CRICKET.

NOTES ON THE CLUB MATCHES. The third scries of matches in the district cup competitions' was concluded oh Saturday. Tho weather conditions wore again all that could- be desired. " Parnell, playing against Ponsonby, secured their third win of tho season,-thus placing them at the top of tho list. They had on ihe- previous Saturday scored 280 runs. Ponsonby in response made a much poorer show than was generally anticipated. Only five of their batsmen got into double , figures, and the innings only realised 107. Parnell on going to the wickets again lost six wickets for 171 runs, thus winning' by 173 runs on the first innings. Grafton secured their first win of the' season at tho expense of North Shore. In reply to Grafton's exceptionally fine total of 3.0 for the loss of five wickets Shore put on 245 before the last wicket fell. < Eden lost their first match, City boating them by seven 'wickets. . Eden, however, put up a god fight, ( jor ..after.- being 107 behind on the first innings they went in again, and hitting out scored 181 for the loss of seven wickets. They. then closed their innings. City replied with 76 for tho loss of three wickets. Tho position of the teams to date- is shown in the following table: - i

To-day Parnell will meet North Shore, and should have no difficulty in registering their "fourth win. Tho I'onsonby-City and the Grafton-Eden matches, botli of which will bo played on tho Domain ground, should prove interesting, and provide close finishes. Primo had the honour of scoring the first century for North Shore this season, passing tho coveted three figures by two runs. Although ho was missed behind the sticks before he had scored, his innings, taking , into consideration the uphill fight North Shore had, was a highly creditable one. He was rather weak in placing through the slips, hut his strokes past cover point were especially good. 0. Eyre, trundling for the Eden 11. B team, captured five wickets for 17 runs. Hcmus, who scored 30 in City's first innings, contributed a nicely-made 20 (not out) in the second. '• Three centuries were scored in the Grafton --Shore match, .Tones (155 not out), D. Hay (103), and Prime (102). For tho loss of lb wickets in the same match 585 runs were put Oil. ■,■■■■ _. ... ■ ./ r ' Sale is coming out in a new role. On Saturday last he securcd three wickets, Francis, Gavin, and P. White, for 9 runs. He only bowled five overs, two of which were' maidens. ' G. B. Lusk, a brother to H. B. Lusk, took six wicSccts for 20 runs , for Ed<yi 11. C team. Ho kept an excellent length, and Was coming in a little from the off. G. B. Lusk is also a very fair bat, and a good field. » J '* City's first juniors had their first defeat p.t.tho hands of North Shore by 27 runs on the first innings. City were unfortunate 'in 'having" two batsmen absent. ' > ' "Hi'wsey (42) played carefully at anything at all dangerous, and put the wood on to everything off tho wicket. He had a tendency to play too far forward to many balls, and in consequence put them up dangerously close to tho bowler. W. L. Robinson played a faultless innings for 48 for Eden 11. A team against Grafton. 11. Woods was batting well until he readied 16, i/hen lie lifted his foot to one from Olliff, and 'was slumped by the Parnell wicketkeeper Cromwell. Fewstcr, who has played for Eden senior team during the last three matches, will play for one of the junior teams to-day. Schmoll, tho City stumper, is showing improved form with the bat, and scored 33 and 23 for City. B. Gordon, a member of the Eden 111. B. team, has been showing nice form with' the bat this season. On Saturday he batted well for 24. ' F. R. Mason put together 18 runs in his usual style be fore lie fell a victim to Olliff. Stephenson played a steady innings for 48, taking very few risks. llis partnership with Prime put on 109 runs for the fifth wicket. Francis was the chief contributor ■ to the Ponsonby total, scoring 32, • and showing creditable form. ~ A. Okirko batted freely for 51 (not out). He was missed on two or three occasions. 11. Neil! put together 40 in really good style in City's first, innings. He. did not bat in the second. Mills' performance in this match was a highly creditable one, and reminded some of the older hands of his form of a few seasons ago. Besides his batting performance he captured 10 of the Eden wickets for 92 runs. ' p. .Jack (Eden 11. C team) played a good forward game for 45. His timing was excellent. Sloman was the, best of tho Grafton bowlers, and his efforts mot with better results than in" previous matches. His first two wickets were obtained under 10 runs, while Primo was missed off him before ho bad scored. He finished up with an average of three for 63. W. .Stemson batted in attractive style for ■ 45, as did also H. B. Lusk (42), Both scored at' a great pace. Grafton's fielding on Saturday showed a marked improvement all round. If some of their team would endeavour to watch the batsmen more closely and anticipate strokes a still further improvement would bo effected. W. Stemson- and W. B. Smith were both in good form with the ball, securing six wickets for 63 and three for 28 respectively. Braithwaite played carefully for 15, and then had the misfortune to be. run out. The Grafton-North Shore match was more exciting than it appears on paper. At aquarter past five o'clock only four of the Shore batsmen had been disposed of. This, in the face of • the fact that the two men batting at the time were troubling the bowlers, gave Grafton no small amount of anxiety. However, the partnership was broken by half past five, and Williamson arid C. Hay got through the remaining batsmen in quick time, dismissing them all by ten minutes past' six o'clock. It: is now becoming almost a weekly duty to record good individual performances of schoolboys. Last week a Newmarket sohoolboy knocked together over a hundred runs. OnSaturday a young lad, E. Horspool, playing for the Grafton 111. team, scored 56 by almost faultless cricket. His strokes all round the wic.vet were clean and good, and tho manner in which he grassed the balls would have done credit to an older and moro experienced batsman. Horspool is another of Jones' colts. Parnell have included in their team for to-day a Ballarat man, A. A. Stewart. . It has. been decided that Sands, the English, cricketer, who was engaged by the association as cricket coach, shall play for «ho North Shore Club. - A player named Hoilingrake is also inoluded, in their team for to-day. '• As the Amateur Athletic Association has postponed the sports meeting it intended holding on the Domain on tho 16th (Saturday next), the cricket championship matches will be played on that data as usual. There - will be no cricket on the 23rd t and 30th, owing to the- holidays. Cricket will again be resumed on January 6.

PERSONNEL OF THE AUCKLAND " REPRESENTATIVE TEAM. Mr. F. J. Ohlson, it is understood, will to-night make the final selection for' the team that goes South on the 2lth inst. Thoso chosen in the 20 have been getting some valuable net practice on the Domain on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In view of tho fact that tho veteran R. Neill has been showing a return to his old form he has been ; asked to join the " reps.'" nets. It has not yet been decided how, many players will' bo: taken, but it will bo either 12 or 13. " Mr. Ohlson will no doubt find it difficult to fill the. last ,three or four places. As batsmen Hay,. Jones, Lusk, and Elliott are certainties, while as bowlers Olliff, Stemson, and Howell are ; sure to be selected. That makes seven men practically in my opinion certainties, Now, to look at the remaining batsmen. Hemus is one of the most consistent scorers in club cricket, yet there will undoubtedly bo a : feeling in tho minds of many that after his failure in " rep." matches last season ho should not bo included. However, 1 think that Hemus is like most of our promising, batsmenhe wants experience; and the only way to give him an opportunity of getting it is to : give him the trip. If ho is successful in j getting a couple of good scores his nervous- ' ness will pass over, and ho should then be j one of tho best batsmen in Auckland. For this reason I favour his inclusion. Then we have Francis, who, in my opinion, if ho could got more practice, is one of tho best batsmen in Auckland. He is a grand field at point, and I think if taken will justify his inclusion. We have then loft as batsmen Haddon, MacCormick, Brook Smith,. Barry, Woods, Sale, Hussey. Of these : batsmen Haddon, Smith, Woods, Sale, and Hussey bowl for their various clubs on Saturdays. : That leaves MacCormick and Barry to bo j picked for their batting and fielding alone, j MacCormick, I think, should be included, I but I would not favour the selection of j Barry. Haddon should find a place in the j team. ' Hussey, Woods, 1 Sale, and Smith are i four useful all-round men and somewhat ! difficult to separate. Sale has only of late j done anything in the bowling department. j In making tho choico among these four men i and only* needing one of them, I think I I should take Hussey, although if Smith was i in better form with the bat I would cer- • tainly choose him. That would leave two ] vacancies. The next question is whether it : is advisable to put Elliott behind the' sticks ! or take either Schmoll or Hayward. ' I favour taking one of the last-mentioned two, j for while Elliott is sound ho is not in .; my ' opinion quite quick enough. At any rate it j is advisable to take two wicket-keepers, and. Elliott is .worth his place as a batsman and could bo used as second wicket-keeper. ! Tho City stumper, Schmoll, has been tried 1 in rep." cricket ancl> has not done much. ; However, in the face of his failure, I would i again favour selection of Schmoll, who is certainly a3 good, or perhaps a better, wicket-keeper than Hayward, and is evident- | ly in good form with the bat. The last i place I would fill < with McNeill, a bowler I with pace, and at times with a swerve. I ' have picked tho above players without men- j tioning R. Neill or R. Mason. The latter, j 1 am given to understand, has been unable ! to secure leave of absence. Neill I should ; have included, but have heard that while he | would not undertake_ the whole tour as a j player, ho will be available for any match if required. ' . •, , , . ... , In anticipation of Mr. Ohlson's selection, J which will be published in. the Herald on Monday, I will choose the following:—-D. Hay, S. P. Jones, 11. B. Lusk, T. .Elliott, C. Hemus, Francis, E. MacCormick, A. Haddon, Hussey, W. Stemson, C. Olliff, W. Howell, F. McNeill, and G. Schmoll. HERE AND THERE. Victor Trumper was missed first ball and then got 101 out of 145 at Manly against ■ Middle. Harbour, in an hour and a-quarter, it being his first innings since his return from England. He hit a ball clean over the Council Chambers. • As soon as Victor Trumper was dismissed at, Manly last Saturday there was an exodus of spectators from the. ground. In the early eighties a similar occurrence was often noted when H. . H. Massio. was. disposed ; of. Though club batting of that period was oil tho average inferior in brilliancy, versatility, and in style to that of to-day, thero is now no counterpart of 11. 11. Massio, one of the most brilliant hitter*, the world has seen.— Sydney Referee. In the opinion of .T. Darling and others George Giffcn is still the best bowler in South Australia. It seems, however, that he cannot-get away to play on Saturday afternoons. He still takes exercise every morning early in the park lands, just as he has done for the last 25 years.

Matches . Piayecl. Won. Lost. Dr'n. Points. Parncll ... ... 3 3 — — 6 Eriou ... ... 3 2 .1 — 4 Grafton ... ... 3 12 - 2 City.. ... i... 3 1. 2 — 2 Ponsonby ... 3 1 2 — 2 .North Shoro ... 31 2 — 2