CRICKET TOURS.

Shannon News, 27 January 1928, Page 2

CRICKET TOURS.

INTERESTING COMMENT ON RECENT MATCHES.

Writing in the Hawkes Bay Herald, Mr. F. P. Cane refers at length io the recent visit to Haw lie’s Bay of Mr. Selvvyn Simeox’s eleven from the West Coast. In a letter to Mr. Simeox, Mr. Cane says: “Our fellows thoroughly enjoyed the match and are looking forwaid to next year’s fixture. The side that I had was quite a formidable lot: no less than nine of the eleven have represented the province ' during the past few seasons. There is no doubt that tours of this nature are of inestimable value to the Dominion’s cricket. I am particularly looking forward to vour'visit next, year.”

The reference in the H. B. Herald is as follows:

The holiday cricket of the past few weeks was brought to a close last Thursday and Friday with a splendidly contested gartie against Mr. Selwyn Simeox’s touring combination of West Coast cricketers. The local eleven was a really strong side containing a large proportion of repiesentative players, but their form on the first day on a rain affected wicket was far from reassuring, and again emphasises our total inability to adapt ourselves to strange conditions. Our visitors on the -other hand, appeared to be quite at home on the tricky pitch, and as the result of some very sound batting were able to collect the very useful total of 248. At one period our chaps actually had six wickets down for 41 runs, but Owen and Evans had increased this total to 74. without loss at the drawing of stumps on the first day. Nevertheless our position appeared to be a hopeless one, and even our most optimistic supporter could scarcely have anticipated the recovery of the following morning.

The Unexpected Happens. Cricket is ever a game of surprises, however, and in this lies one of its chic-f charms. The following morning broke brilliantly fine, the wicket rolled out surprisingly, well, and the not out batsmen almost immediately got to work in businesslike fashion. Owen took many liberties and collected fours at a merry pace chiefly on the leg boundary, but his methods were scarcely as sound as his partner’s. However, the partnership had yielded 92 very valuable runs before Owen was sent back by a fine catch on the part, of D. S. Mackenzie for a sparkling 76 (14 fours), and by that.time the follow on had been averted. Yet wdth only three wickets in hand and still almost a hundred runs in arrears it seemed unlikely that we would be able to top their first innings score. Evans and Pirie, however, carried on with the good work in excellent fashion and the visitors total was passed with the two Technical College Old Boys still together, each approaching his century on almost level terms. They entered the nineties together and then followed an exciting face for the three-figures. Pirie was the first- to gain the coveted honour but he was almost immediately followed by Evans, and both young batsmen had recorded their maiden centuries in senior cricket.

A Remarkable Recovery. Evans played a very safe knock for 114 (10 fours) presenting'on exceedingly straight blade to the good balls, but he lacked nothing in punishing power when the loose delivery came along. Doug- Pirie was scarcely as solid in compiling his 134 (20 fours), but lie obtained his runs in a much shorter space of time and altogether his was an exceptionally meritorious display of powerful driving. The eighth wicket produced no less than 181 runSj and with the ninth adding a further 55, the innings eventually closed for the fine total of 397. It had been a really remarkable recovery, and with a. lead of 149 runs and three hours to go, there were visions of an innings victory. Our bowling, however, was scarcely up to the requisite standard, and with the exception of Skinner, who sent down a-few overs early in the innings-witTi plenty of pace and some fair command of, length, ana Evans who bowled very . steadily and kept down the runs for considerable periods, the attack lacked length' an and enabled the visitors to stave off" defeat.

Some Promising Players

Mr. Simcox’s team was.quite a form idable combination, and when one realizes that scarcely half the members of the side have any facilities for practice on their home grounds in the Otaki district, and are unused to turf wickets, their splendid all round form in Napier deserves very favourable comment. So far as their attack was concerned, and also as regards their team work, they compared more than favourably with the local players. Of their bowlers Mackenzie, Phillips and Barton, impressed me most. The first named in particular sent down many good balls of the fast medium order, and appears to have the knack of bringing the ball abruptly off the wicket. Barton might perhaps make more use of his run, but is still a very young cricketer, and will no doubt turn out to be a very useful bowler, as his arm action is decidedly good. The fielding of the whole team was excellent and their enthusiastic skipper was very , brisk and effective both close to the wickets and near the boundary. Quite the best catch of the game wa,s taken by ,T. Mackenzie in M. Beuth at deep third-man, but Owen’s splendid piece of work on the second day when he caught Bull off a lofty drive into the outfield was not very far behind so far as merit was concerned. The batting of the visiting side was scarcely so impressive though D. J. Mackenzie took a deal of digging out in the fiisst innings, and his scfn and Barton showed very solid form

when wickets were falling fast in the second.

Like Father Like Son,

The above game brought the visitors . tour to a close, and judging from the remarks of the different members of the side, the pilgrimage up to the East Coast must have boon a most enjoyable one. It is interesting to note that Mr. Selwyn Simeox’s father, the late Mr. W. 11. Simeox, took part in a tour of a similar nature in April 1884. He was one of a party of eleven Rangitikei cricketers which left Palmerston North at five o’clock on'the morning of the 9th of April, -bound for Hastings. [The players’ names were Dr. Frood (captain), Wilson, Jackson, Lark- „ worthy, W. Broughton, Salmon, J. Broughton, Lawson, Fulton, Howell, and W. 11. Simeox.] Travelling in those distant days was far from being as comfortable and as speedy as it is at the present time, and it was necessary to traverse quite a fair portion of The journey by coach.. The travellers breakfasted at Woodville, lunched .at Makotuku, and from there entrained for Hastings, where they eventually arrived after twelve hours of disagreeable travelling in train and coach through heavy driving rain. They were- well rewarded, however, by the five days of excellent cricket which followed against the various clubs of the-district, and so successful were their efforts that they succeeded in winning each of the five matches played. That their bowling was exceptionally formidable was proved by the small nature of the scoring against them. Amongst the most notable of their performances was the dismissal of the H.B. County- Club twice in an afternoon in the initial fixture for the remarkably small totals of 19 and 15, and in following game on the Recreation Ground the visitors accounted for the strong Napier Club for 15 and 24. Small scoring was, however, quite a edinmon occurence on the difficult wickets of those days, and • Mr. W. H. Simeox’s magnificent total of 59 against Scinde Rovers in 'the third encounter, gained for him a gift of a bat from the members of the touring side in commemoration of the unique event.

The Charm of Holiday Cricket. It is to be regretted that there are . not more toms of th : s nature in New Zealand to-day. There'are a few enthusiasts such as Mr. D. C. Collins, Mr. E. C. Beale, and Mr. Selwyn Simeox who go to the infinite trouble of arranging touring sides, but Dominion cricket would be far better served if their number were very greatly increased. There is a certain charm connected with matches of this description which is not always present in Plunket Shield and Hawke Cup cricket where the brightness of the play is too often affected by the serious nature of the contest. Country House„ and._ .JFcstiyal cricket at Home furnish a Very welcome relief from the serious championship games, and are always exceedingly popular fixtures with both the players and the public. There is no doubt that New Zealand would relish a similar relaxation from serious cricket, and it is from touring sides such as the recent Otaki combination that cricket of this nature will in future be derived. .. It is with very great pleasure that. I hear that Mr. Simeox is contemplating another visit to Hawkes Bay next year, and he had already asked me to reserve similar dates for a returii match at Napier. Last week’s encounter proved an exceedingly enjoyable one for all concerned, and the coming match will be anticipated with great keenness by local players.