croat Figures. _Most likely the batting of East A, North, and College o.u Saturday constitutes a. record for any three- sides in tho history of Wellington cricket for any ono day. These three clubs scored no -fewer than 804 runs for 13 wickets down, or an average of Gt.S runs per man. It was rather interesting to notice how East A and North kept neck and ncck on the telegraph most of the afternoon. Both hoisted -the first 20 simultaneously, and then 30, 40, 50, and 00. At 4.20 p.m. the plates on, the board roso together for 80. The century went up simultaneously about 4.35 p.m. Then North were driven olf tho Held for some time by the drizzle, and East crept a good way ahead. When the No.th men resumed, however, Casey and Bray smote to such purpose that, at 150, both teams were ilgai.il neck and neck. Ott the stroke .of 6 p.m. each of tho boards sent tip the second century, "Wlri" Baker's Day. Baker, of coursse, Won goldeu opinions all round. This' was' not. so much for the way ho stuck, at the wicket as for the way he scored The. same strokes with a fast outfield would hare given Irim nearly 200' runs oai the day. When lie reached .90 someone niiist liavc told liim how his-score stood, for he approached the century very gingerly, making, no fewer than ten very patient singles in succession. After past the hundred he. let himself go again'i So far as the season has gone,/ this splendid young batsman's average is something to flunk, about. His aggregate is 323 (how many score that in a season?) fo-r'four completed innings. This, gives him an average of 80.7 to date. His highest individual scare so far is 135. .Great figures! Joplin—Centurion, . The other centurion for the. day was Jopli.ii,'. of Victoria College. Strangely enough tho first; and last ball which lis received each carried'an unusual story.' Off tlio first hall thrown up to. him ho' gave a fair chance..ill the slips—and was missed 1 Oh. the last hall of his innings ho, was given out leg-before-wicket,- but, as it really happened, he played the hall first. Those who know this promising yo-tmg ; player well, state , that lie has a wonderful eye.for discerning when tho bali is on or off tic .wicket. Most batsmen can judge this in a rough arid _ ready way,, but- it is stated that Joplin can estimate- it to a small fraction of an inch. Moreover as -soon as he sees that the ball ,is a shade wide of the stumps, he seldom lets it pass unpunished. That is os it s(hould be, but how manydo it? ; Laying on the Wood, For spectacular effect the innings of Casey and Bray {North) and'of Bccchey (College) were tho best of the. day. Each of these men sntote' often and smote hard,.. both to off and ori, and raised tho lump of enthusiasm in _ the throat of the small boy all the time. There was a period' iii the North-Old Boys' match during which the repeated "bangs" of tho hairon the-pickets of. tho.'fence wero a&ottt.as' frctnicnt as stone-throwing', iu l riot tifne. Another fairly fast scorer on Saturday was Atmm:e, who. knocked up.4l- for College against Htitt-. Last yesi', as a junior pFay«i7 he had till average of about 50. He'is a bat of the "severe" order when "his eye is in ° but is said to be of rather nervous temperament., and, consequently, not at his best when opening.. However, a little -mote experienceof senior cricket will.no doubt.cure him of that. :n .';:K Those IH'Starred Bowlers, Poor bowlers! "They ha!d something of an ordeal on Saturday, and through no fault of their own. Every batsman had to be "dug out." Those bowlers j.who depended oir spin or finger work | fared worst, for getting' a grip on the | jjreJisy ; ball Was out of • the question. ! One bowler remarked that it was "just j like trying' to hold an eol by the- tail." i go, ali things considered, the bowkrs ' stand'excused. ; ' Collets May Tour. A team representing Victoria College will probably tour; south this gtti»men If the tmir materialises,' they will play Canterbury College and Otago University. and then go oh ..to the Otagft Sold Lakes, playing a match against the local eleven at Queen stown, Lake Wakatipu. Correspondent's Letter. Writing oh the _ "fourteenth man" proposal for the- New Zealand team which is to tour. Australia, , a correspondent has the following remarks ■ to make:— •_ Sir,—Our Dominion, cricket team will bo leaving shortly for Australia, and I understand there was a proposal for a fourteenth man to be sent, but owing to the poor support offered by tho various-provinces, the scheme had to be dropped. Wellington, as usual, hasiiot got. a fair "share in the team (although our guarantee is the same as Auckland and Canterbury). We have only got two in.the team, and who is there in Wellington who takes an interest in. the ganro will say that Collins should have been selected, a man who has not played in Wellington or the Dominion for the, past five years, and wfio has not had a-hat in his hands for tho past two seasons, and who was not even nominated for tho team? I- say such a thing is not. encouraging to our players. I think wo have a colt in Wellington who is able to-hold his own with anyone in the Dominion. ■ I refer to yoiing Baker. He is, without a doubt, the .most promising player Wellington has had for a number of years, ana 1 would lite; to see him got a show in the- team. An old Australian player who has seen, his play this-season says he is confident- he would do, well on the other side, if given a chance ; and 1 would like to see some of Wellington's supporters come to light and let us raise the amount that is needed to send him with this team. I will gladly donate £2 towards such' a fund. Hoping' someone else will take the matter up.— I am, etc., WELLINGTON.