Some Curious Cricket Incidents

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 897, 14 February 1930, Page 7

Some Curious Cricket Incidents

£ y

J. Elliott

H AV ING been approached by a representative of The Sun with a ! view to getting some of my experiences} in connection with cricket, I i will endeavour to recall some extraordinary things which have occurred during my cricket career. lam also indebted for one or two incidents to Mr. H. Johnston, one of our most efficient umpires, and one of the best authorities on cricket in Auckland. Batting in a match seven years ago, when my score was 62, the late “Herb” Simpson, who was probably the fastest bowler Auckland has produced, decided to bowl an over of slow breaks. He struck a very short length, and I jumped out to meet the third ball of the over. “Herb” immediately, -while in the act of running up to the wicket, threw the ball at my stumps, while I was a yard out of my ground. A chorus of appeals resulted in my being sent pavilion-wards. However, the decision was wrong, and the umpire should have called “no ball,” and a run added to my side’s score, as the bowler cannot throw the wicket down from that end. At Eden Park the striker had played a ball which, without touching the ground, lodged in the top of his pad. The wicketkeeper whipped round, removed the ball, and appealed for a catch. The umpire’s instant reply was “not out.” Some of the fieldsmen, including the captain, maintained that the umpire was in error, and. strange to say, the batsman, S. G. Smith, said afterward “had it not been for the umpire’s prompt decision, he was going to sprint for the boundary, and, when he had crossed the line, remove the ball and get four runs.” Qowever, Law 33b makes it clear that the ball was dead, once it lodged in the batsman’s clothing. In 1919, in a match against Lower Waikato representatives, W. Menzies, a powerful batsman, and a frequent hitter of sixes, jumped out of his ground to a ball bowled by me, which pitched on the leg stump. First it hit his pad. then struck the bat, and then the bails. Next, R. Lonergan, the wicketkeeper, caught the ball, and immediately pulled out a stump, and Menzies, in an endeavour to recover his crease, fell, and knocked over the

wicket with his hat. He was actually “leg before,” “caught,” “bowled,” “stumped,” and “hit wicket” off one ball! I was once going out to open an innings with R. Lonergan some years ago in the country. As we were going from the dressing-shed to the crease, he picked up a duck’s egg from the grass. Although his average up till then that season was very nearly 50

for nine innings, he made two ducks that day! At Pokeno Valley some years ago the last man had come in to bat with a very sad face, as we only wanted one run to win, and he was one of the worst possible batsmen at playing slow breaks. The first ball he got pitched on the wicket, but evidently struck some obstacle under the mat, and broke very wide I immediately appealed for a “wide,” and got the

decision, and we won the match in consequence. In a match at Sydney, the batsman's hat fell off while he was making a stroke. The ball pitched on the wicket, but did not connect with the bat. The batsman's hat, however, deflected ' the ball from the wicket, and the i umpire upheld an appeal for “out,” i which was the umpire's prerogative, ; although not provided for in the laws j of cricket. On one occasion I wanted four runs for a century, when I missed a fast off-break, but did not lift my back foot. The keeper whipped off the bails. The ball, after striking them, flew out of his gloves and ran up the wicket several yards. The umpire negatived an appeal for “stumped,” and I walked up the mat and threw the ball to the wicketkeeper, who pulled out a stump, and l was given out on an appeal. It was certainly cricket, but very doubtful sportsmanship. Two years ago, at Waiuku, I had batted through the innings for Green Lane, and when the last wicket man came in, I drove a ball hard to coverpoint. After bringing my front, foot back to the crease, my spikes caught in the mat, and threw me on to the wicket. I was given out on an appeal by Dr. Howden, who was the Waiuku skipper. Mr. H. Johnston tells of a match in the south of England. The side batting last wanted two runs to win, and had lost six wickets, yet the last four wickets fell with the total unaltered, and his is how it happened. The bowler running up to the crease, and seeing the batsman out of his ground, whipped off the bails and ran him out. The next player exceeded the two minutes allowed him for coming in, and forfeited his innings. The bowler then bowled the fatal ball. The batsman drove it back hard. It struck the other batsman on the head, and ! rebounded into the hands of a fieldsman, who managed to hold it. The injured batsman was so badly hurt that he had to retire, and the eleventh man found he had no partner.