With Bat and Ball

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 279, 15 February 1928, Page 7

With Bat and Ball

A Cricket Causerie

THE RUN-OUT THEORY Many a game is lost or won, ami many a batsman goes west, through the value of a run not being properly judged. Some one should get hold of our budding Blunts in the benzine-tin stage of development, and impress on them the fact that while some newspapers are wasting columns on the value of the “call,” or the “inflammatory double.” at auction, the all-im-portant value of the “call” at cricket is never even mentioned; and through sheer ignorance of some rudimentary rules governing running between the "ickets, many a run is wasted and many a wicket thrown away. Scarcely an innings passes but some noble slasher wends his weary way toward the shade of the payilion —and oblivion, muttering imprecations about his fate. “A. 8.,” run out, 0.” Why didn’t the other man call? Why did both say “Yes” and “Mo” in the same breath? Why did no one call? Why did he say, “Go back,” or “Whoa back.” when I had no hope of getting back? And the disgruntled batsman dings his bat into the dark grave of the club locker: loosening up his pads and some lurid remarks anent his club-mate, who is still in batting, and whom he deems responsible for his dismal dismissal when he found himself half-way down the pitch, and not quite certain whether he was heading north or south, while a wicked wicketkeeper was punching in the stumps again and setting the trap for the next victim. He’s out. Well out. “Run out!” THE ONLY CURE The only remedy known to ayerl these pathetic tragedies is a little tuition in the art of “calling.” Once that is thoroughly understood it is simply a question of judgment, and the runner has to decide for himself whether he will risk a short run for a shot to a Hobbs at cover point, or whether he will wait till it is travelling toward a pessimist there who wears braces with a belt, and sports a. hard-knocker as a prophylactic against sunstroke. You can usually walk a single with safety when you hit the ball to the man with braces, °r who looks as though he needs them, but you have to travel at top gear to home if it is some field of a fielder who gathers the ball with either hand, and can hit a single stump twice in every three shots. WHOSE CALL IS IT? But whose privilege is it to call — the batsman or the non-striker? The answer depends entirely on where th€? ball has gone, and there is far less difficulty in laying down the law of “calling” at cricket, than in laying it down as an axiom at bridge that a man with four aces should call “one no trumps” because he has a chance of two quick tricks. The simple rule at pricket is that if the ball passes the batsman, whether it is hit, flicked, or missed entirely, the right of call rests

with the non-striker at the bowler’s end, and it is his mandatory duty to say. “Yes!” “No” or “Wait!” and the batsman should hold his ground, ready to hop off if called, and oblivious whether the ball is in the wicket-keeper’s gloves, or whether he has made a nice cut to fine leg off the inside edge of the bat, or a brilliant drive, a la Edgingam Wanderers, somewhere down the “gully,” where a third man ought to be. THE BATSMAN’S CALL Having impressed on the striker that he must not turn round to watch a ball which goes out of his sight, but must watch and listen to his partner at the other end, the reverse position arises when the batsman plays a ball back which passes his partner at the bowler’s end. Then it is for the nonstriker to look at the batsman, and not follow the course of the ball, and it is the batsman’s bounden duty to say “Y'es,” “No!” or “Wait!” and if the batsman calls for a run, it only remains for the non-striker to run for dear life, and be ready to turn quickly, as a wild return may mean “two more in it.” One has only to recall the Canterbury-Auckland shield match to remember how many runs were not run in Auckland’s second innings before lunch, and how Dacre and Cooper got five singles off six balls in one over when Newman set his field deep, and stealing runs off a blocked ball was easier than taking a play-lunch off a kiddie attending the primer classes. WHEN IN DOUBT The only time any doubt arises is when the ball is played mid-wicket. A square shot to cover point, or a forcing stroke between square leg and mid-on. That, as before remarked, depends a lot on who is fielding there, and how deep he is. If the ball is travelling slowly, and the fieldsman is fairly deep, there is always a run in it. But if the ball is travelling fast, to a sure fielder, far better for both batsmen to say “No!” But in all cases of mid-wicket strokes it should be for the striker to call, because he is necessarily slower off the mark than the non-striker, who should be backing up a couple of yards or so with every ball. Remembering these elementary. perhaps childish, details there should be no confusion with both batsmen at one end. or the runner finding his reverse gear jammed midwicket, and unable to get back in time to save his life. Added to- this understanding of the art of calling correctly, if the first run is always run quickly, with a swift turn for another one, and always running one for the throw-in from the boundary, a very dull game is often brightened up from a spectator’s point of view, and the banker loves nothing so much as some auda-

cious stolen runs, with a demoralised field “bunging” the ball in to both ends at once, and giving away overthrow bounties. PASPALUM DILATUM AT DEVONPORT This paragraph has no reference to any dilatory batsman, but touches on an evergreen subject which seems to have no other name than its botanical one, except when a hot drive hits a • patch of it, and the heroic fielder stops the ball with his ear instead of his hands. Then he calls this robust grass something which implies that he regards it as an obnoxious weed on a cricket ground. As the worthy chairman of the Rangitoto Domain Board remarks about Dr. Hill’s views on the native flora there, “Who gives a button for botany these days?” The same august body is also the Devonport Domain Board, and if the value of paspalum dilatum as a summer fodder has ever before been doubted, let any lawn or pasture expert take a trip to the Shore cricket ground, and study what can be done with this exotic “grass” by intense culture. PASPALUM IN POSSESSION Most of the outfield is as brown and parched as the fieldsmen are at 6.5 p.m. on a hot Saturday. The daisies have died and departed. The buttercups have melted away. The dandelion no longer raises its dandified golden head to defy Dacre’s remorseless knives. Plantains and pimpernels have faded, and the “Onehunga weed” only persists on the adjacent bowling green. But the paspalum dilatum provides the many oases of cool, succulent green, and its drought-defying habits should bring joy to the most fervid opponent of national aridity. At the same time its habits and disposition are not at all suited to a playing area where grazing is not encouraged. The pas. dil. runs, roots, and shoots all ways at once. It enjoys the mower and the hose like one does a hair cut and shampoo, on a hot day, and feels all the more vigorous for it, but the parasitic paspalum is very effectively smothering and suffocating any fine grass which was struggling to outlive the drought, and its presence is now so obvious that a few unemployed might be engaged on a campaign of extermination, before the pest gets utterly beyond control and makes this once lovely little ground impossible as a playing area. WHY GO BACK? Much of the backward rate of scoring these days is due to the cult of back play, which is all against free run-getting. It is not everyone who can play back and force the ball to the boundary like Bowley does, and in a season like this, where the wickets have been for the most part hard and fast, the playing back tactics have often been fatal to good batsmen. The two-eyed stance is usually an accomplice of the back-play pest, and batsmen who used to score freely by using feet and reach to go to the pitch of the ball, are no" tisfied to play back and snick > v ;• is to the slips, or fall to an ignominious and unsatisfactory l.b.w. decision. It is all right to lay back to lay the long handle on to a long hop. It is the proper treatment for such stuff. But when a bowler finds he can drive a batsman back and back with half-volleys and I well-pitched-up balls, it is not long before he puts paid to the backward one’s account. Keep that left shoul- | der well forward, use your feet, and

swing your bat, young man! Go to them, and luck go with you. You may miss ’em and get stumped, but don’t miss ’em. When the drought breaks, and wickets become soft and sodden, you may have to adopt defensive tactics, and go back to watch a hanging ball right up to the bat, but why now? A.C.A. FIXTURES _ SATURDAY’S GAMES Following is the draw for the lower grade cricket matches on Saturday next: Third Grade A.—Eden v. Windmill, Eden Park No. 5; “Herald” v. Technical Old Boys, Domain No. 13; North Shore v. Mount Albert, North Shore; Grafton v. Northcote, Victoria Park; Papatoetoe v. Birkdale, Birkdale; Balmoral v. Remuera, Domain No. 14; Western Springs v. Bycroft’s, Domain No. 12; All Saints v. King’s College, King’s College. Third Grade B.—Henderson v. C.C.C.C., Henderson; Comrades v. Point Chevalier, Domain No. 16; Y.M.C.A. v. Western United, Domain No. 9; Swanson v. City, Swanson; Balmoral B v. Onehunga, Onehunga; Glebe v. Parnell, Victoria Park. Fourth Grade A. —All Saints’ A a bye; Birkdale v. Te Rami, Birkdale; Comrades v. Onehunga, Onehunga; Eden v. King’s College, King’s College; St. George’s V. “Herald,” Outer Domain No. 1; Takapuna v. Y.M.C.A., Takapuna. Fourth Grade B.—Ponsonby v. North Shore, North Shore; Victoria v. King’s College, King’s College; All Saints’ v. Point Chevalier, Victoria Park; Swanson a bye; Eden B a bye; Mount Albert v. Cambria, Puhinui. GAME AT KING’S COLLEGE The Awa team will resume its midweek matches against King’s College to-morrow afternoon. The Awa team is as follows: E. C. Beale, W. J. Coates, P. C. Furley, A. M. Howden. C. E. Howden, G. Hunter, H. A. Jackson, W. H. Johnston, Mulgan, F. S. Taylor, K. H. 'Wilson. SUBURBAN NOTES Martin’s Good Showing As an example of a good all-round cricketer, Martin, of Harbour Board A, would be hard to beat. Bowling against Glen Eden he captured a total of 12 wickets for 7S runs for the two innings. He bowls a medium-paced ball that more often than not deceives the batsman all the way. At the crease he is equally good as his splendid knock of 71 on Saturday will testify. A confident player, he possesses a variety of nice clean strokes that are executed with no mean vigour. It is this class of player that has been the backbone of the Harbour Board team throughout the season. Breese Again The general consensus of opinion now is that Les Breese is, without doubt, the best all-rounder in the Suburban Association. The Harbour Board skipper is not only a skilful player; he is also a strategist. Many of Breese’s moves have been caustically criticised at times, but the very critics have been, perhaps reluctantly, compelled to recognise that the outcome of his generalship has always been victory to his team. Again on Saturday he headed the honours list for batting with the score of 9S. * * * A Good Duo Mann and Paxton make a good scoring

couple for Harbour Board, as their respective scores of 50 and 38 will show. Mann is a reflective stroke player, and a stylist to boot; Paxton, on the other hand, is a hard-hitting forceful batsman. Well-proportioned and possessing a good eye, he has every qualification to “meet ’em half-way”—adding materially to the anguish of the perspiring trundler at t’other end. * * * A Game Un! Alex. Kerr, Glen Eden’s googley artist, hates to have his bowling shown too much respect. This veteran bowler appreciates enterprise and would far sooner -have a batsman hit him about the paddock than be curtsied to throughout the afternoon. Incidentally it was Alex who bowled the good ball that spelled O-U-T for Breese when that worthy was only a brace off his century! Quack-Quack! Glen Eden certainly had an afternoon in the farmyard on Saturday, five of its batsmen making ducks. To mutilate a proverb, “An egg a day . . .!” Nicklin in Form Against Ellerslie, Nicklin, for Harbour Board B, gave a good all-round display. With the willow he punched the bowling about to score 67 and eight in the two innings respectively, while his bowling upset four good wickets for 40 runs. “Nick” is no sluggard in the field either; always on the alert and never “too tired” he keeps quite a few runs away from the score-book. * * * Takes It Easy Ellerslie gave quite a mediocre exhibition in its second innings on Saturday. In fact, it was quite apparent the batsmen were just playing out time. Gedye hit up a fair enough 28, and Baxter and Lawrence trifled long enough to get 12 and 11 respectively. As for the remainder —they were present. • * • That Follow On The first innings seems to have found Green Lane “steadies” tied up in knots by Can’s bowling, which was exceptional. Neither Eric Watts nor Seccombe, both aggressive, was able to make headway against the Ponsonby attack. The follow on was brighter cricket, but in reality was confined to three men. It is extremely doubtful whether Green Lane would have been any better off by forcing the pace, which was not really slow. The result might have left Ponsonby with a three-pointer. As it happened, with the championship safely in Harbour Board A’s hands it mattered little whether Ponsonby scored a two or three-pointer. Watts’s Great Display Undoubtedly the finest display of the day was given by Clive Watts last Saturday, when he rattled up his 84 This is the biggest tally off his bat though earlier in the season he knocked up 50 in just under the half hour. If he gave a chance on this latest occasion it was a very slim one. The ball was wide, and he stepped out to it and missed —but so did the wicketkeeper, so there was no risk of stumping. The string of fours that resulted from the bright knock was not unusual for Watts, but the association finds another hard-hitting, quick-scor-ing batsman to further swell the list of this variety so common at the Domain that a sixer is seldom mentioned in reports. The Late Start No excuse can be found for teams late in appearing on the field. Often

players are late arriving and find substitutes in the field which is not playing the game, but this does not form the only side to the question. Delay in starting has been seen on more than one occasion, and quite frequently where matches have been in dispute claims have been put forward for extra time, but not before the start of the innings—the correct time. The association would do well to. point this out to players and so save unnecessary friction between sides. A Good Performance Another wicketkeeper to come into the limelight lately is Kent, who was behind sticks for Glen Eden in its match against Harbour Board A. There existed a fine little understanding between ’keeper and bowler, A. Belsham, as witness the three stumpings and one catch during the board’s innings. Incidentally, in the big total of 384, Kent allowed only three byes to pass him. He followed this fine performance up by topping Glen Eden’s second innings score with 24 not out.

LODGE MATCHES In the three matches played in the A section last Saturday Alberta and Good Intent had the anticipated wins over Pupuke and Ponsonby respectively, while Remuera accounted for Star of Eden. Good Intent v. Ponsonby.— With two wickets down for 12 runs, it looked as if Good Intent would have to battle hard in order to carry their score over the 100 mark, but a good stand—in which the batsmen were ably assisted by the fieldsmen politely refusing to catch them c> u t—saw the score carried to 107 before the third wicket fell. Of the 245 runs scored by Good Intent, Stewart scored 73 before taking: pity on the bowlers and retiring. Mackie came next, with 64. Wrathall collected 33 before the bowler scattered his bails, and Matson, jun, .fell leg-before to Hewitt after scoring 25. All the bowlers returned large figures, but for this they can thank their team. It is doubtful if a team worse in the field could be found in the grade. Slow off the mark when a ball went past them, the men generally had either wicketkeeper or bowler well away from the stumps in order to gather in wild returns, while if the batsmen lifted the ball there was little cause for anxiety for them, but the bowlers were given cause for hard remarks. Every wicket taken last Saturday was earned. Only two men were caught out, but they fortunately deflected the ball into the hands of the wicketkeeper. Itewitt took six wickets for 91 runs, while Aitken took three for 58 runs. Different altogether was the fielding of Good Intent, while Ponsonby was at the crease. By the time the first innings closed for 56 runs six men had been dismissed through catches, the rest being bowled. In the second innings the fieldsmen repeated their performance. A lifted ball meant the dismissal of the batsmen, and five men were dismissed in this innings in this fashion. Leg before wicket decisions were popular during the match, and two men were dismissed in this fashion in the second innings, making a total of four men out Ibw for th» match. In Ponsonby’s first innings Aitken (14) and Pitcher (14) were the only ones to last long enough for double figures, while in the second innings Aitken (30) and Davern (12) were the top scorers in an innings which resulted in a score of 91, Good Intent having a three-point win by an innings and 98 runs. In the first innings Houlahan took five wickets for 18 runs. Wrathall took two for 26. and Waters took three for six runs. In the second innings, Houlahan again proved himself as Good Intent’s stock bowler, and took six for 16, Stewart took three for IS. while Mackie took

one for 19. This bowler took his wicket with a beautiful break ball, but he would do well to pay attention to the position of his feet when about to deliver the ball. He suffered several “no ball” calls during the match. Remuera v. Star of Eden. —Star of Eden paid first visit to the crease, and knocked 60 runs off the bowling of Hamilton and Jackson for the innings. Blackely scored 20 of that total, while V. Cahill scored 13. Both the Remuera bowlers proved hard to play, and Hamilton finished up with seven wickets for 28 runs, while Jackson took three for 21. Remuera replied to that score with 107 runs, Robinson 27, and Lyons 20, getting the highest scores. For Star of Eden, Parr took four wickets, Wade took pne, Brett one, while Blakely took three. Star of Eden did not do so well in their second innings, and though Blakely scored 16, and Brett 16 not out, the rest failed to make an impresion on the bowling, and the innings closed leaving Remuera in the position of requiring four runs to gain a three-point win. This they did, their second innnlngs score reading one wicket for 11 runs. Hamilton again took most of the wickets during Star of Eden’s second innings, "jetting five for 22 runs, while Robinson took three for 17.

Pupuke v. Alberta. —Pupuke won the toss, but decided to see what their bowlers could do to Alberta, and made the 1.0.0. P. team bat. But Alberta did not do what was expected of them, and go cheaply. In fact, they rather hit Pupuke’s stock bowler about, and the innings produced 100 runs, with Graham 28, Buckle 20, and Mitchell and Hewson 14 each the top scorers. Jones took five wickets for 21, while Meredith was liked by the batsmen, who made him concede 58 runs for his bag of three wickets. After their previous week’s performance, and remembering that the last time they met Alberta they had given that team a shock, Pupuke did not feel very upset about the score they had to pass, but they were up against solid bowling, and wickets fell fast and cheaply, with the innings closing for the score of 36. Pupuke were unfortunate that Elliott went cheaply for 11 runs, being run out through a misunderstanding with his partner, but his was the second highest score, Butler 14) heading the list. Alberta’s bowlers were well on the wicket, Atkinson taking four for 11, Buckle three for 13, and Moyle two for 5. Alberta also remembered their previous match with Pupuke, when the Shore team showed unexpected and, leaving nothing to chance, decided to hat again rather than have the Shore team follow on. With 84 runs on for seven wickets, and just over an hour of play, Skipper Clark decided it was safe enough to prevent Pupuke upsetting things, and declared, leaving the Shore team 149 runs to get for a three-point win. Pupuke did better in their second innings, but it was only througn two rnen— Jones, 30, and Butler, 28 not out—that the score was carried t? £f> runs for the innings. . . Alberta’s usual bowlers again shared the wickets, Satchell taking four for 20, Atkinson two for 10, Buckle three for 13. Alberta won by 59 runs. SUBURBAN CRICKET SATURDAY’S FIXTURES Following are the suburban cricket fixtures for next Saturday: Senior A.—Ponsonby v. Glen Eden, Domain No. 3, Messrs. Molloy and Stanley: Ellerslie v. Green Lane, Domain No. 2, Messrs. Johnson and Tabener; Harbour Board A and Harbour Board B, Domain No. 1, Messrs Ball and Price. Senior B.—Tramways v. Harbour Board. Victoria Park No. 10, Messrs. Lu-

tener and Potter: PonßOnby v. Victoria, Domain No. 11. Messrs. Abbott and lon der Hide. secondgbad e Section A.—Otahuhu v. Green Lane, at Otahuhu; Victoria v. Invicta. Domain >.o, 6; Power Board v. Edendale. Victoria Park 12 Section B.—Takanini v. P-W. Camp. Victoria Park; New Lynn v. Tamaki. Remuera No. 6; City Crescent, a bye. THIRD GRADE Section A.—Green Lane v. Waratali. Remuera No. 10; Fawcett’s v. Domain No. 15; Gas Garage v. Chelsea. Victoria Park No. 7; Meat Co. v EJlerslie, Domain No. 7; Epsom Baptists v. Parhell, Remuera. Section B.—Victoria v. Power Board A . Remuera No. 8; Public Works v. Tamasi, ! St. Heilers Bay; Otahuhu v. Takanini, Otahuhu; Richmond, a bye. Section C.-Manurewa v Glen Eden. Domain 6A; Am bury s v City Council, Victoria Park No. 4; Carlton v. Edenda Outer Domain; Parnell v. Avondale. Remuera No. 7. fourth grade Victoria V. Richmond Baptists, Gre. Lynn Park; Carlton v. Chelsea, Outer Domain.