CRICKET IN WAIRARAPA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 November 1938, Page 9

CRICKET IN WAIRARAPA

CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY REVIEWED

Notes and Comments

(By “Blue & Gold.”)

The Wairarapa Cricket Association's championship matches were advanced a further stage last Saturday when some good scoring was witnessed in both the senior and junior grades. Keen interest is being taken by the junior players in the championship section and this is a matter for congratulation, for it will be from the junior ranks that in a season or two strong senior teams will be built up. Dour Struggle for Supremacy. The chief senior fixture on Saturday j was, of course, the match between Red e Star and Lansdowne. On the all round . form of the latter team during last 4 season and so far this year, it was 3 anticipated in some circles that the e suburbanites would make a big break Il on their opponents. This, however, did not prove to be the case, and at the end of the afternoon’s play honours : broke practically even, Lansdowne 5 having a margin of ten runs advantage 2 in a small scoring game. The Red Stai - players have on many occasions in the >, past put up a determined fight when i the odds appeared against them, and I, they stood well to their reputation on I, Saturday. The game so far is a dour 9 struggle for supremacy. T . A Disastrous Start. 1 Red Star had a disastrous opening . and the general position was not much ’ improved as the innings progressed, 3 though Newman Hoar and Graham 3 Lambourne did their best to stop the rot. Wally Peterson went out when his . score was two, to one of the best balls 3 delivered on the Park for many a day, . and it is probable that Whiteman has - never sent down such a perfect, bats- - man-beating ball. This initial disaster - was later followed by an unfortunate c incident in which Lambourne was run 1 i, out. This young player batted confid--5 ently for his runs and was going along - steadily until disaster overtook him. o His score of 21 included four 2’s, and 3 was a very good effort for an opening batsmen. a ; The High Light of the Innings. 2 Charlie Roys, who is improving as a 3 batsman, contributed double figures to j? the total, including a 4 and a 3, both _ very nice shots. The high light of the ’ innings was the 29 hit up by Newman , Hoar. Going for the bowling with ’ determination when the outlook was . very black he hit five 4’s in his score t of 29. In partnership with his father, , Frank Hoar, he made merry with the bowling until failing to get properly _ on to a delivery from Arthur White- , man he skied a ball which Clarke made no mistake with. This youthful batsman has an average of 43 runs per 5 innings so far this season, and has , taken 13 wickets at an average of 8.1 j runs. 2 Well Balanced Attack. ) The Lansdown attack was of the , usual good, even character. There are I plenty of bowling changes in the team ! and these were well handled by the captain. O’Callaghan appeared to ’ trouble the batsmen .most, although - Groves and A. Whiteman also bowled ’ well. t Another Bad Start. ’ Poor as the batting effort of Red Star I was, Lansdowne failed to reach their ’ standard until E. Jenkins smashed the bowling on a wicket which was showing signs of. wearing. Red Star had lost 7 wickets for 79, but Lansdowne had 9 wickets down for 70. Jenkins by free batting eventually put Lansi downe in the lead. The suburban team ; opened badly, Clarke going second ball . from Pool, who all through the innings i was most difficult to play. W. White- , man and Stubbings dug their toes in : and the former hit out freely, but Pool got him leg before wicket with his score at 13, which included two 4’s and a similar number of 2’s. Stubbings Bats Well. Stubbings gave a very fine display for 28, finding the boundary no less , than five times. He drove very cleanly , and his leg shots were nicely timed. The Right Tactics. Arthur Whiteman adopted the right tactics and went for the bowling. In the circumstances that existed there was nothing else for a batsman with a quick eye but to hit the bowling hard. Whiteman did this most effectively when half the team was out for a 1 little over 50 runs. He hit three 4’s, a 3 and a 2. It was a repetition of his two clean-hitting displays against Wairarapa College in the previous match. J E. Jenkins Save the Situation. 1 However, the honours of the innings j must in a very large measure go to E. , Jenkins, whose outstanding strike plac- £ ed Lansdowne ahead at the close of " play for the day. Requiring over 20 runs to head the Star score and with j one wicket to go it looked as if the £ end would soon be in sight, but Jen- , kins hit boundary after boundary and J 101 was up when the last wicket fell, r Jenkins still being in with 24 to his j credit, his total including five 4’s. j

Pool Bowls Well. Pool bowled very well all through the innings. He sent down 14 overs, three of which were maidens, for 6 wickets and 35 runs. An improvement in the fielding of one or two of the Star players would greatly assist in the direction of improving the averages of the bowlers and placing the team generally in a better position. A player should not forget that a good fieldsman is invaluable to his side; he may not score many runs at the wickets, but if he saves 20 runs in the field his team is that many runs better off. Well Known ex-player as Umpire. It was a pleasure to see that veteran hero of many a hard fought game in the Wairarapa, Fred Dohnt, formerly for many years of Featherston, but now a resident of Masterton, taking up the duties of umpire on Saturday in the Red Star-Lansdowne match. No one in the Wairarapa has a better knowledge of cricket than Fred, and as an umpire he is not only reliable but strictly impartial. He is conversant with every ‘trick of the trade” and those who play ‘golf shots” while at the wicket and hope to escape the penalty if they miss Che ball and it hits their pads had better give them up, for Fred keenly watches every possible l.b.w. In his playing days Fred was a good allrounder in the Featherston Club which could claim to have had in its ranks such outstanding players as Cobcroft (New South Wales and New Zealand representative), Billy Frith (one of New Zealand’s greatest bowlers), “Loo” Keys, who, though 40 years ago was Wairarapa’s champion bowler, can still take wickets in Wellington competition games, Dave Collins (New Zealand representative) and many others who helped to put Wairarapa on the cricket map of New Zealand. It is a pity a few more of the ex-players of Masterton would not turn out on Saturdays and “have a spin” at the wickets as umpires. Perhaps we shall see this brought about once dn Umpire’s Association is formed and cricket umpires are given as strict control over games as referees have in football. Two good umpires in Messrs Dohnt and Paterson controlled the Star-Lansdowne game on Saturday and it is to be hoped that their ser* vices will be available throughout the season.

Carefree Cricket. On Saturday afternoon there was a good wicket at the College ground and some splendid individual scores recorded, the displays greatly pleasing the spectators. There was a carefree air about the cricket and a comradeship that made /for the most pleasant playing conditions. The Old Boys’ first innings score of 217, including eight double figure scores was headed by Heenan with 40. This player gave a most attractive display, many of his scoring shots being very neatly executed. He found the boundary on five occasions, and with Hendry, who played a steady bat for IS, put on 55 for the first wicket. A Crisp Innings. Hatton played a crisp innings which included four 4’s, a 3 and tWo 2’s. He was going along splendidly when Thomson, who bowled much better than his figures would indicate, got a beauty past him. An Attractive Bat.

A most attractive bat was played by Ryan, who though starting steadily, opened out later, his last five scoring strokes being 22 4 4 4. Here again Thomson sent down “one out of the box” which got past Ryan’s defence.

The “Old Reliable.” On more than one occasion Lambert Roach has come to the assistance of Old Boys when runs were needed and on Saturday 4ie agaih demonstrated his reliability in this connection knocking up 23 by a very nice strike indeed and being undefeated when the last wicket of the innings fell. Lambert is .certainly the “old reliable” of the team. Useful Contributions.

Logan and McPherson each played a good innings, the former finding the boundary four times and the genial Mac twice. Brash had just reached double figures when Tier smartly caught him off Hibbs. A Formidable Combination.

Patrick, Hibbs and Thomson all bowled well for the College on a wicket that gave them nd assistance. These three usually bear the brunt of the College attack and they should be a most formidable combination as the season advances.

College Bat Well. The College batsmen who have visited the wickets so far have all given very attractive displays of batting. Upston and Wilson gave the College a good start —60 for 1. Upston scored seven 4’s in his score of 41, and Wilson three 4’s, three 2’s and one 3. Taylor’s eleven included two 4’s. Tier was most aggressive and led the field and the bowlers a merry dance and of his 26 runs (not out), 24 were made by 4’s. Patrick has three 4’s in his unfinished innings of 17.