CRICKET.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 800, 15 January 1877, Page 3

CRICKET.

ELEVEN V FIFTEEN. The above was the title of the match played on Saturday last. Play did not commence until nearly I p.m, as some of the players were absent to meet the Otago cricketers upon their arrival at Lyttelton, The Ffteen took the field, Sweet and T. R. Moore commencing the bowling. Leach and Wood appeared for the Eleven, and after each batsman had scored a single an appeal by the wicket keeper for a catch was not allowed, although it was afterwards found that the ball just touched the batsman’s glove; but the next ball proved fatal, and Leach retired. Corfe succeeded, and commenced steadily batting, much better than in practice the previous evening. Wood, however, was not content with ground allotted to the batsman to stand upon, and was beautifully stumped by Fowler, who was keeping wicket quite in his old formtwo for 16. Alpe filled the vacancy, and for some time defied all the efforts of the bowlers. Runs, however, came slowly, plenty of loose balls being let off. At last Alpe made an off drive, for which he thought he could steal a run; but not calling his partner until too late, the two batsmen were at the same end, and the ball being nicely fielded by Palmer, Alpe lost his place—three for 38. He made a good leg hit for a 4 and a 8. J. Fowler came, but in consequence of a strain had Leach to tun for him. The play was very slow, the bowling being let off frequently; the fielding, however, was good with one or two exceptions, notably point, who, in returning the ball, always threw it at the wicket keeper’s feet. We would remind this young player that, however good a batsman he may become, he will never be fit to play in a good match unl( 11 he exerts himself more in the field. We hope to see an improvement next time we see him play iu R match, The scores .‘gradually crept up to 58, principally by singles, when Dickinson disposed of Corfe, two men moving behind the bowler’s arm distracting his attention. He made a 5, the ball going under the cover of the well and it was sometime before it could be got out, and a 4, a grand cut off Sweet. Ashby went to Fowler’s assistance, but after making a 5, a splendid leg hit, and two singles, was neatly run out by Palmer and Fowler, five,for7o. Neilson joined J. Fowler, and a long stand was made. The bowling, which had previously been changed, undergoing the same operation, Sweet going on at the upper end, Fuller, who was bowling well from the lower end, continuing. With the score at 93 J. Fowler was clean bowled by Sweet. He only made a few runs, there being only one 2 amongst his contribution, which was owing to an injury above referred to. Secretan came, and now the game became more lively, both batsmen scoring rapidly: Neilson, who had previously been content’ with singles, now going in for larger figures. At 'last a change came, Secretan commenced with a single off the first ball of the over from Sweet, which Neilson followed up by two 2’s and a 4 to the gate, but playing at the next before he had recovered from the running was bowled. His score of 49 was rapidly made, and with the exception of two difficult chances was made without a mistake. D’Bmden followed, and with Secretan played until time was called, both being not out for II aud 17 respectively ; the score being 1155 with the loss of seven wickets. Of the play, the batting was not so good as it should have been, many balls which ought to have been punished being allowed to pass. The fielding was very good, more especially that of Palmer at raid-off and B, Fowler at the wickets. Ollivier took long stop, but at first did not pick up the ball so cleanly as he should have done, and showed that he is in want, of practice to bring him into the form he displayed about eight years ago, when he used to take that position. Fuller bowled well, but had very bad luck, and Moore, who is an old acquaintance, showed that his right hand had not lost its cunning. The following is the score : eleven. First Innings. W. B. Leach, b Sweet 1 J. Wood, st Fowler, b Moore 8 C. O. Corfe, b Dickinson 23 S, Alpe, run out ... ••• ••• 14 J. Fowler, b Sweet... ... ... 15 D. Ashby, run out 7 W. F. Neilson, b Sweet 49 H. H. Secretan, not out 17 J. S. D’Bmden, not out 11 E. C. J. Stevens, R. R. Palmer, and W. Frith to go in. Byes, 3 ; leg byes, 4 ; wides, 3 ... 10 155 analysis of bowling. Sweet —100 balls, 1 maiden, 63 runs, 3 wickets. Moore—9s balls, 6 maidens, 23 runs, 1 wicket. Fuller —155 balls, 13 maidens, 4(3 runs, 1 wide. Dickinson —55 balls, 3 maidens, 16 runs, 1 wicket, 2 wides. THE INTBEPROYINOIAL CRICKET MATCH. On Saturday last the Otago team arrived by the Taranaki, and came through to Christchurch by the 2 p.m. train, and were driven to their hotel in a drag by Mr B. W, Millett, who, as usual, kindly lent it for the i occasion. Some of our cricketers met the tfeam in Lyttelton, bait, as tbfere was a match being played on thq ground, a great rqany

who would have been only too glad to have gone were prevented from doing so, as play was to commence at 2 p,m. Our opponents seem little worse for their voyage, having had a good passage nearly the whole way, Shortly after three o’clock some of the eleven put in an appearance on the ground, and, at their request, a wicket was prepared for them, but they did not practise, evidently preferring to watch the match that was being played between an eleven and a fifteen, in order that they might spot the weak points of our players. Judging from the remarks that some of them made, they do not seem to think much of our eleven, and fancy they have a good chance of winning the match. Their captain, and some of their own players, believe that they are the best team that has visited Canterbury ; and, if so, the match should be a very good one, as although wehave not nearly our best team, Messrs Baker, Frith, M. Oodby, and H, W, Moore being unable to play, we have a strong eleven, and one that will take a great deal to beat. We are glad to find the Otago team are so strong, as the reports which frequently came from Dunedin gave very little hope of more than a second class team ; but this is the proverbial way with Otago, Every season they profess to be very weak, and can scarcely obtain an eleven, they nevertheless at the last find that they have a good one, and expect to carry off the match. As they did not practice on Saturday we are unable to give any description of their play, as several are quite new to us, but report speaks highly of Messrs Millington and Bouch as bowlers, and we understand that some of them think the ground too small, if ao our long fields will have to be placed veiy deep to save the fourera which are threatened.

The selection committee, Messrs D’Emden, Ollivier, and Sweet—met on Saturday evening at Warner’s Hotel, to choose our rapresentatives. After mature deliberation they selected the following to sustain the honor of the province—Messrs Alpe, Ashby, Corfe, E. Fowler, J. Fowler, Fuller, Leach, Neilson, Ollivier Secretan, and Sweet; emergency, D’Bmden and Palmer. With three exceptions they can all bowl; all can bat well, although some are very short of practice, and may not come off in the match, and in the field we do not anticipate many mistakes. In the bowling, the more prominent and best known are Messrs Ashby, Fuller, and Sweet, who can all be relied upon, and should the wicket suit them they will be very difficult to® play, while Messrs Corfe, B. Fowler, Neilson, and Secretan have all proved effective bowlers should they be required, and we have seen the time that J. Fowler’s fast underhands have caused a separation between two batsmen when well set. In the batting we cannot pick out any who are not likely to score. Fuller and Sweet, perhaps the weakest in the team, have both made good scores this season, and the latter especially, if he choose, can play an excellent game, having good defence, and if a loose ball should be bowled can punish it, as we have frequently seen. In the field every place has a good man, and what is mere to the purpose, men who will not lose a chance even if the match should appear to be going against them. There was some little excitement about the selection, and we have no doubt some will be disappointed at not being included in the Eleven ; but we cannot see how the committee could have done otherwise—the only alteration suggesting itself was to put W, Frith in for his bowling, but then it would become a question of putting noma one out, and we cannot see that any of the Eleven could be displaced when the positions of the field that must be well filled are studied. Both Palmer and D’Bmden are fine fields, the former especially so, and his neat way of picking up a ball at mid off might be studied with advantage by a large number of our cricketers, but we regret that playing on rough wickets at the commencement of the season has somewhat destroyed his nerve as a batsman, otherwise we think that he would have had a place in the eleven. The rough state of the ground alluded to above was caused by playing too soon on the ground when it was too soft for the wickets to remain true, and any practice then would have no good effect on the players, which we think has been proved by subsequent events and more especially in this instance.

We do not know, but we hope the Government offices, Banks and mercantile houses will close as usual for the half days. We cannot help thinking that our national sports are looked upon by a great number as necessary evils which some will indulge in, instead of being as they are, sports which should receive every encouragement. The match is to be played on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week, and from the opinions of members of the two elevens a good match may be anticipated. Wc hope for fine weather, and have no doubt the d ioplay of cricket will well repay any one who goes to see it. The Canterbury Eleven will meet for practice this evening, and afterwards will choose their captain. The Otago team will also practice this afternoon,

The colors of Otago are light blue, the same as previously worn by Canterbury, our Eleven are therefore requested to provide themselves with dark blue caps. The following are the remarks of the Otago Daily Times with reference to the forthcoming match : The annual Interprovincial match between Otago and Canterbury has been finally arranged to take place at Christchurch on the 17th, 18th and liLh January, therefore commencing on Wednsday next. That the result of this cricketing contest will prove very unsatisfactory to all the parties concerned cannot be gainsaid. The Otago Cricket Association, after anxiously debating the question, informed; our Canterbury compeers that owing to the forthcoming matches with the All-England Eleven it was desirable to postpone the Interprovincial match for one season. This action appeared to give great offence to some of the Canterbury men, who evidently anticipated an easy victory in scoring an important Interprovincial match, as they were fully acquainted with the faot that several of the leading cricketers would not be able to play owing to the prospective All-England Eleven matches. The result of the agitation was a public meeting in Dune din, and a determination to gratify the wish of the Canterbury men by sending up at. least some sort of a team. Now, wo must express our extreme gratification that notwithstanding the anticipated difficulties, a very respectable team has been got together, and from the material placed at their disposal the match committee might have made it much stronger. However, it is a curious fact that, according to the latest advices, the Canterbury cricketers _ having got what they clamoured for, are taking very

little interest in tha forthcoming match. Perhaps, as the betting in Christchurch has been ten to one in their favour, and they anticipate a very weak team from Otago, they do not consider special practice necessary. The matches between Otago and Canterbury were commenced in 1864. One having been drawn in 1869, each Province has won six matches Of the last sis matches, Canterbury has scored five. With regard to our present representatives, we may congratulate the Otago Association upon having secured B, L. Reade, of Riverton, and Millington and Nicholls, of Oamaru, as they are reported to be in grand'form. However, we are at a loss to understand why Rose and Meares have been chosen in preference to Glen and Allen or Sutcliffe. The former especially has done very little this season, and therefore cannot be in anything like Interprovincial form. He may likely distinguish himself, but it is not at all probable. Now Glen has been both trundling and batting very well this season, and shown great improvement in the latter department. Whether as a smart field or all-round cricketer, Allen has distinguished himself frequently, He has been for many years looked upon as a certain interprovincial representative. As our Eleven (excepting Millington and Nicholls, who proceed direct to Christchurch from Oamaru) leave per the steamer Taranaki to-day, we append their leading characteristics in the field. Paramor—A good right-handed bowler ; splendid bat when well set; distinguished himself as Interprovincial representative in 1875-6 ; formerly engaged as professional by the Dunedin Cricket Olub. Beade—One of the finest bats in the colony ; a good fast bowler : an excellent field; former representative. Millington—Excellent all-round cricketer ; a first-class bat j good fast bowler. Nicholls—A steady and good bat; fine field. Clark—A magnificent field, especially at long-leg and cover ; good but uncertain bat, with excellent driving powers ; former representative. Cargill—A careful and improving bat ; smart field, particularly at point. Bouch—A very good all-round cricketer ; bats splendid when well set. Morrison—An excellent medium-pace bowler ; good bat; fine field. Rhodes —An improving bat; one of the best longstopa in the colony. Meares—A good but uncertain bat; fair wicket-keeper. Rose—A tolerable bat when in practice ; smart field.