CRICKET

Taranaki Daily News, 8 January 1921, Page 3

CRICKET

TARANAKI v. WANGANUIFIRST DAY’S PLAY.. TARANAKI OUT FOR 137. A representative cricket match between elevens representing Wanganui and Taranaki was commenced on the Boys’ High School grounds, New Plymouth, yesterday afternoon.” The weather was fine, and the wicket played well, though the outfield was rather slow. TARANAKI BAT FIRST. Taranaki won the toss, and decided, to bat, Penny and Sarten opening. Holland bowled from the northern end, and Smith from the southern. Sartbn faced the bowling and batted cautiously. In the third over he was clean-bowled by Holland—6/1/2. Pratt, the next man in, ’also played with care, and consequently runs were slow in coming. Justafter opening his scoring account Pratt “spooned” an easy catch right into the hands of Palmer, who was fielding for Wanganui, who were a man short—lo/ 2/2. Little took his place at the wicket, and, by scoring the first boundary of the match, brought the score up to

twenty. The batsmen now appeared to be settling down to their work, and runs were coming more freely, mainly owing to the enterprise of Little. A promising innings, however, was shortly afterwards brought to a close, when Holland dean-bowled Little—3l/3/14. Bain, the Taranaki skipper, went in next, and opened with a single. He was lucky in that two easy catohes off his bat were not accepted. However, soon afterwards Pratt, who went in first, gave an easy catch to Leggatt—4o/4/7. Gibson then went in. Extras augmented the score considerably at this stage. Wells replaced Smith with the ball at the south end. Bain began to hit out, but byes were still mainly responsible for the score. Leggatt took a turn with the ball, replacing Holland. Gibson lifted one to the boundary, «and seventy showed on the board. After a quiet spell, Wells got Gibson’s wicket—77/5/10. Hughes followed. Bain was [Again hitting freely, and Hughes found the boundary, but Leggatt soon afterwards bowled him—92/ 6/5. Palmer filled the breach. After a few minutes at the wicket, he was smartly taken in slips by Smith—94/ 7/1. Macdonald, who followed, was cleannbowled by Leggatt in the same over—94/8/0. Morrison was next man in, and Smith again bowled .from the south end. Morrison hit a four, and the century appeared after an - hour and three-quarters’ play. After a long stand Bain’s middle stump was sent flying by Smith—lo 9/ , 9/29. Foreman was the last man in, and signalised his advent with a boundary’. Both 'batsmen played vigorously, and the score steadily mounted up. Holland had another turn with the ball, replacing Leggatt. Runs were still coming when, with the second ball of a new over, Holland bowled Foreman, and the innings closed—l37/10/14. Morrison carried his bat for 22.

WANGANUI’S REPLY. Stewart and Derby opened the innings for the visitors. Penny bowled from the southern end. and Bain from the northern. After the first over the batsmen were quick in settling down to work. Mainly owing to Stewart’s efforts, the score steadily mounted up, so that, in just under the half hour, 40 appeared on the board. Stewart was scoring boundaries in quick succession. Hughes then replaced Penny, and Foreman took Bain’s place with the ball. The bowling, however, seemed to hold no terrors for the batsmen, and Stewart lifted Hughes to the boundary. Shortly after Wards Foreman, with a swerving ball, got Derby’s wicket—49/ 1/9. Leggatt, the new batsman, hit a boundary off the first ball. Stewart sent another ball boundary wards, and then skied” a ball, which Morrison failed to hold. Stewart sent three more to the boundary, and 70 went up on the" board, but, in attempting to hit a fourth in the same direction, he was caught in deep field by Bain. Stewart’s score included nine boundaries—74/2/54. Luxford partnered Leggatt, who hit Hughes for four. Luxford was then given out, l.b.w. 80/3/2. Smith took his place at the crease. Shortly after Palmer took the bowling at the south end, and Penny accepted a catch from Leggatt off his third ball—Bl/4/9.

Wood was the newcomer, and Bain again took the hall at the north end. Wood hit him to the boundary during the over, and 90 appeared. Another four followed. After an hour and a quarter the century was registered, and stumps were drawn a few minutes later, with the score at 102, and with Smith and Wood still in. Messrs. J, Brown and E. Cole acted as umpires. The match will be continued at 'lO o’clock this mornin« T . Details: TARANAKI. First Innings.

Bowling analysis: Holland, 4 for 32; Leggatt. .3 for 24; Smith, 2 for 33; Wells 1 for 18. t WANGANUI.

Bowling Foreman, 2 for 26; Palmer. 1 for 4; Hughes, 1 for 14; Penny, 0 for 34; Bain, O’ for 10. THE PLUNKET SHIELD. WELLINGTON v. AUCKLAND. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. A Plnnket Shield match between Auckland and Wellington commenced i here to-day in perfect weather. The,

wicket at the Basin Reserve was in splendid condition. Much interest was manifested in the fixture, and there was an large attendance. Wellington won the toss, and batted first, Hiddlestone and Phillips making a good stand for the first wicket, which fell when the score was 112. When stumps were drawn for the day Wellington’s total was 306 for the loss of eight wickets. Details:

Total (8 wickets) .306 Bowling analysis: Player. 6 for 12.3; C. Sneddon, 1 for 31; Smith, 1 for 46. NEW ZEALAND TEACHERS. TOUR IN AUSTRALIA. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Jan. 7, 10.35 p.m. Sydney, Jan. 7. At cricket, O. S. Smith’s team, playing against the New Zealand teachers, made 308 in their first innings. Perry took five wickets for 116. The New Zealand teachers, in their first innings, made 75 (Worker 28). Ip their second innings they have three wickets down for 40 (Worker 25, not out). —Aus. and N.Z. Cable Assn. GREAT TEST MATCH BATSMEN.

“W.G.,” SHREWSBURY, GUNN, RANJITSINHJI, JACKSON, HAYWARD. (By Hugh Trumble, in The Sydney Referee.) I have been asked to contribute a short article for the special test match section of the Referee on some of the great test match batsmen I have met, end the half-dozen names that first flash through my mind are Dr. W. G. Grace, Arthur Shrewsbury, William Gunn, the Jam of Nawanagar (K. S. Ran jitsinh ji), Hon. F. S. Jackson, and Tom Hayward. Undoubtedly the greatest personality in cricket the world has ever seen was “W.G.” In my early days, when I first

met him, he always appeared to me to be three men rolled into one, and the moral effect he had on his side was tremendous. At 48 years of age I saw him stand up in a most wonderful manner to Ernest Jones at Sheffield Park in the opening match of the 1896 Australian tour. The wicket was a fiery one, and Jones never in his career bowled at a greater pace; yet, the Grand Old Man, after being repeatedly knocked about by bumping balls, played two very fine innings indeed. The rising balls, bowled at express speed, had no terrors for him, and it was a wonderful tribute to the fine sight that he must have possessed to make the runs he did. \V.G. had a splendid defence, and knew everything that it was possible to know in the art of batting. At placing the ball he had no superior, and in all my experience I never remember seeing him let anything pass on the off-side without attempting a stroke of some kind. He was superb on the cut, either square or late, and he picked his ball in no uncertain manner. He had wonderful resource as a batsman, would hit a. ball when opportunity presented itself, and he had the heart of a lion. At 47 years of age, in the season of 1895. he scored 1000 runs in the month of May and completed his hundredth hundred in first-class matches—a feat quite without parallel in the history of English cricket.

NO WIOKET SO HARD TO CAPTURE. Arthur Shrewsbury, to my mind, was the greatest professional batsman of his day. The batting of this wonderful Nottinghamshire player -was always a tower of strength to his side, and I don't think any wicket was ever so hard to capture, either on a good or bad pitch. He was a perfect master on indifferent wickets, and was undoubtedly the greatrest leg player 1 ever came across. He had great patience and judgment, combined with a wonderful defence, but could always punish a loose ball. He was always a thorn in the side of Australians teams visiting England, and on bad wickets was frequently the only man on the side to get runs. He was a perfect master of tho science of batting in every phase, and you could never tell by his manner or play whether he had scored his first run or his hundredth. HARRY TROTT’S PROTECTING SHIN PADS.

William Gunn, also a Nottingham player, was a contemporary 'of Shrewsbury, and they were a great pair and no mistake. I shall never forget his innings of 2'28 for the Players of England against the Australians at Lord’s Ground in 1890. This innings, at the time, was considered one of the finest bits of batting that had ever been witnessed against first-class bowling. Although never a shadow of a chance off the bat was given, the Australians always thought he was lucky in surviving one or two appeals for a leg-before decision. Gunn, like Shrewsbury, was a great leg player.. He was a very methodical and correct batsman of the solid type, and had a great reach. As an exponent of the square drive past point he stood alone, and the way he cracked a halfvolley on the off to the boundary was electrical, and invariably sent a shudder through the fieldsman. Poor old Harry Trot, fielding at point, after getting one or two cracks on the shins, thought it wise to get a special pair of protecting pads made to fit under his flannels, and be did not forget to stand well back when there, were any off-theory bowlers on and Gunn was batting. Shrewsbury and Gunn won innumerable Snatches by their batting alone, but, being so scientific and solid, their batting did not always appeal to the lover of the game. ESSENTIALLY A TEST MATCH PLAYER.

Hon. F. S. Jafilcson was temperamentally fitted to a degree, and possessed any amount of self-confidence. He was the most successful of all English batsmen in test match cricket during my career. A player of th? very solid type, with excellent defence and determination, he invariably played himself well in before lie settled down to his work Ho was a part’eularly strong back player and watched tho ball carefully, but had good forcing strokes, with plenty o£ wrist, power. He was essentially a test match player and rose to the occasion. I remember him at Lord’s*, in 1893, playing (or England on a difficult w’rket, putting on 137 runs with Shrewsbury for the third wicket. Jackson’s score was 91 and Shrewsbury’s 106. In the

next test match at the Oval he scored 103 run out for a grandly hit innings. With C. I. Thornton’s XL at Scarborough, he got 62 and 68, so Australian bowlers of that year had good reason to remember him. As a bowler he was decidedly more than useful, and very often effected a separation when others failed. He had a nice, easy action, and was always to be reckoned with from a howling point. He was undoubtedly a g; ?at all-round player, and it was a pity that we never had the pleasure of seeing him in Australia with an English team. WONDERFUL EYE OF RANJL This marvellous Indian batsman was quite a genius with the bat in many ways, and scored many saccei-ses against Australian teams. He possessed a wonderful eye, flexibility of wrists, and knew how to use his legs to perfection, and was always a very tough proposition for a bowler to meet on anything like a good wicket. Tie, however, did not possess the cool temperament one found in some of the great English batsmen when things reached a crisis in the game, being highly-strung and sensitive, which no doubt handicapped him on certain occasions. He was very distinctive in his style of playing, doing a lot of flicking and glancing, and perhaps was not a good model for a young player. Everything seemed possible to him on a good wicket, and he could glance a ball to leg off the middle stump just as easily as if it was a foot outside the leg peg. It was a most difficult matter to keep him at all quiet when he got going. Fast bowling had no terrors for him at all, and he generally dealt it out pretty severely to the expresses, whenever he had anything like a reasonable wicket to bat on. He played a magnificent innings in the test match at Manchester in 1896, scoring 154 not out in the second innings out of a total of 305. That was the finest innings I ever saw him play, and he completely toolcf charge of our bowlers on that occasion. Tom Hayward was one of the great test match players who had indomitable patience and most excellent defence. On •Anything like a good wicket he took a power of shifting, as he never took an unnecessary risk. Tie was a most correct batsman, and although he appeared slow at times his style was so perfect that he was always interesting to watch. He was quite one of England’s best and had an ideal temperament for test match cricket. He took a tremendous amount of digging out on a good wicket, and his policy always seemed to be to wear the bowling out. I recollect on the occasion of a test match on the Sydney cricket ground in 1901, when he was playing the rock and never looked like getting out, purposely trying to get him to hit. He had a fine off-drive, which necessitated a man being kept at longfield off. I called him in from that position to ft sort of long hit but told him quietly to work back for the last two balls of the over. Sure enough Hayward, evidently being intent on showing us that he could hit, fell into the trap and drove a fihe*hit straight into Hill’s hands, he having quietly got back into his old position on the boundary. The finest innings I ever remember Hayward playing was the England v. Australia match at Manchester in 1899, when he scored 1.30 runs in the first innings. When things were going badly for his side he took an hour and a half to make his first runs, but when the tide had been stemmed he played magnificently and scored at a good rate. He was a nephew of the famous Thomas Hayward who, in his day. was regarded as the first professional batsman in England.

Mr. P. Selig writes to the Christchurch Press:—Tn September last I was one of the spectators (estimated by the newspapers at 32,000) at Lords on the occasion of the open'ing of the closing match for the county championship—Middlesex v. Surrey. “Plum” Werner went in for Middlesex at a critical stage of the game for his side. He was making his final appearance, at the age of 45, in first-class cricket. Several of the English team now playing in Australia took part in that match, and they will remember that, Warner’s extreme cautiousness at the opening of his innings excited laughter, hand-clapping, and comment—nothing offensive, but palpably satirical—as he simply played the bowling back to the bowler. He was handicapped, too, with lameness, but he practically won the game for his side by compiling in masterly style 70 odd. All the same he was “barracked,” if this term is not-an Australian one for offensiyeness. Forty odd years ago I was a spectator at a match in Sydney between Lord Hawke’s side and either New South Wales or Australia—l forget which. Murdoch was making a. good stand, when he was at last given out l.b.w. Fine sportsman that he was, Murdoch immediately walked out. He had not gone far when cries of “not out” were heard from all parts of the ground. But Murdoch never hesitated, and then , the crowd rushed the ground. There was something in the nature of a melee, and some offensive remark being made to Ulyett, Lord Hawke grabbed the offender, and things looked ugly for a time. But I need not dwell on the incident.

Penny, c Leggatt, b Smith . Sarten, b Holland . 7 2 Pratt, 6 Palmer, b Holland .... Little, b Holland Bain (captain), b Smith ....... Gibson, b Wells .... 14 .... 29 .... 10 Hughes, b Leggatt K Palmer, c Smith, b Leggatt .. Macdonald, b Leggatt Morrison, not out .... 1 .... o 09 Foreman, b Holland .... 14 Extras ..... 31 Total . . . 137

First Innings, Stewart, c. Bain, b Foreman .. 54 Derby, b Foreman 0 Leggatt, e Penny, b Palmer .... 9 Lurfortl, lbw, b Hughes 2 Smith, not out 4 Wood, not out ... 14 Extras ... 10 Total for four wickets .... .. 102

Hiddleston© ■<. Phillips ...... Burton ...... 144 ...... 36 IS Donoghue ...... 0 Lambert ., 0 Bruce , 34 McGirr ........ .■..•.I.. 23 34 Brice, not out •.. , . . 3 Extras ,... 14