WELLINGTON CRICKETER REPORTED BY UMPIRE

NZ Truth, Issue 1208, 24 January 1929, Page 16

WELLINGTON CRICKETER REPORTED BY UMPIRE

AN UNUSUAL STEP

Storm In A Teacup Over Misunderstood ßemark At Auckland

WELLINGTON'S GRIM FIGHT

(From ' ' ' N.Z. Truth s Special, Auckland Representative)

'■ The Auckland— Wellington game is the crucial/match of this season's Plunket Shield competition. Auckland have only to. obtain a draw to regain the shield.

IF Wellington wins; Otago must beat Canterbury 1 by at least a thousand ; runs to have a • chance of beating Wellington on averages/This is scarcely likely to happen. Wellington . batted all Friday and for 35 minutes on Saturday, compiling 403 —an average of .58 runs an; hour. It was s\6yy scoring, on the plumb wicket. Ijb%yry was the fastest scorer, his 37 including five '.'fencers."/". • Worker took 250 minutes to score his 151 and hit 15 fours:, His was a first- 1 rate knock, with only .one chance— a catch, to' 'Allcott off punning. ... This seemed to unsettle him for he was put In the following over... .. Not a man on the Wellington side was' bowled. Four were caught, i there were three, leg-; before wicket . decisions, "Dick" Rowntree stump- .. Ed a couple and one was run out. At least one of the l.b.w. decisions was very doubtful. In fact, the .umpiring throughout was far from inspiring. . '.;'■ , In* the first Innings of each side an appeal for a catch at the wicket was disallowed. .' . ■'.'■' ■' In both oases the batsman afterwards stated that he had "knocked the cover off" the ball. Arising out of another appeal for a similar snick came a curious incident- which aroused much discussion. James appealed to umpire Turton for a catch against Postles off McG-irr. The decision was givenin favor of the .batsman. ■; . ■ "' r ;.'■"'■ y:-.' i: 'V I.'1 .' ''■■•"'

A couple of balls later, they bowler, who did not know " ■ ■ ■•■ - ;

what the appeal had been for, asked Henderson, fielding at mid-off, , "Did it hit the -wicket?"

-The uriipire mis- ~ . ; : • understood the remark,, which he ■interpreted as having been, "Do you have to hit the wicket?" and smarting: under what he considered as; deliberate sarcasm, walked across the field and reported the • matter to Lo wry: - ...A short confabulation .soon cleared the matter up, but it would have been good policy on the p;irt of the A.C.A. officials to -have issued a short statement to the Press. '■■' As it was, thousands went away with the idea that the Wellington side were no sportsmen. ' Two possibie cnances went ' astray j during ' the Wellington innings, m one case due to; a misunderstanding between fieldsmen, .a state of. affairs' which no captain should allow. James was 'run out .through Hiddle'ston ignoring his call and continuing down the wicket. James rather foolishly left his crease and the batsmen crossed about ft-yard outside it. ". , Meanwhile Ted Bowley secured the ball and, l'unnihg to the other end quietly removed a bail. ; Auckland were ■lucky to get the Avicket. < !■ Rowhtree was his usual impeccable self arid only let five byes past* . He scoured , the .wickets of Worker and McGirr, the former, with. a lightning piece of stumping- work. Dempster's was a quieter knock than usual, but. included' nine fours. Rotherham hit the- only sixer, an off-driye off;. Bowley. Had Well.ington's later, batsmen used the same forcing game/ after tea on , Friday as they, did, the next morn;lng they' would probably have made a' much larger score. ■ /'

WMNo Statement?

With the exception that a few balls kept low on Saturday,, the ■' wicket was true and fast for the first, two days. The .Auckland bowling lacked sting and was apt to be short, a fatal fault on an easy wicket. .■■ :'"'• Allcott bowled very steadily throughout, sending down .fifty-one, ov.ers for thirteen maidens, "9s runs and securing 4 wickets. Bowley and Weir each took two and Dunning, got. .the other. Early disaster, soon befell Auckland. The fatal thirteen was on the board j when Bowley dragged Henderson's third ball on to his wicket. In tne-left-hander's next over Mills . was clean bowled with only seven added toy the score. ;. . ' - ■■'. ..' .■' ■' " ' ■', ' . These early successes put 'thei visitors on their toes. . .";■ : Postles and Weir — both : members of the Eden Clvb — played steady, erfeket, but did not neglect the loose ball. Auckland's first fifty took 57 minutes. Henderson pursued, the "off" theory to death, neither batsman bojng inclined to take risks and merely "watching the balls go by." The 'crowd- waxed sarcastic on several occasions, inviting Henderson to have the wickets shifted. James, too, came m for a measure of barracking, '-.owing to his inability to control his voice. In - , fact, there was far too much appealing fromvthe Wellington team for first-class cricket... " ' Lowry tried nine bowlers during Auckland's innings. The, only men who did not have a turn with the ball Svere •" ■' * ' Dempster and the

, '. ■ . .Tack's'stumps being 'knocked several yards by Henderson, while McGirr removed a bail to a great distance. ■• . - . , ' ■ ; . Hklciieston, Wellington's ''old man," proved he is still pretty, spry' by making two great catches at forward mid - on, boside.s fielding smartly m the slips. Lowry bowled to Dunning for several overs -without a single fieldsman on the off. The latter would not fall into the leg trap and finally succeeded;in forcing a couple of short ones away to. the off whither James had to pursue. them. ; James's 'keeping was excellent, but he. resembles' .Duckworth- m , that he- Is apt to be rather flam- . boyant. . ; It was particularly ■ noticeable that, whereas Rowntree only removed the bails' twice, each time securing a wicket, the Wellington man removed them far more often and with far less justification.' ■ The fielding on both sides was keen, but the Auckland ground fielding was rather cloaner.; .•";'*,.■ Giilespie, for Auckland, and McGirr, for Wellington, distinguish e<T tliemselvesi saving many runs. The throw-irig-in was not good on •■either side, Wellington being slightly the better. The crowd • was very disappointedwhen first Bowley and then Mii'ls went very cheaply. : ; . • Player uses an extra heavy bat 1 ; he cracked his own while, playing, but there was none heavy enough m the pavilion to. send out to him! The result was that- his shots sounded as though they had been made with the top of a benzine case. .-...■•

wicket-keeper. .-. . The balls that dismissed 'Mills an d Whitelaw were; real -" h :,u m ding c r s,"