CRICKET

Evening Star, Issue 19787, 10 February 1928, Page 12

CRICKET

[By Wallaby.]

NOTES AND COMMENTS

Our cricketws have become quite Used to perspiring instead of shivering 5n the field o’ Saturdays, and last weekend old Sol smiled once more. It was indeed perfect cricket weather, and the onlookers as well as the players en|oved it to the full. Those on the North Ground clustered in or around the pavilions or lay and sat beneath the shady trees, bestirring themselves every now and again to applaud a hit for 6 «r a good catch. Albion look like “landing the mustard ” ‘again this year. On Saturday they accounted for their old-time rivals. Grange, fairly easily, which leaves them with a clear lead of four points, the position being:—Albion 9 points. Grange 5, Dunedin n . CnrisW,ok 2. There can be only three more rounds of matches at the most, so the odds onJast year’s champions repeating their triumph are fairly substantial. Albion’s innings rinsed with an afu.ilion of only .5 runs, all of which were fot by M'ivor, who ultimately canned is hat for a hard-hit 45. Then Grange went in. determined io get the runs if it was humanly possible, but secretly troubled at the wicket, which showed signs of again being in a “sporty" mood.

And Grange’s fears were justified, lor it was not long before Shepherd especially began to get up in disconcerting fashion. Jim is a dangerous bowler on a wicket that “talks” a bit, and, although ho was accommodating enough to send along a few halfvollays on the leg side, which generally yielded boundary bits, he always looked as though he might get a wicket at any time. He did hag six at a cost of 67 runs, and his bowling, aided by that of Blamires and some good catching, certainly won the match. The “ padre ” got a lot of sting into his first few overs, and by disposing of Knight and Alloo helped Shepherd to break the hack of the batting. Knight was the same vigorous, attractive hat that Wellington bowlers have had reason to remember this season, and he looked well set for a big score when he drew one from Blamires into his wicket. The ball hit the bottom of the bat hard. If Knight goes on developing along those forceful lines he will become one of the best hats in interprovincial cricket. In the second innings on Saturday he was again howled by Blamires, the ball making pace and beating him to it. The best knock in the first innings, however, was Callancl’s. Going in when things were looking very gloomy, “Gal” showed the same confidence ns he would have done if everything in the garden had been lovely. And he continued to show it, even though wickets went on falling at the other end. The Grange skipper can on occasions restrain himself just a little, hut he could never, I think, “ play the rock ” for long. So, even though Shepherd humped and Blamires zipped, “Gal” came down on them hard, driving, hooking, and now and then clipping them down the slips. No fewer than five times ho lifted the ball over’ the boundary line for 6, while three of his other scoring shots shot over the boundary via. the turf. It was a good innings _ to watch, and, though he was missed once (by Blamires), and bad a. couple of narrow escapes, it was worth all the Go runs which it earned him. One never likes to criticise umpires, or to emphatically declare their decisions wrong. 11 is so easy to be wrong oneself out there in the pavilion or on the boundary. But it did seem to mo as though the hall which brought about Galland’s dismissal Ibw would have gone'Well over the wickets had it not struck the batsman’s pad. It _was fairly short-pitched, and was_ rising abruptly. In this instance a side view was more advantageous than an end-on view, and, as I understand there was no doubt about Galland being in front, the umpire’s mistake might he excused. There was scarcely an excuse, though, for the decision which sent young Elmos hack to the pavilion in the first innings. He played the ball hard on to his pads, the nit being plainly heard outside the Brown deserves a great deal of credit for his sturdy innings, which formed the junior end of a partnership with Galland which added 82 runs for the seventh wicket. He played some nice shots “down the gully,” and showed judgment in lifting others into the open long-field. In the second innings the young batsman was still in with 15 to his credit when stumps were drawn. M'Mnllan did not get going in tho first knock, being easily taken at second slip by Blamires off one of those “ pats that so often have brought about Mac’s downfall. In the second innings the left-hander went for the bowling in determined fashion, just as he did in Wellington last month, only on Saturday he was lifting them a lot, and may he accounted lucky in finding the gaps. What he did find on a number of occasions was the boundary line. Later he sobered down a bit, and finished the day with a respectable score of 69 not out—the best for the afternoon. Arthur Alloo failed in both innings. In the first he was brilliantly caught by Vorrath at first slip, the fieldsman just getting to the hall before it touched the ground and hugging it to his body as he fell over. It was a fine effort. At the second knock AUpo was again out of luck, for he hooked a shortish one from Shepherd hard to deep squareleg, where Barron ran across and held it nicely. The Otago skipper’s contributions were 7 and 5. Elmes, after his disappointment in the first innings, got going nicely in the follow on, and, mainly by on shots, got to 30 before being bowled by Blair with one that, made pace from the pitch and kept fairly low. Conradi also made up for a first innings failure by knocking np 23 at his second try. Other double figure scorers were Hanan (17 not out) and Tonkinson (10), who put on 16 for the tenth wicket. It was soon apparent that Grange s second knock was to be merely a matter of filling in time, and Binney gave some of his “ occasional ” a try with the ball. At the end of the day Grange had added 162 (for four wickets) to their first innings score of 190, losing by 137 runs. Albion’s fielding was good all day, and, in addition to Vorrath’s catch already referred to, there were others which were nicely taken. Speaking of catching, I saw a very fins catch taken by a fieldsman in the second grade (B section) match between Grange and Albion teams. Tho ball was hit hard and fairly high, and was sailing merrily for 6 when young Duncan, of the Grange, who was stationed on the edge of the ground, put up his left hand and held it. Those who saw the incident applauded it fondly. Carisbrook, who had not previously won a match this season, gauged Dunedin’s batting weakness pretty accurately when they decided not _ to_ go any further with their first innings score of 290 for three, but to have a shot at getting Torrance and his men out twice. They succeeded in this, and missed a three-point win by only a quarter of an hour, for they could have got the 20 runs they required in that time or less. Reg. Cherry batted brightly for 27 and 44, which was the best double for his side. His was clean, and he seemed well set in each innings when he made his fatal mistakes. Cavanagh, not for the first lime by any means this season, was run out in the first knock. It was not his fault, either, for he called Cherry and ran halfway, but the latter sent him back, {he. gtroko being one behind the wio-

ket, it was Cavanagh’s call. However, in tbe second knock tho colt gob going nicely and reached 39. He got most of his runs on the on-sido, but also scored with off drives. This is the side ho needs to strengthen up, and with a continuance of his keenness ho will do this all right. Walter Strang was absent from tbe Dunedin/ team on Saturday, and T. Ritchie, from the juniors, took his place. Tho youngster _ played quite well for 21 in the first innings. Dick Torrance pleased the crowd with a hard-hitting knock of 33 (top score). Dickinson, who took two wickets in the first and four in the innings, was erratic, but he got in a few good ones, particularly the one which skittled C. Ritchie in the second innings. This turned from the off like a flash, and gave the batsman no hope. Blunt was also successful with his “mixtures.” Gourley was behind the stumps, and did very well, accounting for two wickets in each innings. Wien Torrance was batting he hit a ball hard towards the adjacent junior wicket. Tho bowler in this match bowled just at the same instant, and, as the batsman missed, the ball which had been hit by Torrance crashed into his wickets. The mystified batsman could not make out for a moment what had happened. Albion’s junior teams continue to do well. I think I am right in saying that in all grades the club has suffered bub two defeats so far this season. They have some wonderfully promising material amongst these juniors, which fact augurs well for the future of the club. The fifteen-year-old boy, Leador—who, appropriately enough is captain of his team —is a case in point. He rarely fails to do something more than useful in the fourth grade, competition. On Saturday he made 24 and took six for 24. Two other youths who are making history are R. Silver and Campbell, of tho Albion third grade team. These two put on 280 between them against Carisbrook on Saturday, and were still together when time was called, Silver being 166 not out and Campbell 10b not out. This, by the way, is Silver’s third and Campbell’s second century since the season opened; all five beino, compiled on the Logan Park No. 1, wicket, which is praised by everyone who plays upon it (unless he bo solely a howler). ’ , ~ r I see Dacre will not be available lor the matches against _ the Australian team. This will certainly cut some of tho “dash” out of our attack. Now that the two tests have been set down for the tail-end of the tour, I take it that none of the “here and away professionals will he included in the New Zealand team, as they will all be on the way Home. .... .. . In one of those periodical outbursts which are characteristic of our southern friends, the cricket writer in the Southland ‘Times’ says—“ ‘ Wallaby,’ like the Otago Association, the Otago selectors, and the Otago players themselves} has apparently forgotten that cricket is played in Southland. Had the cricket heads of Haggisville been a little less imbued with the spirit of parochialism and scouted beyond the Carisbrook and North Ground boundaries, the Dark Blues might have had a respectable Plunket Shield record for the season. This writer, however, does nob help us .with any definite statements or opinions concerning the men who would have made such a. difference in our record. I for one would hail with pleasure any new star in the Otago cricket firmament, whether it rose over the southernmost horizon or over the northern, or suddenly came from under the clouds overhead. And I’m sure the selectors would not care whether a man made his runs or took his wickets in Haggisville (to quote “Onlooker”) or Inverkegville, or Waitakiville, so long as there was a reasonable chance of his doing ditto when up against real bowling and batting. _ But, really, on the face of the showing which Southland made against North Otago, it does seem to mo that—well, “Onlooker,” being a judge of the game, will know what I mean.

Certainly it is unfortunate that the trip south appeals so_ little to Otago players that they immediately reply “ not available ” when asked if they can go. There can be no personal reason, for Southlanders invariably treat our boys well. But there it