NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 60

NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

The popular "Ladies' Day" in connection with the Carisbrook Club will be celebrated with the time-honoured match between the club's A and B teams on Saturday next. There is is at present great rivalry between the teams, and as each will place the best eleven in the field, an interesting game should eventuate. Ladies having an interest in the club are cordially invited to be present. Afternoon tea will form a refreshing interlude during the day. Given a fine afternoon I hope to see the picturesque Carisbrook Ground made more picturesque by the presence of the ladies. The Southland cricket team to meet Otago at Carisbrook on Wednesday and Thursday of this week will be quartered at the Criterion Hotel during their stay in the city. The match will commence at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, and will be continued on Thursday. The Otago team to meet Southland has been selected, and, save in one instance, it is a good side, strong in batting and bowling. The certainties were easy of selection, and no exception can be taken to the inclusion of any player with the exception of McFarlane, of Albion. At the beginning of the season this player did show extraordinary form, sufficient to justify his selection, but of late he has done nothing out of the way, and is fortunate in being in the team. I would much have preferred to have seen Beal, of Grange, or Foster, of Carisbrook. in before McFarlane; and before either of those mentioned B. Cramond. Possibly Cramond was not available. l am pleased to see Corbett, of Albion, in the eleven. This player has been on the fringe of it so long that his trial is welcome. Ogg, too, who did not get north with the Otago team, is deserving of his place. An ex-Otago representative in the person of Fred Liggins, the old Carisbrook player, is included in the Southland team against Otago. "A cricket trip in New Zealand must never be looked upon entirely in the light of a cricket picnic" is the significant comment of Captain Wynyard, of the M.C.C. team, in an introduction to P. F. May's book, "With the M.C.C. Team to New Zealand." Some time ago I wrote: —"A curious incident occurred in the senior match Grange v. Albion. Roberts, of the former team, played a ball to mid-off, where he was caught. The umpire gave him out, and the batsman walked away from the wicket. In the meantime the attention of the umpire was drawn to the fact that a bail was off; the batsman was recalled and declared not out. Quite a number of intelligent cricketers are of the opinion that the batsman was not out, but my own theory and that of recognised experts at the game here declares against the batsman." jThe foregoing was copied into Sydney Referee, and " Not Out," the recognised authority on that journal, comments as follows: "There will be found very few to differ from the view of the writer in our New Zealand contemporary." This should settle the argument so far as the Otago Cricket Association, the Albion Club, and the Grange are concerned. " Felix" (Tommy Horan, of international fame), in answer to "Richmond Native," Dunedin, New Zealand, has this to say on the subject of the AlbionGrange dispute:—"(1) The umpire's decision was wrong, for the reason that a bail being off does not render the ball dead. (2) An umpire may alter his decision if, in the hurry of the moment, or by a slip of the tongue, he has given a wrong one. (3) The local governing body could not declare the match void merely because of an incorrect decision by the umpire. (4) It is regrettable that the incorrect decision caused the match to be lost, but such cases are not uncommon in cricket." About a cricketer known in Dunedin: — Howden, who it was feared would be unable to play again this season in consequence of injuries sustained in one of the rep. practice matches, came out for North Shore, Auckland, on Saturday last, and is likely to continue playing, as his leg gave him no trouble, not even when bowling. J. M. Hussey, the ex-Otago and Auckland representative cricketer, having left the Customs Department, is proceeding to Wellington to enter into the legal profession. The new caretaker for the North Shore Cricket Ground, Auckland (Mr Sanderson, of Dunedin), has got the pitches into good condition. Some dissatisfaction exists in the club, however, owing to the fact that whenever a Shore team has to visit one of the other grounds an excellent pitch is left unoccupied. The Canterbury Cricket Association made a profit of £200 18s over its recent art union. This will enable it to pay off the deficiency of £180 in the amount of guarantees on the recent Marylebone C C tour in New Zealand, besides adding £20 to its own funds, which are again at last in a fairly satisfactory position. The proposed match between the Wellington and Auckland representative teams for the Plunket Shield has been abandoned. Williams, Monaghan, and Blacklock could not make the trip. Here is a query for the authorities on the laws of the game to ponder, says friend "Touchline" : —"A batsman in swinging round to leg misses the ball, and the bat falls out of his hands on to the wickets. Is he out ?" A splendid wicket was provided for the continuation of the match Carisbrook A v. Opoho on Saturday. Opoho had lost two wickets for 30 runs the previous Saturday, Kenny being the not out with 3 to his credit. On resuming Kenny took his score to 20. The stonewaller played in his usual unattractive style for his runs, and was ultimately out lbw to Fisher after several unsuccessful appeals. Jas. Timlin put his runs together in quite good style, several of his late cuts being particularly well timed and coming crisply off the bat. He was eventually beaten by Tom Adams by a ball which broke from leg.

The batting sagged badly in the middle, the wickets of Chadwick, McGavin, and Kilgour falling like autumn leaves. John Timlin stopped the rot, and, batting well, compiled 24. Like his brother, he has a very good stroke on the off, and of his total he hit four 4's, and was out to a really brilliant catch by Fisher at point off Watson. I Djsi-tci followed shoitly after. th<* la»< thio° Opoho batsnu'n— Erkhoff. Webb, anil M'Kay— failini? to got past the dreaded "0." --Mr Fxtias" proved a useful man for th<^ eide, contributing 18 to the Opoho total of 118. There wajs nothing extraordinary about the bi.whng of the Cansbrook A. sa\c th it of Jlaiold Watson, w!io bagged three first innings Opoho bat=men for 5 Apropos of Watson, it ij uirpi ising that the captain of Ihe A does not keep this bower on longer and gi\e him a chance. Watson was tried again in the second innings, securing one for 8, *hen he was taken off! The fielding of the A on the whole was good. In (he second innings Cansbrook put on the pace and forced the run-getting, 65 being knocked up as the result of 55 1 minutes' play. Bannerman and Martyn. placed n st>le of game particularly appreciated by the spectators. The former : was very aggressive, hitting in his scora three Vs and a 6 over the rails. This is the music for the spectators. Rutherford shaped well duiing his stay at the crease, and -was eventually given ! out in that unsatisfactory manner "lejr. before." If I mistake not, this is the first | occasion Rutherford has been given out I in this fashion. With 155 to make and one and a-half hours play, Opoho started the second strike. Chadwick and Eckhoff were the pioneers. ' Disaster appeared early, Fisher gettingChadwick second ball. Eokhoff followed shortly after, being cleaned bowled by Watson before he had got going. Jenkins (19) and Kenny not out (15) were the first to make a stand. Jenkins showed good strokes in his score, but Kenny got his runs in the same old spectacular fashion — the , ball hitting the bnt. The most attractive cricket on the Opoho side was that played by John Timlin and W. Kilgour. The former compiled 29 and the little fellow 25 not out. Both batsmen went for the bowling and treated it with the utmost disrespect, keeping the hands of the fieldsmen warm during the partnership. Great credit is due to the Opoho Eleven for the sportsmanlike manner in which they played 1 the game. There was no time waited, and ingoing and out-going batemen , moved with creditable despatch. I Carisbrok B defeated Grange very easily on the first innings. At no stage in the Grange innings did the batsmen look like getting the rune required — viz., 239, put up by the B team th© previous Saturday. C Beal got top score, but in getting hie runs did not show good orieket. When about 20 he was bowled -by West, but the umpire called " no-ball." Again, at 27, he was dropped at third man by Virtue off Austin — a very easy chanoe. Beal's timing of the ball was faulty. Although his innings was not perfect, several nice 6trokee were sandwiched in. A. Downes compiled 29, but was lucky, popping the ball up on a number of oceassions just out of reach of tliß fieldsmen. Brydone shaped the beat of the Grange batsmen, and met the ball with more confidence than any other _ batsm«n. In going for a hook the ball kicked and he was easily taken at mid-on. Ope was also shaping well when he drove one from Campbell straight and low to Burt at mid-off, who caught the ball afc the second attempt. It was a good stroke and a good catch. The B had a second strike. Thomson and West showed good cricket. The former played his best and highest innings of the season, and ie coming back to the form he showed a few years ago. "West is a very careful and painstaking batsman, and a useful man in the team. He takes no risks, and plays, every ball on its merits. Ferguson was ''no-ballod" for doubtful delivery. Henderson was also "no-balled" for going over and outside the return crease." Albion and Dunedin match was continued on the North Ground, when the Albion were dismissed for 113, or 36 runs behind the Dunedin. In Dunedm's second innings Bert Cramond again batted well for 25 runs. It is a pity this player is not available for interprovincial cricket, as he is the style of batsman to please the public, hitting hard and often. Eckhokl played very steady for 48, being dismissed by a nice catch at square leg by X. Cramond. Reid, the ex-High School boy. batted very confidently for 26. More should be heard of this youth in the futuie. Wanting IFO to win Alb'on started their second innings with Williams and M'Farlane. Frank Williams, who seoms. to have ftiuck form, batted nicely for 28. He was severe on anything short, making some fine driven and square cuts. Strang accounted for 22 in a first-class manner. Strang cuts very crioplj, arid is also good on the drive. Drake made up for his failure in the first innings by banging the howhnjr about to the tune of 40. Included in Drake s score were two splendid drhes for 6. one into Kino- street, and the other one io still going, as the ball has not been reco\erod. Drake hit Graham to leg for four, and on repeating the dose was splendidly caught by Cramond, who was returning from feildinsr the Forinei hit. N Cramond. who compiled 30 not out, played p^rhap- the best cricket for hi> runs This youth bats equally well all round the witket and plays with plenty of confidence, but wants to leave big hitting alone for a year or two. In Stiang. Dnfhie. N. Cramond. and Hiddle-,tone the Albion have four colts who thould be heard of in the future. In a match in Christchurch on Saturday last "Extras" "plajed" a fine innings for 49. I My Chii>tthuich correspondent supplies the following interesting notes: — i After a month's holiday in the North Island, H. B. Lusk is again in his place in the West Christchurch team. Malone, who had hii hand severely injured in a match some time ago, is still an absentee. J. Meech, the Tasmanian bowler, who 19 playing with the East Christchuroh team, had it "dealt out" to him on Saturday week by A. Jones and Co., of Sydenham. His figures read : 18 overs, 1 maiden, 103 rims. "The best 'keepei in Christchurch at the present time is undoubtedly George Weston, the genial custodian for the West Chri^tehureh. team. His voik y- consistent, clean,

and pleading (o watoh, with an entire absence of gallery play, white when lie appeals the batsman feels unca«y. so .seldom ie an appeal decided against "Uentleman C4eorge." In thi^> connection seveial "keepers woujd be wise to follow Wc-ron's example, and not be continually appealing on any and every occasion. Weston, too, is a consistent run-getter. In Young and Ellis Linwood have two 'keepers of more than average merit. The former is a 'keeper pure and simple— and a good one ; but Ellis is a. very fair bowler and a brilliant field in any position. As a batsman ho is probably our best exponent of behind-the-wicket play and cle\er cutting. Againsfc c ast bowling en hard wickets Ellis is in his clement. Boxshall's displays lack spirit. <^nd he seems to be too often in a nonchalant mood when keping wicket for his team ; consequently his work suffers by comparison. He has been getting very few runs with the bat lately. There are three medicos in the teams playing in Cup competitions — Dr* Orchard. Louisson. and O'Brien. The latter will be remembered as one of Bedell-Sivi lght's team of Rugby footballers that yisitod the colony four jears ago, and one of a familj' mat were famous Rugby players m Christtihureh some years ago. Dr O'Brien is folimving his piofe-ssion in Christchurch. and ' n Saturday, playing with St. Albans third Made, he scored his second consecutive cen- • ury in Cup cricket. Scvei al other Chnst- < I^urch me<lico3 are enthusiastic -supporte "s <-' the grand old ganio and regular attendants, notably Dr Jennings, nlio-e sons are making good pvogic^s m the pastime. Last season the fielding of West Chr>«t- j f'uuch v,as an e\cellont target for the =arra*m and g-ibes of spectators, and an uniailing source of "copy" for writer*-. The premier team at the commencement ot this '■saison gave some attention to that important part of the gam<\ and the result is that j it is now second onlj' to Sydenham. The Yielding al) round is good, while Sydenhain's i^ excellent, tho hitter's returns to the vi 'rket being a feature. Some time ago we were informed that our old friend P. R. May, the fast bowler of the M.C.C. team which dealt out such destruction to Otago's representatives last season, had written a book on the New Zealand tour of the much-discussed M.C.C. trip. I had been looking forward with some expectancy to the arrival of the publication, and had almost given up seeing it when behold last week the latest in cricket literature came to hand with the compliments of the publishers, Messrs Eyre and Spottiswoode. The full title given by P. R. May to his work is ''With the M.C.C. Team to New Zealand," and the title just suits the book. It does not pretend to be a work on cricket or about cricket. It is merely an interesting narrative of a pleasant tour of a team of cricketers through an interesting country. P. R. May has compiled his book from his private diary, kept throughout the tour. At the outset I must confess the fast bowler has made a very readable story, and one which I was loth to put down. The personal side comes very prominently into the book, and this is not the least interesting portion of ''With the M.C.C. Team to New Zealand." Indeed, I found the personal element introduced most entertaining. The cricket side of the tour is in the public eye all the time, and of this side there is very little new to relate that is not already known, but it is the "behind-the-scenes" life of an English amateur cricketer on tour that makes for good and entertaining reading. This element is largely introduced by P. R. May, and at once I found myself on "shaking-hands" terms with "Towser" Douglas, "Simmer" Hayward, "Ronny" Fox, "John" Burns, "Branny" Branston, "Attie" Torrens, and the rest of the members of the M.C.C. team. This served an excellent introduction to "With the M.C.C. Team to New Zealand," and I proceeded to enjoy the good company from the sailing of the M.C.C. team from Tilbury Docks by the Corinthic to the departure from New Zealand and the landing of the team again in London. Truth to tell, I have had a fine time touring New Zealand with the M.C.C. team, per medium of P. R.

May's book, and lived over again the matches it was my good fortune to witness. More enjoyable even than the cricket was the peep into "inside" life of the English amateurs, and I found myself at Rotorua playing billiards with Charles Page , mustering sheep and thinning out fat bullocks on a 6000-acre farm outside of Auckland with P. R. May, and enjoying with that worthy village cricket as played in New Zealand, but not the night on the boat coming from Wellington to Lyttelton to take part in the first match against Canterbury, when the English cricketers were accommodated in the hold of the steamer and everyone was sick! But the joys of crabs and stout at Fernhill Club, at 1 in the morning! Travelling with the M.C.C. team, we arrive at Dunedin, and of this P. R. May says : — We were very comfortably put up at the clubs—Fernhill and Otago. Here, as elsewhere, we found everybody delightfully hospitable. The match against Otago: We were glad when we won the toss again —five times running,—as the wicket was absolutely plumb—slow, easy one, quite the best we had yet played on. De Trafford tried hard to knock the cover off the ball, the first two going to the boundary and the third over the stand and clean out of the ground for 6—a mighty hit. Downes and Fisher bowled very well. Downes, a slow right-hander, who breaks a lot from the off had the best figures, but Fisher, the left-hander, who swings a good deal in the air, was rather unlucky. Quickly finished off the "rabbits": Howden's 45 was one of the best innings yet played against us, owing to its entire freedom from fluky strokes. On Saturday morning Wilson, who was not out 39, added 10 runs to his steady innings, and "Simmer" disposed of Graham with an easy caught and bowled. We quickly finished off the "rabbits," and found ourselves with a lead on the first innings for the first time against any province. Otago's second innings : At their «econd attempt Otago made a terrible start With less than an houi to play they had at one time 10-.t fi\e for 22, but Wilson and Ackroyd aveited complete disa c ter and played out time, with the bcore at 47 On Monday mcining. although the wicket was still peifect. Otago could do no more than double their small scoie, the total of 94 being the lowest made against \it so far. Simpson-Hayward collared four of the last five at a cost of 31. only Fisher, who was twice not out, playing him at all well. May's bowling : The description of my method of bowhrg. as it appeared to the- local newspaper man. may not be out of place here — '" May has a. peculiar delivery. Taking a fairl3- long run on leaching the wicket he makes a clean bound into the an, with his knees well up, and on reaching terra fiima again whirls them in'" I take "them" to mean the ball, not my knees The fact is, my style excited considerable merriment in New Zealand Often, a& I started my run. the facetious onlookers would cry m unison with my steps as I pounded along One. two, three* and a terr fie "Whoa l " oi «eire such humorous ejaculation I may add that I rather liked this, as I fancy it was nwh more likely to be disconcerting to the waiting batsman than e\er it was to me I earned all «oits of nicknames, such as ' Cias=hoppei ' a»d Kangaroo " A merrj night — ciab-s and : ' We were a", of us the guests of Aithur Fisher who had been playing against us on Saturday at the Fernhi'l Club, and a veiy merry night we had Theie was a gcod deal of .speech-making at dinner, m which allusions to my eccentric "action weie so frequent that finally " O'd Hop, Skip, and Jump," as they called me, was called upon to reply, which was rather embariassing. We finished up a most jovial evening with crabs and stout at about 1 o'clock They keep come- pretty good peker players at the Feinliill Club. An old friend : Charles Page and I met an old Cambiidge friend, A. F. Roberts, who was hon secretray of Cambridge Rugby Fifteen in 1903, and it was very pleasant talking over old times.

Leawng Dunedin in company with the M. C.C. team we proceed to the West Coa-st, and after matches there rc-\i=it Auckland, wheio the tour commenced. Back to Canteiburv and once attain Dunedin: Aftei a day of lest and aiuusemert ye went on to Dunedin for our le.um match with the piovince of Otago. the only one we hacl defeated at the first time of a^k.ng The Otago a- d Feinhill C'u'js rgain niost hosp.tably put us up A pel feet ticket : l"i«her and Austin bowled well the «tiong liiee^e which b'ew acio^s the ground causing tlie left-hap der <to fwmg a good deal and only 30 nun accrued the fh = t liour • Thank you very much": " Simmer" got his meiry 71 in doub'o-qirck tre m fact, e\ en body who went in jn«t steed "til' hit fours <=aid -Thank \mi \eiy lynch, aid got out When time wab ca'led „, had compiled 483 for nine, which -v\a9 m «ea--ed to 406 the next morning This total beat that of P F Warnei's team^ on I the °ame around four years earhei Tnev I s o.eel 47< J .,"of which Warner himself uade ' -ill Otag-o"^ fielding: The fieViing and especmMy the catchin?, weie imv>ertect. theiebv neuUa'.ismg the e\cel'ent tru\.dh«g of Fi=!,er and Austin, hut 1 th° w.ckotkeepei, F William-, perfoimea \ ci rfl ; well He is not to be confuted with A ! Williams, foimer y of Otago but now of , We'lm-non, another excellent vitketkeeper |we had encountered Indeed, the coneial "•tandaid in this department quite svipnsed u= In each of the up-country matches we round a firs-t-rarte stumper, and I ba.ieve it \sas at Ma=terton that the keeper kept le-ma-kably well in a pair of ouhnaiy km gleei Mj>"» honest opinion: Vthou"h Otago had to field out to a lecoid ,ICre, lC re they at all events had the satisfaction of compifng the highest tola 1 , so far lecoided ' artist «=• Fov all that tho baltm S collld not compaie with the Aucklander*' Austin "ot inns, but it was not a s-tylisu penonnance, and he does not like fast bowlins? In one of my o\ ers he got three 4 s aud a .1 o^er head Ackio^d 1= a oto-cwalJer ai d his 31 occupied an hour and twenty minutes Siedebers. on tl-e othei hand, hit ficeiv wile he lasted. E khold. who came next v.us playing h s fir>t nnpoitant match, aid 'in- 41 was ceitainlj a ru-tic peifoimatue — ,nickb over the sips and cuts off the middle stump predominating He showed : n eatv of confidence, hcwcvei and the iv"-> are equally valuable «haie\ei the method lVheipaud tery nicclj a- d Beal hit out > well Utaco were 233 behind, a-d had to ' iVlow on. und m the 15 minutes that remained lor p ay their pio.-pects foi calvation ■ were not improved, thiee men being sent back with oi.ly 15 en the board They cou'd ■ onlj muster tcgether 144 on Monday morning, and were beaten by an innings aud 05. The May-Bakei incident : I was responsible for a cuiiouf incident on : the second evening. Seeing that Baker was vaids out of his giound to await my deli- ; I tock a fierce shy at the wicket 1 am af'iaid it was not a good shot, for it went \ery near to the batsman's head, cans1 mcr hnn some alarm 1 The umpne called •■ Ko ba 1" and there was a gieat discu^um afteiwaids as to whether the batsman wou d have been out had the ball hit the wicket 1 May strains his side: 1 I tued my side at the rets about this time aud found it still vveak I had aggia- ! vated the trouble at the Lam Ui c wet day I was in the shearing shed and the sheaieis were trjmg how often they could lift a sGlb weight Thirking I looked a biu'.y aufhan. they suggested that I night be able to iut it up a good many times I tued, and at. the \eiy first attempt my side went "click I was lather - sick.' with the test match so near I New Zealand win the second Tc«t : All had worked splendidly for their fust te=t match victoiy against an English team and though I should be loth to admit that •we were liitrinsical'y an mfeiior team, there could be no question that as the game was p'a^ed the best side won. In the lasc innings Fi<=hei. with five for 61, was ihe-r star bowler Dcwnes took two foi 27. but Upham, so far fiom completing' his cieadiy woik of the fust innings only got one wicket, ! and did not seem dargerou- In the whole nmtcli Fisher, with nine wickets for 86 did ' best. 1 "Bare expense?, not including 'dunks or smokes! What of the caching bill and i At the beguimng of our campaign we weie ! taken to task by a well-knew n Australian, i who ought to have known better. lor a '; puppc ed intention of enjojmg om selves as well as playing ciicket m Zea and. \\ c certainly did enjoy oiu selves most thoioughlv despite "the hardships of the journeying to and fro, and we are not at all ashamed of lit Is it leasonable to expect a paity of pure 1 amateius to give up six months fcr the tour if it is not to be a pleasure tup"' It mu't be lemembsred that only baie expense aie paid (tickets and hotel expenses, not inc'uding drinks or smoker etc), which means that e\ery member of the tejm is necessaiily out i of pocket over it, apart from what income ! he might have earned at home during the half year. And as a further answer to our sneering cutic. we can point to the not altogether despicable recoid of ten matches won to two lest, m spite of the disaster by which we weie deprived at the outset of the ser\ices of our mccimpaiable captain, whoso giand leadership was as much missed, as hi<» grand batting. And apart from his absence, we weie deprived by accident of Douglass on the occasion of our first defeat and Simpson-Hayward on the second, two of our very best all-rcunders. so that -whilst fully recognising the good play of the Maorilanders , —all thorough tners.— l think I am free to I maintain that it was more through ill-for-tune than anything eke that we did not i ictuin fiom New Zealand, as Warner's team had done before us. with an unbeaten ceitihcate Having °aitl thi3 much, I may add I that it was no dcubt the veiy best thing that ! could have happered for the good of the I New Zealand ciicket that one of the te st I matche- shou'd have resulted in a win for the colory. and the impetus which this exciting triumph wi'l give to the game out theie ought to be- fe't by ths next teuring paity that .should come to slls 11 ! 3 "»th her chosen iepie=eiitati\es Summary of the tour : Leaving out of cons'deiaticn the matches against odds, which gave us no anxiety, our tour may be divided, as Oesai clnidcd ancient Gaul, into three paits Fir=t cam© out disappointing and unfortunate eaily period, during which we plajed fauly even drawn matches with Auckland and Wellington, lo«t our gallant captain, and weie I tiounced, after oui disa^tious expenence of I Father Neptune, by Canteibury. Secondly i j came our run of oheering successes, bioken only by the second draw m the weatherspoilt leturn match with Wellington. During this happy time we twice defeated Otdgo j with great sla-ugater, took our revenge in

no uncertain fashion ogainst Canterbury, demolished Hawke's Bay. and emerged winners in the fine struggle with Auckland. Lastly came the test matches, with the colourless result of '' honours easy." Of the five "odds" matches we won four and drew the other. Thus, from a ciicket point of view, the tour was successful, but not completely so. From a socia' point of view it was successful with no reseivation whatever The aiduous trave'hng. attended by strenuous pleasure-seek-ing, with its presumably baneful influence on our cricket, has already been sufficiently indicated in the course of this histoiy That individually -we on the whole failed to do omsehes xustice I am inclined to attribute %cry largely to causes of this nature. What more natural than a tnecl man should miss a catch or fail to time a ba'l pioperly about which he woii'd usually make no mistake oithat a tired bower shou'd be unable to find the desnect length 9 / An appreciation of Now Zealand ciicket and cricketers : Passing to the chai actcn^tics of our ennononts, and consideiii.g m paitieular those chosen to ieprc;ert the colony, I have to P'nnt out that they were, in the mam, a te<un ol \eier<ins. or comparative.' y vCfcians. Such names as Arnold Williams, Aitlmr Ki-her. Upli.'m Bi^sha'l. Downes, Lawrence, Callaway Haddon, and Bennett have been household wcids in Xew Zealand for . a ciicket gere at ion, more or less. Mahony. Kee-e, Tucker and Sie\lebeig are no stiangcis to lepresentathe e'e%ens, and the only colts (good ones, if is true) are hemus and Sale This in itself does not seem a. hepeful featuie looking lo the future. But it docs not follow that, because so few colts were chotou, there were but few good ones from whom to choc-e It may mean merley that the veieians weie so good that it would ha\e been unfair to them and smciclal to the mteiests of the State to lea^e them out A'ld certainly the actual perfoimances of Williams Fi"-her, etc, whdi the crisis came fully be.ir out this view. Anyway, it is a great tril ute to tiie keenness and \ital force cf these veterans (m a cricket sense) that they should be sti.l showing the wjy. Of course our matches with the provinces showed us that theie were fine players who « d ncrt happen to be m tile Ivew Zealand side against us. such as Lusk, Brooke-Smith L-iws, Robinson (the Auckland wicketWepei) Hay, Cobcroft. Patrick, Antiionj, Ausin. OLiMer. Sims, M'Cormick, ivlonaghan, Htis e ey, How den, Mason. VVilson. Orchaid, White Collins, Hitkson, etc., so that thero v^ould be no difficulty in putting two or three very decent teams in the fie'd Most of the Xew Zealand ciacks have been fully acknowledged as to then merits in the foregoing ppges, and I will therefore content myself with leiteiatu g my -.pecial adnmation for the straight battirg of Haddon and Hemus. Williams and Sa'e and Maho'iy, with a word of prai°e far the jjersistence of Lawrence, and regret that we did not see the best of D. Keese or .Aickeribr Siedebeig; for the good length howling — cieadiy when the wicket was injured — of Fi'her and Dowufc", the celebrated Otago pair, Upham. Callaway and Bennett, a'so the promising turn of speed shown by Law?. Even the bowleis, curiouslj — or rather, I should say, especially the bowlers — have lef.jlied the veteran stage so far as the best of them are concerred Absit omen However, this soit of time always amves in cricket histoiy, as it did to th° A t,trihans between their gieat early years and their great lecent yeai<=. Fioin 18S6 to 1830 their veieians weio begmi.irg (unlike those of Xew Zealand at presen 1 ) to lag "upeifluous on the stage, and there was j o bi tei ciy that, bar that magnificent pair Turner and Feins, ths gloiy was departed, and there were none woithy to fill the^shoes of the pnnic\al Titans Jturdoch ard iMa=tie and Bo'inor and the Banneimans, Spofl'ortli and Palmei and Bcvle And all the whi'e I the little Clem Hills and Victor Tiuwpers weie busy at school, preparing to fi'l their shoes. So niay it be with the Dominion of .New Zealand and its ciicket that is to be. A la>t tribute: Star. I must not foi^et a last tribute to, the high state of efficiency att-uped by the wicketkeepeis of the colony. Besides Williams and Boxshall and Robinson, who were about the pick of the batket, wo came acioss stumpers of nearly the san c hi!»h class even in some of the sm« ler centio = Like most colonials the New Zealanders 3ie thorough trieis, and a man has to be what the Australians call a " grafter to bo a good wicketkeeper. This quality c?me cut strong a'so in several of the bowleis. surh as Bennett a pinning 'example of pluck aad stiength, and Upham, who bowls «s well the la«t houi as the first Theie were occasions, 100 such as the first Canterbury match and the closing mnmgs of the final test match, when the Xew Zealanders showed us catching and fielding as good as I ever wish to «cc "With the M.C.C. Team in New Zealand."' in addition to its interesting- wain story, contains a short history of New Zealand cricket from eaihci-t times up to the present day. Th" book is well printed and profusely illustrated. Included in the illustrations are photographic reproductions of three Otago represent atiicu -ilcssn- Downes, Siedeberg. and Fisher. The published pi ice of the -bookr is ss. and tho work, which, while • making no pjetence to literature. can be thoroughly commended ac a true and faithful account of a tour which is still fre-h in the minds of enthusiasts. The book is bright and breezily written, and k ne\or dull. What more? I congratulate Mr P. R. May on his work, and thank him for giving me a plea-ant tour " With the M.C.C. Team to New Zealand." CHRISTCHURCH NOTES. (Fuom Oue Own Correspondent ) February 17. The eighth round of grade matches was finished on Saturday in dull weather and with a strong easterly wind blowing. The giounds were in bplondid order, aiid theie wa° a good attendance of the public. Tho feature of the day i\a« the defeat of West Chrirtchurch by Linwood. Tint, is only the second occasion on winch the Westerners ha\e been beaten since tlie inauguntion of distnct cricket, and now Sidcnham and West Christchurch arc running equd for the thampionshiD. The ne\t meeting of thc-c two teams la eagerly ynticipatod. although on tho proMous occasion S\denhdin m.ulc a -\eiv feeble cli-plav again-t the Westci neis, but in the nc\t match the '" model borounh 1 ' team ui3 oxpe-ctecV to make- a much better showing. On the pie\io«« Linwond scoied 294 by eyn. ail-round batting, only two memuers failing io get doubles, while the AVec-torncis liad lost two wickets for 25. Continuing, the latter -\\eie all out for 258. 12. G. Norman, rccentiy promoted from tho juniors, was top with a \cry care-fully-compiled 72 not out. (t. We:ton contributed 42, Lusk 38, Cook 27, and Whitta 17 Of the flvo bow 'ers used Sid. Orchard, with his slow left-lv\nd "googlevs," got the best figures — four (all bowled) for 33; but

the cob Kinvig was not far behir.d. Tlie- - fielding was Rood, and in fewer than six of Ihe crack, tea n A-erc clean bowled. In tlicir second sfiko Linnoi.d put up 115 for two wickets. Kills (41 not out) and Orchard (34 not out) prawdina; "the niii-ic" in \asth different styles. Bishop epecdilv hit up 21. Riccarton put up a ni-eiitorious hatting performance against Si. Albin-. Tho Saints had scored 278, and R.ccaiton had mado 47 withe ut loss. On Saturday Kric Harper (29 not out) \\a<s an abset.tpe. and Anthony partnered Cavgill, the pioduct of thie partnership being 56 run-, before Caygill was bowled for a careful 54. Then A. Norman dnd Anthonj pn^o a fine displaj-, taking the total from 143 to 293 before Norman was bowled for 61. Fr\ er banged up 27 before beinglun out. and Parkinson made 14. None of the others ga\e much assistance to Anthony, and he remained unbesten after a full afternoon's baiting with a really fino -.core of 172 — his li.rgvst and mu=t woik'iianlike effort of the season. The innings closed for 426, (o wliich "Mr E\tiafe" oontiibuted just one iup short of the half-eenturj. But this is excusable on account of the ab=eno9 from bis post through an injury of the regular keeper. Ihe liolciirg was coorl at tho start, but later developed the "tired feeling" when Antnonv and Co. iiad .yon the match and were treating thr> bo\Mm without courtly: Goidsr.iith, with t!ue-e wickots. tvas."ihe "''lost successful, though e\pc-nsive: -bowlef tried. ■bjdenharn "t?ot'a 3-puint win c\er East ChristchufOh 'at Lancaster Park by an iumnps and 246 * run's". On the pre\ious Saturday Sydenham batted all clay, end made 407 for .seven wfekc-fs. to which A. Jones contiibulcd a solendid ] 58— his second conseeuthe century in senior cricket. Continuing the same Svdenham declared their innings closed, and tlie Easterners, were dismiffied for 99 and 62 in ihc-ir respective innings. D. Piasor (24), Meech (20. Ross (IS), Xorth (15), and Ward (10) showed the best of a Very feeble resistance in the first iiining^, while tlip onK double-figure scorcr-s in tlie s^coiici mnircr^ were _A.flc(isin (13). (11). and Ward (10). The firldmfc was firat-clu's ri<;;ht thiough, and •Top Uennott and H. jM'l.elland bowled uiic hanged ttn-ough both innings, the former's figures being: — 16.3 overs. 4 maidens. 32 runs. 6 wickots. and. 14 ovet>. 5 maidens, 34 runs, 4 wickets: M'Lclland's. 16 overs, 1 maiden, 64 run*. 3 wickels. and 14 overs, 5 maidens. 23 runs. 4 wickets. The lowers bdtted a man -horr.