Cricket

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 71, 16 December 1937, Page 12

Cricket

Mid-off).

L0W SC0RING GAMES Lack of Practice Appears Responsible ANOTHER SERIES ENDS

(By :

The senior competition advanced a furtlier stage last Saturday, and with the first round all over, with the exception of one series, the form of the players has been disappointingly inconsistent, particularly in view of the forthcoming representative matches scheduled for the holiday season. When playing at Hastings, the players have blamed the inferior wickets for the paucity of big scores, but recently on the Napier grounds the same • smaR scores have been tho order of the day, which fact leads one to helieve that sufficient time is not being devoted to net practice, Bnited's effort in subduing Hastings Oid Boys after an inglorious display the previous week was the tit-bjt of the afternoon' s performanqes in Napier. Matt O'Brien occupied the stellar role with a beautifully- compiled 96, wherein he unfolded some glorious straight drives. In. endeavouring to force the pace he was caught on the boundary by the lengthy Craven. It was O'Brien's best innings thjs year. A special word of praise is due to Proctor, who stayed with O'Brien till their opponents' tally wa$ passed. Broetor's own score was five, but the valuable and matclt^wintning partnership was worth 75. T. Rosenberg was the most successful bowler, while Snaddon was the most spectacular with a run that seemed to commence in the vicinity of Mo» Lean Park and) a delivery that was no more than medium pace. When Old Boys bateed again the United bowlers went to work on them and they were all back in the pavilion Bfor 109, Sherratt, with 44, being tho only batsmen to offer any opposition to the attaek. United then needed 96 runs for an outright win, but the forty minutes left was not sufficient time, although the batsmen wasted no time between the fall of wickets, one batsman going to the wickets without anjj pads. Armitage was left not out with a forcefully and crisply driven 21. Snowy Northe's 'keeping jn both innings for Hastings O.B. was well nigh letter perfect, only one bye being rocorded against his custodianship. On No. 2 wicket fifteen minutes suf» ficed to finish off Rugby's innings, M. Beuth stepping in front to one of T, Reaney'is deliveries ^md paying jthe penalty. His 85, though far from bright, was a correct and patientlyplayeff knock. One hundred and eighty-three did not "Seem a big total for Old Boys to head off, but tho more oue sees of ihe ex-collegiams' batting performances anything may happen and happen it did, for 76 were all they could muster before the last man had been dispatched pavilionwards. With wickets falling around him with alarming regularity, H. Reaney .took some time for his top-score of 28, bu| lie was the only one to face the bowling with any* cenfidence. To capture the batting honours with an 85 and then take six wickets for 28 was M. Beuth's best doubie for some time. He early struck a length and, recoiving assistance from the wicket, he had all the batsmen in trouble. Old Boys followedi on and at stumpi they were in a sorry plight with eight wickets down for 65, Errol Mitchcll being the destroying agent with fiva victims for 16 runs. He kept the ball well up to the batsmen and with th« pitch suitable for spin bowling and the batsmen faiiing to nse their feet, he was well on top. M. Beuth, with three for 18, was an able assistant and a good field captain ringing thf bowling changes frequently and plaoing the field particularly well. Hastings Disappolnt. The conciuding day's play in th« Tech. O.B. v. Hastings game at Cornwall Park was almost as interesting as the first day. Teclrnical, w:ith a deficiency of 27 on the first innings count, were successful in completely turning the tables to secure a surprisingly comfortable outright win. Whila appreciating that the ex.-collegians were thankful indeed for all that was given them and make the most of the opportunities that came their way, the victory was a real "gift from Hastings." At one time Hastings was generally accepted as the best fielding side in tlie combined competition, but tlieir showing on Saturday afternoou wa3 a long way below even average standard. Quite apart from tlie fact that five catciies were dropped, the fielding generally was slack, and at least three other catches went bcgging because the fleldsman were slow off the mark. Doug. Pirie declared the innings closed at 150 for eight wickets, the highest score recorded at Cornwall Park this season, but actually the side should liave been out for half tliis total. It was a dislleartening day for the Hastings bowlers, though Teclrnical have a dmerent opimon ; * naturally so. Once again the batting of the excollegians >vag bright, with praisewortfiy enterprise. Kees, Evans, Kauter, Burns, Pirie and Bowman all batted well, particularly Houg. Rees, Erio Evans and Allan Kauter. This trio is a strong one, and though all can bat ireely, they do quickly adapt tliomselves to conditions and lose no opportunity of making a run. ihe second innings of Hastings was a doleful taie and except t-o mention that Bradly and Martin were tho only members of the side to reach doubie figures (and they only just did so), the only point of-reai interest iay in the fact that all tlie side, with but two exceptions, were ciean-bowled, Parker lollecting a bag of six and Tommy lohnson a quartette. It wa^all over is ui hour, and from tlie viewpoint of Hastings it was truly "Black Satu^* lay."