THE CRICKET CRITIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 913, 5 March 1930, Page 13

THE CRICKET CRITIC

The Great Battle On the great mission of the cricket year in Auckland, the city’s Plunket | Shield team leaves this evening by the j .Limited Express for Wellington, where j on Friday the final and deciding match jof the season’s shield series begins, i Auckland at present holds the shield, , and all supporters of the game in the j Queen City are hopeful that Auck- ! land tenure of Baron Plunket’s gift will ibe extended for another season at j least. Keen Fight Expected Wellington has always been a hard team to beat on its home heath, buit this year, With the Auckland team at pretty well full strength, and Wellington somewhat below normal strength, a particularly keen fight is expected. Auckland has defeated Otago and Canterbury this season and Wellington has victories to its credit over the game provinces. But as rain prevented Auckland getting the full decision over Canterbury, Wellington is four points in the lead in the competition and only a complete win will give the Northerners the shield. C. F. VV. Allcott, Captain Following are brief pen pictures of the cricket careers of the members of the Auckland team for the match as published in a Wellington paper. C. F. W. Allcott, aged 33, is so wellknown as a member of A.ucklond representative elevens and of New Zealand elevens that a description of his play would appear superfluous. A good left-hand bowler, left-hand batsman, and good field. Essentially a big match player. Will captain the side against Wellington. A. H. Anthony (Parnell) Aged 43. A good sound right-hand batsman and bowler, and still a good field. Idas played representative cricket almost continuously since he first appeared for Canterbury in 1905-06. He represented that province up till 190809, and the following season saw him in the Auckland eleven. He has been a consistently good performer ever since, both as a batsman and bowler, and his fielding lias always been safe and keen. In 1920-21, he was awarded the Redpath Cup, when his batting average in representative matches was 62.75. Why he has never been Chosen for New Zealand is a question very frequently asked. He appears to be as good today as ever, and scored a century against Canterbury and 48 against the M.C.C. this season, -while his bowling and fielding have been most serviceable. He, too, has the right temperament for big cricket.

S. A. R. Badeley (Hamilton) Aged 27. Only lack of opportunity has prevented him, so far, from taking a very high place in New Zealand cricket. Since 1925-26, in which season he headed the Parnell batting averages with 29.8, highest score 154, lie has been resident at Hamilton, Waikato, where his performance as batsman, field, , and bowler have stood out above those of any other player in the district. He almost invariably makes good scores against any bowling he meets, and last season eclipsed all his former efforts by scoring 1,962 runs at an average of 67 an innings. He has good strong shots all round the wicket, and is a big hitter. Though not a stylist, his forceful batting and very fine fielding would make him very popular and successful were he included in the New Zealand team for England in 1931. He i’s a good medium right-hand length bowler, can keep wickets, and has the right temperament for big cricket.

W. L. Elliott (Y.M.C.A.) Aged 29. Good sound batsman and useful medium-pac.e bowler, with a somewhat peculiar style in both depart - | ments. Fairly good field. * H. D. Gillespie (Eden) Aged 2S. Good sound batsman, with good defence find strong scoring shots all round the wicket. One of the very best fieldsmen in New Zealand. Is in good form this season. Made 183 v. Canterbury, and also batted well v. I the M.C.C. team. * * * A. W. McCoy (Parnell) I Aged 23. A very promising young all-round player, whose, progress has been retarded by indifferent health. Bowls slow right-hand with considerable variety. Fine free, forceful lefthand batsman, with good reach, and good field in any position. A. M. Matheson (Varsity) Aged 23. A really good all-round cricketer. His fast-medium right-hand howling is nearly always effective in representative matches, and he is a very fast and safe fieldsman. In batting he has been disappointing cf late, but now- appears to be coming back to the form which made him a prolific run-getter when captain of Auckland Grammar School in 1924-25, and for some time alter. Made 64 and 42 very attractively at the Basin Reserve in a special match Auckland v. Wellington irr January, 1927.

J. E. Mills (Eden) Aged 24. As an opening batsman for New Zealand his graceful and attractive left-hand batting is well known throughout the Dominion. Very fair field, and his slow right-hand bowling is often useful to bis side.

G. L. Weir (Eden) Aged 21. With a not-out century against Canterbury and 77 and 40 against the M.C.C. team this season he lias established himself among the very best of the Bominion’s batsmen. Is a fine field in any position, but particularly good in the slips. Has not had much opportunity this season of testing the effectiveness of his mediumpaced right-hand bowling. He is a very determined and patient batsman, with strong back play and scoring strokes on both sides of the wickets, and has the test match temperament. A. F. Wensley (Parnell) Aged 31. A fine all-round player, who sets a good example by his exceedingly alert and smart fielding. Can bowl medium-paced, right-hand well for long spells without losing his length. A good aggressive batsman with perhaps too great a fondness for hooking, though he can play the rock when necessary. * * * P. E. Whiteiaw (Parnell) Aged 19. He Is a good free batsman with good scoring shots all round the wicket. Somewhat weak in fielding at !

i present owing mainly to the fact that ! lie has been growing fast. Undoubtedly ' i shows good promise as a batsman. : H. Hunt (Pcnsonby) Aged 23. Is at present the best of Auckland’s young wicketkeepers, and has done some remarkably quick stumping off fast medium bowlers, and also taken some very good catches on 1 the leg side. Is likely, with opportunities and experience, to become a very good wicketkeeper. Lecture to Girls When the Auckland team returns from its match in Wellington, the Management Committee of the Auckland Cricket Association, according to its decision last evening, will endeavour to enlist the services of the captain, C. F. W. Allcott, to lecture on cricket to the members of the Auckland Girls' Cricket Association. The association applied to the A.C.A. last evening for the services of a lecturer, and named the captain. Poverty Bay Tour Never has a touring team had such exasperating luck as the Auckland XI. which journeyed to Gisborne last j week-end to meef the Poverty Bay representatives. The weather was beautifully fine all the way down on Thursday, and all the way home on Sunday, but during Friday and Saturday there was only half an hour early on Friday when cricket was possible, and an abandonment of the match was unavoidable. The “washout” caused great disappointment among the local enthusiasts, as the M.C.C. team had been unable to visit the district, and cricket fans from distant settlements had travelled a long way to see Wensley and some of Auckland’s best club men matched against the local player s. Gisborne is the southernmost portion of the Auckland Cricket Association’s large provincial area, but is rarely visited by teams or drawn on for representative players. The A.C.A. financed the trip, and the enterprise was worthy of better results. Promising Shore Colts The Shore Club is fortunate in possessing some of the most promising colts in Auckland, and from them should be able to build up a team in the years ahead which will recover some of the club's lost mana. Jack Bush is a fine bat to vwatch, as lie possesses the stylish ease qf Mills with some splendid scoring strokes all round the wicket. On Saturday he came out in a new role fes a bowler, after Snedden and Taylor had been helping themselves to a quick feed of runs from the veterans’ bowling at the sensational rate of two runs a minute. Bush bowls with a natural easy action, and his slow-medium spinners had both batsmen thinking and scratching until Taylor was stumped. Hugh Webb is also a good spin-bowler when he gets a chance, and at school in Adelaide was looked on as a most promising cricketer. It was a surprise to find a place had not been kept for him to assist Shore’s weak attack against Ponsonby next Saturday. Bon Webb would make a. lot more runs if he would overcome his ambition to hit some bowler into the harbour or on to the bowling green Bon is invaluable in the field and sets a splendid example by his keenness; there is probably no finer cover point in New Zealand than Shore’s “Littlo Tich.” “Bick” Smith is another bantam with a heart like a lion, who promises to make a lot of runs, and is worth his place for his fielding.

Vicar’s Half-Century The Northcote second grade A team in its match against Windmill on . Saturday, on the Northcote municipal 1 recreation ground, scored 187. Its 1 latest recruit, the Rev. F. W. Wilkes, the newly-appointed vicar of St. John’s Baptist Church, compiling 50 not out at his first essay. Coming in on the fall of the sixth wicket, he shaped confidently to the Windmill bowlers, 1 and any lose balls were taken advan- ! tag© of. In the fielding department ' he also showed keenness, his returns 1 to the wicketkeeper being particularly ’ smart. SUBURBAN NOTES Fortune of the leading team has ! fluctuated for the second time this . season to revive interest in the suburban cricket championship. On Saturday Green Lane, three points ahead of any other team, tasted the bitterness of having the fruits of the premiership virtually torn from its grasp. A win, even a two-pointer, would have placed the Laners in practically an unassailable position, but last season s premiers, Harbour Board, came to light to defeat them in convincing fashion, the latter only staving off a major victory by playing out time. The new team, Albion, has improved with every game in the second round and asserted its right to enter into the final by defeating Ellerslie by the sheer will to win. Green Lane still leads with 11 points, and Harbour Board and Albion 10 points each, and with only two more games to conclude the second round these three will fight out the championship. * * * Talking of the will to win, the last wicket partnership for Albion, between | the veteran E. Stallworthy and Bick- { son. was an object lesson in coolness and patience, that commanded the ad- | miration of the grandstand crowd, who literally were on tiptoes with exeite--1 ment as the 38 required grew appreci-. j ably smaller. The pair took no risks ! when within 20 runs of their objective, Dickson blocking carefully and surrendering the run-getting largely to nis powerful-hitting colleague. The veteran played meticulously coi’rect cricket, square-cutting and driving at loose stuff. After every stroke he took the steadying effect of strolling round the wicket, a practice which must have affected even the most ! hardened bowler’s nerves. And when j the goal was reached the pair, chair- • man and secretary respectively of the j Suburban Cricket Association, were vociferously cheered and carried I shoulder-high from the wicket to the pavilion. One of the most reliable, solid and promising batsmen Green Lane possesses is Trevor Clark, whose 38 against splendid Harbour Board bowling was a meritorious effort. His work is clean and stylish, and though he does not possess the range of strokes of more experienced batsmen, the i placements are well-judged and his : shots crisp. * * Wesleyan Young Men’s Institute is j to be congratulated on its first victory ! this season. The young team has plodded along in face of a, succession of defeats, and now can feel considerable gratification in having defeated Ponsonby, a. team regarded as one of . the most difficult to overcome in the competition. Institute gave a great, fighting display, and the batting was of a uniformly good standard. Corner and B. Chapman being outstanding for j a partnership which assured them of success.