CRICKET GOSSIP.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4964, 19 February 1877, Page 3

CRICKET GOSSIP.

(BI TOJI BROWN.) I have dropped in for a considerable amount of abuse during the past week because of the remarks I made in my last hit of gossip on Wellington cricket. One gentleman (a luminary in cricketing circles) told me, apparently in all seriousness, that I was spoiling cricket in Wellington by writing as I have been doing, and that several cricketers (?) had signified their intention of not playing any more because of the abuse that had been heaped, upon them by me and other writers. For myself, I can confidently deny ever having abused cricketers .either individually or collectively. I have certainly pointed out their errors and weaknesses when occasion required, and suggested improvements, and if this can be converted into abuse then I must plead guilty to the charge. But I think many of my readers will bear me out when I state that I have dealt very leniently with our local cricketers, considering the amount of their shortcomings. If would-be cricketers take umbrage at having their many (cricketing) deficiencies pointed out to them, the sooner they give up attempting to play the game the better, for as long as this is the case we will never be able to make our young men cricketers. The great weakness of many of these young gentlemen is • the desire to have everything they do in the cricket field lauded to the skies, and on the other hand to have their faults and mistakes glossed over in as mild a manner as is possible ; but, like the Melbourne Argus, “I am in the place where I am demanded of conscience to speak the truth, and therefore, the truth I speak, impugn it whoso list.” I have no doubt I would have been styled “a jolly good fellow” if I had stated that the reason of the poor stand our men made against the Englishmen in the late match was attributable to the state of the ground (as some of the players would make us believe) and not to any want of science in their howling or batting; but this I could not do with a clear conscience, after witnessing their wretched display of cricket on the Basin Reserve on the four days of the match, when all their vaunted courage descended to their boots as they wended their way to the wickets, which then oozed out at their toes as they faced the English bowlers. To show them that I am not solus in my already expressed, opinion of their prowess, I may state now —what I had intended to have kept dark—that the Englishmen say that they are the poorest lot of batsmen they have ever played against, and that they are hardly above mediocrity in the field. Perhaps this statement will in a measure convince them that I have dealt anything but harshly by them in what I have written of their doings. I have also been told that the Press have not treated the Wellington cricketers as gentlemen should be treated. I asked the person who laid this charge against the Press to point me out one instance where they had been treated otherwise; but like many others who jump to conclusions and make rash assertions, he found it easier to make the charge than to sustain it. Like myself, I think the Wellington Press have treated the local cricketers very leniently. I also understand that the veracity of some of my statements have been called in question, and that what I write is only the opinion of one man. In answer to the first I may state that I am open to conviction, and that the cricketing editor will be most happy to publish any letter that he may receive on this subject, and I shall be most happy to convince any doubtful person that the side Hake up is the correct one. Tothe second assertion, all I can say is that what I write is the writing of one man but the opinion of a great many. As I said before, I shall be glad to try and convince anyone who thinks I am wrong. The Englishmen since leaving here have played at Taranaki, and put the Taranakians through in one innings, but only by one run. The Englishmen only succeeded in scoring 80, the smallest score they have yet made against twenty-two. This speaks well for the bowling of the Taranaki men, or for the ground. The Englishmen are now at Nelson, and scored 258 in their first innings. Jupp, who lam glad to hear is in the field again, was in a long time for his score of 34. Selby appears to have played a dashing innings, so also did Chariwood and Greenwood. The bowling and fielding of the Nelsonlans is said to have been very good, and there can be no doubt of it when only 9 runs were scored in an hour. The first innings of Nelson closed for a total of 56, or 202 behind their opponents. In their second innings they only succeeded in putting together 39, Emmett and Shaw doing all the execution. Cross was top scorer with 7. The Englishmen thus won their fourth match in New Zealand in one innings, and on this occasion with 163 runs to spare. The Wellington Club have had the addition of two new bowlers new arrivals from Home. Mr. Thompson, one of the two referred to, is a left-handed bowler, with good command of the ball. He has a good break, and has also the happy knack of bowling “ break-backs ’’—the most dangerous of bowling. He did good execution against a mixed team on Thursday last. There is one thing I would like to draw the attention of cricketers to, and that is, smoking in the cricket field. I have noticed this horrid practice for some time past, but refrained from saying anything, thinking that their own good sense would make them leave it off, but as the practice is still continued, I have perforce to draw their attention to it. I can enjoy'a pipe as well as most men, but there is a time for everything, and when a man is in the field that is not the time for smoking. I hope to see no more of it.

The match between the Wellington and Star Clubs was commenced on Saturday afternoon, and so far the latter have the best of it. But there is a great deal of luck in cricket, as was evidenced on Saturday, five of the best batsmen of the Wellington Club being put out for one run. The Stars went first to the wickets, and ran up a score of 72, which was mainly due to the excellent batting of Blacklock, who has proved himself during this season to be one of our best batsmen. Lambert, a new man, also showed good hitting powers, although his hitting was rather wild. Had it not been for these two the score would have been a small one. In their second innings the Star men had scored 40 for the loss of two wickets. Garwood and Mason scored rapidly, and were not out when the stumps were drawn, with 13 and 10 to their respective names. Mace also looked dangerous, when he was disposed of by Armitage for a wellearned 12. The innings of the Wellington men at first looked ; like a second case of the Englishmen, as there were five men out for 1, when Horwood and Armitage stemmed the tide ; Edmunds, Speed, and Fordham also did good service, and when the last man was out, the Wellington score was only 10 behind their opponents. The bowling on both sides was very good ; the fielding, however, was not up to much. The Star men to my mind fielded the better. I should like to see a little more gentlemanly display of feeling on the part of three or four members of the Star team, whose behavior at times would have led a stranger to believe that Mr. Ingwersen of the Mount View Asylumn had lost some of his patients, their remarks and interjections during the progress of the match being anything but elegant or polite. This kindbf behavior does not tend to promote good fellowship, and as long as it is allowed to exist there will never be any harmony on the cricket field when it is occupied by the Wellington and Star Clubs. I trust to see this line of conduct abandoned, and the sooner the better. I also noticed that Evans has deserted his old love and joined the Stars. I have no fault to find with this; but as he had already played with the Wellington Club against the Stars, he could not in all cricketing fairness play against the same club he had already played with during the same season.