CRICKET

Taranaki Daily News, 2 December 1926, Page 4

CRICKET

PLAY IN NORTH TARANAKI COMMENTS ON HIE GAMES. (By “The Man on the Terrace.”) FIXTURES AHEAD. To morrow and Saturday. —Hawke Cup match, Wanganui (holders) v. Taranaki (Challengers) at Wanganui. Saturadv.—Town V. Country (North Taranaki), A and B matches, both at New Plymouth. December IX.—North Taranaki juniors v. South Taranaki juniors. December 17, 18 and 20.—Town v. Country, at Wellington. December 21 and 22.—Minor Associations v Wellington, at Wellington. December 18 and 20.—New Plymouth Boys’ High School v. Nelson college, at New Plymouth. Defections from the provincial team to meet Wanganui to-morrow have considerably reduced the fighting quality of the side originally selected to uphold our cricket reputation. Among the Northern men, C. Lash is definitely unable to play but it is now understood that Bottrill will be able to undertake the journey. Monaghan and Penny, of the South” who were in the original team, are not available nor is Betts, chosen as second emergency. The absence of these players has weakened the team for we have not men of quite the same calibre to replace them. Lash will be missed as opening batsmen, for In company with Nasmith he has the temperament necessary to open an innings. Monaghan s batting will also be missed, as it is quite on the cards that Taranaki will be in want of his skill. Penny, too, bowled well in the recent North-South match and his medium paced off-break would have been valuable to the side. At present the chief deficiency is the need for a medium paced bowler who can preserve a length over a number of overs. For fast bowlers the team is well served. Clarke, Cole and Petty, on recent form may be expected to bowl well, but once Bottrill has been tried, the skipper of the team will be hard put to it, to maintain the attack. Against batsmen of Dempster’s ability, one must keep variation to the fore in handling the bowling, or the results will be fatal. Nevertheless, though most followers of the game will have misgivings regarding the bowlers, the team has enough good batsmen to make a good showing and all cricketers will wish it well tomorrow.

CRICKET UNDER DIFFICULTIES. j i Saturday was the worst possible day J for cricket yet senior and junior ( matches went on as usual. Considering the early start made this year, it would , have done little harm to have post- , poned all games. The wind was intense- , Iv biting and the showers throughout ] the afternoon made matters all the more unpleasant. Yet the sun was ] sufficiently enticing to lure players back to wickets—to their own physical discomfort. In the circumstances it was 1 not surprising that with one exception, the fielding side found conditions much against them. The feature of the day's play was Kingston's second edntury for the season. In compiling his century he showed his best form, scoring delightful- i ly all round the wicket. The attrac- 1 tive thing about his batting from the point of view of those on the terrace (they were few enough, however) was that” he was aiwya looking for runs. From Western Park's point of view, it was hard to prevent him from scoring quickly for bowling a wet ball with numbed fingers is a hard proposition. This is what the Western Park bowlers had to face and the chilling wind was another factor that contributed to poor bowling averages. Apart from Kingston and C. G. Clarke, (who had knocked up 34 on the first day) the New Plymouth innings was undistinguished until M. D. Clarke and the veteran E. Lash were associated. In a fine last wicket partnership, they eame within 17 runs of Western Park’s total of 226. From the way in which both men faced the bowling it seemed that the match would be pulled out of the fire, but at 209 Clarke was caught. Park’s second innings was a procession before the bowling of C. G. Clarke. In taking all six wickets for li runs, Clarke rose to great heights and did not seem affected by the depressing conditions. He elean bowled Ratcliffe and Forrester, got Young leg before and made Jones, Kissling and Quickfall hit up easy catches. Lawry and later Grayson were the only ones to make any showing against the bowling. The former played a safe innings for 8 not out before rain sent the players finally to the pavilion, six wickets having fallen for 28 runs. If other teams anathemised the weather, Western Park have to thank it for giving them first innings victory. WEAKNESS IN BOWLING. The meeting of the two Old Boys teams on the High School ground proved a triumph not necessarily for youth but for the batting side. If the A team had batted instead of the B team, a score would have been run up to equal the B’s effort of seven wickets for 253. The bowling of the A team is not strong but on Saturday it was distinctly weak and as a natural consequence the B team compiled their best score this season. The B team in their second innings had lost one wicket for 20 runs and •when they resumed, on Saturday, they ’ showed that they were out to play the safe game and make a certain twopoint win. The partnership of I. Palmer and Lash broke the bowling and enabled all the team but Dinnis to reach double figures. Palmer in scoring 94 gave some indications of regaining his form of a couple of seasons ago. ne gave eeveral chances but made his scoring strokes in no uncertain manner. There were plenty of short balls sent down and he pulled them powerfully to the boundary. His batting of late has been inclined to recklessness but on Saturday he showed more restraint until be neared the century. Just when caution should have been most needed ho hit an easy ball up to cover. Lash played a dull innings in comparison and gave a chance behind the wickets. I. Palmer, Stromboiu and Pope found that the bowling had lost its sting and score*! their niEH quickly. Of the A team’s bowlers, all were

erratic with the exception of Papps who secured two wickets at the end. Eggleton, bowliug against the wind, could not get a wicket, while Bottfil’s two wickets cost 82 runs. Earl had two expensive overs and was taken of)'. It was particularly severe on the bowlers on the exposed School ground and it can be said that ail the elements were against them. The match between High School and Urenui was not continued owing to the state of the Urenui ground. School therefore won on the first innings. On Saturday two Town versus Country matches will be played. The meeting of the A teams in spite of the absence of the eream of local cricket should provide an interesting game. The Country team will be one of the strongest to represent the Country Association. In C. Foeeman, M. Shallard, P. Sarten, A. Foreman, and Gibson the team has useful cricketers. Following is the position of the teams in the North Taranaki competitions to date:— SENIOR GRADE Matches 3-pt 2-pt T’l Prd.AVinsAVins.Loss.pt.

A not out score of 101 was made by C. Lash when batting for Banks against Insurance in the annual match held in New Plymouth on Tuesday. Victory was decided on one innings and the Banks lost only two wickets in making 199, which was 16 runs better than the total to the credit of Insurance. Though light rain fell almost throughout the game and necessitated two adjournments, excitement was not wanting. Insurance batted first and Grayson and B. Lash opened the innings with 44 and 18 respectively. Both were bowled by C. Lash. Jones put on a useful 42 before being caught by C. Dinnies off Pruden, and Nicol suffered a similar fate after making 25. Gray (16) and O’Dowda (10) were the only other double figure scorers. After C. Lash, 0. Dinniss proved most useful to Banks as he managed to reach a score of 41 before being run out. The other batsmen were K. Taylor, not out, 19 and J. Palmer 17. Bowling for Banks C. Dinniss secured the best average with five wickets for 41 runs and C. Lash was next with three for 54. Nicol took one wicket for 20 runs for Insurance.

High School .. 3 1 2 — 7 New Plymouth 3 111 Western Park 3 — 2 1 4 Old Boys A .. 3 — 1 2 2 Old Boys B .. 3 — 1 2 2 Urenui .... 3 — — 3 — ■ ■ ■ -1 JUNIOR GRADE — NORTHERN DIVISION. M.P. 3-pt 2-pt T’l Wins. Wins. Dn L’t Pt. Waitara 7 3 3 — 1 15 Technical School 6 4 1 — 1 14 Council B .... 6 2 1 1 2 9 Old Boys 7 1 2 1 3 8 High School B 6 1 — — 5 3 Band 6 — — — 6 — First round matches to be played: Technical School v. Band; School B V. Council B. WESTERN DIVISION. Matches 3-pt 2-pt T’l PI'd.Wins.Wine.Loss.Pt. Okato 7 3 2 2 13 School A .... 6 2 3 1 12 Council A .... 7 2 3 2 12 Avenue Road 7 2—5 6 Western Park 6 114 New Plymouth 7 — 16 2 First round match still to be played: High School A v. Western Park. COUNTRY ASSOCIATION. Matches T’l Played. Won. Dn. L. Pt. Tikorangi 6 6 — — 12 Tarurutangi ...... 5 3 — 2 ’6 Brixton , 6 3 — 3 0 Egmont Village ..5 1 — 4 - Bell Block 0 1 — 5 2 —. BANKS DEFEAT INSURANCE.: ■ C. LASH BREAKS THE CENTURY.