CRICKET COMMENTS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 152, 19 February 1932, Page 6

CRICKET COMMENTS

"Cover Point.")

WELLINGTON'S FORTHCOMING SHIELD FIXTURE WITH OTAGO. KEEN BATTLE ' LIKELY.

(Notes by '

The Wellington eleven will have its chance at Dunedin this weelc of winning for the province the cricket supremacy of the Dominion for the 1931-32 season. It is ,a stall order the Wellington men have cn hand, however, as in order to win the Plunket Shield they must beat Otago outright in a match limited to four days. Wellington has proved this season that it has the best-balanced team in the Dominion, but if the wicket is firm at ' Carisbrook this week some fast scoring will have to be done "if four innings are to be completed in four days. The '553 piled up in the first innings at the Basin Reserve against Canterbury at the New Year showed that the Wellington team was strong right down to the last man. In fact, Jack Newman, the last man, seored 21, Every man on the side, with the exception of Henderson, reached double figures, with the reliable Dempster leading the way with 154, Dustin reaching 92. Hepburn and McGirr entering the fifties, and Lowry and James ending up in the forties. If Dempster, Dustin, Lowry, Hepburn, McGirr, Lambert, James, Croolc, and Reaney get going on a firrn^ wicket at Dunedin, Badcock, Dickinson and Blunt should be very tired men before the last wicket falls. Otago Strong. | If the spin of the eoin should favour the Otago eaptain, however, it may easily be the Wellington men who will be shin sore on Saturday night. Blunt, Badcock, Cherry, Knight, Smith, Dunning, Coupland, Elmes, Dickinson, and Hawksworth form an imposing array of batsmen to dispose of on a good wicket, and it remains to be seen whether the Wellington bowling will be equal to the task. When Canterbury was dismissed in the first innings for 276 at the Basir Reserve at the New Year, Wellington supporters were satisfied that th( local bowling was excellent, but wher Roberts and Page put on 278 for th fourth wicket in the second innings nrnninus had to bp. readjusted some

vhat. Canterbury, in this innings, hit ip 526 for eight wickets, and then xpplied the closure, and it was per- ^ naps as well that rain stopped play, i is Wellington might have had some ^ lifficulty in getting the 250 required to win in the fourth innings of the ( natch. i Signs have not been wanting that . Otago cricket has been restored to the position it held in the 'nineties, ( when the province had as strong a ^ team as any centre in the Dominion. , The engagement of F. T. Badcock as professional coach has had a great leal to do with the great improve.nent in form which has been revealed by the Otago team in Plunket Shield matches this season. Then men from the far south gave Canterbury a big fright at Christmas ;ime by piling up 589 runs in the seiond innings. This was the occasion an which Roger Blunt made his remrd score of 338 not out and Badcock 105. After having been 311 runs ahead on the first innings, Canterbury had to scratch hard to eventually win the natch by the narrow margin of three •vickets. The Otago men then went north, and signally defeated Auckland by 134 runs. This shows conclusively that Otago :as eome back into the very front rank and can seriously challenge any province for honours on the playing .ield. A Batsman's Paradise. Carisbrook is acknowledged to be the best wicket in New Zealand; in fact, P. F. Warner, the eaptain of the M.C.C. team which toured the Dominion in the 1902-03 season, gave this verdict after he had scored a double century at- Dunedin. Wellington batsmen have put up some great scores on the historic ground. The highest aggregate ever scored in a Plunket Shield match was recorded at Carisbrook, when Wellington met Otago for the Shield in the 1923-24 season. In this game 1905 runs were piled on for the loss of forty wickets. What earthly chance will there be of finishing the game in four days if a similar orgy of scoring sets in at Dunedin this week-end ? Springbok Averages. In view of the approaehing visit of the South African cricketers to the Dominion, the averages of the team in the five tests played against Australia are of interest. The averages are : — TI A

i Dempster Praised. In discussing the New Zealand i fearn's recent English tour, the Cric- , keter Annual, 1931-32, has the fol- " lowing comm'ents on the batsmanship - of New Zealand's crack batsman, C. - S. Dempster: — "There have been " those enthusiastic enough to put the j New Zealander in the same class as Bradman, Trumper, Ranjitsinhji and . the like, W.G., naturally being omitt- . ed. Perhaps their zeal may have led . them too far ,but, in any case, Dempster is very high up in the list of

batsmen of the present day. He is sturdily built, of no high stature, with good wrists and great quickness of foot. Add to these qualifications a cool head, and it is easy to see that there is a great batsman before us. Generally speaking, his greatest strength appeared to be on the onside, although all the strokes were his when occasion came to use them. Still, one must harp on his quickness in turning anything the least bit short to his advantage on the on-side. Few players of the present. day are his equal in this respect."

i IN N.O. H.S. Total Avg. Mitchell .. •• 10 — 95 322 32.20 Taylor .... 10 — 84 314 31.40 I Vincent .. •• 10 3 4S 189 2i.00 I Christv .. « 10 — 63 235 23.50 Viljoen .... 8 — 111 152 19.00 1 Cameron .. .. 10 — 52 155 15.50 Curnow .... 8 — '47 117 14.62 Dalton 4 — 21 52 13.00 1 Morkel >. •• 10 — ^0 98 9.80 McMillan .... 8 — 29 52 6.50 Frown 2 — 8 10 5.00 Roll 10 5 10* 20 4.00 Ouinn 10 2 11 30 3.75 [ *Not out.

BATTING

Runs. Wkts. Avg. Roll 624 23 27.13 Quinn 511 13 39.30 - McMillan 339' 7 48.42 Vincent 532 10 Morkel .. .. » 193 2 96.50 Frown 100 1 100.00 Mitchell 8 0 Christy 14 -0

BOWLING