CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1960, 17 January 1914, Page 12

CRICKET.

[By the Bbbaxeb.]

- Wondrous Kind, ' • :,'One of tho things which the Wellington touring team hard Ml the bump of wonder was Dunedurs pbepitality. Dimedin specialises that way. Tho old town has done so ©tot since « of the province stepped out .9 of t the .first two^ships.in 1859. In 1901 Dunedin mobbed tho Imperial troops •: which visited tho colonies and had .to bo held, off by force Only a .year or '■ two ago they tried to mob Kitchener, and the war lord had to fight tho only rear-guard action ho ever fought in his lift to got out of Forbury Park before 10,000 Dunedinites throw their arms jointly and. severally round his neck. Dunedin seems to have been correspondingly kind, to tho cricketers. Dunedin slapped them on tho back, chummed up to them without introduction, ;'• .asked Saunders if he was Saunders, and M'Girr if he was M.'Girr, and several •■• other people if they were those'people, - and where did they work, and "how ■ much a week did they Ret" and other questions of a personal and intimate nature. All tho time they held out tho glad hand of hospitality. Whether gush and emotionalism is right or wrong is really a nut for a philosopher to crack. For cricket notes it is enough to say that the Wellingtonians liked it. Thoy aro in favour of . opening up further relations with Otago. What Is Tlmlns7 Time: Last Saturday. Place: Basin Keserve. Dramatis personao: Three or •four enthusiasts seated on the benches beforo tho pavilion. Argument: What is timing the shot? Now, timing a stroke- is about tho subtlest thing in cricket, and it is very doubtful whether any enthusiast can put it into words, though it is easy to discern when the thing Ono enthusiast thought that, for a perfectly timed shot, tho bat must bo moving faster than tho ball at the instant of impact. Another thought that it was ''hitting the ball at the psychological moment." Asked what ho meant by tho "psychological moment," he admitted that lie did not know. Tho little knot of friendly disputers agreed to settle their differences by calling whenever they thought they , saw a well-timed stroke. East B and Central were playing on ono wicket and East A and College oil the other. Tho four enthusiasts watched on, but were only able to call about twice in fifteen minutes. They eventually gave the job 'Up. Later in the afternoon a blocky little'batsman, wearing a black cap/ went out through tho gate, and took centre to the College bowling. ■ Tho four enthusiasts wore at once agreed ttiatihe "timed" the first ball, and tho second, and tho third, and tho fourth, mid the tenth, and the twentieth'; in fact, nearly every ball ho got.' Tho batsman happened to bo Midlano. Cood Club Figures., < Fred Jlidlane has handed on very consistent figures to tho scores this year. They read as follow.—3l, 82, 75, 84, 44, 32, 6, Co. Tho aggregate is 419, and, as ho has threo not-outs, his aver83.8— Tho next batsman- -- •-mi tho club.ladder.: is.. W. A. .Baker.' ■ His figures read:—B, 21, 135, 144 (not , out), I, 6, 2. Tho aggregate is 352. , ... and the average .50.2. .. - . , '. .• ThO'ColtJ-V/atclv '•.■-.;• ". ' Oiie of tho incjdonts of the Wellington team's "trip south was the century achieved'by young Alloo, of Otago, ' against -tlfo bowling, of Saunders, Griinmett,' and M'Girr. The colt is tho sou of a well-known sports enthusiast -: 'n, Otago, and ,(so..the. returned Wol- :. ''"Etonians say); jtljp | father,, called, out, Jrom thc-bank, when tho, youngster,?^-,- ■ tered the twenties" "i'o'if you make' 50" The little 'fellow doubled this figure, and, at the. smoke concert after ■ the match,- tho • Gtagb Cricket Associa- . . tion presented him with a gold ,medal. At the same gathering the father hand- - cdup'a gold watch for presentation to his son. ,<THs; IViarr Irf the ;WhFie Coat. 7 '■■.< ;''•■ JA'S every., cricketer knows;''" umpires ...«To of;.tfrorkindsirgood.and''bad.''- Tho .'Ofcago umpires,, struck tho Wellington t«un|as bad. ; n Ono Otago batsman was caught at fhe-'Wickofc twice, but niri vivedStw'dtliha'nimous Finally him beyond dispute— ie third time out. Even then ho at the wjeket, hoping against jh,(Jr>e.;. and—waging for the umpire to -■fay 'what was what. ;fl le Scottish umIpire (more in sorrow than in anger) /reluctantly gave him out. . |y,Per ".contra 'blew up against a ;smart umpire in Canterbury. Hβ was-an old Notts player, with aand shaTp views' ' qn 'batsmpa; who kept the ball out of ■ the : picket:with their pads. His word to ■ such iiras ".Walk!" They had to .gO/tOO. • ': ,''John V." and Soma Others. In the' opinion of members of tho : (Wellington team John V. Saunders " bowled exceptionally well right through the tour south, and so did Grimmctt. !As.; usual the Victorian suffered through missed chances. In tho Canterbury match Bishop jumped in to drive in tho first ovorhe got,, and was fully three [yards out when the ball got somehow : tangled up be.tween Wagstaffo's pads land his log. Bishop went on to make SO. If this chanco had' been tikon Canterbury would (at that stage) have had five wickets down for 44 runs. ■ Grimmott's figures, also look attractive, but not bo attractive as they deserved to bo. As an exponent of tho pooglio he knows how to throw up what . is termed tho "wrong "tin" at the right 'time. Sometimes his break passed both batsman and wiokets, and also the wicket-keeper'. The element of variety in the Wellington bowling'appears to have been skilfully worked by their experienced captain, C. G. Wilson, : Saunders is what may bo termed a fast medium leftliandor. Grimmett is n. right-hand slow, and the clement of pace was supplied by M'Girr. These*-and other changes (including Grace) seem to have been skilfully ustjd. The Tryor of tho Team. Those who have watched cricket at tho. Basin will not have much doubt as to who the tryer of tho Wellington team is. His name is M'Girr. Ho cannot sond back tho ball from the field to tho wicket with the rapidity of (say) Midlano, but spot him going For a catch in . the "country", is always a sight worth seeing. Ho caught' tho "catch of the season" during tho recent tour. As to his batting it is very likely that he will hoist one or two big scores beforo tho present season is over. It is stated that he is dropping his previous habit of promiscuous slumming, '. nnd now picks the right ball to hit. At the same time tlmro is snrh a thing as tompcrament. and, if M'Girr's temperament prompts him to hit. those whn nro directing his change of style should not say him nay. Tho Young Brigade—Somo Criticism. . Tho .young brigadn in tTin Welling- • ton representative team will, I hope, _-.. not. mind- a. word of criticism. In

choosing tho team the selector cvidontly made every effort to givo the young players a chance and the province hop_sd much, from them. Of tho colts Joplin pleased by making runs. His strokes behind the wicket were weak*—in fact, lie hardly seemed to have any—but ho has some good shots in front of tho wicket, especially one between point and cover. Unfortunately more is oxpected of t. representative cricketer than merely making a certain amount of runs. Foildiuij.count) an'l counts very heavily. In this department Joplin hardly shines. The chief blemish on his out-cricket is that ho does not anticipate tho shot and so remains fasfc-footed until the ball has sped tome distanoe. Another young player who has now pained his representative cap is W. H. Wagstaffe, batsman and wicket-keeper. Wagstaffe has plenty of strokes, hut his friends think that ho is rather too much of a humorist to take tho game as seriously as he should, and ho is also rather too fond of hitting across at straight balls. Hia wickot-kceping on tour was fairly sound. Ho snapped a number .of chances, but also missed some—alas, most wicket-keepors do. When it comes to getting knocks, also, tho Wellington wicket-keeper is inclined to mako a fuss. Perhaps it will do no harm to mention that old J. M. Blackham and others of that school, used to take all tho knocks going with Spartan fortitude. Of Grimmett's bowling mention has already been made. Hβ can bat too, but one is inclined to think that if he went in for sustained practice at the ■ nets ho would mako a deal moro ruii3 even than ho is making at present. ' Of course, every cricketer knows best how much practice suits him, but the above is the writer's impression. The Centurions to Date. Centuries havo been fairly thick this year. Two moro wore put up by Pctono players last Saturday. Following 13 tho list to date:— 171 —F. Hiddlestone (Saturday and Wednesday)- ' 144-W. A. Baker, East A. 135— W. A. Baker, East A. 134 —\Donogliue, Petono. 116—1< 1 . Joplin, Victoria College. 114-D, Hay, Old Boys. 109— W. R. S. Hicks'on, Central. 10-f — J. Barber, Petone. 103—A. E. Birch, Victoria College 103— E. Smyrke, Petone. Some Stray Singles. The loading batting averages of the Wellington touring team were as follow:—S. Hiddlestone, 31.5; F. Joplin, 29.4; D. Hay, 27.1; W. H. Wagstaffe, 20.5; F. Grace, 19.1; W: A. Baker, 17.1; H. M'Girr, 14.5; C. Grimmett, 12.1; K. H. Tucker, 10.5. The Wellingtonians seem to have been a very happy little family on tour. No doubt the guiding hand of their captain-manager (C. U. Wilson) had something to do-with this. In the opinion of several members of the Wellington team Condliffo, of Otago, is about tho best wicket-keeper in ..New Zealand at present. A number of the team made their first acquaintance with tho famoue Otago bowler, Alec Downes. Tho veteran . : is-still bowling hl3 big off-break with perfect length, but hardly with the 6amo dash as of yore. -The vetoran a..,remarkably,..smaii,. pair of hands at point. Tho Wellington bowlers seem to havo been determined that Otago wero not to win. In the second innings, the southerners had only hoisted 25* runs at thg end of an .hour's play. They wero over three hours in making their total of 105. Saunders bowled 28 overs (13 .maidens) for 30 runs. • ■ By general consensus of tho team Hiddlestpno's batting was a feature of tho tour. On one occasion Hiddlestone and Grimmett put on C 4 runs in 40 .minutes. Of that total Hiddlostono's contribution was no fewer than 85. Tho Wellington men think that M'Furlane is Otago's best bat, as far as style.goes. They wero also rather taken with the pretty Carisbrook groundj.at Dunedin. : Monaghan, an ex-Wellington man now residing in Uhristchurch, is reported t<, , be bowling as ,well as ever. He 6till possesses that old tricky swerve. The'genial smile of Arthur George, captain of Rivals, was a littlo larger ■than lisual at 5 o'clock last Wednesday. 'There was cause. His team had to overtake 179 runs and had lost sis wickets for 67. Dr. Tolhurst and Greig then joined in a remarkable partner" snip, and before they wero separated, the telegraph board showed 200. Young Caterer seems to havo had a "day out" in the mid-week match, Oriental v. Artillery. Ho top-scored for his side, and', when Artillery were just oil the point of overtaking his team's total, ho got rid of Bombardier Smith (who had been in all tho afternoon), and that sterling little cricketer, Victor Harris, by two' catches in succession. The shots were stinging ones, and tho ball was as wet and'greasy as it : is possible for a cricket, ball to bo. The system of arranging fixtures by mutual agreement between Uhe provinces concerned has proved so unsatisfactory this year that Wellington cricketprs would probably support a proposition that the Now Zealana Council should mako the fixtures. Arising out of the visit of a Wellington team to Marlborougli this sea,son is a suggestion that Marlborough should play in Wellington noxt season. Tho proposal comes from the South Islanders. Two Saturday teame arc to meet two Wednesday teams on the Basin. Reserve on Anniversary Day (January 22). Ono match is to be between tho first elevens of either association, and the otner is arranged between the Wednesday Eecond senior eleven and the Saturday first junior loven. On Anniversary Day (January 22) a representative fixture is to bo played between a third-class eleven from tho Wellington Cricket Association and a team from tho Boys' League.' "If this Plunket Shield is going to ;causo so much trouble wo had bettor cut it out."—Remark of a Wellington cricketer who is disgusted with the be'haviour of certain associations which ho considers aro "sparring for tho shield all tho time." Tho Oliffe benefit match in Auckland was not a groat success. The game wzs between Auckland and Nomads, and it liad soino very attractive features, but tho attendance was small. For East B this season Bowlo.i has scored 27, 33, 70, 4, 29, 55, and 7. C. T. Young, who hatted for East on Saturday, is a promising man with the willow. Ho made top scoro (35) in tho team's first innings, and was then thrown out. In tho second venture lie was doing well when ho succumbed to a difficult one-hand catch. He had only mado 14, but ho did not take nearly so long to mako his few as some of his confreres dill to compile their contributions. East A have not had a century scored against them this season. S. Hickson's 81 for Central on November 22 is tho highest. "Jim" Fanning, the Victoria Col lego skipper, - has been rather'alert in tho field lately. On Saturday he. brought off a beautiful left-hand catch and dismissed Young, who appeared to havo ovory chanco of getting tho ball well away.