FIELD OF SPORT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 129, 13 March 1935, Page 2

FIELD OF SPORT.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. (By "Onlooker"). There are no surprises to record as a .result of Saturday's matches in the Ashburton County Cricket Association's competitions, and) the position in | the senior grade, while in Fairfield s favour, is still open to possibilities. The junior contest finds Kio Ora in an unbeatable position. This is the third year out of four that the Kia Ora team has won the junior championWitfit some good batting and bowling averages registered on Saturday, the position of tue aggregates are interesting. B. T. Clothier, with 863 runs heads the batsmen and other substantial tallies are those of, R. W. Biggar 842, R. IDtrennan 643, J. Dillon, 036, 11. H. Biggar 539, H. Jones 502, Don McKay 480, 6. Wilhs 448, H. Reid 439, 11. Wear 424, A. Kelly 413, 1. W. Cutler and E. btigley each 410. R. W. Biggar with 75 wickets in his bag is tne leader among the bowlers. Closely following are H. Adams 72, H. Lennon 63, P. Willis 59, E. Stigley 56, W. O'Grady and P. Zouch each 55, V, Stills 51. It is unfortunate that I. M. Hamilton, W. O'Grady and S. Willis will be unable for business reasons to play against the West Coast on Saturday and Monday. Nevertheless a strong team has been selected and can be relied upon to keep Ashburton's flag flyiug. " „ . , On R. G. Drenuan the honour of leading the team has again fallen and his past record as representative captain is such that he will carry the confidence of his team. Efficient as a batsman, and a good change bowler, he will handle his men with skill and his inspirational leadership will call for the best that his players can give. In J. B. Nicoll, 'although he has not played regularly this season, Ashburton has a good, forceful left-handed bat. F. W. Cutler, who is a wizard behind the sticky, will keep the Coast batsmen close to their crease. Cutler can also be relied upon as a run-getter and bowler-tirer. J. Varcoe and B. T. Clothier are aggressive batsmen. For their bowling, G. Willis, B. McSherry, A. Doig, P. Harper and M. O'Reilly form an array of talent which will require a certain amount of solid opposition to upset. The whole team is very capable in the fielding department and enthusiasts may look forward to an exceptionally fine display of cricket by both sides. The Ashburton County Cricket Association has in the past relied on its affiliation entrance fees from the clubs for its finance and has seldom made a call on the public which has enjoyed free cricket for many years. In view of the heavy expense entailed in the

entertainment of visiting teams, it has been decided to take up a collection on the ground in. preference to obtaining a closed day and making a charge for admission. "Onlooker" is of opinion that the public will see to it that the collection is a good one. "Onlooker" ' extends to the representatives best wishes for a successful fixture.

The Ashburton Bowling Club's season continues to be full of interest. There are very few games to play to finish the club competitions. Games played during the week Champion pairs—McLachlan and Milsom (s) beat David and Minogue (s) by a lair margin, Dickenson ana A. Lane (s) 21 beat, Colquhoun (sub. for McLachlan) and Milsom (s) 19, after a very close and interesting game. Dickenson played well, but Lane's drawing was responsible for the win. Lane opened the score with five and one. Milsom then scored two, one and three, making five all on the fifth head. At the sixth head Lane drew four shots, and Milsom scored on the next, four heads, making him two up. At the fourteenth head the score was 14 all, and at the seventeenth it was 17 all. Lane, with a good draw, scored one on the eighteenth when his opponent was lying with several shots close to the jack. He got two more on the nineteenth, but Milsom got two on the twentieth, making the score 20-19 in Lane's favour. The twenty-first head was an interesting one. Dickenson laid three shots when the skips changed over. Milsom burned the head with his first bowl. In the replay, Colquhoun laid two or three shots close to the jack. Lane drew through the head with his first, narrowly missing the jack. He drove with his second and missed the head, but with his third he drew the shot, and Milsom was unable to beat it. This leaves Dickenson and A. Lane (s) with two lives' to meet Featherston and Higgins (s) with one life in the final. .Should the latter pair win, a second'game will be necessary. Handicap pairs—W. Crawford and W. R. Lane (s) 21 beat Tulloch and McEachen (s) 16. This game was started on Thursday evening, when 14 heads were played, and finished on Saturday evening. Lane was 18 to his opponents' 7 when play finished on Thursday. On Saturday McEachen scored 8 on four heads, bringing the score within three, 18 to 15. Lane then scored one on the nineteenth head. The next head was drawn, as both had a ball resting on the jack. On the twenty-first head the leads played rather wide, but Lane was lying one when the skips changed ends. As there was no chance of scoring four to tie, McEachan tried to burn the end with his four bowls, but was not successful, and Lane scored two. Handicap singles—. David beat Todd and McElhinney beat David after a very close game, the score being all square at the nineteenth head. McElhinney will meet O'Brien in the final. • '',.'■',. Three bowl double—The final of this competition was played between J. W. Smith and E. A. Cockroft (s) and Dickenson and Higgins (s). Smith and Cockroft had the best of the game throughout, and won by a comfortable margin. The two finalists in the colts' singles, P. Dunn and D. Gilmour, are Scots and their pride in their nationality leads them both to wear the traditional bonnets. This is a source of much good-humoured banter on the green, but Dunn always retorts that he has never lost a game when wearing his bonnet. A match was played with the Methven Club on Saturday, when four rinks and a colts' rink travelled to Methven. Methven was successful in the aggregate of the four rinks, and also in the colts' match.

The Methven Club, owing to its small membership, was unable to enter for the pennant matches this year, and as it would have meant a three cornered contest, the pennant games have not been played. Friendly games have taken their place, and have heen very much enjoyed by all. The president of the Canterbury Club is entertaining representative rinks from the various country clubs on Saturday, and an enjoyable afternoon should ensue. Thirteen country teams have accepted the invitation. The following will represent Ashburton:—Mitchell, McEachen, Easterbrook, and O'Brien (s). They will be opposed to rink skipped by B. J. Finnegan, the club's representative on the Cliristchurch Centre Four rinks from the Geraldine Club will visit Ashburton oh Saturday. It is expected that the Ashburton Sub-Centre" Championships will be plaved on the Ashburton Club's green on'Saturday, March 30.