CRICKET

Otago Witness, Issue 4031, 16 June 1931, Page 49

CRICKET

THE NEW ZEALAND TEAM. THE SOMERSET MATCH FINE INNINGS BY TALBOT. LONDON, June 8. The New Zealand cricketers continued their match with Somerset in fine weather. The wicket was somewhat difficult owing to raiif overnight. Talbot attacked the bowling vigorously, and added 51 to the overnight score (68 for two wickets) in 50 minutes, hitting three 6’s and four 4’s. It was a fine display of clean hitting, and was an invaluable innings to the side. Vivian went out lbw second ball, but Blunt batted very steadily. It having become apparent that the New Zealanders would have to fight hard for a first innings lead, Blunt put on 54 more slowly than usual. Page was run out in a curious fashion. He snicked a ball and over-balanced before he regained the crease, the wicketkeeper whipping off the bails.

The later batsmen lacked enterprise, and when the ninth wicket fell 11 runs were still needed for the lead. Weir patiently watched White at one end, allowing James finally to place New Zealand ahead. White bowled 50 overs, of which IS were maidens. Somerset batted 110 minutes, and at one stage it seemed as though the whole side might be out before stumps were drawn. Weir bowled remarkably well, keeping a flawless length and swinging away. He had at one time taken three wickets for 5 runs in 12 overs. A timely stand by Earle and Case added 56 for the sixth wicket. Case was caught and bowled by Page in the las* over. Weir sent down 22 overs, including eight maidens, without a change.

ANOTHER DRAW. LONDON, June 9. The match between New Zealand and Somerset was continued, but rain after lunch prevented a definite result. The weather was overcast in the morning, and rain overnight caused a delay of 2-5 minutes at the start. Weir dismissed Earle and Wellard quickly. Marshall played freely until bowled by Allcott. Pouring rain caused an adjournment in the morning, but on play being resumed Burrough and Pratten batted well, before lunch. Burrough batted well, defying the numerous changes in the bowling. Heavy rain fell throughout the afternoon, rendering further play impossible. The abandonment of the match caused considerable disappointment, as there was a prospect, of an interesting finish. Details:—

NEW ZEALAND. First Innings. Dempster, c Burrough, b Wellard .. 20 Mills, c Earle, b White 26 Talbot, c Wellard, b Young .. .. 60 Blunt, b Wellard 54 Viviau, lbw, b White 0 Page, run out 13 Lowry, lbw, b Young .. .. ~ 15 Weir, e Case, b Lee .. 22 Kerr, e Young, b Wellard .. .. 12 Alcott, c and b Young 6 James, not out 16 Extras 11 Total 255 Bowling Analysis.—Wellard, three for 39; Lee, one for 27; White, two for 119: Young, three for 59. SOMERSET. First innings 244 Second Innings. Young, c Vivian, b Talbot 2 Lee, c Page, b Weir 20 M‘Bryan, c Vivian, b Weir .... 4 Ingle, c Talbot, b Weir 5 White, lbw, b Blunt 9 Case, c and b Page 25 Earle, c Page, Weir .. .. 41 Marshall, b Allcott 37 Wellard, b Weir .. .. .. .. .. .. 0 Burrough, not out 45 Pratten, not out ............ 9 Extras 4 Total’ for nine wickets ..201 Bowling Analysis.—Talbot 1 for 17, Weir 4 for 57, Page 1 for 19, Blunt 1 for 51, Allcott 1 for 36, Lowry 0 for 4, Vivian 0 for 13.

THE GLOUCESTER MATCH.

RAIN AGAIN DELAYS PLAY. LONDON, June 11. Further rain delayed the start of the match, New Zealand v. Gloucestershire, this morning, the game eventually commencing at 2.15 on a sodden wicket. Rain at 4 o’clock caused an abandonment of play for the day. In the New Zealand team Allcott, Kerr and Matheson are standing down. The Gloucester team is:—Hammond, Parker, Dipper, Sinfield, Smith, Dacre, Goddard, Barnett, Neale, Stephens, Rodgers.

Hammond won the toss and the county batted, losing four wickets for. 55. Although a greasy ball and a slippery foothold hampered the bowlers, Cromb and Blunt both struck form. Sinfield was caught off a bumping ball from Cromb by Lowry at short-leg. Dipper was dismissed shortly after bv u brilliant catch in the same position off a powerful hook. Lowry just failed to hold an even difficult catch off Hammond at midoff, but Neale went out to a fine catch by Cromb at backward point. Dacre was received with applause by the New Zealanders. He returned an easy catch to Blunt.

Hammond batted 50 minutes for six runs.

LOW SCORING. LONDON, June 12. Fine bowling by Cromb and Merritt allowed New Zealand to dismiss Gloucestershire for 132. The weather cleared, but the wicket was fairly dead. Hammond made a better showing, but uas unable to play Cromb with confi deuce. Stephens batted soundly. Cromb swung the ball well. He bowled 30 overs, which included 14 maidens. After an eventful day’s cricket New Zealand managed to force a draw. After lunch the wicket commenced to dry and became sticky and was almost ideal for Parker and Goddard, Gloucester's famous bowlers. New Zealand was dismissed for 89. Even Dempster was lucky in reaching 37. Hammond and Sinfield gave sound displays. Gloucester s second innings was declared closed with four wickets down for 86. A heavy roller between the innings improved the wicket. New Zealand was left with 90min to score 130 and victory. Parker and Goddard were again diffi cult, the former securing his 100th wicket this season iu dismissing Dempster. _New Zealand had lost six wickets for 65 when stumps were drawn. Lon ry and Blunt defended soundly. Gloucester had the honours of the game, but with it practically confined to a single day it was hardly a fair test. Nine lbw decisions against the New Zealanders was a disappointing feature. Following are the results:— GLOUCESTERSHIRE. First Innings. Dipper, c Lowry, b Cromb .. .. 21 Sinfield, c Lowry, b Cromb... ~ 19 Hammond, lbw, b Cromb 47 Neale, e and b Cromb . . .. * ’ 3 Dacre, c and b Blunt 5 Stephens, not out ", 13 Barnett, b Blunt * *’ 70 Smith, b Cromb * ’ g Rogers, st James, b Merritt .. .. 0 Parker, c Lowry, b Merritt .. .. () Goddard, e Dempster, b Merritt .. 4 Extras 3 Total -..132 Bowling Analysis.—Cromb. five far 42; Weir, none for 10; Merritt, three for 23; Blunt, two for 54. Second Innings. Dipper, c Lowry, b Merritt .. .. 6 Sinfield, not out 29 Hammond, lbw, b Cromb .. .. ’’ 28 Dacre, c Blunt, b Weir I'2 Barnett, c Cromb, b Weir .. .. () Extras -t-i

Total for four wickets (declared) 86 Bowling Analysis.—Cromb, one for 37: Merritt, one for 24; Blunt, none for 6; Weir, two for 8. NEW ZEALAND. First Innings. Cromb, c Stephens, b Parker .. .. 7 Dempster, lbw, b Parker 37 Mills, c Hammond, b Parker .. ~ 3 Blunt, lbw, b Goddard 2 Page, b Parker ~ ~ 77 Talbot, lbw, b Parker .. .. *. 2 Lowry, b Goddard 7 Weir, not out 3 Vivian, st Smith, b Goddard .. .. S James, lbw, b Goddard 0 Merritt, lbw, b Parker 3 Extras 7 Total 89 Bowling Analysis.—Sinfield, none for 22; Rogers, none for 8; Hammond, none for 2; Goddard, four for 16; Parker, six for 34. Second Innings. Dempster, c Rogers, b Parker .. .. 4 Mills, b Goddard .. 9 Weir, lbw, b Goddard 8 Page, lbw, b Goddard 0 Blunt, lbw, b Goddard .. .. .. 26 Lowry, not out .. .. 13 Cromb, lbw, b Parker .. .. ~ o Talbot, not out .. .. .. .. ~ 0 Extras 5 Total for six wickets .. .. 65

Bowling Analysis.—Sinfield, none for 9; Hammond, none for 2; Goddard, four for 21; Parker, two for 28.

MATCH AT DERBYSHIRE. HOME SIDE OUT FOR 230. DERBY, June 13. The New Zealand cricketers commenced a match against Derbyshire in glorious summer weather. The wicket was easy, and the attendance was 4500. Allcott, Page, and Talbot were omitted from the ?Jew Zealand team. . Lowry lost the toss. Derbyshire’s innings was notable for the sound batting of Worthington and Townsend. The New Zealand bowling was not quite up to standard, but was admirably handled by Lowry. Matheson developed pace occasionally and bowled Storer with a beautiful ball which came in sharply from the off. Cromb was evidently feeling the effects of the prolonged spell in the Gloucester match. Merritt and Blunt were inconsistent, and Weir was perhaps the steadiest. Smith and Aiderman both played useful innings. Townsend was dismissed after lunch with a brilliant left hand catch by Dempster at third slip. Worthington played an exceedingly solid innings, but keen fielding robbed him of several boundaries from powerful drives. After tea Vivian dismissed the tail. He developed a real spin for the first time on the tour. New Zealand batted for 90 minutes, scoring 89 for three wickets. Dempster hit 11 in the first over off Slater, but in the second over he was caught behind the wickets. Mills went out lbw first ball to Mitchell, a leg break bowler. Blunt made 50 in 70' minutes, and, although he gave two chances, it was a valuable innings. Weir and Lowry played out time. Following are the scores: — DERBYSHIRE. First Innings. Storer, b Matheson 9 Smith, lbw, b Cromb 26 Aiderman, c James, b Blunt .. .. 28 Townsend, c Dempster, b Matheson 40 Worthington, not out 60 Ford, b Merritt 5 Walker, c Matheson, by Merritt .. 2 Slater, c Cromb, b Weir .. .. .. 23 Richardson, run out 5 Elliott, b Vivian g Mitchell, c Blunt, b Vivian .... 6 Extras is Total 230 Bowling Analysis.—Matheson, two for 49; Cromb, one for 34; Merritt, two for 67; Blunt, one for 29; Weir, .one for 29; Vivian, two for 4. NEW ZEALAND. First Innings. Dempster, c Elliott, b Slater .... 14 Mills, lbw, b Mitchell fl Blunt, c and b Mitchell 50 Weir, not out 15 Lowry, not out 2 Extras 2 Total for three wickets . . 89 MATCHES THIS MONTH. June 10, 11 and 12.—v. Gloucestershire, at Gloucester. June 13, 15 and 10.—v. Derbyshire, at Derby. June 17, IS and 19—v. Minor counties, at Gainsborough. June 20, 22 and 2.3.—v. Northamptonshire, at Peterborough. June 24, 25 and 20—Reserved. June 27, 29 and 30.—v. England (test), at Lords. THE TEAM’S AVERAGES. The following are the complete batting and bowling averages up to the end of the match with Cambridge University:— BATTING.

* Not out BOWLING.

THE ENGLISH TEST TEAM. SELECTION OF YOUNG PLAYERS LONDON, June 8. The general opinion is that the selection of the English test team against New Zealand will be made mainly witn an eye to finding young blood to recap ture the ashes from Australia. It is understood that the following will be chosen against New Zealand:— D. R. Jardine (Surrey), captain. I. A. R. Peebles (Middlesex). H. Sutcliffe (Yorkshire). W. R. Hammond (Gloucestershire). H. Larwood (Notts).

L. Ames (Kent). H. Verity (Yorkshire). A. H. Bakewell (Northants). Probably the Cambridge University captain, G. D. Kemp-Welch, who also a^ d for Warw ’ickshire, will also be inEveryone accepts Verity as the sue ecssor to Wilfred Rhodes, while the dashing young Bakewell is regarded as Hobbs’s successor as a partner for Sutcliffe. CRITICS DISCUSS PROSPECTS. LONDON, June 10. English critics are freely discussing the test prospects. The cricket writer in the Manchester Guardian says:— The English side is likely to be a jndi cious admixture of experience and promise. No risks can be taken with the New Zealanders. Merritt and Dempster are not above administering another dose of the Grimmett-Bradman medicine. Merritt must not be trifled with. Not halt a. dozen English batsmen can stay a long .time against his going-away spin. It must be remembered that the next English team for Australia will get a foundation from the team to tackle the New Zea landers this month.” The writer considers the English team will include Jardine (captain), Sutcliffe. Duleepsinhji, Hammond, Peebles, Verity Larwood, Leyland, and Ames. The New Zealanders will play four games before the test and their.. performances in these fixtures will probably play a considerable part in rhe selection of the test eleven. JARDINE ACCEPTS CAPTAINCY. LONDON, June 10. Jardine has accepted the captaincy of England against the New Zealanders ilithe test at Lord’s on June 27. The cricketing expert of The Times says: “As a test batsman Jardine’s ability is indisputable, but his claim to the captaincy has yet to be proved. The Selection Committee understands that the time has come to pick a team ns young as Australia's last year. Jardine can be relied on to show what the young men can do.” SELECTION CRITICISED. ( LONDON, June 12. “ I suppose the selectors arc thinking really more about 1932 than New Zealand,’ writes Mr M. D. Lyon in thDaily Mail, in criticising Jardine’s selection. ’* Has Jardine the personality f.?r a test captain?” asks Mr Lyon. “ H<is quiet, cool, and determined, but uninspiring. It is doubtful whether hwould get 100 per cent, value from his field, and also whether the selectors art justified in giving him the captaincy cf a three-day test when obviously all they have in their minds is to find a captain for Australia. It is of great psychological importance to England to beat New Zea land decisively, and I query if Jardin-> is the man to do it.”

THE COUNTY MATCHES. LONDON, June 9. Rain continues to spoil county cricket. Lancashire, first innings 169 (Peebles four for 57) ; second 200. Middlesex, first innings 158 (Lee 88; Hodgson, four for 47), second 148 (R. Tyldesley, six for sa). Lancashire won by 63 runs. Surrey, first innings 285 (Shepherd not out 167). Essex, first innings 227 (Gover five for 50). Surrey won on the first innings. Glamorgan, first innings 114 (Jupp five for 54) ; second 156. Northants, first innings 190 (Bakewell 113; Mercer five for 57, Ryan five for 63) ; second, five for 81. Northants won by five wickets. Nottingham, first innings 146 (Townsend six for 59). Derby, first innings two for 168 (Storer not out 85). Derby won on the first innings. Hampshire, first innings 305 (Mead 93). Warwick, first innings five for 191. Match drawn. Yorkshire versus Sussex.—No play. Match drawn. Kent, first innings five for 300 (declared; Woolley 89). Leicester, first innings 148 (Freeman five for 68), Mar riott five for 43). They followed on with 133 (Freeman five for 53). Kent won by an innings and 19 runs. Worcester, first innings 103 (Parker five for 44) ; second 79 (Parker five for 39). Gloucester, first innings five for 253 declared (Hammond 100, Neale 96). Gloucester won by an innings and 71 runs. LONDON, June 12. There was rain throughout the country and play in the county matches was interrupted. Following are the results:— Worcester, first innings 194 (Peebles five for 68; second, five for 202 declared (Nichol 116, Gibbons 53). Middlesex, first innings 250 (Hearne 58, Foot five for 66). Middlesex won on the first innings. Kent, first innings 331 (Woolley 168 Matthews five for 79). Northants, first innings 134 (Freeman six for 68) ; second, 79 (Freeman six for 26, Watt four for 44). Kent won by an innings and 118 runs. Sussex, first innings, nine for 226 declared (Cook 67) ; second, one for 36. Glamorgan, first inniugs 141 (Wensley five for 45). Sussex won on the first innings.

Nottingham, first innings 295 (Carr 75) ; second, four for 246 declared (Keeton 100 not out, Carr 67). Essex first innings 228 (Pearce 78) ; second

211 (Cutmore 53, Arthur Staples five for -47). Essex won by 102 runs. Lancashire, first innings, four for 157 (Iddon not out 51). Hampshire, first innings 112 (R. Tyldesley seven for 57). Lancashire won on the first innings. Cambridge, first innings 126 (Snary seven for 31) ; second 191 (Hunan 67, Geary seven for 57). Leicester, first innings 203 (Browne seven for 59) ; second, five for 115. , Leicester won by five wickets. PLAYERS v. GENTLEMEN. TWO CENTURIES RECORDED. _ LONDON, June 11. Players in their first innings scored 329 (Hobbs 110, Sutcliffe 120; Allom four wickets for 55). Gentlemen in their first innings have lost five wickets for 155 (Jardine 56). ' LONDON, June 12. Gentlemen, first innings 205 (\yellard five for 45). Players, second innings three for 13a (declared). Gentlemen, second innings three for 94. The match was drawn. PROPOSED AFRICAN TOUR. SYDNEY, June 12. Hie Australian Cricket Board of Control has agreed to guarantee the South Afi ican cricketers £12,000 as expenses and 10 per cent, of the profits in Australian currency.

In. N.O. n.s. Runs. Aver. c. s. Dempster 11 4 212 783 111.85 J. E. Mills .. 10 0 92 378 37.80 H. G. Vivian .. 8 2 135 218 36.33 It. C. Blunt 11 1 120 357 35.70 W. E Merritt 9 *35 106 33.29 M. L Page .. 12 1 113 342 31.09 T. C. Lowry .. 11 1 •101 301 30.10 G. L. Weir 12 1 •100 284 25.81 I. B. Cromb .. 8 1 *52 164 23.42 IL O. Talbot .. 11 I 00 225 22.50 A. JI. Matheson 4 4 •13 22 22.00 J. L. Kerr 13 0 88 266 20.46 C. F. W. Alleott 4 0 25 53 13.25 IL C. Janies .. 9 0 42 95 10.55

Witts. Runs. Aver. Matheson ,. .. .. 14 222 15.85 Cronib .. .. 25 407 1C.28 Merritt .. .. .. >51 901 17.00 Blunt .. .. .. 15 415 27.06 Allcott .. .. 5 158 31.60 Weir .. .. .. .. 0 292 32.44 Pace .. .. .. .. 3 102 34.00 Vivian .. .. .. 2 123 01.50 Talbot .. .. .. 4 27G 69.00 ■Lowry .. .. .. 0 12