CRICKET.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 January 1920, Page 7

CRICKET.

NORTH TARANAKI MATCHES. HXTUKES FOR SECOND ROUND. Following are the fixtures In the second round i of the North Taranaki cricket competitions : SATURDAY SENIOR. Jan. 17.—New Plymouth A v. High School, at High School; Now Plymouth B v. Tlkorangl at Pukekura Park; Old Boys v. Freezing Works, at Show Grounds. Jan. 24.—New Plymouth A v. Freezing Works, at Pukekura Park; New Plymouth B v. High School, at High School; Old Boys r. Tlkorangl, at Tlkorangl. Jan. 31.—New Plymouth A v. New Plymouth B, at Pukekura Park; Old Boys v. High School, at High School; Freezing Works v. Tlkorangl, at Show Grounds. Pen. 7.—New Plymouth A v. Tlkorangl, at Pukekura Park; New Plymouth B v. Old Boys, at Show Grounds; High School v. Freezing Works, at High School. Feb. J.4.—New Plymouth A v. Old Boys, at High School; New Plymouth "B v. Freezing Works at Pukekura Park; High School T. Tlkorangl, at Tlkorangl. SATURDAY JUNIOR. lan. 17.—High School A v. Whlteley, at Racecourse ; High School B v. Waireka, at Tukapa; Tlkorangl v. Freezing Works, at Tlkorangl. J*n. 24.—High School A v. Tlkorangl, at Racecourse; High School B v. Freezing Works, at Show Grounds; Whlteley v. Waireka, at Tukapa. Jan. 31.—High School A 7. Waireka, at Racecourse; High School B v. Tlkorangl, at - Tlkorangl; Freezing Worta T. Whlteley, at Tukapa. Feb. 7.—High School A v. Freezing Works, at Racecourse; High School Bit. Whlteley, at Tukapa; Waireka v. Tlkorangl, at Tlkorangl. Feb. 147—High School A v. High School B, at Racecourse; Freezing Works v. Waireka, at Show Grounds; Tlkorangl v. Whlteley, at Tukapa. THURSDAY SENIOR.

fan. 15.—New Plymouth v. Walreka, at Pukekura Park; Albion v. Inglewood, at Inglewood. lan. 22.i-New Plymouth v. Inglewooc", at Pukekura Park; Albion r. Walreka, at Tukapa. lan. 29.—New Plymouth t. Albion, at Pukekura Park; Inglewood v. Walreka, at Inglewood.

WELLINGTON v. CANTERBURY. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The Wellington-Canterbury representative cricket match was continued today. At the conclusion of Thursday's play Canterbury were all out for 285. Despite the; fact that the wicket favored the batsmen, Wellington, at the outset, made a poor showing, and six wickets were down for 47. The "tail"' wagged effectively, however, Condliffe making a long stand and compiling G2, while MoGire and Middle ton batted freely, scoring 68 and 41 respectively. Hutchings carried his bat for 23, the innings closing for 262. . Canterbury went in about four o'clock, and when stumps were drawn had lost two wickets for 160 (Blunt, not out 77, Patrick, not out 64).

NOMADS v. WELLINGTON' B. Wellington, Last Night. The match between the Nomads and Wellington B team resulted in a win for the former by an innings and 94 runs. The Nomads made 412, Collins scoring 144 by. a fine exhibition of cricket. Aahford and Orton also batted well, making 70 and 60 respectively. Wellington made a very poor showing in their second innings, being dismissed for «8, of which Hughes made 21- Bernau took five Wellington wickets for 'SI, and Aahford four for 39.

NOTES. (By "Spectator.") Whilst the war was on Wellington wa» able to put an eleven in the field capable of beating the best inter-pro-vincial eleven, and had the honor of holding the Plunket Shield for a period. This success was mainly attributed to the Trentham camp, in which, from time to time, the pick of the Dominion cricketers were quartered. With the cessation of hostilities, these soldiers have returned to their homes, and their absence has been severely felt by Wellington. , This is proved by the results of the southern tour recently undertaken. Prior to leaving the Empijre City, the eleven appeared to possess possible chances of defeating Canterbury, but these hopes were rudely shattered, and a big defeat ensued. ..Gdiing on to Dunedin the Wellingtoniartg hoped to atone for the Canterbury loss by scoring a win over Otago, but again the visitors were not equal to the occasion, the fixture ending in a win for the home eleven by 156 runs.

Canterbury, the holders of the Plunket Shield, after defeating Wellington, journeyed to Auckland to meet the Northerners. The team selected was reported to be one of ?the best that has yet left the Cathedral City, but the sanguine hopes of the team and supporters were not fulfilled, the Aucklanders scoring a big 'win, and incidentally putting up the best score registered in the series of contests for the Shield., The Auckland total was 643, and was made as follows: Smith 258, Hemus 140, Horspool 92, Anthony 63, Gerrard and Player 15 each, Dacre and Brooke-Smith 9 each, Eountrce and Coates 1 each, Sneddon 0, extras 42.

Smith, the top-scorer, is an ex-English amateur, and played for Northampton prior to coming to New Zealand. Hemus who scored 140, has now made over 1000 runs in the shield competition.

This is not the first occasion Auckland has won the Shield, but, as in the present match, the presence of an English cricketer has been of great assistance to the province, as Relf, the Sussex professional was associated with many Northern' victories. Canterbury has also in the past had the use of professionals, Humphreys (Kent) helping to win the Shield, and later on< the Victorians, W and T. Carlton, assisted Canterbury. Otago had the services of Harry Graham fox a number of years, and before the war the Surrey amateur, Crawford, was coaching there. Hawke's Bay has also had the services of the late Albert Trott and Board (Gloucester), but at present none of the provinces is engaging a coach. Although Canterbury has lost the Shield they have an opportunity of regaming it t later on, as the Aucklanders are due to visit Chiistchurch before the season closes. The Sheffield Shield contest recently played between Victoria and New South Wales was the 97th between the States. The Shield resolves itself into a triangular duel between elevens representing New South- Wales. Victoria, and South Australia, each side meeting their opponents twice, and in the event of a tie regarding matches won and lost, the averages are then taken to find the winner.

The Shield competition was commenced in 181)2, and since then New South Wales has held it on thirteen occasions,' and Victoria seven. Occasionally South Australia has won, hut their record is poor, compared with the other States. So far thfls year, Victoria kM treuamd New South W*lea uv*

South Australia, whilst New South Wales has also scored a big win over South Australia. In the event of 'New South Wales defeating Victoria when they meet at Sydney, and assuming South Australia is again defeated by the other elevens, the averages will require to be worked out to disclose the winner.

In the last Victoria—New South Wales match, Vernon Hansford, the dashing left-handed batsman of Victoria, had to be carried off the field to receive hospital treatment. It appears that in playing Kelleway, the ball ran up the bat and caught Ransford a terrific smack in the face, the nose being badly broken.

The Australian Infantry team that accomplished so much on English and South African pitches is to play a series oty games with Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, and Queens/land, and' it is probable that some of these returned soldiers will also secure places in their State' elevens. That the Nomads were a better batting combination than demonstrated in the match against North Taranaki was indicated by the play against Wanganui, when the river town representatives went down rather badly. Hindmarsh, who showed no batting form here, played attractive cricket for over 70 runs, whilst Collins also proved a difficult wicket to obtain. Taking a line through the match, it proves that North Taranaki have a fine pair of trundlers in Johnson and Osborne, whilst Heskett, Hasell, and Lash are a trio of batsmen fit for anv team.

To-day a practise game is being played on the Recreation Ground to enable the selectors to secure the best eleven to meet South Taranaki. On the season's play North Taranaki possess good average batsmen and bowlers, but, as already indicated, it is my opinion that the selectors have not made the best use of the material, in some instances being apparently guided by previous years' play other than the year's performances. There is yet time to give the younger and more enthusiastic players a chance to demonstrate their ability. What has become of junior cricket fixtures? Some arrangement should be made to give these clubs all the cricket possible. It may be that the holiday vacation has put the High School out of the competition, but this should not debar the Waireka, Freezing Works, Tikorangi, and Whiteley teams from losing so many weeks' play. The School elevens could have had byes, and the other players games. This has always been a weakness in Taranaki cricket. Curing the summer, show and racing fixtures have been made an excuse for postponements, whereas bowlers have been playing right through the season, and, if they can carry on, why not the cricketers? THE BEST GAME FOR BOYS.

The following article by Mr. H. S. Pritchard, the English county cricketer, in the Athletic News, % ought to he pasted up in the recreation hall of every school in every British country. It Is clear, brief, and eminently sound:— "Much has been written lately about what is the best game for boys, and some writers have even urged that cricket should no longer be compulsory at our (English) schools, but that its place should be taken by lawn tennis. Now, it seems to me that all games considered a3 games for boys (or for men either for that matter) should fulfil three tests.

"Firstly, the ideal game is one in which the individual player plays not for himself, but for his side. ■ "Secondly, the ideal game must have in it some degree of physical danger. "Thirdly, there should be what we may call collective discipline inherent in the game. "To play fof one's side and not for one's self is at' the root of the British spirit in games, and it is what has made games' spirit so valuable in war, where any reasonably good captain of a school team almost invariably trained on into a good officer. "As for physical danger, no game that does not possess a spice of it is worth much. Rugby, Association football, and polo all have it, and as to cricket those who ?~.w Woodcock and E. Jones bowling in the Australians v. Lord Sheffield's team, at Sheffield Park, or Cotter at Worcester, or J. J}. King at Lord's, know that batitng can be positively physically dangerous and yet long scores be made. "A game should also be capable of encouraging unselfishness and self-sacri-fice for the common good of the side. Who, who Iml watched much cricket, has not seen mafly a keen player throw away his wicket to save his partner's because that partner was a better player, and therefore of more use to his side? In lawn tennis or golf—fine games as they are—you cannot do this. "Imagine a boy brought up—as far as games are concerned—solely on lawn tennis, and another boy brought up solely oh cricket. Take them at the age of (let us say) sixteen and compare their outlook. You will find the cricketer-boy has formed ideals vastly in advance of those of the tennis Boy. The cricketer—if he is the right sort, rightly taught—will have to consider himself a part of a whole—a member of a team. "For him to make a hundred or take eight or nine wickets while his teim loses is dust and ashes. The team it is that matters)'the individual is nothing. "On the other hand, the tennis boy's ideal must be to win. He may and will have learned to accept defeat 'gracefully, but he.will have become—he cannot help himself—a game's individualist. 'No, no! It will be a bad day and a sad day for the country when,'if ever, lawn tennis and golf or any such individualistic games take the place of cricket and football and hockey at our great or little schools.

"It is commonplace to say that in Prance one of the things at which the foreigner most wondered was the way in which the moment they came out or the trenches our men played football. "Behind the lines games were encouraged to the furthest extent, for it was realised that the team play and collective discipline of the football field bore their fruit in No-Man's Land, for they induced that spirit of thinking for the good of the side which is at the root of all victory."