CRICKET DISPUTE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 305, 16 March 1928, Page 13

CRICKET DISPUTE

HAMILL SHIELD MATCH A KNOTTY PROBLEM (From Our Own Correspondents) TE KUITI, Thursday. With the object of deciding which team shall be declared the winners of the Hamill Shield, a meeting of the Maniapoto Cricket Association was held at Te Kuiti on Tuesday evening. Representatives of the following teams were present: Otorohanga, High School, Railway No. 3, Railway No. 2, and Colts. Mr. H. G. Corbett president, was in the chair. The dispute centred round the fact that Railway No. 1, which was two points in the lead in the contest for the shield, had played one match more than Otorohanga, and had had one more opportunity of securing points, and therefore Otorohanga still held one more match to play, viz. Otorohanga v. High School. This match had been stopped by rain, and the secretary of the association had treated it as a draw. Otorohanga protested against this decision as each team had to play tlie same number of games, and held that it was no match at all, and should be replayed. In place of playing a match with a weak High School team, and winning the shield with a three point win, the Otorohanga Club was willing to play Railway No. 1 in a straightout finish match. After a protracted discussion, it was finally decided that the Auckland Cricket Association be asked for a ruling in the matter. The association’s ruling received on Wednesday was as follows: “That the two teams concerned receive one point each, the match being treated as .drawn.”