CRICKET.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 156, 27 October 1900, Page 4 (Supplement)

CRICKET.

I In Shakespeare's language "The ' weather turns Christian, he grows | kind." On Wednesday Aveek one i might almost have nulled a boat across j the Cricket Ground, and. when rain ' fell on Saturday morning- everybody j thought that it was "all up" ■with cricket for the day. Jupiter Pluvius had, however, been feasting on Olym- ! [pus, and with the nectar stirring in ! I his blood he grew gracious. The ! ; clouds lifted about noon, and the sun ! I soon transformed the wet pitches in- j :to "porridge pots." The wickets were j ias slow as they could well be, and the j way some of the batsmen shaped at j the "hanging" balls was decidedly j amusing. I must say, however, that j I was agreeablj' surprised at the form | shown right through the grades, con- j sidering the state of the wicket and i the small amount of practice that players have had. The Auckland-Gordon contest evoked the greatest amount of interest, and was awarded the place of honour |in front of the stand. The Gordon j skipper won the toss, and elected to bat, which was perhaps the best thing he could have done, but the result i was disastrous. "Bob" Neill was in his element on the caking pitch, and ■ the Gordon batsmen could- do nothing ' with him. They tried forward play and back play, but the result was the same—they went out. Taking everything into consideration, however, I cannot congratulate Gordon on their j exhibition. Williams and Ansenne left early, victims to Neill, the latter's dismissal causing considerable amusej ment as the ball gave him ample time iin its journey from the pitch to appeal |to all the gods for assistance. Kalj lender smote hard for his 12, while ] j Lusk died hard in trying to find the j i Domain gardens. J. Seccombe (13) was the only other double figure scorer. The . team was without the services of McEae, but It is doubtful whether the lengthy hitter would have survived long on that wicket. Auckland opened with Clayton and Shepherd, and neither seemed to find the bowling very difficult. Clayton got 21 and Shepherd 15, while Neill showed good form- for 23. MacCormick's display was, however, the most interesting, and the young player is | to be congratulated on the form he j showed. With MacCormick and j ! Hemus to continue batting next j j Saturday, it is probable that the j j Auckland score will be considerably ■ increased. It can be easily seen how useful Auckland's juniors are in supplying recruits for the seniors. As to the fielding, I have to congratulate Auckland on their display, which was excellent for the first match of the season. Greville and Clayton brought off excellent catches. Of Gordon's fielding I cannot say the same. A good many catches were dropped; difficult ones no doubt, but still, although one may pardon the missing of one or two such catches, when they are repeatedly dropped one has to call it poor fielding. United faced Ponsonby and shomd be well satisfied with the result—ls4. Clayton and D. Hay led off, but the latter was never at home to the bowling and was out after a few overs, caught at square leg off one of those pull strokes to which he is constantly falling a victim. Clayton was some time in making his 14, and it was not till Stemson and Marshall got together that any lively cricket was shown. These two hit vigorously and put on 40 or 50 runs in quick time. Stemson started the season well with 49 which, however, was by no means faultless. C. Hay totalled 20. Altogether, the display augured well for the team's success during the coming season. I was glad to see. P. Hay out for his club, in spite of rumours to the contrary beforehand. Of Ponsonby's bowling I cannot say very much. What I saw of it, however, did not impress me. ~.•.. . In the junior matches chief interest centred round the Parneli-Auckland game, as cricketers were anxious to see how last year's champions would shape. Their first innings, so far as I can judge,, seems to show that they are going- to be quite as strong1 as they were last year. A score of 99 on such a wicket was excellent for a junior team. Colwill (23) played really, good cricket. That the Auckland bowling is good is proved by the fact that -Parnell could only get 43 for 9 wickets. When it is borne in mind that the team has two or three strong junior elevens to recruit from, their prospects for the season look bright. , V.M.C.A., the runners-up in last year's second grade competition, seem to have Wanderers well in hand, making 71 to their opponents' 38. The value of a small score was shown by M. Gray, who remained at the wickets for an hour and a half for the large total of 10. This innings, though not quite a rival to Jessop's performances, was eminently useful. The V.M.C.A. innings, however, included four "ducks," a rather sure sign of a "tail." Saturday's cricket was not very productive of curiosities, but I notice Surrey Eamblers were all out for 10 against Pitt-street, But the most curious match was undoubtedly that between North Shore 111. and V.M.C.A. 111. The former scored G2, the highest scores being 17 and 13, and the latter replied with 63, the highest scores also being 17 and 13.