CRICKET GOSSIP.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4957, 10 February 1877, Page 3

CRICKET GOSSIP.

; BY TOM BROWN. . ‘ The “great event” of the season js past, and what I predicted has in a great measure come to pass, viz., a complete breakdown in ■ the batting of our twenty-two. From what I saw of their batting in practice,, and knowing the strength of v Vhe English bowling, I could; not think it would be, anything else but a case of “shelling peas.” .However I did expect that our men would have made a better score than a trifle over one .run per man. There can be no doubt that they “funked” at* the,- howling of Shaw and Southerton, which .seemed to strike terror into them, and make their hearts sink into itheir boots. The innings may be described as the slaughter of the innocents. Our, men were fairly r baffled( with the bowling, and Shaw’s unerring precision and variety of pitch seemed, to,paralyse; their hitting powers completely; while Pqoley; behind the wickets kept' them.Mitlpn;,their creases. A few of our, men;played; maiden after maiden (notably Kennedy, and Anson,, the latter only scoring one for: a little over, an hour’splay, which speaks well for his'defence), but the fielding of the Englishmen was so smart, and the bowling so puzzling, that few* runs resulted from their efforts. The Eleven worked together like a piece of machinery in the field, and it was as near perfection as possible, their return of the ball to the wicket being very accurate. ( I hope our-men took note of it, with a view of improving them-, selves. In fact, I expect to ultimately see, that they have studied the Englishmen’s allround play, and that for the future the game will be made more of a study than a farce, as it has hitherto been. , Unless this.is done our men can never hope to cope with any show of success, against, any moderately strong, eleven that. may. be, pitted .against, -them., , I heard several of our players laugh arid chuckle,, at the small semes the Auckland men made,' and indulge in little homely blowing as to,the scores they would make, &c., &c. How sadly disappointed and crestfallen they must , feel now that the fact, has been published to the world, that they ; only made a , little, over one fun per man. I can also imagine how the Aucklanders : will indulge _ in a metaphorical ;.*war 7 dance over the inglorious defeat of the representatives of the. Empire City.— The Wellingtonians, however,- have one thing to console themselves with, if one can call it a consolation, *and’ that is that up to the present they have made the smallest scores of any team the Englishmen have played against. The second innings of the twenty-two was very little better;than their first. The only man who made a stand was the veteran Mace, 1 who came out of his shell to the trine of 11, the only double figure in either innings. Kennedy came next on the list with 6, which makes Mace and he a tie for the prize bat. Although there were four* more men to bat, they can hardly object to the result being decided on'both seeing that they were absent, while there was plenty of time for theni to go in had they been present. The innings of the Englishmen was a treat to witness ; the batting of Charlwood, Ulyett. and one or two'more being almost faultless, and the- way they ran between the wickets must, have opened the eyes of, the Wellington .players considerably; Charlwood’s innings of 661 was a masterly display of cricket, ‘Bis leg-, ' hitting being clean • and well timed,'.while his cutting and the way he placed- the ball wherever there was a vacancy will lonp be remembered by,those who witnessed his, play. I: fancy several of the team could have'made larger scores had they felt so disposed ; but knowing the weakness' of’ the team they were playing against, refrained. Another thing, it was somewhat more comfortable in the pavilion than standing or running on the wet turf.

With all due respect to Captain Mace, I did not like the way the twenty-two were placed in the field. He was very weak on the off—the strongest point in the Englishmen’s'batting ; and seeing how so many runs were being got from this point, he failed to strengthen that position ’; at the same time, he had* three or* four men in the long-field who were* of no earthly use there. A great many runs might, have been saved, and even wickets got, had thisbeen properly attended to. There were too many * gaps, and the English batsmen were not slow to take advantage of them. Draw; short-leg, mid-off and on, were not in their proper places, while many others seemed at a joss tpknow where to go in the field'; this however was more the fault of the fieldsmen than-of the captain. Mr. Mace must not be blamed .too much, however, as,he never had an opportunity of getting his men into the field prior to to the match. And whose fault was this ? Well, I think it was entirely the-fault of the secretary, whose duty it was to see-that, a match committee was appointed' at a. proper time, so as to give the team time to practise together. On another occasion, perhaps; things will be managed better. Of the fielding of our men not much can be said ;■ take it all round it was very fair, and it would be invidious to mention one name without another. I believe all did their level best, and if a mistake was made, it was made with the best intentions. The most. notable deficiency in the fielding of our men was ,in the return of the ball to the wicket-keeper. Many, many times the ball was thrown-in a most reckless manner to the wickets—the thrower apparently; taking no heed where he threw* the ball, as long as; it was thrown. How different it was in the Englishmen’s return, every hall was true to its, mark and without any confusion. ' This is another thing I hope-our men have taken a careful'note*'of; as it is an essential poir t in the game, arid . one. that is often the means of taking wickets.. The next item of the game I have to touch upon is the bowling. In this departrrient' we, were lamentably weak, if it had- riot been for’the assistance we received from the country, I wonder where we would have been. Our ownbowlers fell short of the mark,' as I expected, as none of them bowl. with their head;’; all they depend upon is their pace; but pace is not always successful,, even if the., bowling,is straight, more especially when' good batsmen are opposing it. Had the wicket not been so’ wet the fast howling would have >suffered more severely at the hands of. the Englishmen- > It only bears out what I stated at the Beginning, of the season, ,that unless our howlers bowled more with their head, and placed,; more dependence on pitch than pace, they would never be - successful' against' good 'bats-' men. ' I also* advocated at' the same time th(it some of our coming bowlers should practice - the medium pace bowlingj *as this was and is'a class of bowling very, much heeded ; but I was only laughed at’for my pains.' Perhaps after seeing Shaw, Souther.ton, and .Lilly white bowl, these scoffers will change'their, tune., *l,should, notie-at-all surprised to-see those-who'a shorttime ago raised the greatest objection to this * class of bowling be the first to fail iutorioy way of * thinking, and probably be the first also to try and get into that style of bowling. Had it not been for. Cross, Lyster-Kaye,- and .Farrington, • what a sorry show, our men would have'made in the bowling,',and it;xa questionable,,if. itihad; not been’for that;assistance if the : Englishmeiv could have been got put at all. These i bowlers, , and , especially ; Cross, , are deserving .pf ; all praise for the able manner in .which they handled the.; leathern , sphere./ iOf Cross’* bowling the Englishmen speak in; terms., of praise, arid say if he had a good ground,! and was backed up by a good field-that hewould *be very successful. Cross’- bowling, compares favorably with that of Hill, taking* into consideration the relative merits of* the batsmen. The former bowled ; 22l balls for 61 runs, and the latter 88 balls for 14 runs. If there is to be any recognition of merit Cross is the’only one of the'team deserving of that honor. As to giving a prize bat to the highest scorer, the thing is utterly absurd, and to decide who was the best field amongst the Stavmen would be a matter of some difficulty, as not one of them came within a long shot of the standard of excellence. If a prize is to he given for the highest scorer and the best field, I; would recommend a leather medal with a suitable inscription. As the English cricketers have just finished their match (?) with Wellington, it may notbe amiss to give a record .of their* perfomance|i since they first landed in Adelaide. I have been at considerable trouble in getting together; facts to compile the .tables> given below, and I am sorry to say that after all my trouble I, am unable to get the ' full scores' 'of the Goulburn (New South •’ Wales)’ match. In the bowling analysis I have also been unable" to’get' the Newcastle arid ~Goulbu(*ri matches, and the second irinihgs of the South* Australians. Unfortunately,’, .the' Englishmen left their scoring-book behind them in Sydney), or else I should have -beeri in a position' ,tp' have give'n the averages rifl’d analyses in full. ’ Armitage in the second usings of the South Australians got seven wickets for a very few runs, which would have mriide Bis analysis look a littleTbetter., Shaw, as|aqm(itter gf .pourpe; i stands at the top, Enjmeft, t and. Lillywhite close up,'vfhjle ,and Ulyettjs, analyses arei not at all In,.the hatting, Charlwood .stands first with, the splendid pyerrige.pf . 32.‘,runs per inr^ngs),while,,Ulyett and Selbyr'afe* close at[ his heels. . The averages.pf - thja others are not to he despised. I fancy Jnpp would have been at; the, top of ..the/tree, had he not been so urifortunate. His illness has been a great, drawback to the Eleven, as he is a long way the best batsman of the team. Jupp’s--.score-.at-- Adelaide,-where -he played,* under -great difficulty, with a swollen face;*was: 35.;i !l hope*.ha will be/able to play, with the EJeven at Christchurch,* where he' is to ;rest until the teamv arrives there. The following are the tables alluded to:—. BOWLING. AVERAGES. '

. . I ’. BATTING AVERAGES. ; '

: In the London Sportsman ari given the highest; scorers of 1876, or those ■wlio during last season obtained over *IOO runs. 'W: G. Grace, the champion, of course, heads the list. He has obtained three-figure -distinction six times;. * Once he made * 400 (not out), 344, 318 (not out); and five times scores ranging between 100 and 200. E. M. Grace has also scored largely, and has seven times, achieved over 100 runs in an innings, and once ' he made the enormous score ot 327, not put; G.| F. Grace, the third' of this wonderful cricketing family, has thrice been rewarded with century scores, his figures being 213, 192 (not out), and 166. : W. R. Gilbert, a cousin of the Graces, has also been scoring very largely. Against Cambridge University he made 205 (not out), and followed up * this success with four - other scoreri of over 100 runs- each. Charlwood, the Sussex batsman, who is at present la the colonies,; has twice for; his county scored over 100, and I find that James .Lillywhite, the captain of the English Eleven, who is not looked upon as much of a batsman in Australia, has. on . two occasions his century; Who will say Lilly white is a “tailender’’after thrit?” ?' ‘ ' A friend -of mine,- writing to me from Victoria by the* last mail, and who etipassant is one of the best all round cricketers sr\ the colony, says, speaking of the English Cricketers: —“ Do you want to know what I think

about them ? Well, I think they are the best that have been here yet, but they_ have never played properly yet —and this not from any knavery, but carelessness. They don’t care a fig whether they win or lose, and until'they have some interest in winning (which they have not) they will riever think it worth their while to refuse good eating and plenty of drinking and late hours, ■an chin fact everything that unfits men to play the game properly.” ' The following is the programme of the remainder of the trip of the English cricketers : —The team start to-day by the Rotorua for Taranaki, arrangements • having been completed on Thursday for the visit of the team. Prom thence back to Nelson, wherethey 'play a two days’ match ; then on to Greymouth, to fulfil their engagement there ; and then overland to Christchurch ; after which Dunedin and Invercargill will be visited. This programme will be carried out as far as practicable. i ; , I have heard it mentioned that eleven printers are to challenge the twenty-two who Were so easily defeated hy the Englishmen. I give the rumor for what'it is worth. • I believe a match is on. the between the Government Printing Office and the staff of the New-'Zealand Times,' the match to be played on as early a date 'as possible. ‘

'• Name. , . i .... : Balls' I Bowled. ] | gB ,o« ; • *A g '' no 1 ?■’ Average I runs per i wicket. 1 ShftW .. 2102 ’357 91 1 : 388. 3'9 ' Sonthoitoh = 600 182. 26 ■ 74' ' 5*0 Emmett. 074 ;;180. . 24 ■111 7 , 6’4; Liljy white .. 1019 : 229 85 143 -i- . 0-6 Hill .. .; 956 266 32 137 — 83. Ulyett, 486 120 12 62 10'5 , Artnltago ■ 115 76 3 3 25-3 i

1 Name. ■ i in : No. of Innings. Time!) not out. No. of runs; Average runs per innings. Charlwood .. 12 > 0 390 ’ S2’8 Ulyett .. 12 0 ,810 259 Selby .. i 12 0 290 21-1 Greenwood' . 12 0 222 . 19'5 I’ooley ■ : 12 ' ■.2 ■ 172 17'2 Emmett .. 12 0 . 161 '■ 13*4 Armitagc ,12 1 • ,188 12-51 Shaw ; .. 12 1 ,, 130 11'8 LillyWhito . ■ .. 12' • 2 110 100 Hill •" 12 ,1 109 91 Southerton . ■ 1 . 11 , ■ *•;. : • 88 92