EASY WALK HOME.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1986, 17 February 1914, Page 5

EASY WALK HOME.

BY THE AUSTRALIAN TEAM.

SEVEN WICKETS'MARGIN.

THE FORTUNES OF THE DAY/

What most people reckoned' on happened at the Basin Reserve yesterday, When the Australian cricketers scored a fairly easy-win over the Wellington eleven; Australia's first innings had left them 77 behind the local men, so that when Wellington only made 71 in their second venture, Australia required but 149 to gain a victory.- This looked well within her reach, and they knocked off the deficit- in a hour and a half. The feature of the day's play was Hansford's batting; it was beautiful. The wicket was much better than on Saturday;.-and the Wellington bowlegs were- not so' successful,- except Gibbes, who; was. put on late in the day, and-bagged four wickets at a cost of 36 runs. . Southall did riot bowl as well as he did on Saturday, but Robinson and Saunders were in,good form. After the visitors had got sufficient for x their ■ viotory; they continued batting.' Stuinps were not-drawn till '5.30;. and the.display was very interesting. This morning they leave for Napier, and there, is a chance of- their playing a i return match here next month.

/ End of Wellington's Innings,

Cody opened the bowling at the north end, when Wellington, resumed their unfinished innings shortly after 2 .o'clock. M'Girr and Beechey were the batsmen. M'Girr took, the first'strike. -.He whipped a single away!off Cody's : second ball, and Beechey. then opened his account, with a .brace: off ,tho "same bowler.;. The running between the-wic-kets, was daring;ahd good, and stolen runs had. mounted /the total to 43, when a rising ball ■ from Cody got - M 'Girr caught by Armstrong in the .'" slips. M'Girr batted altogether 50 ■ minutes for his. 16.; Grimmett went out to partner Beechey, who was batting with niuch greater confidence than on Saturday.. However,. Beechey's end. was near; he had made but eight when he played very. far forward to a'leg-break from Armstrong, and was bowled. .Armstrong's record was now five-.wickets for 8 runs, and Wellington's seven wickets had yielded only 45. Grimmett gave the freest. and best batting display of -the Wellington side, but he ,was brilliantly stumped by Waddy with 18 on when playing forward to Arm-str°nß-v Saunders and,Southall were quickly accounted for, and the in*nihgs closed .for-71;- with Armstrong's record showing.as .seven wickets for 17; ' ,-

.Australia' Wields the Bat,

" The Australians went to the wickets ™.°P« n their second inriingß ' shortly «;?'■? $ , ', and i«st under an hour they hoisted the century, at a cost of one .wicket; Collins and Dolling ope'n■|d- .the-.batting, :- : trith Saunders and bouthall'-on tho attack. >■' The hitting IV n S i fre ? £™ st fr <™lthe''start. .SouthaHkept the runs down at the': commencement, ' and Saunders later 'on' cave the .batsmen something :'W think' about: Collins only-lastfed-to. make eleven, but Doll,ng_we„ton;to hit up a delightful <i.- "Hefept the.outfield, constantly busy, and found'the boundary frequently; ,Cody, who'.went in-first - 'wicket down, gavo a sparkling' display of big Jutting : Two of his lifts to the fcncl rnmht have been held by Hay, but the ; ,made no 'attempt; to get to "thorn . ''lhfc.'c'dfitt%Slia , il& lo#T)cen Dolling was clean- D 6wled by' Robinson. Trumper played a tonminutes innings, in ".which he, found time-to* show a'few strokes'/the' e ,ecu. tion of which was'perfect. .. However «!" t ß *r ad " acheai 6, »nd tho crowd was settling down'to an exhibition by Tho fast bowler's three.wickets had cost ;.?*.. ...Kansford and Cody continued the S' f Md *?er.. the side had be n batting for an hour and a half, the deficit, was wiped off,- and mild applause announced that the Australians had won by seven .wickets. Brilliant batting orcupted the remainder of the afternoon Hansford gave-a beautiful display. •He overtook Cody, though the latter had an hour',s start of him, and was batting WeII i 1 , In.',forty, minutes ■ Ransford smacked up 62, including 4 sixes and 4 IT"' r. 8 g ? v? , U '° cl ""'<*s, the' first before he.reached. 30. : The second was £ tl," 1 hs J^T gs - ■■'« » big. hit to the outfield. . Beecli.ev dropned it. Cody very. shortly afterwards was stumped by Howe off' Gibbes at- 66 &&"?+ *"/•' si . mil ? r 'y ■ ««ali with v, thout alteration in the score. -Waddv who displayed .great anxiety ■to < steal r r ht S ' + mtt i 6 p > h tand then S SsPhim 0 ' n ' fci !ffk' Wl ? ere ne?d hinv well. M'Kenzie • and Sims continued the innings"till 5.30,-when «Ta"- ?&-? omr - ■ The "then stood at,.26?'for seven -wickets, ,The detailed scores follow:— - • :. .

Wellington. Fifst'lnnings' ...:..:.....;..'..,... ;, '201 Second Innings. G. Howe, 4, b. Armstrong. ..... . 4 H a iv4l b.w., b. Noiie :::: \ w*iii>>- • gibbes, b. Armstrong ... 0 H. M'Girr, .411114121, c. Armstrong, ; b. Cody 16 ' £•"■£,--Midlane, 11, b. Armstrong""! 2 C.. Robinson, b, Armstrong : • 0 5- J i--. Bee cliey, 1.412, ;b. Armstrong 8 t. Gnmmett, 241443, st. Waddy, . b. Armstrong 28 F.Jonlin, 41, not; 0ut....: ".'".' 5 J.' y.' Saunders, 2," c. Collins, b" " Armstrong '.....;...,...'..... ' 2 T.'Southall, 1, c. Tnimper,.b'''CodTi- 1 ~ Extras ,'... : 11 ■ Total - ....;:.■..•..,......:..;......;..,; n • .'. B , oTlin & Analysis.—Ransford took no wickets for 8 runs; Armstrong, seven for 17; Noble, one for 8; Mailey, none for 0; Cody, two for 22. ... Australia. ' First Innings .!.............;.,... 124 Second Innings. H. L. Collins, 222113, b.' Robinson 11 C. E. Dolling, 424114144243114262 1326144, b. Robinson 74 L. -A,. Cody, 14111444111142412224 .113211114141, st. Howe, b. Gibbes , .1...; ;...,, 55 ,V. Trumper, 1144114, : h: Robinson 16 ,V. S. Raiisford,. 41162212161221461' •' ' 412146, c. M'Girr, b.'Gibbes ...' 62 E.. L. Waddy, 224, c.. Southall,' b.'. Gibbes ..........,....; '. 8 YV. W. Armstrong, st. Howe, b. . Gibbes ~...........' ;........ 0 C. M'Kenzic, 411211, .not. out ...... 10 . A.Sims, .41,. not 0ut...»..'!.;.... 5 , Extras .........................." 15 Total, for seven wickets 267 ~ Bowling Analysis.—Saunders took-,-no wickets for'6s rrins; Soutball, 110110 for 52; Robinson, tbrce for 49; Grimmctt, none for. 37; Gibbes, four for .36; I • M'Girr, none for 13. • ' '\- How the Wickets Fell. •12 3 i 5 6. 7 .'4l 112 142.239 246 246 257-

ON THE BENCHES.

' SNAPSHOTS OF SATURDAY.

.• [By Tub Breaker.]

. Well, on Saturday wo were up against one of those sudden switches of luck that mako cricket such an uncertain proposition. eleven— Harry Trott's redou'btables—were put out at Duuedin in 1897 by Dowries and Fisher for aB few

as-95'.ruris. . That.record has not. been approached in New Zealand till Saturday. Though Armstrong has wiped his way.cheaply half-way through Wellington's second innings, neither sido had ! cinched tho gamo yet. The gate on Saturday was £190. As wicket-keeper Howo was admirable._ Everything looked to come aliko to him. expresses were bulling ' down ■ ' like steam engines, Southall worked his nasty .break.back, and J., V. Saunders rolled up tho whole box of tricks. • It was not a pretty assortment to stop, but Howe laid hold of .everything, an.inch from the wickets, .and as safe as a Government bond. He stumped: Sims like a flash, though theAustralian skipper., had done ho more than, slightly drag his foot. •'\ As the game boomed along through the hot afternoon the turn that.events were taking seemed hardly believable. Everybody's spirits rose, and everybody started talking to every other body—irrespective of introductions. When Dolling was out, an old man on tho benches riade, the knowledgeable remark that the Wellington bowlers might get the Australian "tail" cheap. It seemed an ill-phosen word.. At the time that the ancient. spoke the alleged "tail" consisted of' nothing less than Noble, Armstrong, Trumpcr, Ransford, and Waddy. Apparently it was an insuperable thing, buijiho Wellington bowlers managed it. -Whon the seventh. Australian wicket fell it'was arranged, among the Wellington'; team, that the time-honoured custom4-"the ball to the last man"— was to be departed from. Whoever caught ft was to ■■■ hand it over to Southall. •■ It fell .to Fred Midlane. In.the face of a level.sun, which made tho catch a gamble, he held Mailey up. Tom ■ Sou'thall, of Saturday's fame, has,not been with 'us in Wellington cricket longi Last year his .peculiar, l but' effective style was seen regularly on the Basin, and he figured in the big cricket of; the" season. This year, .he has,'done .little in the Saturday senior grade, and'so has been, out of the public'gaze. .' What cricket he has done of lato has been in the Warehousemen's Association for ■ The Dominion Cricket Club;,. Ho was-to have'been unearthed for a. representative game earlier in, the,season, bjut business'reasons compelled liis dropping'out of the eleven. However, Midlane secured him for the match with! Australia—and the result everybody knows. This is not the first time Southill has come.off against Australian batting—he disturbed a lot of timber.from across the Tasman last season.- -■ .' ■ . ,-

Armstrong.took four wickets on Saturday. ;If his victims had scored up to their average for representative cricket- the bowler's record "would have read:. four- wickets • for 110 runs. As it, stands,'it reads, four for 2.; ; Benchers .in front of the stand want to:,know why a photographer was let on,the'field: to. moon about at short leg. One Wellington/cricketer said: "If he was there when.l went, in, I'd refuse .to,bat;"-, Fortunately the photographer departed soon, but the precedent is bad; The days seem to be coming when there will be no ''silly point" or "silly' midon, a battery of cameras, When the wicket was being rolled out on .. Saturday • morning, - Harry M'Girr pointed, out a patch that . ha.d " been ; torn in ■ the turf on the first-day'by Armstrong's length -balls. . A good-sized plate would have cpveM the lot. Hie incident-was-reminiscent, of- the celebrated by .the.'.English; bowler,: Alfred Shaw: 'Oh, I'ir just pes; 'em in there for. a bit. and there'll-be a good spot in the pitch by tea-time." • •

Temperamentally, M'Girr is about the best batsman'.oil the Wellington side. Ho has had the bad luck to have his batting interrupted :by the ' adjournmmt 'botli.''days, but' hie' Las'a stood fighting strain in liim, and adjournments do not"<kem'' to' matter'." In'-tiiej first innings he Vis bowled 'by ,! a"ckxl that came right round his legs.' Oh. Saturday Noble was doing fully eighteen ' inches' in i ths> air. Armstrong was breaking on the averago. about a foot from leg. "Baismaii'ff name? Batsman's name? 1 Noble had cone to the crease, but the board did not'indicate who the big man taking strike was. The crowd clemanded the information, and got back the answer: "Give us time to print it!" i-wfnrw T eht away to stencil AUULii, hut meantime someono 'else bad pencilled a card and hung it out. It .was bailed with a cheer, o |?°P u^ar . tip. round the seats 011 Saturday was tliat the Australian bowlers "would stack up an easy series of balls-for .Saunders, and let him make . top score. . 'The' actuality was • very difArmstrong setout in pursuit or :the; V ictorian'3 wicket as soon as he caifio in. The roughest over on Saturday was sent,down by Armstrong to.Gibbes. ahey tried 51'Kcnzie,' Collins, Armstrong, aiidMailey on Robinson 'in the farst innings. • Of the forty-six . balls wmch Jie got he merely played 17 aiid missed;six- -Four or five of his singles were wallops that were ticketed clear for the' fence, had not the Australian he d £ot on the road. On his eighteenth ball lip •concentrated everything between his.; shoulders and his boot-spikes. It was a-swipe at "Armstrong,' and the ban ,ilew. over, the ropes in the direction pf St. Mark's. His second innings was brief-two,balls. . U i, P,V ndustr y ° f is'a.thing- to behold—an admirable thing. He patrols the boundary, m a whirl of arms and legs, and keeps the r.uns dewn effectively. A■. particularly hot shot into the country see s "Mac" snatch off his little black cap, and, thatch in hand do even .time over the turf, usually to snatch tho ball up beautifully in the hand which is unencumbered 'bv head2®ar>aild return it with a bang to'the wiekcts.. :. ; • ..'■'Semis you right; you.should have nit it, said \ ictor Trumper to Saunders as the bronzed J.V. quitted the crease on Saturday. Armstrong tossed . one. up, for Saunders'to hit, hut the batsman decided to leave the bait along. He poked at it, and put the umpire to the trouble of re-erecting the wickets. v 'Fred. Midlane had the good ship Wellirigtoh trimmed far forward by the head in the second innings Anything likely to stop a rot was pushed forward on the batting list. Hay, Howe, Gibbes, himself,-, and .Robinson were sent out in succession to prospect the strength of .Noble and Armstrong. Grimmett had the pads on when the clock boopied "six. Unlike the. New Zealanders, the Australians adjust, tueir field to suit the occasion, and sometimes change it from minute; to minute. "At the last ..Armstrong had his outfit stationed this'way: One short .slip, one third man, pohit, "silly" ;mid-off, mid-off, "long-off, long ~ field : decn behind him, forward short leg, and "silly" mid-on. . J. V. Saunders has now taken .89 wickets in representative cricket for Wellingtoh. Tho price of these has been 1607 runs. His average per wicket is 18. ' ; I . Southall's reception when he returned to the pavilion after his great bowling ~leat oi\ Saturday -is a thing ho should never forget. The crowd shrged round the narrow path leading to the door, cheering and 1 clapping, 'lhe team filed through, but j ■at. the gate, le'ading from the playing j .field the beaming face and extended! hand of the .Hon. H. D. Bell arrested l tho hero of the moment. Heartily coil- ! gratulating Southall, Mr. Bell delayed j him until the other members of the! eleven were well ahead of him. The bowler's progress up the narrow path was memorable. Seas of ciieering'heads surged all. around. Hand's in hundreds groped to grasp him by the hand., others patted on tho shoulders or whacked him boisterously on the back.' Everyone, stranger arid friend, shouted' to him as,'"Tom." Long Tom, looking the. Iqueeres't "picture, of "holiest pride aiitl (. miserable .embarrassment, tolerated' it ■all till lie was half-way to the dressing- - •. • ■"V " '

room. Then his. nerve gave out, and ho fled.

Those who wore inquiring into Southall's cricketing past may bo a littlo surprised to hoar that he leads the bowling averages in Wellington representative cricket to-day. Before Saturday's performance' his wickets had cost 16.5 runs each. Now his statistics are: Wickets, 17; runs, 233; averago, 13.7. Young Joplin played his tenth innings in representative cricket on Saturday. The ex-Collegjan with the peculiar stand at the'. wicket has not by any means startled the cricket world yet. His. ten. innings have produced just 200 runs,-' an average of 20 per in: nings. Eighty.is his best score.