MISSING 'KEEPER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 893, 10 February 1930, Page 11

MISSING 'KEEPER

“WAS NEVER AVAILABLE,” SAYS ROWNTREE

CRICKET INCIDENT EXPLAINED

The sensation of Saturday’s cricket match between Auckland and the M.C.C. team was the nonappearance of ‘‘Dick” Rowntree, the popular Auckland wicketkeeper, whose name appeared on the official scoring -board as last man In, and was not taken down til the ninth wicket fell, when S. A. R. Badeley arrived post-haste by express from Hamilton just in time to fill Rowntree’s vacancy, and add 49 for Auckland’s last wicket. “I was never available for the match,” said Mr. Rowntree, when inter-

viewed by a Sun man this morning:. Mr. Rowntree said that on Saturday, February 1, lie notified the secretary of the Auckland Cricket Association, Mr. N. Hocken, at Devonport, where they were playing together for Grafton, that he was

leaving Au cki and fol . Wellington and Christchurch the following evening and. would not be back until Tuesday February 11, so that he could not pos- ° Ut fo,r Auckland against CONFIRMATION BY TELEGRAMS On Wednesday last, in Wellington, Mi. Rowntree says he learned that he had not been replaced in the Auckf™. side, and telegraphed to the A..C.A. secretary reminding him that not , a y aila ble. He received a telegram asking was it not possible r . hlm to P la -y. and a further replypaid telegram reached him on Thursday urging him to advise whether he could turn out. Mr. Rowntree states ho found the principal client he had to see m Christchurch was in Well+rf?° n '’ . ana . he cut out the South Island tup returning to Auckland on Friday Llmi , te ?> an <i met the English e ®. ° thei „ r arrival from Rotorua. Ho saw none of the Auckland manageB™« id n y ’ b „ ut dlned wUh Bowley, Bariatt, Cornford, and Worthing*°n, of the English side, that night When he again expressed his regret against 0 th C e°m d Play ° n Saturd^ WHAT HAPPENED ON SATURDAY . *• Rowntree says that he came wUh h‘is ? ampl6 rooms in Auckland with his boys on Saturday, and then proceeded to Eden Bark, where he went out on the “Hill” to enjoy the hi'ie.; _ returning fr °m Wellington ho learned that a player’s entry ticket, and one for Mrs. Rowntree, had been thit e Mr -r iS I \° me in Aucklan ' J . a nd to Rowntree had returned them to the secretary of the A.C.A. with a no-e that Mr. Rowntree would not be playing, as he would be away South. in spite of these notifleations, no provision seems to have been made tor filling the important' position of wicket-keeper, and no one was prepared to take the post. While Mr. Rowntree in mufti was watching the opening overs from the terraces at Eden Park, Mr. Fred Earl, K.C., president of the A.C.A., took a taxi to Rowntree s home, only to find he had left for Eden Park. He secured the veterans cricket gear and conveyed it to headquarters, where the quarry was located and strongly urged to reconsider his decision. A PROPOSED PRESENTATION Mr. Rowntree says he then learned that a testimonial was to be presented to him at the tea interval as a recognition of his valuable services to cricket in Auckland and New Zealand, consisting of a piece of presentation plate to Mrs. Rowntree and a cheque to Mr. Rowntree himself. Everything had been arranged, and It would be a pity if the ceremony had to be postponed.

.1 Me Rowntree says he then explained that he had a business appointment on Saturday afternoon that could not

be cancelled and, further, he said that he had an urgent appointment with an English principal who was passing through Auckland on the Niagara today, and lie, could not possibly escape from his business responsibilities as a manufacturers’ representative. He says he pointed out. to Mr. Earl and the selectors that the muddle was due to no fault of liis. He was keen to play against the visitors, but, as notified in good time, he could not possibly do so with the business engagements he had to meet. Mr. Rowntree left the ground at the lunch interval, but it was not till five o’clock that his name on the score board was taken down and that of Badeley substituted.