ARMSTRONG AND THE BOYS

Hokitika Guardian, 18 February 1921, Page 1

ARMSTRONG AND THE BOYS

A RKMaIHvVBLE ttAilfc. Wlii'n visiting Meritone n few weeks !i ~jro ) Wj Armsetrong the Australian < keveii captain, l>r«iltisod, with the aid ! of tw« fieldsmen —one a. wicketkeeper— e to play a team of young hoys, hiosf - 0 f wiu'itn welt' pupils of the Meiitone k Gram tntik Sdlurnl. the riihtcli tot.k « plaee a few days ago, arid judging by « liis experience, the fainoris <rit-ketel- is ■} not likely to niake a similar rash pro- f friise itgiiin (says the Melbourne “Ar- jirtis”). Although the local “sports < were prepared to lay any odds that -Ajrmstrong would riot put in an appearance, the “leviatlulri' arrived punctually at the appointed luriit at the Kcreat'km ground, Menton*. The news that Armstrong had reached t n o round spread with the velocity of a si-rub fire, and very soon local citizens and visitors assembled in hundreds at the reserve. It Was (tee > rumoured that there had beet! great discord amongst the members of the si • lection committee ns to who should he omitted from the hoys team, but the difficulty was tactfully Overcome by increasing the number of Armstiong s opponents to 10, and giving the famous captain an extra fieldsman. Il ' l ‘ ,M( | ‘ est bov in MeiitOhe was selected to tos

tht* t-oin for choice <> f b,a 1 parontlv riotliirig less titan a superman will deprive At'hi sit’d ns df i11,,10s uncanny tdiack of winning the toss. His sequence of wins was not broken, but he nnis.utnimo.tsly se.it his opponents in. The wicket was a matting one. ami Armstrong howled from both ends .j* ix balls to the over. Ho commenced b v sending down “soft stuff” in a goodnatured way; but the schoolboys treated the deliveries contemptuously and scored many tuns. His fieldsmen were not too good on the throw in and he muscles of Armstrongs -broad hack teceived more than their customary exert.ise As the wickets were not falling as rapidly as lie might have wished, • Armstrong began to bowl m real finest. He sent d P wn many a w.ong ■'an”— wrong, that is, .so far as t bowler’s intentions were concern . There was a, three-foot break on each delivery—« tribute to the "ule mesh of the matting, and even, with the

Yd of sympathetic umpires the chamt'in* was unable to obtain his usual number ot victims 'lbw. ’ To cut a sail story short, Armstrong bowled for two hours without a spell. His opponents scored I lb runs CM. AYilson 35, It. Smith 32, ('. Smith 10). The Australian captain then vent to the wickets with a comrade whoso height was not much greater than that of tlie stumps. When he had completed 13, Armstrong was clean bowled by W. God by, the eight-year-old son of tlie well-known racehorse trainer. The total for the innings was only 17. Armstrong immediately presented young God by with tlie ball, which had been used in one of the test matches in England in which Armstrong had taken part. The boys “retaliated’' by presenting the Australian captain v\itli a pipe. The game was enjoyed immensely by the numerous spectators, who wore atfotiii'd an opportunity of gaining an Insight into the character of the Australian captain as a man of his word aiid a good sportsman.