THE CRICKET CRITIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 831, 27 November 1929, Page 15

THE CRICKET CRITIC

Sorting Them Out The fourth perils of matches in the first round of the Auckland Cricket Association's senior grade competition have now been concluded, and they .vo seen big changes in the ranking j the teams. .M.C.A., which commenced the season most promisingly, along with Other teams was favoured by t ie luck of the weather at ate r stages, lias been deposed, from wide of place by University. This •jetting out process will go on from -nitoh to match, and by the time the Plunket Shield season comes along, the h mDionship table should give a very jar indication as to which club :ts likely to win the championship for 19-9-30. . * , • The Present Favourites \t the present time if any team or trams can be favoured they certainly *ra University and Parnell. Last season’s premier side, Kden, has been far from impressive so far, and. Ponsonby iias to reach the heights expected of such a strong team on paper, Howler anything can happen in a cricket competition, and even the team at oresent placed last may have a say in the final allocation of the laurels. Varsity Excels Itself Varsity was superior to Shore in aver v department ot Saturday’s game and had the home side hard-pressed throughout. Warwick Smeeton. bowled unchanged in both Shore innings, and woum i up with 3 wickets for 98. Mathleson was in good form, scoring .W runs for once out. and taking five feature of the game was the success of the colt. Lunn, with the b;U f f♦> scored 36 in the students’ first * * Shore’s Lean Season So far the Shore Club has experienced a disastrous spring with three looses and a draw. The batsmen li.ivo entirely failed to strike form, and only Coates has been very dangerous j n the attack. The team seems to lack enthusiasm and keenness, while the .lash and aggressiveness of former seasons is missing. The club has two exceptionally strong senior B teams, which have cleaned up the championship between them during the last three seasons, and an eleven could be selected from them which would give the seniors a good game on present Lasu Season’s Competition

When the fourth series of matches were concluded on December 8 last season Ponsonby headed the championship table with a total oe 12 points. Vi rsity was second with 11, and Eden third with 9. m Papatoetoe Cricket The continuation of the senior B match, Papatoetoe v. Shore Colts, on .Saturday, did not produce very sparkling cricket on the part of the Papatoetoe batsmen. Inded, at ones stage, h follow-on by Papatoetoe seemed very likely. However, a ninth wicket partnership bet wen A. Swaffield and P. Swaffield lifted the score from 78 to 113, and the last wicket put on another 19, so that the final score was 132. The top scorer was P. Swaffield with .28. and other double-figure men were Wotherspoon, 19: A. Swaffield, 18; Kerr, 17; Winks and Henderson, 12 each; and H. Swaffield, Iff not out. The Shore bowling was never loose, and the bowlers had the batsmen thinking all the time. The best averages were H. Wynne, four wickets for 26; Cowie, three for 36; Smith, two for 48: and N. Wynne, one for 5. At 4.30 Shore commenced its second innings, and runs came too slowly to give the team a chance for a fourpointer. Rankjp made a good 60, including two sixes and five fours, before he was out to a magnificent catch by 11. Swaffield. The Papatoetoe fourth graders covered themselves with glory by a four-point win on the call of time. The third-graders, in a day of low scoring, secured a three-point win. Double Hat Trick Playing for the Papatoetoe fourthgrade eleven at Papatoetoe on Saturday. against St. Stephen’s, Gordon White distinguished himself by registering a double hat trick, and by disposing of the last batsman with a beautiful one-handed catch. • * * C. E. Guiney, who has just recovered from a serious illness, hopes to turn out for Ponsonby again on Saturday. He has been much missed in recent matches. • * • The Eden Club could perhaps do worse than promote E. T. Thakobau from senior Bto senior A grade. He scored a bright 70-odd in his last match, and last season was a Wanganui representative.

Ledge's Contribution L would, perhaps have been too much to have expected the Englishmen to win the match, as four of the most famous of Australia’s Test cricketers were included in the opposition. Legge, who was married shortly before his departure with the team, was playing ins first match of the tour to date, and contributed 42 to England’s total. The Oxford man, Benson, who «lso was making his first appearance, failed to get going with the bat and was clean bowled by Fairfax for a “duck.’’ Unlucky Sowlt-y If ever there was an unlucky cricketer, E. H, ( ’Ted ) Bow ley is the man. After being on the verge of a trip to Australia last season with the All-England Test team, he got a chance to show his worth on Australian wickets when he landed in Australia with the M.C.C. side this season. Hailed in some quarters as the successor of J. B. Hobbs as one of England’s opening batsmen. Bpwley began his Australian trip in fine form with 79 not out against Western Australia and captured five wickets. Then, so the cables said, he was kept our. ot' the next two matches through having boils in one arm. On top of that, when he commenced again •against New South Wales he had to leave the field with strains, and it is now- announced that he will come straight to New Zealand and go to Rotorua to be treated for sciatica. It is to be hoped that he will be restored to health again in time to assist the team in New Zealand. Bovvley in form would have made a big difference to the chances of the tourists in the Victoria and New- South Wales matches. The Last Match The Englishmen will commence the last of their five matches in Australia against Queensland at Brisbane on Friday next. November 29. This will be continued on November 30 and December 2. and then the team will leave for Wellington to commence its longawaited tour of New Zealand.

Will BettingtorT Play? As Harold Gilligan, captain of the

M.C.C* lias expressed doubts about its casualties permitting the team to keep its engagement against Queensland, and lias asked that this match be abandoned, the Management Committee of the New Zealand Cricket Council lias cabled to him an offer to paV the expenses of R. H. Bettington or any other Anglo-Australian cricketer who could be obtained as a recruit for the team for the Queensland match.

Whelan’s Debut for Grafton R. F. W. Whelan, who was a member of the Eden first eleven last season and who was later relegated to senior B ranks, made another appearance in the A grade on Saturday for Grafton against United Suburbs. lie proved his worth by scoring a bright 32. Eden began the season with a wealth of talenf which could not 'all be utilised by its senior team, and when the club’s suggestion that it be allowed to enter two teams in the grade was negatived by the management committee of the Auckland Cricket Association, quite a bit of this talent migrated to pastures new. From the broadest pdint of view this has had a bene icial effect on Auckland cricket, in that it has tended to even up the competition. * * * Vagaries of Form One of the most amazing features of club cricket to date has been the failure of G. L. Weir, last season an Auckland representative, and winner of the Redpath Cup, to strike any sort of form with either bat or ball/ To date he has scored but nine runs in three innings, and taken one wicket for 106 runs! At the close of lust season it could be said that if a New Zealand team was to been selected at the time, this same G. L. Weir would have been one of the first men chosen. These lapses happen to even the world’s greatest cricketers at times, and as the season is yet but young, there is every chance of Weir getting back into form in the month remaining before the Plunket Shield season opens.

Among the most prominent men playing for Y.M.C.A. are two bearing the names of wild animals of the jungle—Lyon and Panther. Many batsmen have been far from favourably impressed by the ferocity of the former's attack. Parnell’s New Cap The Parnell Cricket Club has adopted a new cap and club emblem. The club’s real colours are maroon

and gold, but in the past difficulty has been experienced in getting maroon caps, the majority worn by the players being red. The new caps, three of which are at present on trial, are being made by E. C. Devereux, Eton, Bucks, the M.C.C. official cap maker. The new emblem takes the form of a gold rose aiul three green leaves, underneath which in gold are the three letters, "P.C.C.” ‘

Among the Juniors The Parnell-Shore A match in the Senior K grade was an exciting game with a close race against time, on Saturday. Thanks mainly to 94 from Roskilly, the Parnell colts put on a useful 272. Shore A set out in determined style to catch the runs, and L)ar: Lusk set his men a fine example with a forcing knock of 96 before fell to the opposing captain. Reg Dow. when his century seemed certain. Shore continued to pile on the runs, but Bell came on with deadly effect to secure 7 wickets for 13 runs, and S missed the first innings win by 13 runs, victory coming to the maroons just on closing time. Bell is a lofty left-hand bowler, who breaks back sufficiently to beat the bat and is very difficult to score off. Junior Team’s Promise One junior team. Grey Lynn, playing in the Auckland Cricket Association’s fourth grade B competition has had rather a remarkable record in the three matches played to date this season. It has scored three fourpoint wins and at present leads in the competition. One batsrnan. Herd, has an average of 42, and Butler, the wicketkeeper, has bagged 15 wickets, most of them caught behind, and he has had only two byes registered against him. G. Nicholls has taken 24 wickets in the three matches, and McDonald has 16 to his credit. The club was only formed at the beginning of the present season, and much of its success is due to the interest of its president, Mr. H. E. Butler. * * * Woolley To the Rescue Pacing a tremendous first innings total of 629 by New South Wales, the M.C.C. batsmen had a most unenviable task when they went to the wickets on Saturday at Sydney. But thanks to the brilliance of Woolley in scoring 209 —the largest score he has ever put up in Australia —Gilligan’s men were able to get within 160 runs of the Cornstalks’ total. When Dawson went cheaply and Duleepsinhji was dismissed fcu~ 34, the M.C.C. chances were anything but bright. Under the circumstances. therefore, 469 was a fine first innings effort. Fletcher’s Promise One player who has created a big impression as both a batsman and a bowler of mark is> Fletcher, formerly a Suburban Association player, who this season joined up with the Ponsonby senior XI. His two first innings brought 26 and 15, culminating in 58 on Saturday in his third effort at the batting crease. In the third match of the season he took 6 wickets for 49 runs, and in the game just concluded 4-49 and

none for three. It is not too much to expect that if Fletcher maintains this form he will at least have a chance of getting into the list of players selected for representative practice.