CALLING THE ROLL

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 217, 2 December 1927, Page 10

CALLING THE ROLL

Auckland Will Face Stiff Task in Plunket Shield FEW CHANGES FORESHADOWED AT the end of the present month, the Plunkett Shield series will be entered upon, and Auckland, as holder of the premier cricket trophy of Maoriland, will be called upon to meet, in quick succession, Otago, Canterbury and Wellington.

1 T this week's meeting ot the - v Management Committee ot the Auckland Cricket Association, the selectors of the Auckland team were appointed- If anything, it was a belated appointment. Selectors should be appointed earlier in the season, in order to give them the fullest possible opportunity to study the form of the Fortunately, in the present instance, the selection committee is the same as last season. It is not as if they were breaking new ground. They selected

the team, and it is to be hoped that he is able to maintain his best form. Elliott has batted and bowled well for Y.M., while those who have been showing good form with the bat are Busli, Hendy, Monteith, Schnauer and Prater. Williams’s fine bowling performances give him a strong claim to consideration, and were he able to put up a few’ good scores with the bat, the United Suburbs skipper would be very hard to keep out of the team. Gillespie and Matheson have so far scarcely struck their best form, but it is difficult to see either losing his place, unless one or the other goes clean off Lis game. Butler, who came into the picture last year, has so far not managed to strike form. An unlucky chap, Butler, both in football and cricket. BOWLING MAY PRESENT A PROBLEM Summed up, Auckland should be able to put a powerful batting side in the field, and the fielding itself should be sound, although this may weigh against one or two players. If Allcott is uncertain, however, the bowling may reveal weaknesses, and if Dacre is again captain he will need to show all his old skill in “ringing the changes” with what looks at present perilously close to a battery of change bowlers. Auckland is still without a pace bowler, and the nearest approximation to a stock medium righthander is either Matheson or G. L. Weir, both of whom are still on the border-line as a permanency at one end of the wicket. On a wicket that is doing anything, however. Bowley. Gerrard and Anthonv arc liable to stick up the best of batsmen. while when a partnership has to be broken. Dacre himself with his innocent-looking “round-armers" is just as likely to get wickets against the best in the land as when he moved the veteran Yorkshire men to puzzled astonishment, and strange words in the broad North Country dialect. —J. M. McK.

the unbeaten team which last season brought the shield to Auckland; and with practically all of last year’s men available again, they have a sound basis on which to work. A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE In passing, a sole selector was proposed, but the. majority elected to stick to the trio which had been so successful last year. Where one good man is available, the sole selector is the best proposition, as witness Mr. V. R. Meredith’s success with the Auckland Rugby team this year; but with three men of the calibre of Messrs. Snedden. Beale and Cummings available, the Management Committee evidently felt that it could not do better than vote them a return of its confidence. As matters stand at present, one would be inclined to hazard the opinion that on present form, the rep. team will not take a great deal of picking. With three important matches in line, it is safe to say that the committee will not be inclined to take risks, and any newcomers to the provincial XI. will need to establish a clear-cut claim before they can hope to displace any oX last year’s side.

It might be said that the Otago match affords an opportunity for trying out new blood. But even with Otago, it would be dangerous to take chances. Blunt (presuming he will be able to coine north) is just as capable on a wicket that suits him ot going through a side as he is of repeating his phenomenal success last season with the bat in matches m New Zealand. Dickinson, too ia said to have quite recovered from the football injure to his shoulder which reduced his effectiveness lost season, and shepherd is reported to be rapidly recovering his old form. Further than thaus an offset to Bowley, Otago has its new couch, Kastman. What would really have helped the Auckland selectors most would have been a match at Christmas against a visiting team like Taranaki or Hawke s Bay. CAN CANTERBURY? After Otago will come Canterbury. On paper, the* representatives of tho cathedral town promise to give Auckland a stern tussle. Think of Merritt and Pago, for a start; Cunningham and Oliver, if they get back to New Zealand form; Newman, the coach; Boon, the wicket-keeper, little inferior to Kowntree or James; Nixon, whom many thought was unlucky to miss the English trip; Keg Read ana others. , , _ . These two matches will be played in Auckland; then late in January the Auckland team goes South to meet Wellington on its native heath in the hollow that was raised from the swampy foreshore by an earthquake in the long ago. A MIXED BLESSING The rise of provincial players in the Wellington area may yet prove a bad thing for cricket in the capital, but at present Wellington has a great array of talent outside the windy city on which to draw. There are Lowry and Worker, from Hawke’s Bay; Dempster and Bern tu. from Wanganui: and a professional coach from either Taranaki or Nelson if necessary. Badcock already being qualiiied as a resident. Other men who may be considered are Shepherd, the English Minor Counties’ batsman, at present in Napier; Rotherham, the ex-Cambridge University cricketer, who is in Rangitikei; and Gallichan, the Palmerston North man. As against this. Wellington has lost that picturesque figure, B. J. Kortlang, the cricket globe-trotter, who is at present in Sydney; while Ken Tucker may find himself without Hidd lest on. who is not expected back till some time in the New Year. In the city itself, Wellington seems to have unearthed a likely batsman and a brilliant slip field in "Foley, while Massey is also well spoken of, and Rollings seems to have come back to his best form. AUCKLAND’S PROSPECTS No, Auckland will want its very best team this year. Of last year’s side, X. C. Snedden has decided to give the game best at a comparatively early age in the game. As a consistent allrounder over a long term of years, his place will take some tilling, although Auckland is lucky to have a similar typo of player in Garrard, the Varsity skipper, available, and playing at the top of his form at present. Of those who caught the selectors’ eyes last year, Dacre. Bowley, Mills and Kowntree may be regarded as “certs,” if available. Among the veterans. Anthony and Smith have been bowling well in club games, and it is hard to see "Tony” going out. for one. llorspool has batted consistently, and 1 *la v*»r is still Shore s best all-rounder. There is a doubt about Allcott. His injured foot troubled him a lot in England. and he was often bowling off the wrong foot, to easo the strain on the injured member. If available, he is, of course, a certainty. LIKELY ALL-ROUNDERS Ru!< Garrard, Lindsay Weir and Sn tinders are a trio who have shown good form with both bat and ball, cooper passed the SO mark in both his innings so far, and secured five wickets last Saturday. Fit and well, Cooper would be hard to displace from