CRICKET.

Hokitika Guardian, 10 May 1926, Page 4

CRICKET.

[Australia & N.Z. Cable Association. ,ESSEX MATCH ABANDONED. LONDON, May 7. Australia’s first innings, nine wickets declared. Ellis (not out) 20, Mailey (not out) 6. Extras 10. Bowling.—Nicholls 2 for 94, Eastman 0 for 70, O’Connor 0 for 83, Russell l for 30, Hipkin 5 for 102, Palmer 0 for 80, Ashton 1 for 09. ESSEX FIRST INNINGS. Two wickets for fiveCutmore, retired hurt, 4; Nicholas, caught Ponsford. bowled Gregory 1. Russell, caught 1 Ellis, bowled Gregory, 0. Bowling.—Gregory 2 for 3, Hendry * 0 for 2. Hendry batted for seventy-five nnui utes. His score included eight fours. * Showers during lunch delayed a le- * sumption till 3.15, Collins meantime ' deciding to declare the Australians m- * niiigs closed. The attendance was five * hundred. Gcrgory and Hendry were L entrusted with Australia’s attack. ’ The wicket was on the soft side and ’ Greeorv was humping badly. Tn lus - second 'over the ball struck Cutmore, ; necessitating his retirement, but be 5 was not seriously hurt. The light was ’ bad and Gregory bowling from the - pavilion end, where there was no screen ’ was very difficult to play. A heavy 1 downpour at four rendered further )' play impossible and the match was j abandoned. i AUSTRALIA v. tavRREY.

LONDON, May 8. To-day (Saturday) the Australian team began a match against Surrey. Following were the teams: Surrey: Hobbs, Fender, Slrwlwick. Sandliam, Shepherd, Lockton, Gregory, Peach, Fenly and Baldwin. From the Australian U*am those omitted were: Ponsford, Everett, Mailey, Ellis and Andrews. Very heavy rain fell during Friday night, but it was a fine morning. ’flic wicket was so soft that the start was delayed. Large crowds besieged the entrances but they were not allowed to enter the grounds till it had definitely been decided to play. Collins won the toss and decided to bat. Play was commenced at 12.30 p.m. Tbe attendance was then ten thousand. Peach and Lockton opened Surrey’s attack to Collins and Bardsley. Tn Lock-ton’s first over, Collins snicked a ball into the hands of Strudwick behind tbe stumps, but the wicketkeeper dropped it. Collins, however, when seven, was caught in hitting out at a full toss from Lockton. Macartney started brightly. At lien nine lie gave Sandliam an easy chance from Lockton. Sandham, however, slipped and fell, and the ball travelled overhead to tbe boundary. The ball was vising dangerously off tbe pitch, thus inducing caution on tbe part of the batsmen. Macartney was more enterprising than Bardsley, lie hooking and driving well. The fielding was smart. After a quiet spell, Bardsley hit two successive boundaries. Macartney next found the fence. Then he lifted a ball into the pavilion. Bardsley then attempted a short run. but Hobbs picked up smartly and threw down the wicket from a distance of twenty yards. One run later. Macartney was taken by Shepherd off Peach, ill tbe slips, low down with the left hand. Macartney gave a superb display of driv ing and pulling for eighty minutes. His score included one six and four fours. Taylor, who came after Bardsley, gave one difficult, chance to Shepherd in the slips off Fonder. The pitch continued to kick badly. Taylor twice made fluky strokes with rising balls from Peach, who was keeping a good length. Fender and Fcnley bowled, bid were inclined to be short. AYoodfull. early in bis innings, was nearly run out through a smart return from Fenle.v. lie throwing down the wicket. Again when AYoodfull was 37, Shepherd dropped an easy return. Both batsmen were now comfortable. They made frequent cover strokes and leg turns.

Taylor, when 7G, succumbed to w magnificent ofl'break by Peach, which rose only a couple of inches, in contrast with others rising ns high as the hails. Taylor hit four lours, and hatled for 110 minutes. The fourth wicket added 139 runs. The wickets of Taylor, Ryder and Richardson fell in successive overs. llomlry, when three, gave a difficult. chance to Lockton at short leg off Peach. The batsmen. AYoodfull and Hendry, now adopted defensive tactics, and the crowd became impatient at their slow scoring. AA’hen 62, AA'oodfull gave a chance to Fcnley at. midon. Feiilev was running back to get it when lie fell, and tbe ball jumped out of lii.s band. AYoodfull, who was playing patiently. was scoring mostly by singles. He

bit no fours. He stayed in for three hours, and was unbeaten at tbe end of the day after a meritorious display on a tricky wicket. Hendry was free and open, and he showed good wrist work.

Excellent ground fic-kling by Surrey saved many runs. When stumps were drawn. Australia had scored 301 runs for six wickets. The scores were:—• AUSTRALIA, First Tunings. Collins, e. and h. Lockton 7 Bardsley, run out 34 Macartney, c. Shepherd. I>. Poach 53 Taylor, b. Peach 76 AYoodfull (not out) 87 Ryder, o. Lockton, b. Fender ... 2 Richardson, e. Hobbs, b. Fender . 5 Hendry (not cut) 28 Total for 6 wickets 301