MERRITT IMPROVES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 827, 22 November 1929, Page 7

MERRITT IMPROVES

Watching W. E. Merritt’s bowling in a couple of cricket matches this season, a Christchurch writer has gained an impression that the H.S. ()1«1 P.nvs googlie man has < greater command over the ball than lie had last season. Statistics seem to confirm that impression. On the first five Saturdays of the 1925-29 season Merritt bowled ! 92 overs, of which I eight were maidens. [ and he took 20 j wickets for 299 i runs —an average of 14.95 runs a wicket. The opposing teams were Old Collegians, Sydenham and St. Albans. He got six wickets in one innings and five in each of two innings in those five Saturdays. In tiie first five Saturdays of the pres- ! cnt season, however, he has bowled ! 71.3 overs, 21 being maidens, for 169 | runs and 23 wickets—an average of 7.34 runs a wicket. More wickets at ! less than half the cost! The opposI ing sides this time have been Linj wood. Sydenham and West Christ- | church. Thrice he has taken six i wickets in an innings, and once five j wickets. The use of Old Boys’ fast- , medium bowlers to pave the way for Merritt probably is a factor in this improvement, but it appears ru the writer that Merritt himself has also ■ improved, both in “steadiness under i fire” and in maturity of judgment.