THE CRICKETERS IN THE SOUTH.

Auckland Star, Volume XVI, Issue 3851, 20 December 1882, Page 2

THE CRICKETERS IN THE SOUTH.

How the Christchurch Match tva, '• Lost.

Bail Management and N ot Inferior Flay.

(By Ons of Them,)

Auckland has long occupied a prominent position in this colony as a cricket, ing province, whose sons were f a u v able to sustain her reputation m the field in the manipulation of both willo * and leather. The victorious tour of her representatives through the southern districts nine jears »go, proved lhat tbia reputation wus justified, and in the contests which have takon place since then against All Knglund and Australian learns, our men have ever proved thenuelves capable ot a gallant struggle in defence of their laorek Despite numeious obstacles aud uufavou r ' able circumstances that mi^ht have been expected to extinguish all interest in t n " national sport, enthusiasm baa ejrried our youth triumphantly thrtm-h, and during tlie last ten yearn Auckland tnigbt fairlr claim to be the home of cricket in jj e £ Zealand. Xo Canterbury this honour w as generally conceded, though why this should nave been so it is difficult to say. Posses, sing fino wickets, and consequently excel' lent for the study and practice of the gamo, the representatives of the City of the I'laiiM could not stay the victo. i ions career of our men in 1873, andalthoneh they did sand a team here subtequently and won their match, there were eircum. stances connected with tbrit inaich which niado the victory an unoontested one, and not by any means a fair test.

Object of the loitr.

Competition in cricketing matches ba. twecn Auckland and Canterbury naturally became keen, and when our representative team left for the South five weeks ago, it was well kuown here that the object of the trip was to hiivo auother contest with the Cantorburyites, and oodeavour to retrieve the luurols so etuily won from us by them on the occasion of their trip to Auckland. That we were tending a very strong team, no one for a moment doubted, and few indesd would have ventured the opinion that our men would have been beaten anywhere but at Ch-islchurcb.* The result equalled expectation in this respect, but in our review we shall state several facts which have been in circulation as rumours about town for the last fortnight, and which aloue will be eufficient to (how that the mutch against the choseu of Canterbury might have .been added to the victories achievxd by the northerners. We shall at the same time review tee whole of the tour in a general way, confident that our readers have not lost the interest in the tour which was so universally shewn during the last month<

I>unedin Match.

There were none who regretted' more sincerely thun $& our own mci, that the difficulty existing bctwean the two atsociaUaim prevented a ttam representing the wiule of the best cricketing talent of Olago from coaiiig forward to meet \u, but at the 6ame time, it is absurd to Bay that tha team chosen was by any msaas a weak one. Harris, their captain, is admitU4ly oae of the best bats in Otsgo, while C. Filth and Hayward (a professional) ac Bifncien'Jy well-known as excelled bowlera to tender further reference to them unnecessary. Greenwood is a fireti-clas* wielut-koeper, and dispensing with a long-stop, was of great assistance to his team, while the remainder of the eleven bad lxea judiciously chosen for their batting and bowling capabilities. In fact, one of the Ducedin rUiifta was to couiidont couctruini? the merits of this team »a to venture the opinun aeveral dajs befoie we arrived that Auckland would be defeated in ono innings. A different tone was kotioeable after tne first Auckland practice on thn Caledonian ground, and ud.ds Wf re given in favour of the visitors. Daoed'n met Auckland at its b*st. GDI undLankhim wtre both bowliig splendidly. f»one of our own men were hurt, and tho craart stand by Barton and Arneil broke the bawling of tbeir opponents so completely, that Arneil vrus stepping out of his crease a«d ulogiiog at everjthing. Dunedin uevtr recovered the effacts of that stand, and consequently, Auckland won easily.

Oamai'u and limaru. Ttucre was a vfry " easy thine on "at t'amaru. The local team knev Backland by reput»tion, and his bowling was so good that dny th»t he had t»o honour* alt to himself. Eight wickets for 25 runs was a performance that fully entitled him to a place in the team during the lemaindcr of the tour, cßpec'alJy as he d d jo well subsiqusntly.—Tinaru loofced yevy much liko s oucienings match on the first day, bnt it wa» veiy fortunate indeed thut bsd judgment on the part ef our raptnin did not make this match a second Ncl'on one. After the firet innings the 'I imaruites p'oodnced two men whom tlicy dcsited to play instead of two who had , bi-cn batti»g. Objections were raited hy »oino of the team, but tttbinson would not refusi', and confequently they played. Tho result was that Nome, one of the two, made several grand catches besides acting as wicket-k«eper, while ioston, besides being a good field, made an excellent stand in the second innings. Although Auckland o ly required 26 runs to win, four ,of the best wickets fell before these were obtained, and had the collapse continued as it commenced, even the very few required might huve been wanting at the end.

A.shburton.

The match at this place was certaiuly ene of the best victories of tbe tour. Playing right throuph the week, the Auoklanders, on Friday, had to face fifteen representatives of Athburton, including Keeves and Wilding, tw* of the best Canterbory men. Tbe fact that the match was on a cocoanut matting wicket was not reassuring, nine out of eleven never having prtvionslv pl.yed on ono. There was, however, the comforting knowledge that it would play trne. >shburton out tor 124 (Wilding, no"t oulr 66), and odds were laid that the visitors would bs lita'en. An old Aucklander named Page, who was on the 'grouud, took 5 to 1 that thres men would rnnke the score, and his pluck was rewarded. Bartou and Arn-il oatsfcone their previous efforts, and tho Mieket was too true to eire any chancs of eithir of them bring flispoScd of by a flukey ball. The one great disadvantage of this match, however, was_ the fact of our men being rnshod into Christcburoh tired and thoroughly worß> out, and compelled to cammenoe a match next day against the best eleven of Canterbury.

[Tbo remainder of this review of the tour, statiiiß'tbc real cau'e of defe»t at Christchurch, will appear to-morrow.]