CRICKET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 194, 14 February 1914, Page 7

CRICKET.

I THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKETERS. / SOME OI^KKVATIOXS. After watching the Australian crickel'ers play against south Taranaki on Tuesday and Wednesday, or, more correctly,'having seen the Smith Taranaki men put up the best stand they could against the oversea cricketers, 'a keen follower of cricket will ask himself wdiat were the main reasons for the defeat of the Taranaki men by a wicket and :U0 runs. Of course the fact that the home team was hopelessly outclassed in every department of the game ; s the inevitable answer, and summarily disposes of the subject, but an analysts of the Australians' play yields many lessons for the Taranaki men which, if taken tc heart, would enable them to make a better stand against the same teem at a future dale. If it were no', I so, the match would have been hi vain, I as far as its value to cricket is concerned.

The most striking feature in the Australians' cricket, taken on the whole, was their knowledge of what in boxing would be known as "ring craft." They were a team playing their national game. Xothing disturbed their equanimity; indeed, the nonchalance of one or two of their number might perhaps not unjustifiably have been termed "gallery play." Their fielding was as the movement of a piece of perfect machinery. A batsman who lifted the ball except to the boundary was doomed. This is a matter of practice, hard, assiduous and regular, and is lesson number one. The Taranaki cricketers, playing in an infinitely lower class of cricket, cannot perform impossibilities, but they can do more in this direction than perhaps in many others. Tt was, however, whi'ii a pair of batsmen like Armstrong and Noble were at the wickets that the finest exhibition or trained experience was seen. The batsmen seemed to be. entirely in sympathy with each other, playing as if thev were in one piece. The moment the ball left the bowler's hand .the batsman who was not striking would leave his crease, bill with ever a wary -eye for some smart fieldsman. The call to run was no sooner uttered than obeyed, and the runs were made with a maximum of expedition, yet a minimum of haste. The Australian batsman seldom runs a length and a-half for a hit which will only yield a single. Tlis judgment is unerring. There is no hasty screaming of alternate "call" and refusal. All is perfect ordered motion. Between the wickets, the Australian batsmen often appear at first sight slow. Armstrong's lci.-iitvly amble was almost ludicrous, and on one occasion he even knocked a lump ,of turf from the pitch en route, but bis eye never left the outfield, and bis judgment was sure. This comes, of course, only from experience such as a player like Armstrong possesses, but it is the duty of every batsman, too often sadly neglected, to leave bis crease in readiness for a run when the ball is delivered to his partner, and never to refuse to come at his partner's call. This is lesson number two, and one most important, as well as easily put into practice. Forsaking the. Australians as a team with this brief commentary, and taking th«m individually, we see at once exhibitions in the various departments of the game which were sufficient to dazzle the average Taranaki cricketer.

All the batsmen have in a greater or lesser degree the attractive leg glido which on their own hard wickets and bowding, is so effective, thin after run came from this stroke from Collins. Armstrong, Noble. Hansford and Dolling.

Armstrong's batting in the second, and exhibition, iniiin«s was a display of clean carpet-driving and accuratelytimed boundary hits. At timing Armstrong is a past master. He was never caught in two minds, and his pre-emi-nence is perhaps in his knowledge of what ball to hit ainl which to leave alone.

Collins, in the first innings, gave a splendid exhibition of scientific confident batting. His carpet-driving was an education in itself. Like all the Australian batsmen, he keeps his wrist well forward, and the hall cither flew to the boundary or shot fast along the field. Xoble in both innings played sound scientific cricket, hut did nothing sensational, leaving the hi;; hitting to Armstrong, who in the second innings made 101 runs in 10S minutes. Ransford was disappointing, making a "duck" in the first innings and only Jl in the scceml. lie is a stylish, lefthanded batsman, Inn "in and out," as •his team put it. and on this occasion was evidently not in form. Waddy was also disappointing. 'Much was expected of him in the hitting line, but .Jie failed "to deliver the goods." He is also "in and out." and one of his ■days is a marvellously fast scorer, as ■his display, brief though it was. indicated. Dolling is a fine bat-man, and in the •first innings knocked up eight boundary hits. His style is more sound than stylish. Mailey as a bowler gave the batsman a lot of trouble, as a bowler of his experience and wilinrss was bound to do. lie bowls every description of ball, ■with a leg-break act inn. When lie I howled- Ongiev the batsman was com'.pletelv flabbergasted. lie raised his bat to strike, he watched the ball, and one could see astonishment and pained surprise in his very attitude as he saw his bails 11 v. lie could not even attempt to touch the hall. Mailey took four wickets for (ill inns in South Tai'.v naki's first innings, and live for 13 (in.cliiding the "hat trick") in their second. Armstrong bowded with a paternal air, a soft, easy-looking ball or two, at which the batsman' hit blindly; then he changed his pace, and the bails flew, or a mishit ended in a catch. ■Even these few remarks concerning the Australian team would be incomplete without reference to the wicketkeeper, .McGregor. He was a revelation to the spectators, to the batsman a swift-moving Nemesis, who stumped five, batsmen during the match, and made several more tremble. As for South Taranaki's share in the contest, it was in the circumstances very creditable. l'nitl stood head and shoulders above his fellow batsmen, his score of 89 in the first innings being an achievement of which he may justly feel proud. Blamires was rather disappointing in this respect. He opened both his innings confidently, but somehow could not get going. ' He did not take many wickets cither, but in the field lie was pre-eminent. His catching" in the slips was beautiful, and from his arrangement of the field and the manner in which he handled the team, it is easy to credit him with having instilled new life into South Taranaki cricket. The bowling of the home team was really good, especially that of McLaren | and Penny in the second innings, when Noble and Armstrong had perforce to 'treat (hem both with respect for some time —too long, in fuel, for the more impatient of the spectators. Dunlop

came oil best in the analysis, with a total of nine wickets for 10."> runs. McCarthy proved on the whole somewhat expensive. . The South Taranaki fielding was rather brilliant in parts. McLaren fielded very well, saving splendidly and pulling ol'f three catches during his own team's first innings, when lie fielded as substitute for the Australians. Dohcrty also fielded Well, but with just a s'.l-.-piciou of "galkn- plav." The match, regarded as an cxhibilinii, was u success. The great innings was, of com-.-e, that by the Australians on the second (lav. when Armstrong got going, although some Cue cricket was seen' oil the first day. At Ihe commencement of the second day's play it was free!,- remarked that the Australians mi"hL have -trained a point and started plav a little earlier than ll.:H>, considering I lie first day's late stnvi, but as the visitors were able to play till they had lost, nine wickets, there is little room for complaint. One striking feature of the game was the utter I futility, from every point of view, ol balling with Hi men. It's not. cricket, and its not attractive for spectators to see an attenuated tail making a dre-iry stand when they are waiting to sec the Australians bat. Of course cricket is not played for the spectators, but apart from that the additional five men weve not likely to win the match, and if they had done so there would have beet] no particular satisfaction in the victory. Cricket is not a handicap event. Finally, it is a thousand pities that the Australians did not play at Xew Plymouth as well as at Haw-era, or at least that the match was not an "all Taranaki'' game. Some day, perhaps, North Taranaki cricketers will wake up, and the grand old game will prosper. THE SEXIOG COMPETITION. NOTES AXD COMMENTS. The matches set down for decision today are Xew Plymouth v. United Service, on the Sports (Iround; and Law v. Tikovangi, at Tikorangi. The only match played last Saturday was that between United Service an! Law, which added another two points to Service's competition tally. The match was not attractive, Service ow-' ing their score to two men, Rain and Osborne. Bain's batting was dull, and nothing like the style of play he luted to show. Osborne made his score by dint of careful batting.

The best feature of the match was the fielding of Osborne, who took no fewer than three smart catches in the dips. Sullivan, fielding deep, made a fine effort when the ball came to him from Little, knocking the stumps Hying with a throw-in.

Lash batted rather poorly, giving a chance quite early in bis innings, and another a little later, being finally dismissed by the agency of a line catch by Osborne. Lash and Bain both figured well in the bowling analysis. KEKPIXC. THE SCORE. A FIXE ART.

The scorer for the Australian teau which played .South Taranaki recently has reduced the keeping of the score's to a fine art. Armed with a large culf-boumi hook about the size of an ordinary cash-hook, and with a rough exercise hook, he gets to work, His books are to the unitiated a maze- of lines, squares and figures. ■ kept with beautiful neatness, hut to him they arias clear as day. At any period of the game he can tell how many halls have gone, who played each one. whether anv "lives" were given, and by whom ami on which ball. lie sec/ at a glance how long it has taken to make the score of each batsman ami the total score when each bowler came on ami went oil', and why. Jlis diagrams show him how many boundary hits, say. Armstrong made, and whether they were to square leg, long-on, or pasi mid-oil'. He occupies his spare time in iwiMng a beautiful little sketch of the pavilion, and his pencil (lies from a window of the latter to Mailcy's howling analysis with lightning rapidity.. The hooks are his own invention," and he has recorded with their help the details of thirty test matches.