CRICKET.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 15 November 1924, Page 18

CRICKET.

The Aveather being of the best, local cricketers found things to their liking last Saturday and some good cricket resulted in consequence. .Excelsior, Midland and Manaia Avere the winners of the series, and unless something unforeseen happens these .teams should be amongst those fighting out the fiuisli at the end of the-season. So far as one can judge at present, the play seems’ to be of a better quality than last season. There is one rather disquieting feature though, and that is the way the older players are dominating. th e games. It is not that they are more skilful, .but it seems to be their greater experience in coping with the conditions that have prevailed. Each ground has its own peculiarities, and no doubt as the season advances tlie younger players, will sUoav to greater advantage.

The turf Avicket iii Ilawera has played quite well this season, ajid I noticed only one ball rising last Saturday in a disturbing manner for a batsman. Some of the junior players are showing great promise, and-if they develop, and they keep to the game, South Taranaki assuredly will have some excellent players to take the places of the older; ones as these drop out. There is also a keen desire on the pari of a good many of the youngsters to learn something of the, fundamentals of the, game. Of course, most of them pay more, attention to batting than bowling, but any boy who has a decent action and can boAvl straight with a fair amount of consistency, will, with' practice and attention to length, attain a fair degree : of proficiency. There ,is a considerable amount of pleasure to be had when one lias fairly and squarely beaten the ‘opposing batsman Avitli a good Rail. EXCELSIOR v. STRATFORD. Stratford Avon the toss and put Excelsior in. This was;a great mistake, as the light Avas perfect, and the wicket Avas • good. Fulton 73 and Crombie 27 put on 105 for the first Avicket, yeteight wickets Avere down;for 157 when the innings Avas declared closed.. The former was in good form in making his runs, most of which were made on the leg side, and shots between short leg and mid-on predominated, while a few runs Avere got from drives. A ball from Young struck the end of .the bail, but failed to dislodge it out of the groove. Apart from this piece of., luck, Fulton did not give a chance until he. was caught in the long field. • • Crombie displayed a stubborn defence. He plays a very straight bat, but does not use his .feet right for'a ball on the 6ff stick.' With this fault corrected-he will- find himself scoring many more. runs.

Monaghan, in getting 10, did notseem, to be sighting the ball too well. He made one great stroke to the on while getting his, runs. Hendry made one' or tAvo nice cuts in his 10. .

Stratford. failed badly in the early part of their innings,, but Young 19 and Knight 19 redeemed them from utter rout. Both were lucky, but they held their Avickets up for a' long time, 1 and almost saved the game. Cole, for Stratford, took 5 Avickets for 59, and bowled some A*ery good balls indeed. His length and direction were both excellent. , .

Yriung, 2 for 26, bowled very well at times, and deserved another wicket or tAvo.

McCarthy,.. with 3 for 21, for Excelsior, was in good'form, and had thorough command, of pitch aiid direction. He still nips nastily at times. Fulton, 3 for 36, gave some help and managed to swing the ball a bit. Hqnry, 2 for 12, was breaking too much, but sent in some good stuff. The fielding on both sides was good 4 , but some of the. Stratford men were bothered with the pace of the ground. \ _ MIDLANDS v. OKAIAWA. At Okaiawa Midlands came out on top by 50 runs.. The wicket played fast, and this seemed to disconcert most of the batsmen. . Dalgleish shaped in good form in. getting 28; although a veteran lie is a sound opening batsman. Vowless 18 is batting very well at present. His defence is sound ,and he lias power when driving. Davies 13, Plank 10, Graham 11 and Giblin 10 all help materially in adding to the score. The long grass was a deterrent towards boundaries, otherwise the scoring would have,been much larger. Okaiawa did not do well oil batting. Penny 26 was the only doubles, and none of the others showed much, capacity in dealing with Giblin, 5 for 27, and Neilsen, 5 for 33. Both these bowlers bowled with a length, and the former gets a. fair amonut of pace. Penny, 4 for 35, and Thomas, 4 for 28, bowled steadily for Okaiawa.

MANAIA v. PATEA. Manaia/vvere too strong for Patea at Patea,. Hughes headed the batting with 44 no out, and played very (well. Sherlock was also in good form in getting 28, and this'player, is a better bat than is thought. Maunsell 18, MacMahon 15 and Clarke 16 not out were in only long enough to show that they were- picking up their form. Manaia will be a dangerous side soon. Patea’s batting Avas like the curate’s egg, good in parts. Gibbs batted patiently and well for 37. Oakes 20, Smith 18 and Tinney 11 also rendered good service. Some of the usually reliable ones Went cheaply. Sherlock and Hughes make" a good pair of ‘bowlers, ..-as both are quite. dissimilar, and they spin the ball rather Avell. Gibbs and Oakes did the boAAding for Patea, and Avere steady, although not go’ successful as usual. AUCKLAND. In the first round of the cricket matches, -Unßersity, against Eden, made 155 in the first innings (Metze 40) BoAAding: Buekly three for 40, Blair four for 8. In the second innings ’Varsity have made 68 for five Avickets (Kelly, not out. 30). Eden in their first innings made. 124, and in their second have three wickets down for 152 runs (innings declared). Gillespie, not out, made 01/Blair 57. University Won by 31 on the first innings. North Shore in their first innings made 169 (Frater 28, Dacre 87). Bowling: Allcott took four Avickets for 57 runs, Wilson three for 28. In the second innings North Shore lost no Avickets for 63 runs (Frater, not out, 41) Grafton in their first innings made 82 (Allcott 37, Snedden' 20). BoAvling: Coates took three wickets for 18 runs, Townsend four for 9. Parnell -in the first innings made 249 (Irving 45. Somerville 54, \V. Badelev

54). Bowling: Snedden took three Avickets for 70 runs, Smith four for 80.' Ponsonby in their first innings made 211 for five wickets (Snedden 42, Smith 46, Taylor, not out, 43). DUNEDIN. The first century in senior grade cricket at Dunedin this season Avas made by Biamires. Playing for Albion in a match against Dunedin he scored 115 rune’in two hours, and the innings closed with 260. Blair scored 58. BoAvling: Torrance took four Avickets for 86 runs, Bennett three for i: CHRISTCHURCH. West Christchurch, 59 and 241 (Blunt 67, Hayes,72, Ward 72 not out) beat LinAvood, 149 and 149 for five Avickets (Condiiffe 43, Armitage 33). Sydenham, 68 and 195 for eight Avickets, declared (Patrick 69) beat Riccafton, 151 and 40 (Cunningham five, for 21, McEAvan three for 6). 'East -Christchurch, 166, beat St. Albans, 122. SYDNEY. Results. University, 243, v. WaA r erley, tAvo Avickets for 61. Balmain, 174, Heat Marrickville, 101, arid tAvo Avickets for 43, by 73 runs on the, first innings. North Sydney, 264, v. Western Suburbs, three wickets for 77. Paddington, six Avickets for 475 (innings declared closed), v. Cumberland; one Avicket for 37. Mpsman, 393, v. Petersham, two ivickets for 118. Glebe, six Avickets for 473, v. Randwick (no play on second day). - Gordon, four Avickets for 234, A r . St. George (no. play on second day). Maply, three wickets for 58, v. Sydney, 230 (no pi ay on second day) Batting. S. Thonjas (Balmain), 53. T. J. E. AndreAvs (Petersham), 48. Bowling. 'E; | TVeeddale (Marrickville), four Avickets for 41, THE VICTORIAN BOWLING. (Referee.) t The selection of the bowlers for the \ ictorian Eleye.n at Adelaide revealed unexpected,paucity in variety, Hendry, Liddicut ,and . Ryder all being righthand, from medium to fast-medium in pace, wi.th Wallace right-hand-. fast.'- F. A. Tarrant, the other bowler, is lefthand slow-medium, a type rarely dangerous on a, true Australian Avicket. When A. E. V. Hartkopf was not available - the best sloaa 7 boAvler ought to have been included—the inference is that there is not one of the necessary class in Melbourne. /The folloAving are the, fixtures for November 29: Stratford An Manaia, at [Manaia; Eltham v. Patea, at Eltffam; Excelsior v. Okaiawa, at HaAA-era; Midlands a bye. JUNIOR CRICKET. Some excellent play by three very promising boys Avas noticed last Satur-' day in the junior series. Cheevers, playing against Stratford . juniors, made a splendid 70 not out, folloAving on a good 70 the previous Saturday against Excelsior. .In the Excelsior match v. Technical B, Morrissey and J. McCarthy Avere responsible for striking performances. -. The Technical team had been dismissed for' 20, and the tAvo hoys put on 105 for the first Avicket, of Avhich McCarthy scored 62 not out and Morrissey 41 not out. The innings Avas declared, and then the same tAvo players dismissed- their opponents for 37, Morrissey taking six Avickets and McCarthy tAvo. The three boys all show exceptional promise, Avhich it is -hoped will be fulfilled Avith increasing years and stature.

NORTH v. SOUTH TARANAKI

This match is set doAvn to be played at New Plymouth next Saturday. The Avicket has been causing the northern association some concern, and they have been somewhat unfortunate in that respect. Orders AA'ere given for the Avicket to be top-dressed Avitli papa, but ordinary loam Avas used instead ; thus a fair amount of time has been lost. . HoAAeA-cr, it is hoped AA-ith a continuance of line Aveather that a decent wicket will, he obtainable Avithout having recourse to matting. Only one day has been set down for this game,, hut the Avriter is under the impression that all matches under Hawke Cup rules have to lie played out.

M.C.C. TEAM IN AUSTRALIA. STRENGTH SUMMARISED. .(L. 0. S. Ppidevin in Sydney Morning Herald). In all. respects, excepting, perhaps, as regards its second wicket-keeper, the side seems very adequately equipped for the coming campaign. Strength and weakness, hoAve\ r er, are after all only relative terms, Avhich will, gather their full significance in this matter of the tests only from a careful consideration of-the personnel, of our own side. It looks as though the English test eleA-en will be a difficult, one for Gilligan to decide upon, and current form, as displayed in the early matches against the State teams, will determine ■u shall play in one or tAvo positions. The same remark applies even mare so to the personnel of the Australian side. Picking teams, therefore, at the present juncture is quite premature as regards the exact- personnel. Besides, some entirely' new aspirants may come to light in the early matches. Form is elusiA’e. and some who at present appear “certainties” in their respective teams mav_find it more difficult than usual to woo successfully. Still, fog the pui-po.se of analysing comparative strength, it is interesting to make selections on present appearances and place them side by side. Here they are (English players mentioned first): —- ENGLAND. AUSTRALIA. L Hobbs. Bardsley. 2. Sutcliffe or Collins. Sandham. 3. Hear he. AndreAvs. 4. Woolley. Macartney. 5. Hendren. . Kippax, Taylor or

Ponsford. 6. Chapman or ‘One of the players Bryan or Why- omitted from sail or player No. 5 or posomitted from sibly one omitNo. 2. ted from No. 8 position. 7. Douglas. KelleAvay.

8. Tate. Hendry, Ryder or Iloniibrook. 9. Gilligan. Gregory. 10. Strudwick. Carter or Oldfield. 11. lloAvell, Free- Mailey or Hartman or Tyldes- kop'f. ley.

CHANCES FAVOUR ENGLAND. Compare these lists,'man for man, and it Avill be seen that in batting Lite teams appear pretty 7 evenly matched, no matter Avlint flic final j)crsoniiel deluded upon may be. The comparison as regards buAvling seems to depend upon Avhefcher Tate or Gilligan or noth make good. If they both b<n\ 1 up to reputation England Avill have a "pull" in this respect. In the field, if our team be chosen Avith proper regard to fielding requirements, there appears to be A'-eiy little in it —and that little dependent, upon lio\v the Englishmen field in the slips'. Their highest standard in the slips is better than ours. Tims, on paper, Avith matches played oil good Avickets, England may lniA’e a AA'inning advantage in the bowling of Gilligan, Tate ami HoAvell, or one of the bo,sic boAvlers). added perhaps by excellent slip fielding, but "it is A r er’y problematical. On rain-spoilt Avickets one expects England to be favoured much mare than our side. The spin of the coin and the luck of the game, or the run of the play, or Avhatever y T ou choose to call it, is another element which cannot be estimated, but with sides at all evenly matched is often the deciding factor. At all events, it seems very e\ r ident‘ that we are in for some thrilling-real Test cricket, and after making every alloAvance for the advantage ■'of playing on. our own grounds, and our Avider scope for selection. I cannot suppress the feeling that our hold on the international honours is seriously jeopardised, and there is a good chance of the -laurels changing hands during the coming campaign. ENGLISH TEAMS IN AUSTRALIA. THE FIRST VISIT. (By “J.W.” in Australasian.) As English cricketers are once more touring the land on victory bent, it may not be out of place to endeavour to carry our minds' bade to the year 1862, over 60 years .ago, when the nrst team of English cricketers landed on our shores,- under the. captainship °f H. H. Stephenson. As proof that the seed then planted fell on most productive soil, it is only necessary to riiake a passing mention of the fact that of tlie 104’Test matches that have been played between the two countries, Australia has won 43 of the series-, and England 40, the remaining 21 'being drawn', The last 10 matches played ’ have been serious ones from an English point 6f view; tlieir be«t achievements comprising but two drawn games, while Australia has experienced the sweets of' eight victories,. all on end. It. is safe to as- ■ smne,. - howeA-er, that England’s turn will come in the near future, arid that the cricketers of this country will need to...be up to. the standard of their predecessors to hold their own; but, AA’hatever may he the outcome that future games have in store, let it he played keenly and cleanly, for it is a grand old game. In the early cricket days of Melbourne, books were printed illustrative of the season’s doings, and from an old one in my possession many facts are gleaned of the troubles that had bo be overcome before the arrival of 12 professional cricketers from England , Were induced to visit such a thinlypopulated, nut-of-the-wav corner of the world as was Australia in that faroff time. And it requires, some little effort- to Avork one’s self up to the proper key, to realise all that . took place during the stay of Stephenson’s beam in Australia. “The eleA r ens have come and gone —their ' names once familiar in pur ears as household ■words,” and their doings in the tented field so lately tlie theme of admiration among all classes —from the coiirtly Governor to the ragged Bedouin of the streets, are now well-nigh forgotten. Tlie scientific C'affyp, . the lion-hitter Griffith, the affable Captain Surrey Stephenson, have played their little part on our colonial stage; have received their plaudits and rewards; and have vanished from the scene, hearing with them to their native land the well-earned laurels showered .cn them by their numerous admirers in this mil sunny clime And that, throughout the length ami breadth of the old land, the reception her champion eleven met with in the sister colonies •f Victoria, Now Soiith - Wales, and Tasmania, will be properly appreciated, end afford a oomrinoing proof that the bond which unites the old and new World-Great Britain to her colonies—is tsoiely one of mutual affection and esteem, and which no light cause can. dissolve.” There have riot'been many marked changes since those old days, except that the bond may be stronger, that the standard of our cricket bus inarched Avith. the times, and-that the terms, “colonies.” and colonials, have disappeared, and Ave are all Australians. But, looking backAvards, one can visualise what that visit meant to us in a cricket sense, and he thankful that there Avere men living at that ' time Avitli the right perspective, vision, and imagination. And as many of the incidents mentioned in that old book were neAv to me, avlio have lived ill niy life in a cricket atmosphere, it may be that they will prove tlie same 1 to others.

It is not necessary to bestow more than a. passing glance at the various attempts and failures that took place before the engagement of the AllEngland Eleven became an established iaefc. A grand cricketing association, or monster company, Avas inaugurated under the auspices of all that was great and fashionable in the life-of the time. Hoav the names of various Governors figured as patrons, and wealthy merchants Avere set do-wn as directors: how it was pointed out that this model company possessed, or would passes. Avhen formed, the pecu:iar charm of combining, pleasure with '. uorjf. and how the eiUitisfaction of seeing the renowned English cricketers land on our shores Avould lie enhanced by the prospect of the lucky shareholders receiving cent, per cent, for their money; all this Avas stated in floAverv language oil the face of a most alluring prospectus/ But those great attractions had no charm for a most unbelieving public. The great cricketing association collapsed. ”T}ie bland secretary sat in his office in Temple Court from “morn to dewy eve” wondering why his door was not thlonged ov a. crowd of expectant and AAonld-be .shareholders. The few 'shares that Avere taken up scarcely covered the c-ost of pens, and paper and-con-tingent expenses, and in the end the unfortunate secretary was sued for the amount. When the company became defunct fRe noble martyrs” stepped boldly into the breac-h, offering to incur all responsibility of the undertaking and .share all the profits, and Avhen. ail seemed settled and arranged, at the last moment, by some mysterious agency, their 'efforts were quashed and their good intentions scattered to the Avinds.

The cloud Avhic-h pervaded the cricketing atmosphere, however, had its sißer lining, Spiers and Pond coming tp the rescue. Apd, to again quote my authority:--“Although the lovers of cricket are. under an obligation to Messrs. Spiers and Pond for having enabled them to realise their fondest hopes, it is but fair to state that a

debt of gratitude is due to the Melbourne Cricket Club for the liberal ’•aimer in which they offered the free u>.c of their ground for any matches the elcwcii would play, on the Bole condition that any damage done should he- made good.” It is a matter for congratulation and thanks that the tradition of the.old club lias remained nn sullied during alltlic years,, aml that tbe sole idea .of .the Melbourne .Club at the present time, .‘.as . in. the past) is to assist the game 'in. every,possible W; ft a fitting tribute to the cub s popularity and'its influence on the game of cricket, that the first international match ever played was on the. far-famed Melbourne grind. And the present committee - of management, with Sir Leo Cusseiv at tlie head, assisted by its urbane secretary Mr Hugh Trumble, are worthily up! Holding the club’s prestige. An agent, Mr. Mai lam, was despatched to England to bring out the best Eleven _ lie could get, but when tliere, in spite of ■ the golden attract'.oos he possessed, he met with many difficulties, which a.t one time threatened to prove insurmountable. Tlie best players—one and all—began to make excuse—one could not leave his wife ; another had not forgotten the horrors of seasickness and the teror-s of the deep; and had it not been for the timely. assistance of the Surrey Club, it - its just possible that Mr. Mallam’s visit would haye been in vain. Some thought it probable that, Avhile. engaged in an exciting, match, they might be exposed to a’raid of cannibal aborigines. They simply shuddered 'at the mere suggestion, and oosiitively refused to leave the home land, evidently pot possessing the spirit that animates the breasts of pioneers. But at length the mail brought tlie welcome nerve that the Eleven. Avere engaged, and •would leave Lryerpopl by the Great Britain—ari appropriate name—under Captain Gray, and would reach Melbourne before the Ncav Year. Great disappointment was expressed that the agent had failed to secure the services of players such as Parr, Hayward, Daft, Carpenter. Jackson, Lockyer, Anderson, and Julius Caesar; hut those that braved the terrors of the deep proved more than good enough, arid consisted/of' the following : —H. H, Stephenson (captain). G. Griffiths, \V: Cafiyn. T. Sewell. W. Muclie, W. Mortloek (Surrey) , E. Stephenson and R,. Iddison (Yorkshire), C. LaAvrenee fMiddle«ex), C. Bennett (Kent), G. Wells (Sussex), and T. Hearne (Bucks).

A committee was 'formed with the ostensible purpose of bringing together the best players in order to furnish a team worthy of contending with the Englishmen if possible, and • several .practice matches were played. , But, as the AA’hole proceeds of the matched Avould pas® into the exchequer of Messrs.. Spiers and Pond, the committee was virtually a nonentity, having neither - funds to pay professional players, or to defray the expenses ofsuch up-country cricketers as were w r orth bringing down for the trial matches. And to make matters Avorse, a- majority on" the committee seemed to fancy they- were elected to look after the interests of the'Eiigliish,men and of Messrs. Spiel's and Pond, and to have forgotten that their first duty was to the game in Victoria by endeavouring to bring into the field the best players procurable. , It A/as a- grand day at Sandridge (now Port Melbourne) when the Great Britain anchored, and if a goldfield had been suddenly proclaimed there a larger, rush could scarcely have set m. Messrs. Spiers and Pond were there in high spirits, Avhilst the croAvd of spectators were so dense that the pier and its approaches were, almost choked up with the living mass. When the team landed the crowd pressed round and shook bauds with one and all. and it Avas a great day entirely. After felicitations had been exchanged the Englishmen took their seats on the top of Bevan’s morieter coach, to which eight greys were harnessed for the occasion. Their arrival in Melbourne created quite a sensation, and as they, were driven through''the principal streets to the Paris Cafe, escorted by a motley company of coaches, cars, buggies, and vehicles undeiinable, they 'were greeted everywhere enthusiastically by excited crowds.