CRICKET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 174, 31 December 1914, Page 3

CRICKET.

1 SATURDAY COMPETITION. ■I I POSITIONS OF THE TEAMS.

i |. NEWS AND NOTES. The cup competitions will be resumed . on Saturday, January 0, when Inglc--4 wood and New Plymouth will meet to decide the match which was not played ; in the first round, owing to Inglewood not having then entered in the competi- ! tion, New Plymouth having a bye. On | the following Saturday, the competitions , re-open in earnest. | In the final cup matches of the dying year, there were some great bowling i performances. Bain's six wickets for three runs for United Service against Law stands out first, and is the second bast performance of the season. Hughes, of New Plymouth, with six wickets for one run against Tikorangi easily holds the palm. Clarke, the Albion skipper, i'-took seven wickets for eleven runs, •and proved a thorn in the side of New Plymouth. New Plymouth, usually a strong batting team, failed miserably against Albion, and were all out for 31. They did much better in the second venture, when they quadrupled their score. It could not, however, .save them from a three point defeat, as Albion, who had put up the respectable total of 104 in their first innings, knocked up the required runs very quickly. Clarke, with 56 not out, proved as invaluable with the bat as with the ball.

United Service knocked up 122 against Law. Bain was batting freely when he was caught. McGie, with 33, was top scorer. Law batsmen came and went to and from the batting crease in quick succession for a miserable nineteen. Following on, Bewley made a good stand, and saved Law from a three point defeat. The two point defeat was, however, a foregone conclusion. Law still maintains its unbeaten record—at the bottom of the list. It would not however, be surprising if this team brought off some surprises before the competition closes. Inglewood secured another win over (Tikorangi at Inglewood. the wicket, with the rising balls, puzzled the visitors. Roberts was the only one to acclimatize himself with the bat, and ho scored 63 by fair cricket, only to fall a victim to a ball which rose badly. G. Foreman stopped in for a long time for his runs. Smith, with five wickets -for 22 runs, had fine bowling figures. Inglewood obtained the required runs for the loss of seven wickets. Nicolls, who batted confidently for 2S runs, was very useful, as be remained in while 88 runs were being scored and seven wickets fell. Keinptliorne and Thomas then became associated, and hit off the twenty runs required. Roberts brought off a magnificent catch when he held a ball from Meßae's bat low down in the slips. Cricket found a place among the holiday attractions locally this year, two matches being played this Christmas-

tide. On Christmas Day the Recreation Ground saw a friendly match between teams from the Saturday and Thursday competition. The idea of the match was not only to provide a pleasant afternoon's cricket, but also to give players an opportunity of catching the eye of selectors for the S.-Taranaki and Wanganui matches. Neither team was represent-! cd by its full strength, notable absentees from the Thursday team being Hasell, Whittle and Clegg, and from the Sat-' unlay team Heskctt and Lash. The Saturday team proved easy winners, the bowling of Mason and the batting of Clarke being contributory factors. The latter rattled up 51 in'rare style,'and hit the leather Ij>vice into the road before Braund got one past him. Osborne, 29 not out, batted patiently, whilst Stewart (15) and Richards (20), by very careful batting, put on 40 for the first wicket. Of five bowlers, Braund was the most successful.. Extras 21 made a respectable showing, which is surprising when the team contained wicket-keepers of the calibre of Matthews, Roberts and Robertson. For the Thursday team, the opening batsmen—Roberts 19 and Robertson 16, who put on over 30 for the first wicket, and Braund 16—wf.re the only doublt) figure scorers. McKenzic was run out when batting nicely. Mason, 6 for 25, and Clarke, 3 for 28, divided the bowling honors. On Boxing Day, Inglewood sent a fairly strong team to Hawera.to play the local club. The! bowling and batting of Blamires proved too much for them, they suffering defeat in the first innings, by 202 to 63. Blamires, undefeated, scored 133 by fine play, and tdok five wickets for 31. Clegg 14, and McDonald 11, were the only Inglewood batsmen to score double figures. Mcßae took five Hawera wickets for 50 runs. Inglewood had a second innings, anil scored 174. Matthews 46 and Sutherland 42 (not out) were most successful with the bat, though Pullen, Clegg, Mcßae and McDonald also got double figures. Of the eight howlers. tried, seven got wickets. Blamires did not bowl during the second innings.

*i B o ."§ " United Service 8 7 1 12 Albion 9 5 9 ( ■New Plymouth . 7 4 3 ;: Inglewood 7 4 3 2 Tikorangi 8 3 5 5 Law 1 8 7 18 j THURSDAY COMPETITION. ' Phoenix 3 2 \ 1 4 Tikorangi 3 2 1 2 1 luglcwood 2 1 1 High School 2 6