CRICKET

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 140, 9 December 1911, Page 7

CRICKET

ENGLISH TEAM'S TOUR. KESULTS. Xov. 10 and fnllownijr (lays—v. South Australia at Adelaide, won by an innings and 197 runs. (England 563 and South Australia 141 and 228). Xov. 17 and following days—v. Victoria, | at Melbourne, won by 49 runs (Eng- j land 318 and 234, Victoria 274 and J 2-39). Xov. 24 and following days—v. New South Wales, at Sydney, abandoned owing to rain (EnL'land 238. X.S.W. eight wickets for l')S). Dee. 1 and following day*—v. Queensland, at Brisbane, won by 7 wickets (England 27") and 110 for 3 wickets, lirisbiino 200 and 124). Dec. r> and (i —v. Toowoomb:;, at Toowoomba, won by an innings and 134 runs (England 340 for (i wickets, Toowoomba !)<i and 110). t REMAINING FIXTURES. Dec. 8, 9, 11—v. an Australian eleven, at Brisbane. Dec. 15. Ifl, 18. 10—v. Australia (first test), at Svdney. j Dee. 2<i. 27—v.' Colts, at Svdnev. \ Dec. 30, Jan. 1, 2, 3—v. Australia (secotrc ] test), at Melbourne. •Tan. 5. G—v. Geelong, at Geelong. Jan. 12, 13. 15, lfi—v. Australia (third test), at Adelaide. Jan. 10, 20—v. Ballarat. at Ballarat. Jan. 23, 24, 25—v. Launceston, at Laun- ] ceston. j Jan. 20. 27, 29—v. Hobart, at Hobart. • Feb. 2, 3, 5, 6—v. Victoria, at Melbourne. Feb. 9, 10, 12, 13—v. Australia (fourth j test), at Melbourne. Feb. 18, 17. 1-9. 20—v. Xew South Wales,! at Sydney. Feb. 23.'24. 2(1, 27—v. Australia (fifth test), at Sydney. March 1. 2. 4, s—v. South Australia, at Adclai' 1 " Last Saturday finished the first round of the Saturday competition, and the results place United Service in the lead, with three wins; then New Plymouth i wo. Law one and Inglewood none. The United Service-Xew Plymouth mateli was chiefly remarkable for the utter failure of the Xew Plymouth batsmen in both innings. Bain,"who was not so successful as usual with the bat, compensated for this by* bowling remarkably well, and his averages—viz., seven for S and three for 28, or fen for 28 in allreads well. The catch by which he disposed of Weston off his own bowling was a brilliant effort. Sullivan was the only batsman to rise to the occasion, and his 40 was the outcome of vigorous cricket, 22 runs being compiled from five hits.

Ingram (with five for 13) and Xieoll (six for 39) were other successful bowlers in this match.

J Law had a day out against Inglewood. j Rcwi."-. with 4C, Lash 51 (retired), | Elliott 3! (retired) and Paton 18, were v* sponsible for Law's total reaching 164, ;:f. which tlii'v declared their innings closi!. ingUwocd could not get within 100 , <.f i!. Lash {.■••!; Pve wickets for 28. Owing to the elections last Thursday tic re Avas no senior cricket. The second round cf the Saturday fixtures commences to-'. r>", when Law e plays Xcw Plymouth at tii- High School ground and Inglewood meet Service at the Sports Orotind. Surprise was expressed at the noninclusion in the Xi'w South Wales team uf n !■'■"'' ■'. ■ . vim created such a favorable impression when here with the Australian team. It appears, however, that he has been rery unfortunate this season. A blow on the foot, a touch of ptomaine poisoning, and now gastritis have followed one on the other. The fllcbe man's not being able to turn out for the State against the Englishmen was very unfortunate, inasmuch as his all-round form was very solid. He will, the. Referee believes, be found to be an improved bowler, even on the perfect Australian wickets.

South Australia have no hope of annexing the Sheffield shield. They have gone under twice this season rather badly to Victoria and last week were beaten easilv by Xcw South Wales, so that, including their defeat by England in the opening match they cannot be said to be hy any means on a good wicket this season.

Hazlett is bowling in great form. Tn the match against South Australia he obtained five wickets for 57, out of a total of 200. and in second innings four for 34. Cotter also distinguished him-s'-lf in this match, knocking up S2 in the first innings for New South Wales against South Australia. Forty-eight runs were obtained in ten hits. That is the cricket that delights the crowd, and would be much appreciated after the meek and mild exhibition o: the Bri-tL-hers. Cotter also came to light in the bowling during the second innings, taking five wickets for 47.

The Englishmen have played their fourth match, against Queensland, which they won by seven wickets. The home team had the advantage in the first innings, thanks to a fine ill by Jennings, who also scored 44 in the second innings. McLaren's bowling averaged three for 55 a ad three for 41. Mead, with 79 and 04 (not out) performed best with the bat for the visitors. Foster's bowling in j the second innings was very deadly, panning out at six for 31, A bowler named Fitzgerald performed brilliantly for Toowoomba against the Britishers. His bag was five for 4(1 out of n tot'.;! of 340 for six wickets, and this on a good wicket. The news that Warner will be unable to take part in the tests will be regretted by all true sports, who are anxious to see the "ashes" decided by the best available eleven of each country. His loss will be severely felt as a captain. Tn this connection the following opinion, written by Mr. C. B. Fry in Fry's Magazino for October, will be of interest:— •'Suppose P. F. Warner (which, my dear Plum, the gods forfend!) were to be ill or to split a linger, who would captain the side? Either J. W. H. T. Douglas or F. Pi. Foster, two good captains, but nei- < ther of them with experience of Australia, and both of them bowlers, and important bowlers. Apart from lack of previous knowledge of Australia, which is not much matter, no bowler can use himself as much as someone else can use him. Xow. G. L. Jessop has no superior among the present county captains, he is a strong character, able and resolute and a fine judge of cricket. In any case, a most valuable coadjutor. He would be among my first choice to play for England here now. had I to pick a team. I am sorry he has not joined the team." The Referee has the following impressions of the Englishmen:—The English team is strong in bowling, particularly strong while the ball is new. Tn Foster, Douglas, Barnes. Hitch, Woolley and TTearne. who played in the Sydney match, there is quality and variety; but, measured by the power to accomplish big things on Australian wickets against the j best teams, the quality, I believe, is not so uniformly high as the cricket on I Monday might imply, or to merit being classed as truly great. There is. how- | ever, nothing wrong with the variety, or I the bowling generally, though if the form ihe true Barnes is not quite the howler he. was. Have they a better bowling combination that Australia? I think*

j'not. The batting collectively does not I strike one as being quite in the. same j I class as Australia's best. In Hobbs, j Foster and (Sunn tlu j re are three artists! of the bat. In fielding the English team j as we saw it. is not. equal to Australia's best. In wicket-keeping they are as good as, or better than, Australia may be. In slip-catching one is doubtful. Australia may be superior, or otherwise we have not seen sufficient of the visitors, fn other fielding, Australia will be a good deal superior, provided the Englishmen were not seen at their worst on Monday. The other matter is captaincy. It is hardly likely that P. F. Warner will fie able to plav again, and if so his captaincy is lost. Will J. W. H. T. Douglas lead them with Warner's skill? The latter is not a howler; Pougias is, and a tolerably good one, too. Warner is an old campaigner of wide experience—a man letter-perfect in the game. He will, T believe, be missed. To sum up, this Eim'ish team does not strike one as being quite so good all round as Australia. To beat Australia in the test matches they will probably need to show substantial improvement in some directions on form shown in Sydney. But if they do beat Australia they may rest assured that tliev will be most heartily congratulated on all sides, because if the lx?st Australians get into thorough form they will be a team of rare strength on these wickets. ) The jubilee of England v. Australia I cricket will take place on January 1, the first match of 11. 11. Stephenson's pioneer j team having been started on New Year's Day, 18(12, with eighteen of Victoria, on the Melbourne cricket ground. On January I next the English team • ill be in the heart of the struggle with ' ustralia in the second test match, and : ppily, 100, on the self-same ground iw graced with imposing grandstands, « here 1 tents formerly were in the scene. The first international match every played in Australia was played under ideal conditions, a glorious day, with a. cloudless sky and fresh southerly breeze tempering the sun's heat. England scored 305 and the Victorian eighteen 118' and 01. Australian cricket has made marvellous strides since. They say that Mr. Frank Laver is again a candidate for the position of manager to the team to visit England. He was manager of the two last Australian teams. The manager is appointed by the players, but the appointment has to receive the sanction of the Board of Control, with which, by the way, Mr. Laver did not work with the utmost harmony in 1909. There are likely to be more candidates than one for the position. ' | At the moment, says "Not Out," F. R. Foster fills the eye as the most spectacular and outstanding figure, in the English team. Luck or no luck, it is a very big performance to make a cen-. tury in each of the two opening matches. I M. A. Noble compiled his third century j (134) in his fifth match this season. It > shows how sound is his form. He made the first hundred in an hour and 20 min-' utes, hit 15 fours and a six, and was caught in the outfield, his only chance. M.A.X. is practising as keenly as he has ever done, and his form is quite as good as ever, perhaps not so crisp on the cut and the off-drive as in his first days of first-class cricket, but remarkably good to the on-side, where he places them witji mechanical accuracy when the wicket is thoroughly good. Opening the season moderately against Redfern with 2 and 16, he quickly picked up form at the practice nets, and has since scored 118. 83, 120 and 134. In the club premiership he has in all compiled I' 6 centuries for Paddington. Victor Trumper's Paddington record is 28 centuries.

In January a team, under the captaincy of Lord Hawke. will leave England to play a series of matches in the Argentine Republic. They are to play three matx-hes against the full strength of the Republic at Hurlingham, Lomas and Palermo. Dr. Hordern has secured twenty-five wickets for S3O runs for North Sydney, averaging 14 runs per wicket. It is a very fine performance on batsmen's wickets. Against the Englishmen he secured three wickets for 6i.

Apart from the honor and glory of representing England in the cricket field, and the increase in reputation which he thereby earns, the professional cricketer generally manages to return home with a fair sum of money to his credit. The scale of payment allowed by the M.C.C. to the professionals it engages is undoubtedly liberal, and in most cases the player makes more, money.than he would if he were to remain in this country (says an English cricket journal. The general rule is for each professional to receive a sum of £3OO. in addition to out-of-pocket expenses, which amount to £2 per week when in Australia and 30s when on board ship. This aim of £3OO is not paid in a lump sum, but divided up into three instalments, distributed as follows: during tour as required, £25 for purchase of kit, £IOO on completion of tour —total, £3OO. As all travelling expenses, etc., are paid by the M.C.C., it will thus be seen that, the professional cricketer who exercises ordinary care should return with a handsome balance to his credit. Of course, in the. case of those professionals who own flourishing businesses it is questionable whether the terms offered by the M.C.C. would recompense them for the loss entailed by absence for so long a period as oight months, but in the ordinary way the players are well satisfied with the financial treatment they receive. The amateurs who visit Australia receive, in addition to their expenses, a sum of £7O each as wine money.