THE CRICKET CRITIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 617, 20 March 1929, Page 13

THE CRICKET CRITIC

Australians for New Zealand Writing after Australia’s narrow defeat in the fourth test at Adelaide, Arthur Mailey, the famous test bowler of recent years, said the result of the game fully illustrated the value of playing against overseas teams prior to the test series, and wonders whether Australia would have lost the ashes if Australian players had been given the opportunity of playing against overseas teams during the last couple of seasons. "It may not be too late to arrange a tour through New Zealand early next season, he says, and choose players with possibilities for experimental purposes. Though it might interfere with the Sheffield Shield programme, such a tour would improve our chances of regaining the ashes in 19? • as the New Zealand conditions are very much like those of England.” Oldfield Caught W. A. Oldfield, the world’s greatest artist behind the sticks, has been caught by the dart of cupid. He is to be married this month. J. M. Taylor, another great test cricketer, is to be his best man.

Woodfull’s century in the first innings of the fifth test at Melbourne was his fifth for Australia against England. Trumper made the record by scoring six centuries.

An honour cap was recently presented to D. Bradman, the Australian cricket colt, by Mr. C. Bannerman. on behalf of Mr. J. J. Giltman. Bannerman played in the game, many years ago. in which Murdoch made 321, the record score which Bradman broke this season.

A Hobbs Query A controversy has been raging in Australia as to whether Jack Hobbs has ever been bowfied in a test against Australia for a "blob.” Though he has made over 3,000 runs in the tests against Australia, Hobbs was dismissed only three times without scoring, once in Melbourne, on his drat tour in 1908, when he was caught and bowled by J. V. Saunders; once at Birmingham, in 1909, when he was Ibw to C. Ci. Macartney; and the third time in Sydney, with the last Lnglish team, when W. A. Oldfield caught him off Gregory. has had 6innings in these tests, and failed to reach double figures in only seven o 0 9. 6, 3. 0, and 1. He has topped 50 in 25 innings—twelve of these being centuries. , » *

Sensitive Test Cricketers Your test cricketer is sensitive as a second-rate puma donna, and as prone to scent insultan even happening Isays the Sydney Bulletin”). The latest manifestation vs tn muffled fury of some of the Australian Ivers b ing of tlie opinion that the playeis oeme ti-ht-fistedness exMelbourne C.C.s tignt c c atrocity, ceeded even the “YOney s pre _ when a prominent player into vented from taking his nine the members’ pavilion.

Left-Hander’s Day Saturday ,in Auckland cricket,^vas left-handers day. " uns durmen between them " pe them Ing the afternoon and on y ° d 2 05 out. Player ' ls a good propor--81 n 0t f °,eft handers in Auckland club tion of left-hander le ft-hander is teams. ri nuisance by the «“ £:„KS with a right-hander, as extra cnai s fa urdaThoweveTthe 11 left-handers made double dose of leather-chasm^.

Eden’s Position ’inf appears more than likely to hold that position right m Sie end. Earlier this season the men from the mountain suburb drew toYi hftPr match with monotonous relulanty. butof late things have been speeded up somewhat, with the tesu that where previously they were consent with draws, they now secure three-point wins. On the other hand the performances of Eden's great uva, Ponsonby, have become somewhat in consistent. The Ponies’ batting has failed badly in the last two an d this has probably cost them the championship. #

A Great Chance Maurice Tate and “Patsy” Hendren are anxious to secure coaching appointments in New Zealand, and it will be a thousand pities if the services of these two world-renowned players are not promptly snapped up, says the ■•Dominion.” Wellington requires a coach and would be entering into a profitable business undertaking if they were to engage the services of Maurice Tate, as the attendances at the Basin would greatly increase if such a worldrenowned bowler and hard-hitting batsman were appearing in action each Saturday afternoon. The English coaches at present in the Dominion have given entire satisfaction, and have done a great deal of good for the ~ame. Tate and Hendren are fine types of Britishers, and New Zealand could not go wrong in engaging their services. It is a compliment to the Dominion that such famous players are eager to come to this country. Interest Well Maintained Interest in the competition lias been well maintained throughout a long season. Auckland began earlier this season than usual, and has yet three w°eks to run, whereas the southern associations have already terminated their seasons. The system of scoring points here —viz., four for an outright w i n , three for a win on the first innings. and one for a loss on the first innings, has worked fairly well so far. Senior B Winners

By its win over Windmill at North Shore on Saturday, the North Shore senior B grade team has put itself in an unassailable position at the top of the championship ladder. There is yet one match to be played, but even should North Shore be defeated by four points it is too far: ahead of Papatoetoe to have the tables turned. Although the Shore Club has a colts team in the grade, the competition winners are a young side, captained by Dan Lusk, of the ilk of former cricketers like H. B. Lusk. Nicholas and Buisson have been the mainstay of the Shore attack, and Naismith (before he was promoted to senior ranks), J. Bartley, Goldsworthy and Harper, the most reliable batsmen.

Test Series Over Another test series has come and gone, and another chapter has been added to the annals of Anglo-Austra-lian cricket. Australia has 4S wins to her credit and England 46, so that the Kangaroo can still lord it over the lion. When the Englishmen arrive home they will find the South Africans waiting to do battle with them. Then in 1930 the Australians will make another invasion of the Homeland in quest of the ashes they lost at the Oval in 1926 and failed badly to regain in 1929. And so the .game of test cricket goes on. Revival of English Cricket The afer - war revival of English cricket, begun in 1926, lias continued apace, so that to-day the Old Country appears to be well on the way in another peak period of cricket ascendancy. The critics are already prophesying a revival in Australian cricket next year, a revival big enough to turn the tide of English supremacy, recently stemmed for a time at Melbourne. Many ne ;i and unfamiliar names have appeared in the arena. The doings of such men as Hammond. Larwood, Wall, Jackson and Bradman will be watched with great interest in 1930. Long-Drawn-Out Tests The long-drawn-out fifth test, which led one critic to liken it to a funeral procession, has raised again the question of limiting the time of play for test matches. In England in 1926, the first four tests were limited to four days, with the result that none of them were fought out to a definite decision! Only when the fifth was played out was a satisfactory conclusion reached.

Four Days Not Enough Whatever can, and is, being said, against limitless test in Australia, they have at least provided some close finishes, which perhaps would' never have been witnessed had the time of play been seriously curtailed. It seems that four-day tests in England are even more unsatisfactory than playedout tests in Australia. The whole question needs thorough investigation, after which a happy solution may be reached.

Reappointment of Newman The Canterbury Cricket Association has reappointed J. Newman, the Hampshire professional, as coach for the season 1929-30, and thus it is evident that Canterbury can hold little hope of securing the services of either Tate or Hendren next year. Otago has decided not to re-engage its coach, L. C. Eastman, while Auckland has not yet come to a decision on the question. Wellington at present is without the goi*vicos of a pi ofessional coach, F. T. Badcock having retired earlier this season.

Secondary Schools’ Team The following boys have been selected to play for the secondary schools in a match against the North Auckland representative team, to be played at Victoria Park on Friday, commencing at 10 o’clock: Howden, Lewis, Thomson (King’s College), Everson. Hetherington, Vivian (captain) (Mount Albert Grammar), Clapham Dixon, Renshaw (Auckland Grammar), Mclndoe (Takapuna) Grammar), Farquhar (Seddon Memorial Technical College), Shanly (Sacred Heart College).

A.C.A. FIXTURES THE FINAL SERIES The following A.C.A. cricket fixtures will begin next Saturday and end on April 6 with the exception of the third grade final, which will begin next Saturday and end on April 13: Senior Grade A. —Ponsonby v. United Suburbs, Eden Park No. 3; Eden v. Y.M.C.A., Eden Park No. 2; University v. North Shore, North Shore; Grafton v. Parnell, Eden Park No. 1. Senior Grade B—Y.M.C.A. v. Papatoetoe, cancelled; Ponsonby v. University, King’s College; Windmill v. Eden. Victoria Park; North Shore Colts v. North Shore, North Shore; Balmoral v. Parnell, Victoria Park. _ Second Grade Final. —Grafton v. Epsom United, Domain No. 4. Third Grade Final. —W.Y.M.I. v. Noith Shore, Eden Park No. 4. Fourth Grade Final.—-Victoria v. Northcote, Eden Park No. 5. T +,i House Matches. —John Court, Ltd., Outer Domain No 1. Shore Second Grade.—Section A. North Shore v. Western United, Victoria moral V. Windmill. Victoria 1 ark; Parnell A v. All Saints’. Domain No. o. Section B- City v. Takapuna, Takapuna; United Suburbs v. Parnell B. Victoria Park; Northcote v. Mount Albert. Northcote, University v. Tamaki, St. Heliers. Third Grade.—Section A; King’s College a bye; Y.M.C.A. v. Grafton. Domain No. 8- All Saints’ v. Balmoral. Domain No. 9; Eden a bye. Section B: Teiegraph v Technical Old Boys. Domain No. 14, Point Chevalier v. Birkdale. Victoria Park, Power Board v. Glebe. Domain No. 16. Section C: Remuera v. C.C.C.C.. Domain No. 12; Comrades v. Victoria. Domain no. 10; Ensom United v. Henderson, Hendeison; Aotearoa v. Avondale Depot, Domain No.’ 16: Western Springs a bye Fourth Grade.—Section A: RoskillYV- e.lev v. St. Georere’s, Outer Domain no. -. Telegraph v. King’s College A. King - College: Swanson v. Cambria. Pukmui, Y.M.C.A. v. Papatoetoe, Papatoetoe; Mount Albert A v. Parnell. Mount Albert; Cr C C v All Sahits’. Point Chevalier Section B*‘Point. CWaber v. All Saints’ B. Point Chevalier: 'North Shore v. w estern Seines. North Shore; Kina s Colle .e T-* v. Mount Albert B. King’s College; St. Stephen’s a bye.

THE COACH QUESTION SPECIAL COMMITTEE APPOINTED The question of the engagement of coaches for next season was discussed in committee by the executive of the Auckland Cricket Association at last night's meeting. A special coach fund committee, consisting of Messrs. F. Earl, E. E. Is alder, Carlton Hay, E. C. Beale, X. C. Snedden, J. H. Watts, R. "W. Dow and G. Jackson, has been appointed to go further into the question. With reference to the New Zealand Cricket Council’s request for an opinion regarding Plunket Shield match points, it was decided to recommend that points should be awarded as follow: —Outright win, 8 points; win on first innings. 4 points; loss on first innings, 2 points; tie. 4 points each: when no result after six hours’ play, 3 points each. Mr. L. Wilson was appointed manager of the Auckland team to visit Thames at Easter vice Mr. J. B. Goldsworthy, who was unavailable. Mr. Granger will be in charge of the representative team to visit Hamilton. The Mount Albert Club was granted permission to play its second grade team against a junior representative Rodney team at Eden Park on Easter

j Monday, providing a wicket was available. Grounds for Easter matches were ali lotted as follow:—Eden Park No. 1. i North Auckland v. Auckland, Good j Friday and Easter Saturday; Eden ! Park No. 2, Victoria College (Wellingi ton) v. Auckland University, Good j Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter ! Monday; Eden Park No. 3, Girls’ Asso- : ciation, Easter Saturday.

“A WATERY WICKET” j Mr. Gainor Jackson, North Shore delegate to the Management Committee i of the A.C.A., writes as follows with reference to a paragraph appearing in The Sun on Monday under the lieadJ ing of "A Watery Wicket”: j "The article refers to the condition of the senior wicket on the second day of the match, Y.M.C.A. versus Norm Shore. The groundsman employed by tlio Devonport Domain Board takes strong exception to the statement that the wicket was watered on Saturday morning. He states that no water whatever was put on the wicket on Saturday morning, but says that he followed his usual custom of flooding the wicket on Friday. He admits that tne wicket was rather damp on Satbut says that this was due enI to the cold and dull weather I w Licit obtained on Friday, not drying the wicket as much as usual. "The article seemed to impute a charge of unfairness to the groundsman in favour of the home team, and to this he takes strong exception. In fairness to him, I think the suggestion that the wicket was w'atered on Saturday should be withdrawn.” The unbiased report that the wicket had been watered on Saturday morning was accepted in good faith, but no suggestion of unfairness in favour ot the home team in any way was made against the groundsman. The point that a complaint was made tlie state of the wicket is not disputed, and it is admitted that the wicket was "rather damp” on the Saturday, ala paragraph in Monday's issue of The Sun also emphasised the difficulty of oreparing a suitable wicket on the No. 1 area at North Shore. —Spoils Editor.