CRICKET.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 981, 26 February 1910, Page 5

CRICKET.

TOUR OF THE AUS- * TRALIANS. MATCH AGAINST CANTERBURY. THE HOME TEAM'S GOOD STAND. REESE'S MAGNIFICENT BATTING. By Telegraph—Press Association. CHRISTCHUKCH, February 25. The match between the visiting Australian eleven and the Canterbury representatives began at Lancaster Park this afternoon. The weather was overcast, and rain threatened. A strong easterly wind blew down the wicket from the pavilion end and the day was very far from being an ideal one for a representative cricket match. The attendance during the early part of the afternoon was poor. A sliglit shower of rain overnight had not afftcted the wicket, which appeared to be fast but uncertain, and the outfield was on the rough side. The fillowng are the teama: — Australia.—C. E. Simpson, E. R. Mayne, A. J. Hopkins, W. Bardsley, W. W. Armstrong, C. Kelleway, W. J. Whitty, S. H. Emery, D. Smith, N. Dodds, and A. C. Facy. Canterbury.—H. B. Lusk, A. Sims, W. R. Patrick, D. Reese, W. Carlton, A. E. Ridley, D. Sandman. S. A. Orchard, T. Carlton, J. Bennett, and C. Boxshall.

Canterbury woo the toss and elected to bat. The first five wickets fell cheaply. Cricket has furnished many an illustration of the unexpected happening, but few more pronounced than to-day's play. The first hour and a half saw a complete mastery of the bowlers over the batsmen, and the early Canterbury men seemed to be quite outplayed by the superior bowling. Reese and T. Carlton theu set up a partnership that was as meritorious as it was unexpected. When they became associated six wickets were down for 80, and it was a matter of speculation whether the total irould reach three figures. By the combination of magnificent batting by Reese and the stubborn defence, by Carlton, the partnership put on 167 runs, Boxshall and Sandman also putting on 43 runs for the last wicket, and were still together when time was called. The closing stages of the play were of absorbing interest, and Sandman raised the enthusiasm of onlookers by treating Armstrong with the utmost disre« spect, for he went right out to him at times, and made some gallery hits that delighted the crowd immensely. Reese's performance was the best of any he has yet achieved. When he started Canterbury's score threatened to be disastrously low, and his play was proportionately careful, but he was not long in picking out the loose delivery. His off driving was exceedingly powerful and well timed. He never made an uppish hit until his score had reached 85. He made many beautiful square and late cuts, although some of his strokes towards third man were somewhat risky. His play on the leg side was exceedingly good, and on the whole his strokes in every direction were masterly. He batted for two hours thirtyseven minutes, and during that time never gave a chance, though on two occasions he was somewhat lucky in that the ball hit his wicket without removing the bail. He got a great reception on returning to the pavilion, the Australians themselves joining in the applause. T. Carlton's fine contribution was all the more welcome because' it was unexpected. He was not chosen for his batting, but for his bowling, His defence was exceedingly solid even if somewhat ungainly, and during his long partnership with Reese he played a lot of good bowling by the soundest defence, and scored a large proportion of his runs to leg! in that direction were very consistent. He also made a few capital drives, varied by an occasional cut. Carlton batted an hour and forty minutes.

The scores are as follow : CANTERBURY. First Innings. H. B, Lusk, b Emery 9 W. R. Patrick, c Simpson, b Emery 17 W. Carlton, b Emery 15 A. Sims, c Dodds, b Facy 15 D. Reese, c Simpson, b Whitty 108 A. E. Ridley, b Whitty 11 S. A. Orchard, run out 1 T. Carlton, b Whitty 63 J. H. Bennect, b Whitty 6 C. Boxshall, not out 19 D. Sandman, not out 20 Extras 35 Total for 9 wickets 319 Bowling analysis.—Hopkins 0 for 41, Emery 3 for 77, Whitty 4 for 68, Facy 1 for 38, Kelleway 0 for 24, Armstrong 0 for 36. The game, will be resumed tomorrow.