CRICKET.

NZ Truth, Issue 87, 16 February 1907, Page 3

CRICKET.

(By Scont)i Ken Tuoker is alleged to.*have made the excuse for not taking part m the match with the Englishmen, this week, that he cannot spare himself from; business duties owing to an employee being away on holiday leave just now. There is good reason to suppose, however, that : the question of expenses on the occasion of $ie . Canterbury-Wellington, match, 'm Christchurch, and the invitaijion which was not extended to the local players to attend the Otfera House' on the evening o£ the second day of the Wellington-English' match, has had a lot to do with Ken's defection from the Wellington ranks. Mr Frank Mitchell, the well-known Yorkshire cricketer, was married on Boxing Day to Miss Theresa Kelly, daughter of Mr Laughlm Kelly, of Barkly West, South Africa. Before his departure for the : Old Country, C. E. Howden, .t|ie Carisbrook Club and Otago representative cricketer, was presented by his qhib-. mates with a handsome dressing case. In reply, the recipient expressed a hope that he would soon be able to return to practice .cricket as well as medicine among his old Dunedin friends. The no-ball curiosity m which ''Cotter and Armstrong were the two central, .figures?; m. ;-tiaJ.- rofearn^ntatcb v ; TSfiS.W.' vY 'Victoria, is 'unparalleled m important cricket, Cotter was twice "out" to no-balls from Armstrong—first caught near the track, and afterwards bowled. In each case he hit venomously after hearing the call of the umpire. And Al. is probably ith.e wickedest' hitter m Australia. . . . 'it.: A novel game has been arranged to" take place on the Carisbrook ground on February 20, .when a representa-; . tive team of Carisbrook Club players will meet a • combination wholly made up of ladies. The males are to field, bowl, and bat lefMiafrded, besides using a 2-inch bat. ,The ladies are said to be practising ■assiduously. 'Ud to Christmas J.R. M. Mackay's highest score m Johahnesberg was 60 odd. Up 1 to that "time 'he had batted only fpur times. He was not included^ m the Tt.ansv^al eleven that took part in -the Currie Cup competition, at Christmas, probably because ;fche residential aualification had riot yet been fulfilled. Tliey . say^ that, the South Africans .£i,re becohiing so clannish m their cricket that J.R.M'.Vhas little chance of, being selected to visit England, on the ground of his being an Australian.' ";''.. .'. '■• ■''■■ '"' ' •■ '• '.'. V , Apropos of the nenefit match "to be; played on behalf of Syd Gregory, it is interesting' to note; that "Tich" has taken part m more test marches innings than any' other player, past and preseiit. He has. had 73, and avbi%ges just on =27 runs per innings. In. the triangular matches against Victoria and South Australia he has 1ad. 84 innings, 6 times not out, aggregate 2599 runs, average 37.16 per innings. Yet one often hears the man m the street say that he has been a failure m interstate cricket. To show how consistent the little man has been it may be stated that he has failed to break his "eirg" on three occasions only, after playing for a period of 16 years. In test matches Syd has scored four centuries, and his never to bp idr ßctteii : 20i!-6ii . tb,e :Stdnev ■: CricketGround m 1894 must still" be vivid m the recollections of .. thousands. ■It still stands as a recprd by an Australian batsman on 'kustralian " wickets. For his age (37) there is not a younger-looking cricketer playing than Gregory, whose hair is as yet black as it was when he was a lad- ,, At the Press ,v. Theatre cricket match ;in Sydney recently, Harry llusgrpv,e <s;ave 4 ihe inkslingers, a lively bit of leatKe'r hunting. He hit up .64 m breezy style, then retired with the air of a man who' had-v not placed his part m vain. ■ The piaynlent of professionals was a ■questiori raised at the Otago Cricket Association. A motion was moved ta^tKe effect that the minute standing, m the Association 'svbooks, "that^ professionals receive £1 per .day for hotiae interprovincia.l matGhes and £l for each playing day and .travelling expenses for matches outside, the province," be rescinded. After some discussion it was decided to hold over the matter for further consideration. •' , With' Macartney oil the side, English teams' against Australia will have nothing m their favor m" the shape of bowling when the wickets are bad, that is, provided that the Gordon youth does not lose his formAccording to a local- writer, the Otago team selected to meet the Englishmen m! the. return. match was,, regarded as' a much weaker combination than the eleven which did duty m the first matoli. . The surprise :,' of the selection was Beale, an ex-Tas-manian- player who had performed but moderately with the 'bat and was not above the average 1 as a boWler, Harry Graham, who appears to have gone clean off both m batting; and bowling this season, was included on the strength of a fine innings m a recent club match, but the once famous "little dasher" proved an ignoble failure, his tally for the two innings being confined to the modest* single. ' Charley Gregory heads the batting, average of N,S.W. m interstate matches, this" season. . , At the gathering of cricket enthusiasts m Birmingham, just before Christmas, to take part m the presentation to Lilley, the popular Warwickshire stumper, of the proceeds of the Lilley testimonial fund (£436), Archie McLaren said there were three men he would walk a hundred miles, to see play cricket,., 'and ; they were Dick Lilley. the wicket-keeper, Charlie. Turner, as a bowler, and William Gunn. as a batsman. Another speaker made the remark that m the last twenty-five years Lilley and Blackham had impressed him. as - the greatest wicket-keepers, and -of .the two he thought Lilley shewed more versatility. He wouldn't pbssi,bly find a. couple of Australians to agree with him on the latter point. F. Vaughan, who made a pair ofspecs m the return match against New. South Wales, is one of the ablest batsmen m Victoria. Archie McLaren, who may be set down as one of the greatest cricket captains of modern times, \ asserts that English fielding cenerallv\ is very .bad, and that whilst all the Australians could return well, there were few English players who could, i fTksre is a feeling m South African

cricketing ph:cles that the Ashes of Cricket -Will be recovered from the English as custodians of that mythical symbol of the championship. Judged, by the performances of the South Africans on their own matting wickets against Warner's very sec-ond-rate teamj one is inclined to the opinion that England will easily win the rubber on English wickets within the next few months. Consequent on the sudden death of his nine-year-old son three weeks agOj Alec Downes, the well-known Dunedin cricketer has decided not to take part m any more representative matches this, season. Prior to the commencement of the Otago match on Friday week, Douglas, one of the English team, received a fearful smack on the ,head N with a cricket ball. Some of the visitors were practising, and Douglas, who was standing at the bowling end, received the full force of a hard hit "by one of his companions- m the region of the temple. He was completely prostrated, but soon recovered his feet, though he felt the effects of the blow throughout the day. • J. M. Hussey has a fine all-round performance m Auckland club cricket so far this season, and as far as batting is concerned he has a considerable lead m the averages. He has had eight innings, been three times not out, with a highest score. of 134, and an- aggregate of 461 and an average of 92.2 runs per innings.. With the ball he has sent down 130 overs, 22 of which were maidens, and has taken '21 wickets for .295 runs, an average of 14.04;,