HONOURS EASY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 319, 2 April 1928, Page 6

HONOURS EASY

Eden and Ponsonby Bracketed for Club Championship Trophy

LAST YEAR’S WINNERS DRAW LEVEL

ALONG season of club cricket came to an end at Eden Park on Saturday under perfect weather conditions. It has been a great year for cricket. Saturday after Saturday came and went without a single postponement on account of weather. With the exception of holiday fixtures at Easter, the season is now officially closed in Auckland.

THE opinion was freely expressed at Eden Park on Saturday that the result of the club championship, a tie between Eden and Ponsonby, was a fitting ending to the season’s cricket. These two teams were definitely superior to any of the other six, and on the form displayed throughout the season, it was hard to separate them. Langridge undoubtedly made a big difference to Ponsonby in the previous matches. He was the team’s sheet anchor. The eleven was also lucky to have such a capable leader as N. C. Snedden, who could be relied on to get the best out of his men, and the rapid rise of Roy and Abrim provided an excellent set-off to- the work of Smith and Taylor, two of the veterans of the side, who were right up to their best form with the ball and bat respectively.

NEEDED ONLY A DRAW TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIP

PONSONBY MISSES ITS CHANCE WEIR’S DESTRUCTIVE BOWLING Ponsonby was in the curious position when the final match started on Saturday of having simply to play lor a draw to win the championship. Eden took a big risk of losing the match by spending all the afternoon at the wickets on the first day, and it may now be remarked that but for this excessive caution, which has been noticeable with Eden right through the season, the former champions might have won the honours outright again this season. Except for a battting collapse in the early stages of Saturday’s play, Ponsonby would have had a great chance of making the match a draw: and as it was, when Abrim and Warneford were together round about five o’clock, there was an uneasy feeling in the minds of the Eden supporters that the three and three-quarters hours of play were not going to be sufficient to get Ponsonby out in time. A LIVELY INTERRUPTION It was at this critical stage that one of those totally unexpected incidents occurred which threatened to have the match ended in heated controversy. Warneford was given out leg before to a ball, which he indicated in no uncertain fashion that he had hit. The fact that he had hit the ball was obvious to anyone, but the point was that the umpire was of the opinion that it hit his pad first, and thereupon gave him out. In the midst of a lively outcry the two umpires conferred together, and Warneford was recalled to the batting crease. Fortunately for all concerned, there was no room for argument as to the effect the reversed decision could have, Warneford losing both his remaining two partners -within a few minutes of one another. The innings closed at 5.15, and as there was only half an hour left the two teams adjourned to the pavilion to discuss New Zealand’s sensational collapse at Dunedin, news of which had just arrived over tho wires. There can be no denying that Ponsonby’s inability to force the matter to a draw and win the championship was a big disappointment to its supporters. With Langridge and Guiney out of the team, however, it was considerably weakened, and the early dismissal of Snedden, Smith and Taylor had a depressing effect on the rest of the side. McLEOD PLAYS THE “ROCK” McLeod made a great effort to stem the tide, and Woodfull himself could

not have played the “rock” game more effectively at a time when cirmumstances fully justified a “ca canny” policy. Two players in ther first season of senior cricket, Abrim and Warneford, also made an heroic attempt to save the day, the pair putting on forty runs for the eighth wicket. They had Gillespie thinking hard before McCarthy covered himself with honour and glory by snapping up his third catch at the wickets, Abrim being tho victim. Apart from the spectacular display of Whelan and Bennett on the first day, a great deal of the credit for winning the match and a championship bracket must go to Eden’s jovial wicket-keeper and the younger Weir, who never has much to say for himself, but who makes the ball “talk” instead. He: bowled like a champion on Saturday, the ball that wrecked Commons’s wicket being “one out of the bag.” Details: EDEN First Innings Total for eight wickets (dec.) .. .. 253 PONSONBY First Innings SNEDDEN, run out .... p McLEOD, c McCarthy, b Butler 37 TAYLOR, c McCarthy, bG. L. Weir 6 SMITH, b G. L. Weir o COMMONS, b G. L. Weir 7 LENDRIM, c and b Cooper 4 ABRIM, c McCarthy, b G. L. Weir 20 WHEELER, b A. Weir 18 FRASER, run out 7 WARNEFORD, not out 28 ROY, c Brook-Smith, bG. L. Weir 4 Extras 14 Total isi Bowling.—G. L. Weir, 5-35; Butler, 1-23; Cooper, 1-32; A. F. Weir, 1-42; Postles, 0-5; Whelan, 0-4.