CRICKET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 135, 31 October 1914, Page 7

CRICKET.

TO-DAY'S FIXTI'KKS. Tikorangi v. Law, at Tikoraii»i. Albion v. United Service. ill, the liecreation. U'rounds; New j.'l>inmuLll :i bye. Weather permitting, tlii-4 ufi'Tnonn will see 111 ij curtain raised on Uic v aiurdav championship ij ioii in Twraiiaki for IMH-4-15. The weather dur. ill!,' the pawt few weeks has been very iso 111111-ii so, indeed, that tile Cricket (unncil Iras been, very much handicap]:; l !! ill preparing the ground, owing to its hardness, rendering it almost impervious "..o the attack of the heavy roller. Tile line downpour of yesterday. if jt deal's >'l» ill time, should cnablit home effective I rolling to lie done this morning. It will -be disappointing to cricket ciil'flusias'.« ii J,lie weather after •lmv-inj* been sn for such a lengthy spell, is unkind iiiough to interfere this afternoon with tile opening of the Kea.son. but they must naive themsolves wit h ilie thought that the farmers needed the rain badly, and that it will do an incalculable amount of good throughout the whole of 'j'aranaki. Moreover, last year cricketers had so many disappointments in the matter of wet !\iturdu.ys that they should he used to them. The season opens with ■iiKUdies at Tikoraiigi and \hv Kecrca(ioii Grounds. Law inet»l« the local elub lit ilie former plaee. This match is bound to be kecnlv contested, for Law have quite as siron..a. team as l:i«i! year. Indeed, to-day they open with practically the same eleven. Their old-seasoned players arc showing good form, whilst their colts have film benefit of year's experienee. Tikorangi will '.lo'-day be represented by the team that did battle so valiantly last seaison. In a week or two it is expected their learn will be f-t rciigthened by the inclusion of t'he Urenui players, Ehindell and fuller. At the Recreation: Grounds, United Service will nie,et Albion. United Servieo, in addition to most of last season* j layers have some new blond, includ.iie Purdue, a good all-round player from Kelson. Albion is a new elnb, and its •personnel, is to some extent unknown though it is said to contain quite a l!umber of Carrington road players. . New Plymouth have tile bye. It was thought that High .School would possibly have filled the breach by having a practice match with the bye-team, but this

his been found impracticable. and the school will enter a team in the Thurs-

day senior ifoanpetition as arranged. The School 15oys will probably require to be reckoned with in the competition, too, judging 'by their display last Saturday. The Thursday competition will.be commenced as soon as it is defhtitcly known how many teams will be competing, possibly by Thursday week. At present High School, Phoenix and Tikorangi have entered and it is understood that Inglowood also will be competitors. The inland club has not held its annual meeting yet, but members who liavj counted heads consider tnat the club will be stronger tlian ever this yearTaken by and large, there is a distinct .revival in cricket circles this year in New Plymouth, and while this is so ,it is to bo hoped stops will be taken to form an umpires' association. It is most unsatisfactory under present conditions, when members of the batting team have to take turn about as umpire. There should be some obi crickc'.,ers available willing to intern-'! themselves an such an association. Once started, and worked oil the right lines, such tin as-ociation would (ill a long-felt wan , to use a hackneyed phrase. After having been located five vears in Mltliam, tiie headquarters of the South Taranaki Cricket Association have been removed to iluwcra. Cricket elill liourishea in E-Itham, and a new pi L ch is being laid down in Taumata Park. On Labor Day, at Alton, Ball Road defeated a Wanganui Itam by 157 to 50. Len Cave scored tHi tor the Ba:li Koad team.

Eden Park is l at 'present, uiulit to p'ay cricket on. This ground has been vei y unfortunate this year. In the. winter the rains converted '.lite centre into a ouagmirc. The ilugby Union took si:p,s to drv iv for the representative nutch-'s ,ind then the dry spell came on, the grutind becoming so hard that H could not be prepared for cricket, though «t<yi were taken to get it ill order by the ground staff. Plaving in Wellington on Saturday. Tom "Southall scored 14 not 'out in East's second innings, and took 2 wickets for 37 against North. Thanks to a. line stand I>v Midlane (42 not out) and HendersM. (24 not out) North converted a minority of 2S on -Ihe fimt inning into a win by 4 wickets juet on the call of time.

As the Xew Plymouth Club has a bye to-day, a practice will be held on the Western Park at 2 o'clock. All intending players are requested to attend, as the club's matches commence next Saturday.