KEEN CRICKET

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 136, 6 December 1939, Page 13

KEEN CRICKET

TOWN V. COUNTRY

"SIXERS" IN THE SCORE

LOCAL PLAYERS

BATTING

Setting out to further their claims to inclusion in Wellington's Plunket Shield side, the selected Town and Country players provided some interesting cricket at the Basin Reserve today. There was more in it than a trial; it was aiso the annual test between the minor associations in Wellington's big district and the city area. Proceedings during quite an eventful pre-lunch session today were enlivened by the hitting of some "sixe/s" —from the bats of Ongley and. dv Chateau, of the Town team, which had first strike. Except for the strong northerly wind, conditions were good, the wicket and ground being iii splendid order. THE TEAMS. A late entry into the Country team was C. McVicar (of Manawatu) in place of M. Thomas (Hawke's B.ay and formerly of Wellington), who was not available. W. Dhryberg (Wanganui), who replaced G. Hook, represented Wellington in junior cricket before transferring to Wanganui. The teams were:— Town.—E. G. McLeod (captain), V. H. dv Chateau, O. L. Wrigley, W. G. Rairibird, R. F. Crawford, J. A. Ongley, J. D. Scott, D. S. Wilson, F. L. H. Mooney, R. Buchan, and I, T. E. Manley. Country.—W. E. Norris (Manawatu), captain, C. McVicar (Manawatu), A. Neal (Marlborough), N. Hoar (Wairarapa), W. Dhryberg (Wanganui), A. Newman (Nelson), E. D. Evans and T. P. Reaney (Hawke's Bay), N. Gallichan, T. L,. Pritchard, and T. A. Downes (Manawatu). The umpires are Messrs. W. E. Watts and S. L. Searell. j RUN OF PLAY. j Runs came freely from the opening! over by the fast bowler, Pritchard, j who had the strong northerly behind | him. The score reached double figures i before Reaney (medium-fast) com-j menced his task of bowling into the, wind. From their good beginning the batsmen, dv Chateau and Wrigley,! , moved along promisingly and had 20 j up in quick time, a range of scoring j strokes being employed to good effect. In Pritchard's third over, however, dv Chateau was hard on defence and there was no scoring. The batsmen then set out again, and had 38 up when the first bowling change Was made. The call to Downes (in place of Pritchard) had the desired effect of breaking the Town's opening partnership, which was beginning to look healthy. The score had reached 45 when Wrigley was bowled by Downes. There were, three, 4's (each from a well-timed stroke) in Wrigley's 20. Rainbird, the next batsman, was just getting into his stride when he, too, was bowled by Downes, the batsman attempting to pull the ball. 53 —2— 4. Downes had taken two for 7: ■■. With dv Chateau still going well, Crawford came and batted with freedom. However, he did not go far, Reaney (who was bowling very steadily) claiming the wicket. : From that point the batting showed a marked advance, Ongley immedi> ately* showed a strong hand, starting off with a pull to the boundary and following up with a hit to leg for 6. At 80 Pritchard was brought on again, and shortly afterwards Neal (a leftarm slow bowler) was given a turn. Following Ongley's example, dv Chateau hit a .ball clean over the boundary^ Origiey, too, dealt solidly with the bowling, but . keen fielding stopped a good many likely runs. When dv Chateau had made 40 practically all the fieldsmen appealed for a catch at the wickets off Neal, but the appeal was negatived. 100 UP—DU CHATEAU OUT. A little later the total reached 100 for 93 minutes' batting, and it was then that dv Chateau's innings—a really serviceable one—came to an end, Pritchard taking the wicket of the solid left-hander. In dv Chateau's 45 there were a 6,, a 5, and four 4's. With Ongley and Scott in partnership an excellent rate of scoring was maintained, Scott going along well while Ongley continued his sound and attractive run-making way. At lunch the total was 134 for four wickets— Ongley 40, Scott 9. Details:— TOWN. First Innings. dv Chateau, b Pritchard ........ 45 Wrigley, b Downes 20 Rainbird, b Downes .'. 4 Crawford, b Reaney ............: ' 8 Ongley, not out . 40 Scott, not out 9 Extras '..... 8