CRICKET

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 10 December 1927, Page 8

CRICKET

(By

"Mid-Off”

SATURDAY’S GAMES REVIEWED

POINTERS ABOUT THE PLAY

To-day the first round of the Hawke’s Bay Cricket Association’s senior competition will be completed. Heretaunga are in a strong position, and a victory over* the hitherto unbeaten Technical Colts is almost a moral. The more interesting game will be the conflict between United and High School Old Bovs. Here Old' Boys will have to fight hard to gain a victory. In all probability this will be a first innings win for United. • • The positions of the teams at the end of last week’s play are as follow :— United 239. High School Old Boys 75 for three wickets. Technical Old Boys 175. Heretaunga 253 for one wicket. The best performances with the bat were as follow: — Lowry (Heretaunga) 117* Beuth (Heretaunga) 100* Temperton (United) 85 Worker (H 5.0.8.) ....’. 44* •Signifies not out. In the bowling, the honours were distributed as below :— Beuth (Heretaunga) 4—lo Lowry (Heretaunga) 3—53 Chadwick (H. 5.0.8. 3—54 Gifford. (H. 5.0.8. 3-63 • • • Good batting against fairly good bowling—-on a batsman’s wicket. Thus were the onlookers treated to a great exhibition of bright batting in the Heretaunga Technical Old Boys match on the No. 1 wicket, • M • No doubt Torn felt ouite at home in the field on Saturday. No less than nine chances were thrown away by the Hastings lads in their struggle with Technical. Tom himself caught the lever and dropped a lovely “sitter.” • • • United slightly altered the batting order on Saturday against H. 5.0.8. Temperton and Cane were the first to don the pads, but the partnersm; was broken early by “Butch” again being given out leg-before. The innings after this was practically a succession of partners for Temperton, who. in the first over gave a couple of chances that were not accepted. The wicket improved as the play went on, and so did the batting. There was no tail to United, and ■even after Temperton was dismissed for the eighth wicket, tlie score was ■.increased by over half a century. Outside of Temperton’s fine stand, the innings was but an ordinary one, though it lasted 160 minutes.

Technical Old Boys have already recorded two clean-cut victories in their first season of senior cricket, while Heretaunga has, as yet, not gamed a point. However, on Saturday the competition leaders met their Waterloo. The Hastings lads —well two of them, at any rate—were more than a match for Shephard and Co. The Colts were given their usual fair start hv the opening batsmen and, taken all through, accomplished a good score. Only four failed to reach double figures, but the rest knocked up their average contribution. Hardaker headed tlie list with 33. including a quartette ci fours; E. Elliott was next on the batting list, but was lucky in that two very simple catches were dropped. Evans and A, Elliott also uatted fairly, and the innings closeu for 175 alter 190 minutes at the crease.

Tom Lowry settled down to his third successive season ut cricket. He has had as strenuous a six months as any cricketer could wish, yet on Saturday Tom was back in his old place with Heretaunga. Badly they needed him. too. For the first time this season, the Hastings lads are in a winning position, anu this is due to Lowry and also to Cyril Beuth. “Mid-Off’’ remembers a phrase of one critic: “Lowry is one of the hardest men of the team to get out.” Well, the Colt? found that there was more than an atom of truth in the phrase. However good the innings was, it cannot be said that he has altered much. His batting still savours oi the brilliant* shown before he went on tour. The only thing he seems to have gained on the pleasant fields of England is a little more confidence and judgment in his off-strokes. Knowing Tom's fondness of the leg stuff, it was

rather surprising to see ,-w much handed down to him. He certainly cherished it and banged away good and hard for his quartette of sixes and thirteen boundaries in his unbeaten innings of 117. There was a fineness about his off-strokes that stamped him above the average. Some of his drives were a treat to see. as they clipped along the grass for threes and fours.

Lowry quickly took up the attack against the Colts and in the first over should have had a wicket. Shephard and Hardaker did not appear to be impressed by his bowling, but the others were a little shy. He finished up with three wickets for a total of 53 runs, but he lost three wickets through the poor fielding of his club-mates.

One deserving of even greater praise than Lowry is Cyril Beuth, who partnered the All Black in a great stand. Cyril gave his best display to date. This is his second contury since entering into senior grade cricket, but he was well on form. It did not take him long to settle down with “Doggie” White, who was ousted with the score at 45. When Lowry came on, Cyril slowed down a bit until Tom and he were about level, then the pair got going in earnest. Cyril strove to equal the display given by his more experienced partner, and he did not strive in vain. He did not bang sixes. But his shots to the boundary were equal to Lowry's. The pair kept together until into the eighties, then Cyril was left behind, but after the first century was recorded he had his turn. Takirig liis

time and waiting patientlv for the “dud” ball, he event up to the threefigure mark after being at the crease for 185 minutes. He played as though inspired, as no doubt he was, and though a little stiff with a few of his off-strokes, he never gave a chance all through.

Beuth, too, was in form with the ball, and finished up at the head of the list with four wickets at a cost of ten runs apiece. His trundling was the best of the day and worried all the batsmen, who found him very difficult to keep down. Temperton, of United, was the only other batsman who knocked up a big score. He had barely opener! his account before he gave two chances, one certainly a difficult one, but the other easy enough. Alter this there were no mistakes. He hided his time and made good use of any loose balls that came his way. Bowler after bowler tried to dislodge Inin, but he failed to bite. Good hard hitting, interspersed with welljudged strokes, characterised an innings which lasted almost 120 minutes. There were a dozen boundary hits in the aggregate, which was cut, short bv his playing Dolbell on to the steks. As usual. Worker is holding his end up for H. 5.0.8. He is >.he mainstav of the team, and so far in the innings has scored 44 out of the 75 recorded. If Old'Boys do manage to scrape home to victory, much will depend on Worker, as the rest of the team do not, as a general rule, do much better than run into double figures.

A noticebale feature—and a bad one at that —is the haphazard manner in which the games are started. Rarely does a senior game commence on time. Last week the games did not commence until at least 20 minutes after the scheduled hour. There is, perhaps, some excuse for Heretaunga being a little late, but last week, even this team was hanging around on time. An extra hour was given to secure more cricket, but this dilly-dallying about robs the move of its advantages. “MidOff/ noticed that there was no hesitation about stopping play for the tea adjournment. Tins, too. has ben prolonged by some five minutes. Perhaps the association might be induced to follow the lead given bv the tourists in England, and inflict fines on the clubs starting late. This would certainlv be a “golden egg” for the association’s funds.

Three teams are now entitled to have a “fly’’ at the Hawke Cud. having played over their preliminary games. Thev are: Hawke’s Ba (who defeated Wairoa), Manavvatu (defeated Raiicitikei). and Marlborough (defeated Nelson). Gisborne are also entitled to challenge, their only opponent being Wai'apu, whom thev defeated earlv in the season. Judging by the remarks at the Hawke s Bay Association’s meeting, the entering of a challenge is cc/ig to be held over indefinitely. This was only to be expected. Hawke s Bay has been challenging for years, and now that there are so manv m for the contest, the officials have taken the sporting view’ and allowed some of the other associations io have their games. The fact, however. only emphasises the necessity of altering the existing arangements, and the inauguration of a junior Hawke Cup as outlined bv “Mid-Off” in these columns last week

With regard to the Kirk Cup. “Mid-Off” would like to see the association specialise in this fixture. Annual games with Gisborne and surrounding districts are always desirable. Nothing arouses more interest than an annual fixture which is fought between two strong and almost equal teams.

Rumour has it that Rangitikei has a rod in pickle for this year’s Hawke Cup competition. It is reported from the South that the former Cambridge University and Warwickshire batsman. G. A. Rotherham, who was a contemporary of Tom Lowry at Cambridge, is at present on one of the Lowry farms and will qualify for Rangitikei in the Hawke Cup this season

Lord Hawke tells a good story about W. Storer the English wicketkeeper. who was a member of A E. Stoddar’s team which visited Australia in 1897. He was playing in Scotland, and “Johnny” Briggs was the bowler. The batsmen were all sea to Briggs, and Storer made several appeals for stumping. Each time the verdict of the Scotch umpire was “Not out.” At last Briggs bowled a very slow, high ball, and the batsman ran out to hit. and missed. Storer whipped off the bails, the batsman being a yard out of his ground, but the wicketkeeper made no appeal. He picked up the bails and returned the ball to Briggs, who. entering into the joke, resumed bowling. The only person who seemed perturbed was the umpire, who at the end of the over said to Storer: “Why did you appeal?” Storer replied. “What for?’’ The umpire said. “For stumping. Men, he was oot !”. Storer looked at him without a smile and said. “Uh, I for stumping in Scotland.”