CRICKET.

Shannon News, 12 January 1923, Page 3

CRICKET.

NOTES ON THE GAME. ■The competition fixtures lor 10-mor-row are: Shannon v. Public Works at Shannon and Weraroa v. Y.M.C.A. at Levin. Foxton has the bye. Y.M.C.A. was not able to muster a full team agains't Shannon last week, and suffered a defeat. With five down for 55, Randall secured the remaining wickets for nil. Field and Moodie were Y.M.C.A.'s most useful run-getters. With the ball the former captured five wickets, and is proving himself a good all-round man for his club. Widdas, an emergency for Y.M.C.A., did well to secure three Shannon wickets. Auckram evidently had a day off, only one wicket, falling to his lot. Hunt continues to bat well for Shannon, and made 20 against Y.M.C.A. He is the makings of a solid bat.

Grainger, who plays with a good deal of bad luck, got into double figures on Saturday, and Randall and Stewart, a pretty reliable pair, also got going. Randall was easily the most successful Shannon bowler, bagging six wickets, Stewart two and Grainger and Harris one apiece. Weraroa set Foxton a pretty big task to beat a score of 152, and they failed to do it by 88 runs. Weravoa's was only a four-men score all the same, there being no less than six "ducks" on the sheet. Want of practice, evidently. Hughes hit hard and often for 51, a good performance. O'Connor showed a bit of his old form in putting on 40, and the same can be said of Pringle (32). Howe was the only Foxton bowler who looked like getting wickets. He made a mistake in not opening the bowling instead of waiting tih the otiier bowlers were getting knocked ali round the ground. He wound up, however, with the good average o, eight lor 3b, including the hat uick. The last five wickets lei I to him in 12 balls.

Higgins got the two remaining WicKets, Reay being unsuccessful with ttio ball. The latter made a iairly long stay at the wickets for 10, and is abom the best all-round player Foxton has. Weraroa's fielding was not up to the other displays they have given this season, and cost some runs. There is no excuse lor loose fielding, and the team will want to wake up on Saturday. Pringle, five for 18, did the best with the bail, whilst O'Connor got iwo for 21 and Sloan one for 9. Sloan was out of form, and his direction was not good. With his pace wickets should come his way if he gets into form.

llopa, who played as a substitute lor Foxton, proved the liveliest fieldsman the visitors had. Shannon's win last Saturday makes them level pegging with Y.M.CA. This makes matters interesting, aid to-morrow's matches will be keenly contested. Speaking on the second test match,, the Christchurch Sun says: "'Collins' century'was a splendid knock, not excelled in all-round merit by anything the Englishmen have yet shown as. Collins learned, his game in a good school".

It has been recorded that Mold, the great English express bowler, knocked a. bail three chains, buT on Saturday last a Wellington junior sent a bail to the boundary, 45 yards away. The bail might have travelled further, as it was stopped by the bank. The following will represent Public Works Cricket Club against Shannon, at Shannon, 16-inorrow (Saturday), play to start at 2 o'clock sharp: H. Burrows, S. Newth, T. Mason, N. Pope, J. Hemmingsen, J. Doidge, C. Morgan, R. Bishop, J. Holden, C. Harris, C. Newton and W. Picard (twelfth man). Shannon v. P.W.D., at Shannon: Grainger, Randall, Stewart, Prain, Harris, Main, Parsons, Johnsion, Small, Hunt, Abbott, Mason (twelfth man). M.C.C. CRITICISED. After so much favourable comment on the play of the English team, 11 i» a change to find the visitors freely criticised by the Christchurch' .bun, and slated to some, order. The Sun says: ''Judged on its exhibition in the second Test, the batting standard of the M.C.C, is far from, impressive. There are one or two exceptions; MiacLaren and Chapman, for exaiupje. Chapman promises to obtain his AllEngland cap very soon now. Heroic as to size, he plays tTTe great gaiif : c\ whether run-getting or run-stoppiag, most dashingly. If England lias any more such colts, she need not worry about her cricket future. The rest of the M.C.C. do not average up high in the batting scale. They are not sircnig in strokes, and are rarely enterprising. Which is to say that they are usually dull and relentlessly orthodo-x. Hardly a man among them but. who gets all his runs in front of the \vi.c-