NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2813, 12 February 1908, Page 60

NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

The date of the interprovincial mat;-h between Southland and Otago has been de cided upon. The contest for cricket supremacy between the provinces will take place al. Carisbroo't on Wednesday and Thursday, February 19 and 20. Southland trieaten to piace a good team in the field. The defeats of Otago by Canterbury, Wellington, and Auckland cannot be atoned for by defeating Southland, but should Southland defeat Otago ! Richard Torrance, tne Dunedin left-hand bowler, who was recently working at Oamaru. is uncertain as to his future movements. He will, however, be lost to Dunedin cricket for the remainder of the season

Tlie curiosity of cricket and the wavering umpire were up for discussion at the last meeting of the Otago Cricket Association. Rea«ers maj probably remember the incident set forth in this column a couple of weeks ago, when a batsman was given out for a catch at midoff and then declared " not out" by the umpire when that worthy's attention was drawn to the fact that one of the bails was off "before the ball was delivered ! At the time it was pointed out that the umpire's decision was correct in the first instance, the batsman being out. The matter has been referred to the Grade Committee for decision.

Not generally known that Mr Kennerley Rumford the interesting husband of Madame Clara Butt, is an enthusiastic cricketer, and is a member of the M.C.C.

Mr Ibbs, the private secretary of the great contralto, is also a keen cricketer, and although he has taken active part in a variety of athletics, votes cricket " the king of games."

The Otago Umpires' Association has expressed the opinion that the time is opportune for the New Zealand' Cricket Council to appoint the umpires for the inter-pro-vincial matches. I (Touchline") cordially endorse tho opinion, as it would be bound to be an improvement on the present method of appointing umpires for the bigger class of cricket in New Zealand. Two outside umpires would prevent a lot of Hard things being said, fcr if mistakes. were then mode the umpires could not be accused of showing a leaning towards the local team.

Local cricketers were favoured_ with capital weather for the continuation of grade matches on Saturday, and the beflannoled one was a particularly cool and pleas-ant person to meet on several green turfs. Wickets on the whole were good, and the standard oi run-gotting higher than it ha~ been for some time. Batsmen generally were in the ascendant, and bowlers were mostly up against it. The contest between Dunedin and Albion is left in an interesting stage, and the fin'-;h on Saturday next should be slose. At this stajo Dunedin has 149 on for the first inninys, Albion having lost five good wickets for 92 The winning side is not easily selected but on form D.unedin should wrn.

The scoring throughout was painfully inconsistent, and several of the batsmon shaped as if they had not turned out on the cricket field before

The Dunedin captain won the toss and elected to bat — a wise procedure under the prevailing circumstances. The feature of the Dunedin innings was the batting of Bert Cramond — he of that well-known cricketing family — who compiled a chanceless 57 before M'Farlane, the young Albion bowler, broke through his defence. It was an innings full of gocd things and splendid to look upon. During his term at the crease Cramond made several fine wristj strokes, and his guttinjfc w*s orisp

and beautifully timed. Altogether it was a splendid innings. With practice Cramond ■would be one of our best batsmen, and as a field he gathers the ball :n: n with great celerity and throws in with aocuraoy and certainty. While Cramond was piling on the runs at a great rate Delamere, his partner, was content to hold up his wicket, but at the finish Delamere succeeded in compiling 16. Back again to cricket after a lapse last week Eckhold did not get going- with the ba+, and played somewhat painfully slow for 10. A little dash into his batting would improve things a bit. Tho not out honours went to W. Mackersy, who played steady but quite correct cricket for his score of 23. in the getting of which he showed several good strokes. | J. Graham does not as a rule lose any time in getting the measure of the bowling ', and on Saturday he seized it with both ' hands and in no time at all had 15 to his credit, when Corbett broke through bis defence or the hole in his bat. > The unmentioned batsmen did nothing worthy of note unless it was in some instances to see how quickly they could get out, but "Mr Extras " — that useful scorer — staved long enough to ad<l 15 to the Dunedin total. The Albion bowling was at times treated with much respect. Ctimmings was the most successful of the north-end trundlers, and he bore his honour unblushinglv. The young Albion man sent six Dune-din batsmen back to the pavilion for 38 ran? — a good performance on the wicket. He wos supported by C Corbett, who bowled well for his three wickets. On o-oing >n for Iheir strike Albion compiled 92 for the loss of five good wickets. D. Oramond was Ihe first to ero — cl*>«.r> bowled by Bannerman for 9. Cramond did not shape as if he was on speaking terms with" the bowling. Frank Williams, the big Albion keeper, ■ who has been making runs the past couple of Saturdays. was aeain in the mood against Dun»din. and compiled 38 off his own bat rfr hp rrirket was slow to weariness, but Wi'Hiams waited for them and nlaver? the Rolf game. It pays sometimes, but the man who goes for the bowling causes the spectators' cood 1 wishes. Corbptt— tiiere is only one — was the only other barman of those already d-'smissed who made any showing against the Dune^'n bowlers, and he in his own characteri<=iic style compiled 33 which gres to his side's total. It is quite on the. cards that ATHion will want the-m at the finish. Of the Dunedin bowlers Bannerman. who takes a lonor run and exnends a deal of •enera-v on his del'i'erv. wa« the most sueI oessful, capturing? four for 9fi — o eroor) nert formance. The conrlmion of this maV-h on Saturday next should furnish a close finish. There wjis <=ome consistent scorinsr on the part of Carisbrook A aeai^st Opoho on a srood' wioket at Carisbrook on Saturday, and the A's Dut tospther th« " res-oectaV-le" score of 209 for th» loss of the side. TO Hit of the eleven batsmen got into double fieures, and as each man came into the navilion he told a tale of the bowling. It had a moral effect, and the result was that the maiority of the batsmen «sroreil Would that we had 1 some move of this in- i fluence in representative cricket. j Harold Watson, one of the best bats, and ! at, the same time one of the moat unfortunate, was showing good form when he ~s bowled by Chadwick for the unlucky 13. S. Foster, a promising young batsman, shaped particularly well for his score of 37. This batsman is possessed of several sound strokes-, and plays good cricket when he is in the mood. Foster was that way on Saturday against Opoho. Rutherford is a player who of late haß improved his bowling to the detriment of his batting, but in the latter department he showed quite good form against Opoho. His score of 28 included several fine strokes. I am pleased to see this player i coming back to cricket grace. ( Another batsman who shaped well was H. Harraway, who compiled 30 in quite his best style. It was an innings full of , merit. _ | Bannerman — he of the illustrious name — was in good form with the bat against th© Opoho bowlinfj. and on Saturday treated it with the disrespect of 23 runs and the addition of one particularly fine hit for 6 out of the ground. . With, some rare exceptions the fielding of Opoho was weak, and the bowling: laoked sting. Webb (four for 47). Eckhoff (three for 69), and Chadwick (two for 41) divided the honours. I At this writing Opoho have lost two i ■wickets for 30 runs, and are that many I towards the A's total, with eight wickets ' to fall. Viewed as nurelv a sporting, game the chances are all in favour of the A team. Turnbull, who ie a defensive batsman till he gets his eve in, was responsible for 26 runs for Opoho on Saturday. This player's cricket is not always attractive to look at, but he is po-sessed of several sound strokes. Seieral of those were unearthed against the A team, and contributed largely to his score. Kenny is the not out man, with 3 to his ( credit. How long the stonewaller will re- : main at the crea.se next week is a problem, | but I do wish that this player would forget I hinuelf for once in a way and have a go at the bowling. According tc rumour, Wellington's chances o f wresting possession of the Plunket Shield from Auckland grow beautifully less day by day. J. P. Blacklook. Laws, and Arnold Williams are reported | to be defections, and Monaghan is a very j doubtful quantity. \ Just on going to press a copy of the book wiitten by P. R. May, the fast bowler of the M.C.C. team, entitled! " With the , M.C.C. Team to New Zealand" comes to hand too late to be reviewed in this issue, j Thanks to an easy wicket on the North Ground on Saturday in which the conditions generally favoured the batsmen Carisbrook B were enabled to put up a good i pprformance .ngainst the bowling of i Downes. Ogg. Ferguson, and Co. The B's. who do not take their cricket as seriously as some elevens and consequently enjoy it to the full, won the toss and batted on the ?#id easy wicket. They were at the crease the best part of the afternoon, but nothing of a very sensational nature Happened, and the game progressed by easy stages to its termination. This is the unfortunate part of local cricket — even in its most exciting moments it lacks strentgh and vim. The B's opened with the usual pair, Austin and Siedeberg — once recognised as the , mainstays of the eleven. I Gerald Austin get going in quite his best | stjle and slaycd finished cricket ior. hie

score of 67, towards the Carisbrook totaL It was a valuable contribution and wa3 made by finished strokes all round the wicket. Austin never gave a ohance in his innings and' got out by playing a ball somewhat simply back to the bowler. Siedeberg, who has now recovered from his ill-health and is rapidly coming back to form, compiled 28 in his usual good style. His innings was, however, marred by tho stroke with which" he got out — a misshit to cover, where Henderson secured the catch. The batsman for the spectators is Alex. Roberts, who kits hafd and! often and bats with the vigour of a Bonnor or a Massie. < Roberts believes in the bat hittin# tho ball — a._ point in cricket lost sight of by the majority of local exponents of the game. Were some of our cricketers to adopt the vigorous, forcible methods of Roberts the game would be. less tedious and certainly of more delight to the spectator. To digress for a moment one could wish that a penalty might be olaoed on the stonej waller. Merely holding wp one's wicket may at odd times be of uee in playing out time, but cricket was never intended to he played in that fashion, and the game is not likely to oroceed far on the stonewall lines. By all means let ua nave vigorous cricket — even if it is lot substantially cor- " reot "by the book." I would like to say much on this subject of slow cricket, but it seems I have been writing on this subject for years and the vame does not more along more swiftly. To return to Roberts: that worthy gave a fine exhibition of hefty cricket — the sort that does send *a thrill throusrh the sneetators and causes the casual one under the trees to sit up and take fresh in+erest in the proceedings. Tn an innings like this, where the flashing blade is mpking the bah tear holes through the atmosphere chance* are possibilities. Roberts gave one of these, but it was unaccepted. He was. howeyer. eventually out "to a good oatoh by Ferguson, from a j hit which on fh« Caledonian or Carisbrook erounds would have probable been over the rails. - '. , Ussher was battinc steadily and quietly when he had the misfortune to bo run out throug-h a mi'sunderifanHimr with Burt. And sppakiner of Burt. the B captain was probably «omewhat lucky in qrettino* 17 runs, for enrlv < - n his career he had a narrow escape of beinsr run out. the wicketkeener fa>')ing to take the ball. Coniiderino- he has had little practice of laite Bitohie batted very nicely for hie wore of 18 not out. and showed possibilities for future matches. - . . The bowling of Grange was up to stan- [ dard. but there was no assistance from the wicket, which was dec'dedlT in favour of the baitsmen. Down« and Og" 1 bowled narticularlv well, and Ferguson secured the average. Gr*msre have lost three wickefs for 31. of which C. Bcal is not out with 11 and Ogg not out 8. The latter batsman gave a srood rnanoe in his batting career, but the ball fell harmlessly amongst the fiordsmen. The Grange Club are deservinar of oongratulntions for the eminently satisfactory state of the wicket on the North Ground on Saturday. Tho Third Grntle match. Star "No. 1 v. St. Wantin's No. 1, wns nlaved on Dominion j Park on Saturday. Interest centred in the | match on account of the fact that the two teams were in a lead'Tif position in *->>c Third Grade chamnionship contest. Star won ihe- toss and pJ*>H-*vl to bat. opening with HifTgins and "M'Neill. By careful cricket these two nlavers took the score to 65 before M'T*tff"H was dismissed for a nioelv-coirmiled 93. AsrvinaU ioined TTiqrgins and the pair took the score to l? 0, when the former was flta'-nNied for !8. Banks followed ar.d scored 31 before b»ing got rid of. Clark was bowled T>e f ove he had scored and TTisririns and Dow (?5) r»lnvp<J out time. Hierarins. who batted all <■*•© afternoon, scored 158 without losing H? wicket is the fourth centurion that ' t v c Star Club has Produced this season. The 1 bowling and fielding cf the St. Martinet ' team was very sond at the. beginning of the day's nlov. but they degenerated greatly before 6 .o'clock. I Mcs«rs Austin and Fletcher, who anted «= umpires, gave every satisfaction to 'both sides. P Plederer. a member of tho Star No. 2 Third 1 Grade team, secured the excoJ'ent avera^p of nine wickets for 24 runs againsb ! Dunedin. I The sub-committee appointed to make arrangements regarding tho professional coach for Canterbury is making its preparations. So far about £160 a year for thresi | years has been promised towards the j Coach Fund, but greater efforts will be I made to raise the balance. When this is , in sitrht, communications with Lord Hawke will be entered into. Tarrant has received a cable informing him that if he plays any more first-class cricket in Australia he will be disqualified by the M.C.'C. from playing county cricket. In England it was the custom to present a hat to a bowler who took three wickets in three successive balls. This appears to be the origin of the term " hat trick." W. Howell, the popular international cricketer, has been seriously ill for some time past ; in fact, he has been " off 'colour" since the last time he played j with the Australian Eleven in England. Tie I was prevailed upon to play in a match on ' that occasion while he was very ill -vv-ith influenza, his temperature then beingas high as 104 dog. His hands, feet and joints have swollen considerably, and he has been unable in consequence to do any work for a long time. j It is just on 18 years since Syd Gregory I as a youth first went to England with an [ Australian Eleven. Six years later he reached his best. And 12 years later still he has kept up his form in a manner almost , remarkable among Australians, though among 1 his contemporaries J. Darling and | P. A. M'Alister are notable in this matter. Not so brilliant or fascinating, either with the bat or in the field as he was some' years ago, he is (says " Not -Out ") neveri theless a more reliable run-getter thaq 1 when he played his most brilliant cricket. The fireworks in his batting have been supplanted by that steadiness which makes for more consistent success. Roger Hartigan ie not, as claimed in Warwick Windridge Armstrong, by scoring a century in three matches in succession in which he has played for Victoria against New South Wales, has added & new. record to Victorian orickert. For the nearest approach to this we have to go back a quarter of a century, when the famous Thomas Horan, father of the Thomas Horan in the present Victorian team, scored three hundreds in four matches, and I went within a few runs of four hundreds I in five matches against New South Wales. His innings were 95 and 23 at Melbourne ia

1881, 0 and 102 at Sydney in 1882, 33 and 129 at Melbourne in 1882, 21 in Svdnov in | 1883, and 126 and 21 at Melbourne in 1883, the matches being consecutive. Young cricketers cannot prove their metal in big cricket until they play in it, and they cannot be expected to develop into Test match players suddenly to order. . Experience counts for much in big cricket, but our loading young players cannot get it unless they are offered opportunities. ' The present tour seems ao excellent" opportunity of building 1 up the England -team of 1909 and aftei 4 . I am all for young players. Pick the right ones, I give them their chance, tell them you believe in them and do believe in them. They will fail neither you nor England. For the purpose of winning the immediate test match, the old hand is the better man, but perpetual reliance on the old hands pauperises the 'uture. — C. B. Fry. some quarters, the first Qucenslandcr to represent his State in test matches. In 1895 A. Conin^ham was selected and proved a very useful member of the team. Apropos of Harrigan and his meritorious performance in making a century in his first test, the following list of players who have achieved a similar feat will prove of interest to lovers of the game : — C. Bannerman, 165 not out, at Melbourne. 1877. H. Graham. 107, at Lords, England, 1893. R. A. Duff, 104. at Melbourne. 1902. R. Hartigan, 116, at Adelaide, 1903. "W. G. Grace, 152, at Kennington Oval, 1880. TL S. Ranjitisinhji, 154 not out, at Manchester. 1896. R. E. Foster. 287, at Sydney. 1903. G. Gunn, 119, at Sydney, 1907. OTAGO v. SOUTHLAND. The above match will be played at Carisbrook on Wednesday and Thursday, February 19 and 20, and should prove a very interesting game. The Southlanders anticipate having a very strong side this year, and the team will probably be chosen from the following players: — Hamilton, Keenan. Crockett, Stewart (Bluff), Kane, Poole. N. Keane (Aoplebv), F. Glasgow, our old friend Fred. Liggins, Huntley, Doig, Topley, Gilbertson, and Burk (Inver.sargill), ,J. M. M'Neece. J. Hamilton. A. Fraser, G. Fraser, and A. M'Neece (Waikiwi), and last, but not least. A. E. Geddes (Winton), ex-skipper of the Otago team. The selectors, therefore, should he able to select a good strong side. Last season they morally beat the Otago team, and feel confident of repeating their performance this year. Otago has not won a match this «ea6on, but will endeavour to get a win against Southland. The association has decided to admit ladies free to this match. The Ota^o Cricket Association's art union will be drawn on Wednesday, 26th instant. OTAGO CRICKET ASSOCIATION. The usual weekly meeting of the O.C A. •was held on Friday. Mr J. J. Clark occupied the chair, and there was a large attendance of delegates. Apologies for absence were received from Messrs C. R. Smith and Campbell. The Secretary Otago Umpire*' Association wrote, re the matter of finding umpires , for introprovincial matches, that it was the opinon of the Umpires' Association that the ■time was now ripe for the New Zealand Cricket Council to appoint a special list of ■umpires io control interprovincial matches, and that such a movement would be to the advantage of first-class cricket. The association hoped that the Otago Cvicket Association would use its best efforts to bring about such an arrangement. — Received : the Umpires' Association to be requested to communicate direct with the JJew Zealand Council. The Secretary of the New Zealand Cricket Council wrote notifying that at a meeting of representatives of New Zealand sports bodies, held in Ohristohurch on the fith ult., it was unanimously decided to confirm the formation of tfie New Zealand Sports Federation, and to adopt the rules. Received.

The Secretary of the O.A.A.C. forwarded preliminary programme fif the ijTemVy.-third

annual sports meeting of the club, to be held on Saturday, 15th inst., and requested a postponement of all cricket matches upon that date.— Resolved that the secretary write regretting that the association could not see its way clear to postpone matches as suggested.