CRICKET IN GISBORNE

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 274, 28 November 1901, Page 2

CRICKET IN GISBORNE

(To the Editor of the Times.) Sir, —With your kind permission I should like to suggest a few reforms which struck me on Saturday last as necessary if this grand old game is to become popular in Gisborne :—l. The cricket field for playing purposes is a disgrace to Gisborne ; but presuming that no better can be got, one good strip of matting should replace the miserable apology which did duty at No. 2 pitch last Saturday. 2. The long grass should be kept down by mowing or sheep, so that a player can make two runs at the least when he drives along the carpet, and the chance be averted of a ball being lost within a few yards of the wicket. 3. The wicket 3 should be pitched and the creases freshly marked (no old ones used as on Saturday) before 2 o'clock, at which hour (instead of 3 as at present) each captain with his full complement of men and an umpire should be ready to commence the match. These afternoon matches are no true tests of the merits of the two sides, and it is a pity that all day matches cannot be arranged. 4. Telegraph boards to show the progress of the game would not cost much, and would be appreciated by both players and spectators. 5. A marquee or some shelter should be provided where players can change their attire without having to do so in the open as some did on Saturday. 6. If the town clubs do not care for any light refreshments with tea or some other beverage, common courtesy should dictate that it would be the right thing to provide something for a visiting team from the country, in return for what they always receive in little Ormond. A glass of water on Saturday would have been most acceptable, 7. If cricketers expect the fair sex to grace the field with their presence, they should provide some comfortable sheltered place for them, and not allow them to spoil their complexions by sitting on a bank in such a broiling sun as that of Saturday. If the captains of the three town clubs, .vho are genuine cricketers, would only put their heads together, I am sure they would soon find a way to put matters -l cricketical ” on a better basis than it seems to bo in Gisborne. Hoping I have not trespassed too much on your valuable space,—l am, etc.

F. C. Leggett, Ormond, 26th Nov., 1901.