General Gossip.

NZ Truth, Issue 143, 14 March 1908, Page 3

General Gossip.

Wellington looked like putting up a large score against Phoenix. At one stage the tally read two for. 110. but Waters then went on and changed the game m a few minutes. His figures of six for 29 out of a total of 177, speak lor themselves. Don Naughton is striking form, his score on Saturday including some great drives into Dobson's garden. If Naughton wouid always play his for-, cinp tactics he would be one of our best batsmen. Stan Hickson was never, at home to the bowling— want of practice.' McLennan was m exeat form with hi_< bands, catching four men. The one that disposed of Hickson was a plum. . \,i j Phoenix opened with two juniors. ; one. of them, Wilson, gives promise of turninp- out a fair bat. On present indications the old bird looks like scoring another win. An Old Boys' player wants his head m ice packs to keep down, the swelling;. As soon as he. can work, his eyes to see his swollen top-piece he may be expected to give a much better account of himself. The * Blackwatch— The Fijian wil-low-wielders. It is strange how the topic of an English visit brings Out the best that is m the average player of wide International experience. "Tich" Gregory was practically a retired iiist-class player 'last season. This summer he practised, as he' -probably never practised, at any other tiiiie, since as a youth, he lived with his parents at the Sydney Cricket Ground. And the result is that at '38 years of age his. cricket has been as -good as it ever was— that is. takintc one consideration with another.,; By cuttinp 1 expenses nrettv fine, the Otap-o 'Cricket A ssociation L made the small profit of £2 3s over the Otago- i Southland match. It i's; probable that ft. Canterbury team will carry a r'ecepta."lß for the Plunket Shield to Auckland early i

next season. Ift any case, it is about Canterbury s turn to tour, but that shield is coveted. As Otae;o is going to have a cut at the Aucklanders. and Wellington may also send a combination-- in ---quest 'of the "bit of furniture," things ought to be lively •! m -a way m the northern city next season. Owing to the satisfactory results of the recent art union, the Canterbury Cricket Association has naid the sum of £186 as the final instalment to the of £500 m connection with the M.C.C. 's 'team's.' N.Z. tour. In all Test matches Australia scorned 3187 runs for 98 wickets, and i England -2584 for 99 wickets, so tbat ! tbe victors compiled 703 runs m the series more than the Foglanders. Cotter quite expected to be chosen to play for Australia m the final' Test match, but the selection committee did not deem it wise to take the a*isk of his not being able to thoroughly extend himself. Supposing; England's absolutely best eleven for English wickets were being chosen, it would probably include • Jackson, Tyldesley, MacLaren, Fry, Crawford, Guhh, Feilder, Lilley, i Hirst, and the 'best possible slow left-hand bowler. Yet Hobbs, Hard--1 staff, Hutchings, and .Barnes are good enough for any International side. ; , $£. A^ 1 Noble, and V. Ransford are the onl"- batsmen. pn either s|de who have made double figures m every innings m the live Test matches. Dan Reese has been inj rattling form witb the bat this season. He has three centuries to his credit m - .championship competitions. 1 Howden, the Otago cricketer, hay-, me passed successfully all his medi-. cal examin&tiojis m v London, is returning, to tna^'-.cit^- where they throw nothing away and^ give darned littleMr Otago. Fisher, talks. of droppingout of Dunedin cricket next season. r £o~or Dunedin, poor . Otago, what af earful calamity is m store for thee. ; Some of our senior batsmen make a vex- pretty' oil paintsnj_., possessing as they do, a, bea;p of' style.' The merit,, however, .as hot there, and. they suffer sadly by comparison with, [junior clubmen. The next Australian Eleven will leave for iSng^jid. m ''March, 1909, j This will be, or should be, room m | that party Of fourteen for two or | three- new bowlers who did not figure ■ m the Test matches this season. It looks 100 to 1 on M. A. Noble being the captain of that team. and. if, as is now expected. J.R. M. Mac- ! kav regains practically \a-ll his old form, the batting of the side, to ;'jud">e by Australian form, will he very solid, f ' "the position ■■;■' of second wicketkeeper may fi!i.rto".C.-R. Gbrrv, who '-is regarded by mjariy capable of judging, as having shown form "against the Englishmen superior to that of any other Australian wicketkeener, barring H. Carter. Of course there are other excellent . wicket-keepers m Sydney, and it is possible, that one of them may win * the position r twelve months hence if neither Victoria nor South Austra- \ lia produce a player of the requisite duality.. Maior Trevor, by jove, who bosses /•the. 'English team, is going to bave a few words to say about Australian umpiring as soon 'as he shakes the dust of Australia off bis shoes;. It"Is pretty generaUr known ' that the team are never satisfied with any adverse decision (says the "Sportsand some of them make no. .bones m showing it on tbe cricket field. This is very bad form. Umpires are only human, and no doubt do at times make bloomers, but those. Who have officiated m the big 'games this season are trained and competent umpires, and also thoroughly if air and impartial. Some of the ■. team evidently don't know the rules .of the game. For instance, m the' match m South Australia, one of the bowlers objected to wides being called against him through his ignorance of the laws of the game. He was bowEng as wide out as possible, tbe ball pitching on the wicket, but owning to the angle at which it was de-; VliVered, going past the batsman , quije out of his reach. The umpire called wide, fitnhtly too, but the bowler contended that because the ball had been pitched straight oa the pitch, it was not a wide. The rule says that : -"If a bowler shall bowl the ball sq high over or so wide of the wicket that, m the opinion of the umpire, it is not within, the reach of the striker, tbe umpirei shall call wide." This is clear, \and, therefore, though the ball was pitched straight, when it teached the batsman it was too wide for him to cover it. In another instance, an umpire was called to book by one whom he had given out leg-before. This player insistedthat he played the ball, and so he had, but before it hit the bat 1 it' hadstruct his leg, which made all the difference. It is -reported that the Canterbury* Cricket Association <*is after two English professionals, Walter Lees, the Surrey bowler, and ■ .Thompson, the Notts bowler? \yho was out here with Warner's team. The tactics indulged m by the Englishmen m deliberately throwing away their wickets alter getting 200 runs witb tbe object of putting the Australians in.pn a bowler's .pitch recalls a similar incident during the tour of Grace!*? team m 1873-4. The latter was playing a combined fifteen of N.S.W. and Victoria, on the Albert Ground, Sydney. There was some heavy betting on the game by the respective players. On the third day the match was not characterised by such good feeling as should have been expected. Several of the fin— lish players had heavy wagers on the result, and the tactics pursued, by Grace towards the finish of the second innings of his men, with a view of preventing ,a draw, resulted m a retaliation on -the part of the majority of the fifteen, which was not creditable to them. Just before lunch ! Grace went out and spoke to Bush ' { and Gilbert, who were batting, and they at once commenced to play j recklessly ; at the same time the ■ bowline: of Gregory and Thompson got off the wicket, and the fielding was loose. A game of cross-uurpo- 1 ses was evidently being played, one side trying to get out, and tbe other to frustrate this object. This resulted ;' m ,the x most ridiculous display of .cricket., ever. Played op the ground. To make matters, worse, 'the caterer sent out refreshments, ordered for the scorers, to the fieldsmen. The -blunder-was an-> unfortunate- one. and, ' although it was explained 'to Grace., he evidently believed it was intended

as a ruse to kill time. The English team managed to win with twenty minutes to spare. . THE BEECHEY CHANT. : In a big match what a batsman Deems exactly to his taste, S'when the wickets cease 'from troubling And the bowling he can baste.; THE ASHES. The Lion we have whalloped, So then cock-a-doodle-doo •! The ashes we have dolloped, Here, say what price Kang-hurroo I