THE CRICKET CRITIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 937, 2 April 1930, Page 13

THE CRICKET CRITIC

The management committee of the j Auckland Cricket Association last j evening appointed Mr. H. Duncan cap- | tain of the Auckland XI. which will j play in Whangarei on Friday. The Season’s Close Next Saturday will see the close of i the 1929-30 cricket season in Auckland as far as the senior A grade competitin is concerned. The matches commenced last Saturday will be brought to a conclusion, and interesting finishes should in several cases. No Extra Match Cricket gives up its tenure of Eden Park as from April 14, and thus there will be one Saturday available after the present series of matches is concluded. There is little likelihood of any extra match being arranged, and it is considered that one day would not be sufficient for the playing of the proposed match between a colts team ; and and Auckland side. The Easter | holidays come along immediately after, j so that the curtain to the 1929-30 sea- j son will be really rung down on Satur- j day. * Might Have Been Desirable A match of a representative nature might have been desirable to wind up the season. At the end of the county season at Home the champion county plays the Rest of England, and on the same lines a match between Parnell, tho champion team, and a team drawn from the ranks of the other clubs in the competition would have been interesting. tlowever, with the little time left, it is now too late to contemplate such a fixture this season.

The Team for England By this time next year, the second New Zealand side to visit England will be on the water. Thus it can be expected that the opening of the season next year will hold a special significance for cricketers of All Black o_r near All Black standard. Although this season’s form will have to be taken into consideration, players in all cases will have to show some sort of form early next season to merit inclusion, so that there will be an early spring off the mark. * * * No Move Yet The Auckland Cricket Association has as yet had no preliminary advice from the New Zealand Council regarding the arrangements for the tour. It is known, however, that the members of the management committee of the council discussed methods of arranging the Home itinerary with Harold Gilligan when the English side was in New Zealand. It is, of course, too early as yet to get down to the individuals likely to carry the silver fern, but it can be taken for granted that those men who have reached the top of their form this season have caught the selectors’ eyes. * * * Scorer and Baggage Man Mr. W. Ferguson, who has passed most of the past twenty years or so in travelling with Australian and English teams as scorer and baggage man, will again occupy these positions with the Australian team this year. Such an institution has Bill become in this connection that no touring team is complete without him, and what he does not know about cricket and about the leading .English and Australian players of the past twenty years, is hardly worth knowing. He has just completed the tour of New Zealand with Harold Gilligan’s M.C.C. team. A Remarkable Athlete Victor Y. Richardson, 35, vice-captain of the Australian team, is one of the most remarkable athletes Australia has produced, having shone in cricket, football, tennis, golf, baseball, lacrosse and other games. * * * Advice to Bowlers A. C. MacLaren recently made an interesting observation on the tactics of English bowlers and his remarks must carry great weight. He says “it seems that bowlers generally on good wickets bowl too much at the wicket when a good batsman is there, and this larger wicket is likely to increase the great fault of bowling too straight on billiards table wickets. Tom Hayward, in form, wouild not miss two balls in a whole day within three inches of either side of his wicket when conditions favoured batting.” * * * Sixteen Sixers! Shore B and Papatoetoe had a free and easy contest at Eden Park last Saturday. The pitch was perfect and the proximity of one boundary, only 20yds from the wickets, made the hitting of sixers an easy matter. The ball was over the fence half-a-dozen times, and altogether 16 sixers were included in North Shore’s total of 358, Shore won the toss, and batted first.

I Cowie was the first to make a stand, j getting: 71 before he was brilliantly caught by Burnside in the slips. With eight wickets down for 174 things did not look so bad for Papatoetoe, but Wynne and Nicholas put on 120 for the eighth wicket, and the last wicket resulted in another 60 runs going on the board. Dropped catches by Papatoetoe proved expensive, although they were all hard chances. With the ball, Burnside 6-114, and Valentine 3-67. were most successful. Papatoetoe did not open brilliantly, the first three wickets falling for 25. However, Valentine and W. Kerr played out time with 22 and 1 6. respectively, to their credit. The match will be continued next Saturday.

The Übiquitous Smiths While Sidney Smith, the doyen of New Zealand cricketers. was busy collecting: one of his innumerable centuries at Eden Park on Saturday, a younger of the Smiths, who has still a season to go before leaving his teens behind, was even busier at Devonport making his first century in senior cricket, and pulling the Shore team out of a hole.

S. G. Smith is world-famous for his cricket with the West Indies, as captain of Northants in English county cricket, and as an Auckland and New Zealand rep. “S.G.” will reach his half-century next season, having been born iri 1881. and is still a dangerous flight bowler and one of the hardest batsmen to shift. Young “Dick” Smith is a Devonport product, with the sporting strain in his blood, as he is a nephew of George Smith, the 1905 All Black, and champion athlete on the running track. The Shore colt is small in stature, but a real good ‘’little ’un" on both the foot-

ball and cricket field. He is one of the cleverest ‘’midgets” in the Soccer code that Auckland has seen in action, and was captain of the Shore sixth grade team when It went through a season without loss, and recorded the phenomenal total of 120 goals to a solitary one against it. «Last season the colt was a shining light in junior League until the close of the season, when he returned to his old love of the round ball to help Shore fourths to victory. Dick Smith’s debut as a “centurion” at Devonport on Saturday raised the loudest cheer there for many a day, and with other.good colts appearing on the horizon the Shore Club should soon regain its lost glory. Smith showed much of the Dacre influence in his clever footwork and positional play for an effective pull shot, while his defence was very sound. SATURDAY’S FIXTURES Following are the Auckland Cricket Association’s fixtures for Saturday: Third Grade Final.—Victoria v. Point Chevalier, Victoria Park. Third Grade. —W.Y.M.I. v. Education Board, Domain No. 14; Balmoral v. United Suburbs, Domain No. 4; KLauri Timber v. Birkdale. Fourth Grade Semi-final. —St. Stephen’s v. Grey Lynn, Victoria Park. This will be a two-days match. The final will be played as an all-day match on April 19. Fourth Grade. —Point Chevalier v. North Shore, North Shore; Victoria v. Aotearoa, Domain No. 16 (practice match). ~ _ . .. , House Matches. —Hardleys, Limited. Domain No. 12; Pwoss and Glendining, Domain No. 13. SUBURBAN NOTES Steady batting succeeded where stonewall tactics failed Albion on Saturday, when the struggle with Green Lane for the Suburban cricket championship commenced. Four of usually the most reliable batsmen, Viscoe, ft. Stallworthy, Gedye and Turner, who attempted to hold up their wickets at any cost, collapsed in astonishing fashion after the most tedious two hours Domain spectators have sat out this season. With five wickets down for 73 Albion’s “backs to the wall batting was most discouraging. Then came a cautious but solid exhibition by B. Wright, who undoubtedly saved the day for Albion, and a careful though more spirited performance by Longville—the change of tactics was markedly successful; in fact, so much •so that the new team has a good chance of being this season s premiers. # m A commendable feature of Green Dane’s fielding on Saturday was the team keenness, a spirit engendered by their popular skipper. Eric Watts, himself, without equal in the field in the suburban competitions, the throwing in. however, could have been improved, and the men were spread too far out when slow break bowlers were brought into

Green Lane’s fast bowler. Scarborough, had the opening Albion batsmen well scared of his speedy, lowrising deliveries on Saturday. The first five overs he sent down were maidens and off the sixth the first run was scored off him. Like a,ll fast trun - ; lers, he tired quickly and was spelled before being brought on twice more, but without success beyond heipmto check the run- getting. He took onl> one wicket during the day. but \er\ little was scored off him. The most consistent bowler for Green Lane was Seccombe, who seemed , tireless and sent good deliveries practically all day. He varied his pace with j nice judgment, and sw'erved disconcertingly for the batsmen. He secured the dismissal of the open- , ing pair off successive balls, ootn } being caught. # The young Albion batsman, B. Wright, was more than lucky to escape I early dismissal on Saturday. The um- • pire gave a decision in almost his fav- j our when the entire field appealed for • a catch behind the wdekets, a little ; later, when a break ball from Kerr completely beat him and scattered his bails, the bowler was “no-balled.” He settled down to sound cricket after that and displayed a good range of j strokes, excelling in artistic hooking : past fine leg. The ease with which , he gathered in “wrong ’uns” on the leg, 1 and whipped them to the boundary delighted the spectators. After a long run of mediocre perfonnances, in which bad luck has 1 played no small part, Barnes, or Pon- ; sonby, apparently struck form on Sat- j urday against the Harbour Board. The ex-Varsity batsman showed a splendid range of strokes, which he executed with good timing and judgment in placing, and compiled a chanceless 52 ; —a very creditable performance.