CRICKET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 198, 30 January 1915, Page 7

CRICKET.

POSITIONS OF THE TEAMS. SATURDAY COMPETITION. Pd. Won. Lost. Pts. United Service .. 10 i) 1 10 Albion 10 0 4 fi Inglewood .... 8 5 3 4 ' New Plymouth.. !) 5 4 3 Tikorangi .... 10 4 7—9 Law 90 9 —2O THURSDAY COMPETITION. Inglewood .... 4 3 1 4 Phoenix 5 3 2 4 Tikorangi .... 5 2 3—2 X.P.H.S 2 2—o TO-DAY'S MATCHES. New Plymouth v. Inglewood, at West•ern Park; Albion v. United Service, at Recreation Grounds; Law v. Tikorangi, at Tikorangi. NEWS AND NOTES. To-day will see the commencement of the third round of the Saturday competition. '.At the close of the second round United Service had a commanding lead over Albion. Both these teams have 'completed all their matches. Tikorangi has also completed all its matches, hut is a long way down the list. Inglewood, with two uncompleted matches, is third. United Service looks almost certain to win the championship, but one never knows.

Law put up a fine performance last week at Inglewood, when, thanks to a fine score by Lash, they made the respectable total of 169. Lash was in great form. He had a let-off early in the innings, but thereafter gave a fine display, whieff was all the more worthy of commendation when one remembers that he received a nasty knock on the fingers from a fast ball by Eggleton in the thirties. There are few who would have begrudged seeing Teddy score the extra six to obtain the coveted century. Inglewood made a good showing, and with Eggleton, Matthews, Sutherland, Thomas, Smith and Harkness yet to be disposed of, should have a chance of making the necessary 70 runs to win.

United Service maintained their lead by defeating New Plymouth. A feature, of this match was the fine stand made by Mason.

It is gratifying to note that cricketers are keen in the matter of practice in connection with the forthcoming trip to Wanganui after the Hawkc Shield. Of the sixteen New Plymouth players asked to practice, no less than thirteen appeared at the, nctsjm Tuesday. Of' the. absentees, Lash had an injured fin- ; ger, whilst business precluded the others from attending. It has been decided to indulge in representative practice at the Recreation Grounds on bothMMo- t day and Tuesday evenings. Clarke, the Albion fast bowler,.who is developing a dangerous swerve,' proved very deadly on Saturday at the : Recreation Grounds against Tikorangi, I as his average (nine for 13) shows. He took all the wickets, Roberts being run out. In the second innings O'Donnell came off best. Martin, Clarke, and Girling were responsible for Albion's scotc exceeding Tiheir opponents. It was a low-scoring match throughout, and in i the three innings there were only four double-figure scores. ''. In the Thursday competition, Inglewood gained a narrow victory over Phoenix by the margin of four runs. Robertson (03) scored more than half the town team's total. He has been very consistent with the bat this season, and his performances are 97, 17, (56. and 03—a total of 293 for four innings. Inglewood scored 120, and Sutherland (42), batting well, topped their total. Whittle (Phoenix) and 'Eggleton (Inglewood) had the best bowling figures.

No fewer than f-" cricket captains arc servin" with the forces: Messrs P. P. Wiirncr, J. W. IT) T. Douglas, C. B. Fry, A. C. Maclarcn, and TT. D. G. Leveso'n-Gower. In fact, a large proportion of county cricketers have joined, as the following figures indicate: —Hampshire 24, Warwickshire U, Sussex 10, Yorkshire. 8, Middlesex 18, Somerset 10, Lancashire 12, Essex 11, and Derbyshire 11.

The following will represent New Plymouth against Inglewood, at Western Park, to-dav:—.l. A. Hcskctt, E. L. Mason, W. P. Nicoll. L. C. Richards, A. B. Chappell, P. S. Oliver, E. D. Colson, A. V. Stohr, P. E. Stainton, W. C. Weston, G. G, Newell, D. H. Cooper. The following is the Law team io play Tikorangi, at Tikorangi, to-day, leaving the National Bank corner at a quarter to one:—Bewlev, Billing, Quilliam (2). Elliott, Little, Reid, Harlc, Johnson, Hughes and Lash.