CRICKET.

Evening Star, Issue 4301, 8 December 1876, Page 4

CRICKET.

The general meeting of cricketers, convened last night for the purpose of further considering the Interprovincial match, was poorly attended, only eighteen persons being j present. The Chairman (Mr W. D. Meares) explained that the Association had made a good deal of inquiry amongst the players likely to be selected. Downes and Eeade had been asked to play in the match with Christchurch, and they replied that they could not possibly manage it. Having pretty well ascertained the ideas of the majority of the' players, the Association thought it would not be possible to play the match. Of course the principal difficulty was the AllEngland Eleven match. The players who would have been able to go to Christchurch would be prevented by the All-England Eleven match, and the Association thought it would not be judicious to risk the success of both matches. The question of expense had also weighed considerably with the Association. The public, having liberally responded to the appeal for subscriptions towards the English match, could not expected to pay the expenses of the Christchurch match as well. The Association was willing to send a team to Christchurch the following year, hut they could not possibly play both matches this season. MrH. S. Fish thought it was a most injudicious thing for the Association to give up the Interprovincial match, to whieh everything else should be subsidiary. They would not be able to see a good display of cricket in the All-England Eleven match, which would be a hollow show. While the Interprovincial matches were calculated to thoroughly develope cricket, to engender friendly feeling between the cricketers, and to do a great deal of good. He knew from a recent visit to Canterbury that the cricketers there felt very strongly that the match should not be given up this year, and as an outsider he thought there should be sufficient bone, sinew, and pluck here to tackle both matches. Mr Eva considered it was a farce to send a team to Christchurch to get the greatest thrashing they had got yet.—(No, no.) They could not possibly get a team to represent them this year, and there was the difficulty of getting funds. He moved : " That this meeting, having heard the correspondence between the Otago Cricketers' Association and the Canterbury Match Committee, is of opinion that, as it would be impossible to send anything like a representative team to Christchurch this year, the matches should be postponed till next season, when Otago would send an eleven to Christchurch." Mr Fish moved, as an amendment—"That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable that the usual match with Canterbury should take place, and that it be remitted to the Otago Cricketers' Association to carry out the same," and intimated that he would himself give LlO towards the expense of sending up a team. Mr Eva said that if a team were willing to go to Christchurch and pay their own expenses, the Association would be glad to send them. Only two (Messrs F. Fulton and W. Morrison) handed in their names ; but Mr Clark afterwards made up a list of fourteen volunteers who had expressed their willingness to go to Christchurch as members of the Ota«o team if selected. ° The amendment was carried by eight to j two votes, the others not voting. THE ALL-ENGLAND ELEVEN. Mr Eva read a letter from Mr J. F. Bennett, the agent of the All-England Eleven, who wrote that they would play the cricketers of the Auckland district on the 29th January, and, coming South, play Nelson, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill. The Dunedin match will be played about the middle of February, but it was impossible to fix the exact date till the team arrived in New Zealand.