CRICKET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 335, 10 March 1910, Page 8

CRICKET.

- ; THE MANAWATU TEAM. By Telegraph.—Press' Association. Palmerston North, Last Night. The Manawatu cricket team selected to meet the Australians consists of— Ongley, Bartlett, Ureer, Wells, Trevena, O'Connor, McLean, Goldspring, Holland, Mitchell, Cable, McKenzie, and Coyne; emergencies, Mason, Eyre, Churchill. It is proposed to field eleven, but bat tnirtene. A special meeting of the Taranaki Cricket Association is to be held this evening to reconsider the numerical strength of the team to meet the Australians. Mr. Mackenzie, manager of the Australian cricket team, expressed the opinion, in the course of an interview at Dunedin, that cricket had not improved since he Waited New Zealand sixteen years ago. It must improve, however, in the next few years if the wise plan of coaching was continued. He plumped heartily for Oarisbrook as being the best cricket ground in the Dominion, taking into consideration the wicket and th* general contour and appearance. The outfield was slower than Lancaster Park, and "Otago's 166 runs would have been 240 there The outfield on Lancaster Park was so fast that the boundaries should be judiciously extended. Mr. Mackenzie considers it an advantage for Auckland to have the Plunket Shield match played there. The wicket is- a peculiar one to know. At the beginning of the Australian innings the ball came up a decent height, but as more runs were made on it the slower it played. Thp cause of this was the want of proper foundation and ballast, and the same thing applied to Wellington. Money spent on this would be monev well spent. -He thinks the Test match is verv open, and thp visitors will have to plav to win. Everywhere the team has met with the greatest hospitality. He declined to express anv opinion rewarding the prospects of the South Africans in Australia, beyond saying that the visit will create the most intense interest throughout the Commonwealth.