CRICKET NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 138, 7 December 1929, Page 25

CRICKET NOTES

Speaking in Australia about Engiisli cricket last season, M. S. Nicholsj :& fast bowler in the M.C.C. team, Btated." the new leg-befpre-wicket rule, wHici provides that a batsman is out if he snicks on to his pads a straight ball' which, in the opinion of the umpire, would still strike the wicket, had proved a ghastly failure. Dozens of batsmen had been given out; even though it was well-nigh impossible wlien playv ing forward to deflect thc.b.ail off, the wicket once it touched the bat The broader and higher wickets had assistr. Ed English bowlers a great deal. As* a fast bowler, Nichols was naturally opposed to an eight-ball over. He agreed that it was all right as far asJ sloiv bowlers were concerned, but in hot' weather it took too much out of. the fast bowler to send down eight" balls. He could not' understand wbv Australia had not reverted to the sixball over. . : E. L. a'Beckett notified the selectors that he would not be able to." play in the Test trial in Sydney owing to University examinations. A'Beckett, it will be remembered, was not. avail-, able for. last .season's Test!.trial' for a similar reason. He played in' the third and fourth Test matches against Chapman's team. A Jacobs, the ex-Canterbury player, is regarded as having strong claims to inclusion in Otago's representative cricket team this season. With reference to the item in lasfe" Saturday's "Post" dealing with an in-. cident in which a batsman had been given out lbw by an umpire .when the ball had first struck his bat, and had' been allowed to remain at the request of the fielding side, it is interesting to; nqte that a similar occurrence took' place when Christopherson was batting for Kilbirnie against Pctone last week.^ This -further supports our correspond-'. ent's suggestion that the true cricket spirit is still very much alive to-day. During the tea adjournment at the Petone Oval last Saturday, W. J. R. Christopherson, captain of the visiting Kilbirnie side, expressed on behalf of his team the appreciation they felt for the hospitable manner in which they were treated by the Petoue. ladies. It was always a pleasure to come to Petone to play, he said, and the tea provided by the ladies put the finishing touches on the afternoon. F. E. Woolley, prior to the present tour of the M.C.C. team, had scored two centuries for England against New South Wales at Sydney—l3B in 1920-21 and 149 in 1924-25: He made 209 in the recent match, but this great effort was not his best for an innings in Australia, as he made 305 not out' against Tasmania in 1911-12. In Tests with Australia he made scores of IS3 not out (1911-12), and 123 (1924-25), both at Sydney. His recent century against South Australia was his first at Adelaide. The suggestion that tho jubilee of the matches between Canterbnrv and Wellington should be celebrated* by a match between veterans of at least 25 years' standing on the day before the Plunket Shield match is a happy one, and the game, if it comes off, should not only provide a great deal of pleasure for the old hands themselves, Jjut also prove interesting to the younger generation, who owe so much to those who have flung the torch to them. Eligibles on the Wellington side are J. Hutchings, W. S. Brice, M. Cromhie, A. D. S. Duncan. S. and C. Hicksori, V, Waters, E. O. Hales, B. Weybpurne, C. A. Richardson, F. A. Laws, K. K. Tucker, F. L. Ashbolt, E. F. Upham, F. Holdsworth, W. Wynyard, W. M'Gifr, F. Robertson, E. M. Beechey, and others, while amongst the Canterbury stalwarts .ire G. T. Weston, E. BL Frankish, R. L. Fisher, W. Howell, -I. H. Bennett, W. Robertson, K. Ollivier, T. Malone, S. Orchard, C. R. Clark, T. and D. Reese, W. C. H. Wigley, W. Pearce, A. E. and H. C. Ridley, I. D. Lawrence, C. W. Garrard, and S. M'Murray. F. C. Stephenson, L. TCoberoft, E. Wright, H. M. Moorhouse, and W. Frith represented both provinces. The'C grade lias i-qw completed its first i-qund, which leaves State Firtt. still unbeaten. State Fire have:performed very meritoriously, and in the final round some keen cricket should bo witnessed when they meet Brownlees, wlio are only two points behind. These two tennis appear to bo a grade lower than their performances warrant, and next year should see them up with the best. Mansfield and Cleary, who scored 04 and 52 respectively, were State Fire's main contributors. . ■ . -