With Bat and Ball

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 227, 14 December 1927, Page 11

With Bat and Ball

A Cricket Causerie

COATES AND CONFIDENCE One of the keenest cricketers in Auckland is '‘Dick” Coates, who would

sooner send down a few overs than a good breakfast any day. But an unfortunate touch of rheumatic fever before the season started has taken some of the sting out of his fiery stuff. On Saturday Dick cheerfully rolled up to give

a hand with Shore A in the senior B contest with Varsity, and skittled seven of the students for 39 runs. Anthony Was Unplayable Twice so far this season the veteran Parnell player, Arnold Anthony, has been classed as almost unplayable. At King’s College a fortnight ago he captured six United Suburbs wickets for 31 runs, and then had to give up bowling owing to an injury to his hand. The United men say that had not the accident come to their rescue, Tony would have bagged the whole ten. Again last Saturday Anthony struck a wicket which suited him particularly well, and for four overs he simply had the batsmen, including Bowley, scratching round and vainly endeavouring to connect with his deliveries. There are times when a man like Anthony in any team is worth his weight in gold, and if for nothing else than his bowling skill he should be certain of another game with the reps. Len Elliott said after the match on Saturday that never before had he been called upon to stand up to such unplayable bowling.

A Consistent Trundler Arthur Williams, of the United Suburbs, shares with Lindsay Weir the honour of being the most promising recruit as a trundler this season, and his form has been very consistent with

32 wickets in seven innings, at an average of 10 apiece. Against Shore’s strong batting team on Saturday he secured six for GO, and had most of the batsmen guessing. The only ones to show any liking for him were the left-

handers, Player and Bush, who scored most of the runs knocked off him, and the ball with which he dismissed the colt was on the way for a certain boundary when Williams took it brilliantly and held a catch which most bowlers with a regard for their hands would have passed with alacrity. With the Auckland attack distinctly on the weak side, the United man should have a first class chance for the first Shield match. The ball which skittled Dapre on Saturday was “one out of the bag,” which would have put paid to any batsman s account.

Suburban Notes A Rapid Rise Last year Storey was playing fourth grade cricket; now he is opening batsman for Harbour Board Colts. This lad is only 17 years old and apparjudging by his last few efforts, will go a long way. Unlucky Richardson, Harbour Board Colt’s stock bowler, is unlucky to have missed the selector’s eye. His bowling, especially of late, has been really good and in his last two matches he has obtained averages of 5-54 and 7-62. “Whom the Gods Love” Had the Harbour Board Colts scored in their first innings at the rate they did in the second, the seniors would have had a hard task last Saturday. It cannot be said that slack fielding caused the big tally in the second Innings, because Harbour Board A was noticeably weak in that department in the early part of the day. To lose by six runs, then by 32, and again by 10—surely the gods * are against the youngsters. A Plucky Effort

Fletcher ran into a nasty smack on Saturday when making a dash for his crease. He leaped about two yards just to meet a ball hard thrown in which laid open a fair imitation of a butcher’s shop right on his jawbone. Over at the hospital he was bound together and came back and after his colleagues had held the fort for an hour or so he went back to his innings and played a hand of 13 not out.

The Artistry of Cricket Robinson, for G.reen Lane, is one of the finest stylists in the suburban competition. He takes a firm stance at the crease and faces every ball with confidence. He appears to have his mind firmly made up and there is intention behind every stroke, whether played or punished. His innings against Ellerslie is the first that has done him justice this year, for he has„ made a poor showing, reading 4, 14, 1 and 9, but with a fine 89 on Saturday h© won the unstinted plaudits of all the grandstand. A Great Enthusiast There has been quite a bit of rejoicing in the Green Lane Club over Mr. J. Elliott’s century. It is the first century in the club’s history and to mark it suitably the club decided to give the veteran a good bat. So he and his brother have picked over almost all the bats in Auckland and selected a beauty with which Mr.

Elliott hopes to knock up a few more centuries fo.r the Laners. As a kind of quid pro or perhaps it would be more correct to say out of his great enthusiasm for the game. Mr. Elliott has agreed to take over the coaching of the club’s junior players at net practices. It is certainly a commendable step. Clubs should give their juniors every attention, far there they will find the material with which to revitalise their senior when the old hands begin to sigh for the pavilion’s shady corner.

Fielding Counts Quite a few of the suburban players who on their batting averages or their bowling might have been expected to catch the selector’s eye in view of the Walker Shield matches have only mediocre fielding to thank for their omission. On the first day of the season the standard of play in the paddock was weak, but it has been improving until on Saturday things were very much better. Perhaps it was all due to a few welltimed words from the selector; perhaps it was the natural trend of play. It was good to observe and it is to be hoped that it will continue. Some sides seem to put no zest into the field work until they are in the cart and simply have to keep runs down. A notable feature of the EllerslieGreen Lane match at the Domain on Saturday was the splendid fielding of the former side. The bowlers, too, realised that they had a say in the placing of the field and in this they used excellent foresight. In fact, good as the Green Lafie batting was, it very seldom found the hole in the field. H. Burton is a particularly smart fieldsman and, incidentally, a versatile batsman. He is down to practice for the representatives, which is no surprise.