CRICKET

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8338, 25 January 1913, Page 15

CRICKET

NOTES AND COMMENT’S. Owing to tho difficulty that arose througn the Athletic Association obtaining tho use of tho Basin Reserve last Saturday the round that was inaugurated tile previous week had to be suspended and a new round commenced. Despite the fact that a change of grounds had to be made there was some fairly good cricket witnessed, the outstanding features being McGirr’s 105 not out for East A and Blacidock’s 98 for North. Central mot- East B on the college ground, tho former having first strike, but only for Robinson coming to light they would have made a very poor showing. Six wickets were down for 39, and then Robinson went in. He got to work at once, and “ pasted the bowling all over tho field, and by the time ho was disposed of the board showed 132. It was a fine display ot big hitting, for his score included five 4’s and nine 3’s, Another 20 runs saw tho side dismissed. Blamiros played nicely for 27, and over half his score was made np with 3's. East B oxionod promisingly, and it looked as if they would not be far behind their opponents’ score, but after tho second wicket fell a rot set in, and at the conclusion of the day’s play their score stood at 76 for eight wickets. They had 42 to their credit when two men had been dismissed, but tho live batsmen who followed only put on 17 ruus, and a similar number of runs were added before time was called. East B were lucky in having an appeal against tho light upheld, as they had only ten batsmen, Wagstaffe having had to leave on account of injuries received while wicket-keeping. The bowling of Hales, Wighton, and Dooley for East B and Robinson and Kinvig for Central was very good, but tho fielding ot the Central team was rather poor. College made a very poor stand against East A in their first innings at Kelburne Park, and were dismissed for the small total of 93 runs. Only three of the batsmen, Mclntosh, Burns, and Fanning, made anything of a stand, but they were all bowled by McGirr before they had done very much. _ The wicket was a bit bumpy, and this assisted the bowlers a great deal. McGirr put up a splendid. bowling performance, taking sis wickets for 36. East A made 232 for eight wickets, but if it had not been for the assistance of McGirr they would not have eclipsed their opponents’ score by a great deal. McGirr went in sixth, and lie. started off confidently, his first hit being a 3. This was followed by a 4 and another 3, and ho wont on till tho call of time, when 105 not out stood to his credit. Ono of his strokes, a fine drive over tho pavilion, resulted in 8 runs, while another three of his hits produced o’s. He also made seven 4's and fifteen 3’s. Ho had several close calls during tho innings, but lie hit out splendidly, and ho sent the ball out. of the ground on peroral occasions. 'Watson, who was 23 net out. r-1.-n-ed fairly carefully, and the partnership between him and McGirr yielded 113 runs. Saunders wp in

good form with the ball, and took four wickets for 59, while Dickson scoured three for 63. Nortli put up a good performance against Hutt, scoring 24G for wickets in their initial essay. Blacklock was the mainstay of the team, and he played a fine innings for 08. It, however, was by no means a faultless one, for ho gave some chances half way through the innings, but they were not availed of. Anything that was at all loose he hit to the boundary, and his score included sixteen i’s, It is a pity that he was unable to notch another couple of runs to gain the coveted century. Crombie was in iairiy good form, for included in his score of 23 was a 6, when he hit Hedgers clean out of the ground. Hutt, who had first use of the wicket, only made V 9. Hatton being the highest score with 23. The North howlers had great averages. Southall took four wickets for 39, Oaeey two for 17, Luckie two for 5, and Hiddlestone one for 8. For Hutt Bock two for 21 and Aldersley one for 15 were the best of the trundlers tried. The Petone-South fixture, played at Petono, was productive of a very even match so far as it has gone. Petone made 135 in their first innings, to which South responded with 131 for nine wickets. McMenamin was the chief batsman for Petone, and he made 32, including four 4’s and one 6. Cate knocked up 30, but the majority of his strokes were only responsible for singles. Brice made 25. For South Burton played a splendid though fairly careful innings for 52, his score including seven 4’s. Walters was the next highest contributor with 22. Fenton bowled very well for South, taking four wickets for 41, while Keys took two for 15 and Laws two for 7—a fine performance. For Petono Finlayson, Brice and Bennett had good averages AUSTRALIA’S YOUNG BRIGADE. What are our cricket prospects for the next few years? Who are the colts of to-day to whom we may look to to take upon themselves the mantle of our present-day stars? Such were the queries with which a “Sunday Times'' representative interrogated Mr Clem Hill, captain of the South Australians, at present engaged in a mated with New South Wales. And the great lefthander replied: “Victoria has two colts who stand out conspicuously —Ryder and Baring. Ryder is apparently Australia’s coming bowler, on current showing, while Baring’s innings, on that sticky wicket against us, altogether apart from his doings last season, impressed me very much. “In our own State we have throe young players who arc destined, to my mind, to make names for themselves. They are Moycs. Steele, and Murray. Each is about 19 years of age, and a really capable batsman. Steele is the most promising of the lot, while Murray, who was, unfortunately, unable to make this trop, is a purely natural hitter—one the crov.ul dearly loves. “So far as New South Wales is con cerned. the word ‘colt’ loses its significance to a certain extent as compared with the .other: States, chiefly by reason

of the fact that there ore here bp many players possessing qualifications from which to draw j and unless tt newcomer is anything quite out of tho ordinary, ho does not have the same chance of prominence a» do tho yuing stars in Melbourne and - Adelaide. Thus we cannot refer to- men Hite Stack, Collins, Hornes, and others as ‘oolts’ in'the same senso that wo spe,... of Steele, Ryder and Co. Hut there is, at any rate, Massie, who is young and a colt to boot. So for, of course, ho has not shown very much in InterState games; but ho bowls a rattling good length all the time. To my mind he would probably prove very awkward on English wickets. In fact. I should look to them to ‘make' him sooner than our own wickets. And you certainly 1 have a batsman of promise- in Moore. Apart from these, there are no colts, in the strict sense of the word, on the New South Wales boriswn; but 1 have no doubt whatever that with such a great field from wiuefi to draw, and with such facilities as you enjoy here, you will always have more than enough men possessing claims lor your representative team. “To sum up, you have in those seven men the nucleus of a team which, ;n the course of a few years, should bo a decidedly hot proposition, always provided that they are vouchsafed a natural progress and development. They have the cricket, and with ordinary luck it cannot be very long before the 'colts' of to-day are the backbone of Australian cricket. But, as I have remarked elsewhere, it is in bowling that our prospects are not so veil assured. Bowlers do not spring up as quickly and as frequently as batsmen, nor are they, save in very few instances, under latter-day conditions, as consistently successful. A bowler of distinct class is worth his weight in gold, metaphorically; at any rate, his value to his State and Australia is such that he is entitled to every ounce of encouragement.” The South Australian skipper was also questioned regaidin; a trial of bowlers which was reoently oonducted by the S.A.G.A. 'This is an old idea resuscitated. As far back ago as 1895 or 1896 the association, with a view to discovering and encouraging bowling talent, invited competitors to bowl at each of the three crack batsmen, who eventually con; pared notes and picked the Unfortunately, little good resulted, ami after two or three years the scheme was allowed to lapse. This year, however, it has been taken up again, am l Mr Hjll was quite enthusiastic aboe it, “It was a great success," in said, “and we are confident u ! ' outcome will make young fellows study bowling more thoroughly and come along and prove that their study is beneficial. There is no use dodging the question—bowlers are wanted everywhere, all the time; and anything that will encourage them is worth every consideration.” The winner of tho competition was a young player named Riley, son of Mr J. A. Riley, secretary of the 8.A.C.A., and one of the trophies with which he was rewarded by a supporter of the association was a trip East with the team.