Cricket.

Free Lance, Volume V, Issue 243, 25 February 1905, Page 19

Cricket.

CRICKET enthusiasts have had a great innings avice last I wrote notes on their favourite summer pastime, foa during that time tlie match between the Australian Eleven and fifteen players representative of Wellington has been played. Dvii mg the three days on w Inch the match was in progre&b there was a splendid attendance of the general public, and the Click at Association have b,ad their finances moi eased to a considerable extent. The expenses of the match were anticipated! to be about £350 £2,50 of which was mi the nature of a guarantee' — and the patronage was so liberal that it us likely that a profit of something like £300 will result. The weather was simply delightful duung the three days the matah was played, Capt. Edwin surpassing himself with the sample of weather he supplied, it being ideal for the playing of a matoh of the impartanice of the one under review. • • • The daily papers have given full details of the play, &o I do not purpose going over the ground traversed by them. In these notes I intend to give the lmpressdonis- left with me after witnessing the match from beginning to end. Comparisons are odious, and therefore Ido not intend to make any between the playem fi om the Commonwealth now touring the colony, and previous visiting crioketinjg teams to these shores. I bad many opportunities of speaking to the members of the Australian team during their stay in Wellington, and I am satisfied the desouptdon given by Sir Joseph Ward of the oaptam of the team at the reception dinner at the Town Hall fittingly describes each individual member as well as the capta,in. Sir Jo-eph *aid — "The initials of the captain of the team spell Man, and his name is Noble." Greater praise a colonial — and I am one- — cannot give anothen than to call him a man. The Australian Eleven are all men both on and off the field, and are a oiedit to the country that has sent them forth to battle m its interests on the cmoket fieldo of England. They are courteous and sociable, and do not endeavoui to impress upon you that they are members of one of the gi cutest body of cricketers in the woiild — the Australian Eleven. No the\ aie men and cricketers. The match is ovei . Ha\e we lea.mt anything? The first thing that struck me when the Austiahaii's were batting was that it us a simple thing to score rums when you know how , and that if a perfect understanding exists among the two batsmen that are in together what seem impossible i unis to the ordinary observei become very easy ones. Our cncketeismay easily learn this lesson. Did the fifteen playerw in the field hamper the Australians? No one without a decided bias will argue that they did, foi the Australians put their total of 433 runs togethei at the late of about 100 an houi. Their placing was splendid, and, although the mns were harder to get than if only eleven were played m the field, the oi loket was better in consequence Did anybody see the "slogging" we heai d <-o much about P No, of counse he didn't, and if our cncketers ca.ie to learn, the batting of the Australians gave them much food for reflection. The wav the eleven Australians weie placed m the fieldi was an object le-son. The visiting captain eaily got the strength of each succeeding batsman and the fieldsmen were altei ed accordinclv. For instance, cover-point in one case was brought m to silly-point for another batsman third man was sent to wide mid-on, between square leg and mid-on. but deep Again, you would see all the fieldsmen from long-off round to short^slip brought round a piece, the former coming in to mid-off and the others alteied accordingly But it larelv happened that the boundary was left unprotected and' the <ntn oka had to bo well placed or hit veiy hard indeed that found its wav clear of the fieldsmen to tho fence He who studies cnn learn tins lesson — it is an easy one. There are many other lessons that out players. can learn from the match. Theie is only one other that I will re-

fei to just now, and that is, to play the game of cricket pioiperly the batsman should always have the upper hand. He should never allow the bowler to get him teehng ton the ball. If the bowler w r as boatuig the batsman the policy of the Australians, seemed to be to ti y to knock the covei off the ball by clean, hard hitting, mainly with the object of putting the bowler off hus length. And generally it wao a succeed. The lesson here is that to go at the bowl in"- is the wisest course for the batsmen, for if you do get out that way many rans have gone to youi credit on the seoinngsheet befoie it happens. # * • It is liardly necessary for me to say — you know it already — that the match ended in a draw, the Wellington pl'ayens beinig successful enough to keep- then end up in then second innings until bhe oall of time on the third 1 day. The performances of the Australians call far oomment first, and I will deal with tihem individually in the way that seemeth best to me. The brightest batting display of the visitors was that given by Clement Hill, the South Australian. When he was here with the 189(5 Australian team, HiJl surprised the cricketing fraternity with the ease with which he scored runs with a pull stroke, the ball fin din ~ the boundary between squaie^-leg and longon. That stioke was muoh m evidence on Satunday, but 'his driven mi either side of the bowler were sweet- — very sweet. The power behind these drives was veiy evident, i:oi they went with a swish to the ropes, the fieldsmen in the deep field not having a possible chance of stopping the ball m its journey. If these two featuies of forcible cricket were the only marked chaiiaoteristic of Hill's batting, they would have been enough to satisfy the spectators that Hill has not madfa his name as a star 01 icketer w ithout having the ability to ment it, but he made runs all round the wicket with good strokes. Hill is yet a lad 1 though he has recently entered into the bonds of matrimony, and his movements between the wickets and in the field — sometihang in the natui c of a oake-walk — were pleasing to watch. Since last in Wellington, Hill has filled out a lot, but he does not appear to carry any superfluous flesh. At the end of his long innings of 95 he appeared to be as fresh as when he started, and, to borrow a phrase, he had not turned a hail . We aie a funny people, but still the majority of us are patriotic. The greiateu portion of the spectators at the Basin Reserve wanted to see Victor Tiumpen making runs as we have heard, and some of us have seen, how he alone can make them. But when the great but modest Australian batsmain was dismis-ed for half-ar-scon c of runs the "whooip" of delight that went up was spontaneous and hea,ity. But the reaction followed, and everybody was disappointed that the only Trumper had to retire. If bv any chance the umpne could have given him "not out" I venlv believe but few would, have grumbled. Speaking to Diift, he told me Trumper has been starting ba-dly this season , it takes him a few overs to get into his stride Let us hope this drawback wll be a thing of the past when the test matches come to be played, and that the whole cricketing world will le-echo* once again with the mighty deeds of the only Victor Trumper Judging by Sydney G-iegaiy's innings he liato a pronounced nght to be a member of the present Australian team. Though he was very quiet until he was well on in his innLiigs of 80 his legdraws and square cut® were mantelpieces. A featuie of the majority of his strokes was the pace the bail made straight fiom the bat, especially with the late cut that generally found its way to the boundary oji to deep slip. Towaidts the end of his innings Gregory started lifting the ball to the long field, and his dli iving at this stage was excellent He, however, paid the penalty, foi a brilliant catch by Barton .right on the pavil'on fence sent him back, to the pavilion Reginald A Duff wa^, full of vigour, but at the same time was grumbling most of the time that runs weve not coming faster than they weie. It might surpnse most of the spectator» to know that Duff said that a New South Wales crowd would have been giving both Giegoiy and himself plenty of advice to get to work and scoie quicker As a mattei of fact, they would have been politely told by the ban aokers to make room for somebody else if they could not score faster. This might explain pathetic appeals by in ex-Austiahan at the turnstile bv the pavilion to "Hit 'em this way, Svd , get to woik, North Sydney," and so on. That bv the way. Duff made many uppish strokes over the bowler's head midway between that player and the boundary behind ham but only on one occasion did the^e stiokes cause him any anxiety. What a beautiful innings his was to watch,

though, and how the ball seemed x o bound from. Ims bat through the cordon of fieldsmen on either side of the wicket to the boundary. Some people in Wellington — and I confess 1 felt the same way myself — reckoned the vitators were playing with the Aucklander» when Duff was put on to bowl in the second innings of the match in the Northern city. Well, Noble did the same thing ' here, and there is no question about it whatever but that Duff with a bit of hick is a good man to have in the team, as a chancr© bowler. He bowls a mediumpace to fast ball, that whips quickly fiom the pitch on the off side of the wicket, and 1 one that wants a lot of watching. Albert J. Hopkins was the first batsman in and out among the Australians, and gave me the impression of being a solid player rather than a brilliant one. But when you compare ham with one of our local players coming under the same category the comparison is not a fair one, for although Hopkins is quiet he is making runs all the time. He is a fine outfield, and will be a very useful bowler on the touir. Hopkins was bowled a long while in the second innings, and did not appear to tire at all. He sends 1 them along fast medaum pace, with a slashing nip from the off, and if his bowling is not me* with the full face of the bat, "caught in the slips" is the batsman's trouble. I like Hopkins, and will be surprised if he does not fully justify the selectors' opinion of him during the forthcoming tour in England. Warwick W. Armstrong is the big man of the team, but withal a very pleasant fellow indeed!. We diid not see enough of his batting to satisfy us, for he was dismissed before he got properly going. His drives between cover-point and long-off were brilliant specimens of batting. Armstiong's bowling was the subject of a lot of comment. He bowl® the leg-break theory, with balls that swerve in from leg as well as breaking, which will account for the many futile attempts made by the Wellington batsmen to send his dehvei les to the boundary. Armstrong bowl® from all over the shop. First, you will find him de^hverma; with both ieet behind the bowling crease, then he will edige along till he sets his back foot over the line. Then he will toss them along from the extreme edge of the bowling crease, and if he is not very careful he gets outside the return crease. And all the time the ball pitches in almost the same place every time. It is no wonder, then, that our batsmen were feeling for him the most of the time he was bowling. Charles E. McLeod seemed to be stiff and wea/iy, and methinks he will need a lot of work before 'he will do justice to himself and the selectors in England. His bowling was nippy, but not hard to play, and his batting did not have much life in it. To me personally Albert E. Cotter was a disappointment. He has a free and easy style of delivery, but the foim shown by him here does not put him on anywhere near the same plane as previous Australian expiess bowlers — Spofforth, Jones, and Bruce, to wit. I have my doubts, though, whether he was doing has best, and I can only say if he was I am sorry, far lam a staunch supporter of Australian cricket, and would dearly love to see Frank Layer and his memy men bung those "ashes" back w ith them. Cotter take> almost a. similar run to what Ernebt Jones did, with a skip 111 the middle of it. His bowling, especially the short ones, fly high, and with the batsmen feeling for him he is bound to meet with success if they keep in that humour. A couple of seasons ago Cotter fell on his light elbow , and disilocatad his shoulder. Since he has been m New Zealand he has been troubled 1 with stiffness in the right shoulder-blade — rheumatic pains, probablv — which will account for his not over-bowling himseilf. Anyway, I was disappointed in him, and I was not the only one who had that feeling during the progress of the match. D R. Algernon Gehi"s, one of the latest Australian Eleven men, from Clem Hill's State, is a rare trier and a brilliant fieldsman. Truth to tell, I have not seen finei fielding in my connection with orioket in this colony — something like twenty yeairs now — ■ than the display given by Gehrs. In the deep field his hands were as safe as a church, and m the near country his groundwork was superb. With the bat, Gehirs was quiet, and was d-smissed with the finest ball bowled on the Wellington side during the match. Captain Noble told me that he had hopes of making a stock bowler of Gehrs before the team got far on its Home tour, for he has a fine leg-bieak dehverv, with a very easy action. The moie strings Noble has to his bow the better for the team's success in the Old Land.

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James J Kelly— the old man of the team, and the guardian oi the glo\ es and pads — lswoith many young playei s much Ins luaioi . Beliind the w Lckets he is as agile as he need be, and but little pas^eis him that will aw>ist his teum in sending the opposing side to the rightabout As a batsman he is of the dashing order — if runs ate not coming he wants, to know why, and proceeds to alter the existing state of things. All round the wioket he makes the mns, and seldom has the tiouble of iiimung for them — his -stnokes reach the boundary. I like Kelly for many things. I have described some of them above But what I do particularly appreciate him foi is that he indulges in no tricks behind the wicket*— all his acts are clean and above-boaid, and if he doe'; appeal to the umpire for any decision you can make your mind easy there aire good giounds foi his query — ''How's that?" Theie is only one more of the eleven that played agam-t Wellington and I have left him foi the last purposely. I refer to Montagu Alfred Noble, the captain of the team, who is to-day acknowledged to be the best all-round cricketer m the world. The first thing that st nkes you m speaking to Noble is that you are speaking to a man with a big lump of sound common-sense, and a bain leader of men. On the field he has his team well under control, and a wave of the hand is sufficient ait most times for his wishes to be known and exeouted. Off the field, he has the respect of hi- team a>nd'of all with, whom he har> come in contact. As a batsman, Noble did not give us much of his ability, foi he was very quiet at the ciease. His bowling m tlhe fiist inning's had the batsmen in trouble all the t me, ten of the oppoiv me team being dismissed because of his wiles. Noble also did very eleven work m the field, particularly at point. * ♦ * Can I <-ay more about the team? In fancy I hear the editor asking "When are you going to stop p " but the occasion is such that I hope he will indulge me a little fuither for I have yet to write about the Wellington performances. Suffice it to say, befoie dismissing the Australian playei -. on this occasion, I was highly plea-ed with the sportsmanlike wav they pla\ed the game. The youngest member of the Wellington team pioved its greatest success. The action of the Selection Committee in including Monaghan in the fifteen did not meet with universal appioval, but his pei form ances with the ball iu^t'fied the confidence they placed in him The occasio.il was not too great for him and he bowled exceedingly well. and his swerve from the off was discoucei ting to the best of the great batsmen on the Austiaha-i s de, his hesitating action in delivering also making his bowling all the more difficult to understand. Monaghan is joung, and I do not caie to Diaise hm o\ermuc.h. But, still I cannot help it. To clean bowl two such batsmen a-> Noble and Gehrs, and to miss DufiV wicket only by a piece ot generalship on the batsman's part, besides keeping Hill, Gregoiy, and Kelly thinking most of the time, are great pprfoi manees for a youth in hib first representative game. Hill's opinion of Monaghan I-, that if he can cultivate a fast ball to vaiy with his good one he would develop into one of the best. I have no doubt that Coach Tucker will endeavour to give this hint a chance of fructifying. Monaghan's. tally of 30 with the bat for once out was a laic surprise. * * * Good old reliable Claud Hickson— l have used exactly the same words, before, I know — -fittingly desoubes Wellington's painstaking batsman. His total of 69 for once out tells its ow n tale, and his second innings figures of 56 (not out) made the drawn game a certainty. Hi.s main scoring stroke w as the di ive and forward out. Blacklock had hard luck both times he journeyed to the batting crease, and the short while he wais at the wickets he duly impressed the Australians with the fact that he was a batsman above the ordinary. * • • Mr. Bakei the sole selector of the New Zealand team, was present at the match, but he could not be pumped as to the piobable composition of the NewZealand team. I fancy, though, he will consider a long while before he ignores the claims of the three I have just mentioned. * • * Other good performances by local players durine the match were — Cobci oft's first innings score of 49 in the obtaining of which he showed a lot of defence, and had more than one man's share of luck He was unfortunate, however, m the manner of hi^ dismissal. Redgrave who had the second highest score (30) in the first innings, started st-reakily. but, as he got settled down, played solid cricket, and towards the end of his innings hit with much vigour.

Wateis (12) <md B.nton (15) got going in the hist innings, but the Litter was lost by the bail that oent him back to the piiviiio.ii in the second miimgs Mahony «.ii consistent, lus two tallies benng 12 and 13. Brico hit luu cl and often at the opening oi Wellington's second innings, and he showed a special liking for Armstrong's bow ling. He lamdeid one ball on the bank at the fai Side of the pavikon, and anothei in the garden adjoaning it— both fine hit-,, and rcn\aid>cd with six minis a-piece. Hus total of 39, however, included a couple of leits-off. Hut/chings compiled' 38 ru'iih m ins second innings in good -tyle showing a ileal of confidence

The full batting figine-, of the Wellington players were — C'dbcioft 49 .mid b, Hickson'l3 and 5b (not, out), Hutchmgs 0 and 38, Mahonv 12 and 13, Blaoklock 18 and b, Tucker 7 and, 5 (not out) Redaiave 30 and 1, Hawthorne 3 and 0, Uphnm 7, Weybourme 0, Waters 12, Bnce 7 and 39, Barton 15 and 0, Monaghan 0 (not out) and 30, Hickey 0 Upham bowled well, but did not meet w ith much success. The one wicket lie secured cost 102 mns. Other bowlm° r figures were — Tucker, 1 fon b9 , Hockey, 0 for 22, Hutohings, 0 for 28, Monaghan, 2 for 92, Bnce 0 for 22 Redgrave, 2 for 39 , Hawthorne, 3 for 25; Cobcroft, 0 for 1. The fielding of the Wellington team wais fauly good all round. Blaoklock and Weybourne doing some fine woi k in the country, both stopping ma,n\ strokes that would have reached the boundary but for efforts on their pait Baxton 'also brought off two good catches on the pavilion fence. • * • The result of the match has given great satisfaction to Wellington enthusiasts, foi, although the drawn game was much in favour of the visitors it was a good perfo,nnance of the local men to score 213 luns for inne wiokets in the final innings of the match. The wickets prepared for the match ■were good ones, and reflected the greatest credit on Groundsman Tw st and his assistant.