CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2007, 14 March 1914, Page 12

CRICKET.

[By The Breaker.]

A Generous Offer. Wellington's budding Trumpers and Armstrongs—if we have any—have their chance now Quito a number of good trophies -have been offered by Mr. A. E. Kernot for disposal in the match -Wellington'v.'Australia on March 20 and 21. . To every Wellington player who makes a score- of 50 in either innings; Mr. Kernot will give a trophy valued at £2 25.; to each and every player who may make 75 runs, a tropliy, valued at £3 3s. will.'bo presented: for-, each innings, of 100 the-trophy will bo valued at £4 45.. That is-for the batsmen,;' but the''> bowlers have not been forgotten. Any bowler obtaining fivo or moro wickets in an innings will receive a tropliy valued at £2 2s. The best of the offer is that it is liKrily .to load to something more. Assooli;as it'.became known, a. number of enthusiasts .thought, of ..Wellington's: weakest point—its fielding. Their pro-;: posal' is to raiso an amount of three; guineas or may be five guineas for the best.tryer in the tiekl on the Wellington side; and-to do it by means of half-crown or shilling subscriptions. The yrifol will "be awarded on the decision.', of a competent judge. So far the ijro-'.j posal' has' note been carried, very' far,, buKit will bea splendid idea if it comesto pass.i ■' ■■:, '. " ..'„.; :,'■' __->■■• A,Talk on tha Test Match. - Charles Robinson, - our fast bowler, came back from Dunedin during the week, aifcl/.tioing interviewed, had some remarks of interest to make about the test match. , Tjio interviewer first:nskcd him about Carisbrook and tho wicket."Well," replied "Robbie, , ? '■'I'Believe it was .about the best wicket I havo ever played on, and the otitfield was *'just'-like a bowling green: Yes, it was a- little slow ori.ythp--first day,'but it was/all , right on'tlie second and third." What'iof,(m - :; batting! 1 was "the next question.';;'; ;. . ~', '■'.. The.. CehtraU man replied that*tho stniid '.'rhnde'l byj Tuckwoll and Horspool in tho,";|ir.3t.!.infiiitgs was. a really;'good one.j',;TuolcweJj scored all. wicket," ■• niicf" his- -late cutting-, -was- a foatn'roX'*ln. "fji'e. '.second- .'.inn f:onh'dencß.;"oL '^Yhitta,.'"' Patrick"",' .U'ah'd Saiidnianj l.Jj.'ji'.j'dec^sioir'-TvTii.oJr^seiit , Whittaj-baek was'-a'.dbiil)ffiiliorieT"''"" ; : 1 ,""".' '.' ; l' Whai;"s.ort;;;d(jbawler is Crawford?.:.:; -jflo , 7_i§-.;fastj"r,replicd. tl)o; .Welling-; toniniij-'-V'n'nd" jie- -sometimes - •■■bowls -_:;> a abljt£ I'hen. ..hejjoth. swerves' .and.br.eaks. f i •Hβ ;has'jrpecnliay poiift-t'-'aricli'shor-t JTour jother , tlienßffi-sider«;Qn lie iiasj;a midflWojietshoft H 'fine-ieg/< -.I'liewliblo thing-makes a sort of V.' r As to the other. Australian .'hollers,' Armstrong bowled'.very much as Jie ;did, ; iii.-,Wcllingt9iii-;,-He.- kept; , '.a fiiie4length', antl"l£'-Vas'"diflicult'td do .inyiiiing ~with him;'.'.,: :,,.:,,.:..f C.

;';l<3f the Australian . battinfr," coll--timte'd ■'Robinson "Armstrong'H 96 in the"lirst innings was solid, but not bnlr liantVi'He'gavo ah easv'chance to stump ■iidfijl'oii'iißn'.was. , 20." jTrtinmor was tho brilliant :man on-tho side." ■' ••

•Ttos led the talk mi to wicket-keep-ers,*, and tho interviewer asked how Coud.lift'o shaped. '"' ■ -'.' • replied the bnrly Central nlayer, "of. eoiirso he-did very well, .HdiVe, : 'of '. Wellinp.ton,. and Gatdt'of^P.o'toric^^ai'oyfully;-his"equals. The New Zealand without si doubt is stjll Charlie Boxhall. I saw him all ;tl><vitime when w« were in Aiistralia',y:.ai!d.:that. :is my honest opinion." ' _-. I;. 1 ■■;.' ':'' ':. : . In conclusibn, Bobihson uaid a tribute tn Bennett's bowling, and to the freo hittins of .Sandman and , Patrick. Asked how he liiiT.solf came'to'ibe ; ruit out. tho smiter said:.."lt ,wa's a stroke to third man. I thought there was-a run in it, so I called and came' on, but M'Konzie's return was too nuick for me. The umniro. told me that I would, have been in if I had been running with my bit down. As it was, I.was running with it up in the air."

- Congratulations to Hardham on tho century which ho achieved in'the Myers Cup match at Auckland. Auckland Cricket. Control is to bo congratulated on the way it 6poke out on the New Zealand Cricket Council's recent'wonderful balance-sheet. Dr. Dolling, of tho Australian team, whose- first visit it is to this country, is so charmed with the scenery that he proposes, after tho tour is over, to remain behind for a few weeks and "do" tho Lakes. Rotortta he will see with the Australian team at the end of tho month. , . During the luncheon interval of-the second day of the Test match at Dunodin, Mr. "Dan" Eeese took the opportunity of stating that in his opinion Now Zealand cricket was on tho improve. Previous Australian Teams Hero. The first Australian team which ever visited New Zealand came in 1878, opening its tour in Invercargill. It included A. and C. Bannerman, T. Horan, I' , . Spofforth, W. L. Murdoch, D. Gregory,* J. Mv. Black'ham, T. Garrctt, H. l r . Boyle, and others. This team played matches at Oamaru, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, and Auckland. ,'_ _ Tho : second Australian team to \ visit New Zealand came in 1880-1. It was captained by W- L- Murdoch, and included .tho famous bowlers Spofforth and Boyle.':::- ' ' The'third Australian team came over five years later. This was the side which i toured- -England in 1886. Numbered in I its ranks were S. P. Jonos, 6. Palmer, I W. Bruce, A. H. Jarvis, J. W. Tnimble, J. M. Blackham, F. Spofforth, .T. W.' Ciarrottj- and others. Against a Wellington twenty-two, this eleven compiled 475,-S."P. Jones getting ISO. .• ] '/Clio:fourth Australian team hero came i in ! ISGG-rT. This was the famous com-: hinatiou: captained by G. H. S. Trott. Iroludrtl in it wero Ji Darling, F. Iredale, ;H'.' Graham, C. Hill, S. Gregory, J. Kollyi 11. Trutr.blo, C. Eady, "Jonah" Jones, r'ahcl T.'M'Kibbon-. . It tt'aS not:-'until'the season of ISOo that' another. ,, Australian" team toured, New Zealand—the'fifth since. , the first team toured'in'lß7B. Tho side included the famous playors ■of ' the period—V. Trumper, R. Dnff, C. Hill, M. A.-'Noble,. (captain), S. Gregory, A. J. Hopkin?, W. W." Arm strong, J. J. 'Kelly, D. E. A. Gehrs,;-A'. Cotter, and W. 1 Howell. Referring; ;to tho : team, Noble was of the opinidn!that it' was the strongest batting niid best fielding team that had left Australia. Many would question that statement, however. A strong Australian- team toured New Zealand-in 1910. W. W. Armstrong was its' , ' Captain, and had with him W. Bardsley, C Kelleway, E. E. Mayne, D. Smith, W. J. Whitty, N. Dodds, S. H. Emery, C. E. Gorry, C. E. Simpson, A. C Facy, A. J. Hopkins, and T. S. Warms.': ".How much New Zealand cricket had improved was shown by the respectable resistance offered to this aggregation of talent. .Wellington (Midlanc 67, in the , ' second innings) were beaten by six wickets, but not by any means disgraced. ; . . ■

A Correspondent on M'Mahon. \ A correspondent writes:—ln picking representative .teame, the. Jifew ., Xealjinu selector ' 'iiaa shown ' prejudice against country players. Why is this? Don't they know that good men exist in the provinces? Anyone at all conversant with cricket should know of .sonivj oE thc r country men's record. • .' ; ; . ■•. ; Tho writer wants to: champion tho cause of "Len" •M'Mahon, the .popular captain of the crack Gisbbrno' Club team, tho Wanderers. - M'Mahon has innumerable good performances beliiikl him (did he not one season" have'a club avei-ago of about 400 runs, through only being put out twice in-"the season), and is a stylish and "experienced cricketer. He came to Gisborne as a>coach for tho Wsnderers some years ago, after having club cricket experience in Sydney. Ho has worked Wanderers to the head of tho district year after year, and always topped the batting averages. The representative selectors may perhaps feel inclined to think light of this performance as •. being only against mediocre ■ players. Very well, grant that in, but what about his record during the past month ? Hawke's Bay sent a strong team to play Poverty Ray and were 'defeated solely owing to M'Mahoirs batting. Ho was not well at the time, but in the second innings wont in and compiled over 80 runs, not out, and Poverty Bay won the match by one wicket. Then the Australians went to Gisbornc and easily defeated the home team. But then', they have easily defeated all the country—and city—teams, einco thoir arrival in New Zealand.- What was M'MWion's record then ? He was fourth man in, and was never put out, carrying his bat for a faultless 87, out of a" total .score of 155. The rest of tho team did not shine, but one cricket veteran worthy of a place in a New Zealand 1 representative team, W. Gibson, stayed at the wickets an hour and a half for 12 n;nsr ' and thereby enabled "Len" M'Mahon to put on his score. Gibson's stand was commendable, and his selfeffacement needs a word of praise, for "Billv" is n. mighty bat on occasions. M'Mahon is also a useful change bowler of the slow varietv. His play at the wickets is comparable- with that of Trumper. He knows the science of every 'stroke, and should ho get going iri a Now Zealand representative team a«ainsf tho Australians ho would open the oyes of some of the young men who consistently anpear in big cricket. In fact,- ho. lias forgotten more about the gamotlmninaiiT of tho younger "stars" in New Zealand cricket ever knew.

Who will Sklppar Wellington? » I confess I am a little "scary" about a ,vrhat will /happen in "Wellington's 'next ? encounter with the Australians. Tliis ■' for more reasons-than one. The chosen i team are not practising fielding at all. 0 ["Besides thoy are now without a .general f. Ho direct the attack. They are going to miss.Fred. Midlane quite a lot. "Fred. ? ,!bas been subjected to some little criti- * •cism this year—most of it unjust—but c I now that ho is awav the awkward 1 ques- I tion stares one full in the face: What J are wo'going to do without the captain {' I who ran the Wellington bowling so well ' [in its previous "matches? • 6 I Whatever - happens our, ibowlers must 1 .'do one thing. Tlioy must "go for" each T ;'Australian in earnest in/the first two | ; ior three overs.. Those men do not take ' [long "to-get'set as" "a irule, and most 'of J them aro.ugly personages to shift once 1 {•'they Ji'avo settled down. Also, any fields- f ■man who'drops a catch ought to have { <!his name written large-in the black list ' folio of Wellington's annals. 1 Some Stray Singles..- '! It is quite likely-that Charles Robin- * son. may.not ho available for. the coming 1 j-match, Australia v. .Wellington. It will ] be no end of a misfortune for his sido j {■should this prove so. i Watdhing Saunders and Ryan getting j jPetone out, the writer felt a little cilri- j osity as. to what their averages for tho ■ I season- might bo-like., ,Tho books.,'sho w J that Jly?i']j; ha;s "iss 'f str ;w?eckod, 38. s.e t.s'.of , | timber at 11 runs apiece. Saunders has '36 wickets-at 10 vuus-eaoli.- -These aro .very good figures. " : Growing tiresomeij The Australians aro reported to have feaid that Lancaster ; Park was"the' best 'ground they had struck: ■ then. it .was Temuka; then.Dunedin; later still"lnvercargill.' r. •So -f iir,howovcr, tho visitors ! h'avo*-<Temaihed; silent regarding Puysegur-Point; Dog Island; the Snares;; and Paekakariki. A hob finish mav'lje looSli for in the match Central -v. Petono to-day. Our representatives are now putting in practice' Australian match'. So far they have .shown consistent neglect . of the -point in which* they are . weakest ' —fielding<and.catching. -. i": ' '. Some costly blunderer ► in. -tjfio Southland team niisse'd ; .'.Trumpoi\,^ less tha.i ./IV.lliftpW.'lt.hon pfocSeded to whack;;together:ia;,'pttir of jsbaWries. Dropping -world's -batsmen seems be' more- toipensifo tlian-" "tho kings." JJfct' lis hSriS.'.'it will liot' bc'.'repcatc'd.lidl'p:'.';;';......' .... ... . With jfclj .diiQ.deference.to Charles Robinson's opinion of G'arisbrook ground, Diiuedin, the writer knows it Veil enough ' to nJolieve""hard '.that it is. t'Oo slow for a tpsfc"m«fchr *" ' . While tlie'Australi'ans were engaged in the Test" matc'lip Frank Laver look a I'ufr.yp.-c.auntry to. sc<»'tho:fold lakes'oL l)i;i;;o., ■ . •;';v _. I-E'-W-'.'"Taylor easily topped the South African batting averages with . 50.8 against tho Englishmen. He scored 608 runs in 10 inning's. 1 liliinckenbeiß took 19 pickets and Newberry 11. ..No other fcotvlir took *10 wickets; The team .which JD., Reese will take to Wellington at TSastor probably, will include Six or -seven- Canterbury representative, players.

Th'o-cry in Now Zealand is that the .cricket'is on the decline. Why do' not the selectors encourage- players by recognising merit wlien it. is apparent? Btit one is inclinc-i to the, opinion that tlio avorago selector knows something about Auckland, Wellington, ChristcTmrch, and Dunedin, but lias never hoard of such' plncos ae Gisborne, Naj>ier, Wanganui, Palmerston, and other towns Vwlicre yeal cricketers sometimes ercWtip and die, unread of. —I nm, etc., 6 - 1 — • • FAIRPLAY.