BIG CRICKET

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 112, 29 January 1918, Page 6

BIG CRICKET

WELLINGTON BEATS AUCKLAND

BRICE AND CRAWFORD BOWL WELL By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, January 28. The Auckland-Wellington representative cricket match was resumed to-day in dull weather, with occasional light showers. The wicket was sticky. "Wellington continued its innings, Wilson and Hiddlcstone batting. Wilson faccd Simpson and got a single olf his second ball. Tho third ball of Simpson's over was fatal to Hiddlestone, who was stumped by Lowry. 28 —I—l 4. Dind, the newcomer, was soon' deprived of his partner, Wilson being caught in tho slips by Simpson. 28—2—13. Luslc started off with a single through the slips olf Smith, and then Dind was clean bowled by Smith. 41—3—7. Baker came in next and opened with a single. Lusk got a boundhry and brought tho score to 48. Lusk drove smith to the boundarv and got a cut ( for two and then another two, and 60 went up. M'Math bowled, vice Simpson. Middleton's second ball upset Lusk's sticks. 71—4—23. Crawford entered into partnership with Baker and the score mounted to !)3. M'Math missed an easy catch from Baker. Snedden bowled vice M'Math at the southern end, and Crawford drove the third ball to tho off boundary. Baker, with a brace and another two, made tho score reach the century. At tho luncheon adjournment, the scoro was 166 for four wickets. Crawford played splendidly for 110 when he was caught by Midlane off Dacre. 263—5—110. Baker was caught by Lowry, and seven wickets were down for 277.' Tho remaining wickets fell in rapid . succession, and the innings closed for 308. TTcmus and Midlano opened for Auckland. Brice, bowling yorkers, was almost unplayable. At 11 Hsmns was clean bowled by Briee. and Snedden. tho newcomer, went out for nil. Brice had taken two wickets for no runs when the Auckland captain, Smith, joined Midlane. Smith survived an apnea! for 1.b.w., but was bowled later by a low ball from Brice. (Tlireo for 10.) Scoring was very slow and small. The Wellington bowlers were in splendid form. Dacre and Lowry did good work for Auckland, and the final scorp was 04. _ Wellington went in again, and scored five runs for two wickets, winning by eight wickets. Details of the scoring follow:— Auckland.—First Innings 218 Wellington.—First Innings. Hiddlestone, c. Lowry, b. Simpson 14 Wilson, c. Simpson, b. Smith 13 Dind, b. Smith V Lusk, b. Middle.ton 23 Baker, c. Lowry 85 Crawford, o. Midlane, b. Dacre ... 110 Tuclcwell, b. Simpson 2 Burton, c. and b. Simpson 0 Brice, c. Snedden 5 Tucker, not out 8 Condlilfe, st. Lowry, b. Smith 11 Extras 30 Total 308 Bowling Analysis.—Smith took four wickets for 75 runs; Simpson, four for 73 j M'Math, none for 33; Taylor, none tor 6; Middleton, one for 45; Snedden, noii6 for 14; Dacre, one for 15; Hemus, none for 17. Wellington —Second Innings. Burton, c. Simpson, b. Middleton 0 Condliffe, c. and b. Simpson 0 Crawford, not out 5 Total 5 Auckland. —Second Innings. Hemus, b. Brice , 9 Midlane, c. Hiddlestone, b. Crawford 17 Snedden, b. Brice 0 Smith, c. Brico 2 Horspool, b. Crawford 0 Dacre, b. Crawford ,\ 26 Taylor, b. Crawford 3 Middleton, b. Brice 0 Simpson, c. Brice, b. Crawford ... 9 M'Math, not out 3 Extras 15 Total 94 (Lowry's name was not telegraphed in the above list, and as the total of S;4 is teu more than the figures actually total, it is presumed that "Lowry, 10," should bo added to the list.) Bowling Analysis.—Crawford took five, wickets for 53 runs; Brice, five for 26. STORY OF THE MATCH DEADLY BOWLING ON BAD WICKET. (B.v Telcgranh—SDecial Correspondent.) Auckland, January 28. The representative cricket match ended sensationally this afternoon, the Wellington men completely outplaying the Aucklanders. At the beginning of the day things went well for a while with the local team, Hiddlestone, Wilson, and. Dind being dismissed very cheaply, although Ltisk i had neli):d with a modest contribution. Then a slight shower cf rain, not sufficient to send the players off the field, fell, and the ball became greasy. Smith, tho Englishman on the Auckland side, who has a big reputation here, was turning the ball in a clever manner, and the prospects ■of a low score by the visitors looked certain. Baker and Crawford, however, became asociated, and they gradually but surely woro down the Auckland bowling. Change after change was resorted to, but still the pair went on, and at tho luncheon adjournment tlioy were still together with tho total at 156. After the resumption the soldier-cricketer came right out of his shell, and by some brilliant batting piled on the runt at a great rate. Some of his shots were real beauties, one that hit high up on tho grandstand from a forked drivo being the hit of the match. With 110 to his credit, Crawford was caught at cover point by Midlane, and the applause that followed his departure proved that the Auckland public appreciated a good example of how the game of cricket should be played when one is given them. With Crawford's dismissal tho end was not long in coming, tho remaining batsmen giving but little trouble. Baker's tally was the only decent one besides the ex-Surrey man's. The wicket was showing signs of wear, and it was anticipated by good judges that the Aucklanders' leeway of 90 runs would take some making up, and the judges were not far out. The Wellington skipper started Crawford at one end and took tho other himself, and they both commenced rocking them down fast. Brice's bowling flow; sometimes it kept low, and at others it was almost shooting, and Crawford had the batsm?:i stopping a. lot with their bodies So deadly was Brice's bowling in the early stages that three of the best Auckland wickets fell to his bag for one run. The end of the story is that, barring some fine defensive batting by Midlane and a forcing innings by Dacr.\ tho Aucklanders failed, the whole side being out for 94 runs, leaving Wellington with but li.ve runs to secure to win the match. The wicket was a bad one, to put things mildly, and was nob"in any way suitable to play a representative match on. Tho Aucklanders were handicapped in that they had. not two bowlers of the pace of Crawford and Brico, who took full advantage of the bad spots.