CRICKET

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 30, 4 February 1905, Page 12

CRICKET

i —— __ The selection of sixteen players Tby Mr F. J. Ohlson, from whom the final fifteen will be drawn, has given general satisfaction, and I, for one. think that Mr Ohlson is to be congratulated on the manner in which he has performed his • task In selecting sixteen players the object i was to determine whether Stephens, of • the Northern Wairoa, was worth his place, Mr Ohlson considering it inadvisable to include him definitely on one performance. His bowling at practice through the week has clinched the matter, and he will form one of the team. One of the remaining bowlera will have to go, and he will be N. B. Lask, MeNeil, or Hnssey. Which of the three should stand down is a matter about which there is plenty of room for difference of opinion. ( On Saturday morning I -would have said that Dug Kay should stand out, but his performances on Saturday aftert ; noon and Monday have fully warranted \ J his inclusion, and on all hands cricket - ' I ers are plea&ed that he has at last struck J form. The best bat in Auckland, Hay j has been under a cloud all this season. i his average up to the last match beinsj • i but 6.3 for the season. The practice be • has got against better bowling than he usually gets has brought him back into form, and his lost two innings have, showed what he can do when his eye is I J in. Hay is a grand out-field both as a . catch and a gTound-Seld, and he stops . i more runs than the average bat makes. I i For this he is almost worth his place in • ' thr> team, even when failing with the .bat. Stephens is one of the most daaigerous - bowlers in Auckland when in form, and ■ although he has not quite reached that : stage yet. he is rapidly approaching it, and should be at his best when tie match ■ comes off. He would be a better bowler > if he w-ere content to be hit a little; he loses his length whes hit freely. A I bowler of his class should not mind having runs off Mm, because that is ■ when he is most dangerous if tihe field is ~ up u> the mark. The most notable absentee from the [ team is Kallendcr, but the burly Grai- > tonite would be one of the first, to admit. I j that the omission is justified, for his . ] form this season has not been too bril- , liant. - i The most gratifying feature about ■ ' Monday's trial match was the keenness , of the Dlayers. The whole twenty-four . ! selected turned up. and every roan played ' his best. The fielding was really splenj did. apart from the two or three dropped t ehanees. ' i It is to be sincerely hoped that ar- ' j rangeroents will be made for efficient umpiring in the coming match. Without wishing to be accused of flouting the Umpires' Association, I mast say thatj » the umpiring of past matches has not i been altogether satisfactory, and a repe- ! tition of what has already occurred is i I not by any means to be desired. Personl ! ally 1 should like to see Messrs Stepheu- > ! son and J. Watts appointed, two thor- ! oughly good men, who know the points > I of the game, and who will be unlikely to r j give doubtful decisions. The averages in all test matches of " the bowlers selected to visit England as members of the Australian Eleven, given ; below, do not disclose any great allround deadliness:— I Wkts. Suns. Aver- . A. Cotter 11 150 13.63 M. A. Noble &4 2024 21.53 ! A. J. Hopkins 13 341 26.23 , C. E. McLeod 23 SOO 34.7S . W. P. Howell 33 1244 35.54 P. Layer 7 262 37.42 W. W. Armstrong 4 355 88.75 "Shortslip," in the Mail," • j considers that a left handed bowler is a. j deficiency, which weakens tie Aii3txalian i team, and that as compared with the ! ! 1902 teani the bowling is weak. He adds; . I "Hugh Tramble. veteran as he is, would j bo a decided acquisition to the side. Re i is not araflabif. ftaunders. the only i '< left-hand bowler, who, in my opinion, i would succeed on English wickets. was omitted early in the selection. His claims , were considered when the 10 certainties i were decided upon, and he \ms then rejected." The bowlers of tbe team are HowelL Hopkins. Noble, McLeod. Axm--strong. Cotter, and perhaps Lsrer, who is going as maisager. A fast bowler is necessaiy, and the only one we have is Cotter —sometiases very fast, most always erratic and dangerous whether true or erratic: delivery absolutely above suspicion, which is saying a great deal. He will be the Ernest Jones of the last three teams. In 1595 W. L. ! Murdoch, writing to s friend in Sydney I about the then approaching visit to England of the team in 1896, said: '"You i must send a fast bowler, no matter whe- | ther straight or not, so long as he has j plenty of pace,' I am of opinion that j outside of his success in the last match 155ew South Wales v. South Australia ! jbe wonld have goat to Engiand. though ■ ■ it is just as well he did come off, otherwise tie sefeetors would bay« more alleged sins to answer for to the public StSl his inclusion mast be looked upon as an experiment, as mnst all who are making their first visit to Skurland." The Auckland proposal to play a team of fifteen agaiast the Australian eleven I Iras not been favoured all over tlse colony, and its disadvantages are well put by a Southern writer in the following terms: —Pelham Warner, when through New Zealand with lord Hawke's team, frequently raaaikpd that Hatches against odds were a weariness to tike flesh, and -mho is to eey tbai his ermtcntion is not . Tfee -naght of owr opptweßte jwasiWy jnnfilu an

i extra man or two, but I had rather see • Otago badly beaten by playing Australia on the man to jnan principle than defeat them with extra men. The edu- , cative phase of the tour comes in herei abouts. Place those extra men on the "" . field and you immediately crump the , batsmen, smothering up the"very strokes which it is desired should prove an edu--3 cation- Moreover, it appeals to mc " j that quite as much benefit may be de- , rived by watching the Australians from j the bank as that to be derived by actual 1 participation in the game where the average colt would be overburdened by the responsibility of playing against such redoubtable opponents. Play any edds against the Australians, and the estra men in the fr?ld can do no more than watch how certain strokes should be made. The same with the cricketer . en the bank. Too much is made of the ; alleged benefits to be derived by playing more than the regulation eleven aside. After_ all, the 'object is not so jinuch to beat the Aostralans (certainly ■ ii we can on the man to man principle), but to see these masters of bat and ball! and to get from them an idea of how cricket should be played under fair and recognised conditions of the game. This is impossible if odds are persisted in. If rumour is correct, three members of the Australian team will take their brides to England with them. It is known that C. Hill has just been .married, and it is stated that V. Tnimper and P. M. Ncwland also intend to follow Ms example. It is therefore wffchrn the range of possibility that the trip of tbe Twelfth Australian Eleven to England will be known as "the bridal tour." The forthcoming visit of the Australian team will bo the fifth time upon which a similar combination has come i to New Zealand. The first team to come j was tbe pioneer combination in IS7B, ; which defeated Tvrpnty-twos of InvercargOL Oamsru. Wellington, Napier, and Auckland, played a drswn game with twenty-two of Otaso, and were beaten by fifteen of Canterbury. The ISSO . colonial team carried out a more ex- ; tensive programme in New Ze-.lnnd, ■ "when they beat tvrenty-twos of Invorcargill, DtinHin. South Canterbury. Wellington, Napier and Auckland, and fifteen of Canterbury, but they tvero bfstc-n by twenty-two nf Wanganui by i ten wickets, while trre-ity-ttvo of Ne!s< 7i I played a draw with them. Six years Inter tbe .Australians again visited v.*. and they best twenty-two of Ota£?o and Hawke's Bay. but the gnmes" with eighteen of Canterbury and twenty-two? of Wellington and Auckland resulted in draw?. "Wγ did net receive a -risit from the Australians again until 1596. when the warn captained by G. 11. S. Trott came. Drawn matches wctp pl.iyed with eighter-ns in Auckland and Wellington, but eighteen of Southland -were i boatra Ly an innicps. and fifteen of by 17 runs. The fifth match of the tour was against fifteen of New Ze.a- . - land, this being the first occasion that a combined New Zealard team met the Australians. The match was played at J Lancaster Park, and the finish proved most exciting, the visitors winning by '. five wickets just on thp call of time. Playing steadily, if not "brilliantly. T. Elliot (15) and h". B. Lusk (2). tinued the Eden innings on Saturday at the Domain, carried t.be score from 47 to . the century in about threeqisarters of an I hour. Lusk occasionally drove nicely, and contributed 35 out of the hundred, his partner makicg only one less. Stemson showed up best among the bowlers tried by Grafton, very few runs being *made off him. The psj-fcnersh'p between Lusk and Elliot was broken at 113. when the latter was caught in the slips by C. Hay. oif D. Hay. He had made 43 by steady batting. Only two of the Eden wickets were down, and they had 52 to make to win. Lnsk soon followed Elliot to the pavilion. Eden's third wicket, falling at 120, Lusk being ■caught and Bovried D. Hay. after contributing 42. Thereafter the game wjls slow to vcateb. and so tardily did the score mount that it was quite an oprn • question far a long while whether Eden would win. Six wickets were down for 161. and a run for each of th? remainins wickets would give Eden the match. Things were pot. however, run out to ?uch a fine point, thongh the- sixth wicket fell bpfore the required total of 163 was reaefeed. Shepherd, -who liad made 23. being caught and bowied by D. Hay. the total thon being 164. The required runs were put on before thp next batsman left, and th° result of the match ■ was a -win for the Eden team by 27 runs. I). Hay bemirrf best of the- Grafton men, wmrirf; ib.e fine analysis of six -wickets for 31 rnss. Slemson started well, but was not so efiVcrivp later. He sp-enred thrcp wickets at a cost of 82 rtrrrs. Mason (16) and Sale (TH- the Pari>eU not-outs. took things very quit-tly at the commencement, aad run getting against Wood and White seaaed hard work. ! Mason at length began to make hardar : and better placed smokes, and the score after half an hour mounted to 90, at winch point Wood gave up the ball to Gavin at tbe pavißon end. The Ponsonby fielding was none too good. otherwise Ma.=wn mijht have left when he had made 20. for he put one of Wood's up it point which a ifery keen fielder would have attempted to secure. Gsvm was no more suceessfnl in breaking up the partnership than Wood had been, so Walker weat aa. This double i change worked like a fharcn, tbe newcomer. Walker, clean bowling Sale in bis I first over. 104—3—32. Two runs later, i N. B. Lusk, who joined Mason, sueenmb- , ed without opening his aceotint, Gavin cleverly holding one of Walkers, which I he had snicked. Meanwhile Mason"3 i score was mounting, ainl -wiren the Ponson by total was passed at 4 o'eiock. 1 Eden having lost four Tvigksts.. he had knocked up 61. He then began to hit out. the spectators being treated to the ' h'-reliest bit of cricket of -fefae afternoon. The display soon stopped, and at 156—5 Mason was given out. caught Eolansoa, bowled Gallagher. His contribntdon was 72. There was a very derided impression among the onlookers that the -empire ■was mistaken in giving Mason out, as it was plainly seen from the pavilion that the ball aid not toaeh his bat. but glanced off his pads into the vricketieeper's hands. Pam ell concluded for 253. K. ; Barry, who came in after Mason, TnaJrjwg i the creditable scote of 60 towards it. j P»rnrf! wan by 115 rams. M. Walker m best «MBf Urn Pmambj bosrkss. j

J - He bowled throughout the afternoon and • secured seven of the tvickets for 66 runs, i .J. Gavin doing next best vrith two for - 60. The Second Eleven of New South - Wales has never been defeated in a 5 . representative cricket match. _ I F. Johnson, the New South Wales bowler, accomplished a rare feat in the ' match against South Australia, when ( he completely beat and bowled Clem Hill j first balL In all his first-class cricket in Australia Hill had only failed to, ' ; score on six occasions. ; The Southern Tasmanian Association • decided to ask the Australian-Eleven to . play at Hobart on the way to New Zea- , land, but the team travelled via Auck- [ landIt is suggested in England that, after >. tossing for choice of innings in the first - Test match this year, the choice in the - j three subsequent matches should rest > alternately with the opposing sides. D. Ashby. who in days gone by often • .represented Canterbury, played for the ■ Christchurch Veterans" against Rangiora j! at Hagley Park recently, and he scored ,23 and 75, besides being the most sue- ; cessful bowler on his side. The New South Wales, Victorian, and South Australian Cricket Associations ;have considered a proposal that a Board jof Control for international matches 'should be formed. The proposal was the I outcome of a conference between dele- ' gates representing the three States. ' jThe proposed objects of the board are: 1 j—(a) To control, regulate, and, if neces- . sary. finance the visits of the English team to Australia, (b) to control, regulate, and. if necessary, finance the visits , of the Australian team to England or , elsewhere, either solely or in eonjnne- , tion -with the £roverninsr cricket bodies of the places visited, ie) The approval and registration of umpires. (a) Thp [ alteration of. or amendment of, or addition to, the laws of cricket in Australia, j The reason why the South African I Cricket Association has rejected the pro- I po?al of the Australian cricketers that ! . they should vteit South Africa on their ! ■way back from England is that a tour ! of an English team woiild do much more | for the game- An Enclish combination | ■ could stsy longer, and vroulti visit a i f.-.r larger number of towns than the limited time of the Australians -would ■ allow. >!r C B. Fry has an article on the personnel of t.he next Australian cricket team in the "Daily Express." Criticism of the selectors" choic? may, he thinks, be very well left to the Australian news- i 1 papers. "The English point of view I should be that in all probability three •rood j edges—aD of them a-ctively cqunected -with current first-class cridcet in Australia, and acquainted by erperi- j eoL-e vrith the conditions of" cricket over | here have chosen the best available j thirteen men. If they have chosen old | hands, we rosy take it that no new ■ hai2ds as good are available. The Australians are wise enough to perceive I that change for the sake of change has nothing to recommend it- i- Of the bat- ; .ting strength Mr Fry says: "It is a I soundlsh kind of batting side, contain- . jing a strong wedge of real danger. If ■ ! the likelihood of their scoring heavilj j resides in four butsmen. the rest are of la sort that precludes the likelihood of cheap dismissal. They do not look a . team which even our best bowlers wil] ffet out. for totals that -would make the • task of our batsmen quite easy. They : may—and I think they will—prove a very difficult team to "defeat." "But bowling," he adds, "is the chief point- Is this team up to the best Aus- \ tralian standard in bowling? Much, of course, depends on Cotter. The members of Warner's team thought he would do well on English wickets. He is quite different in style froza E. Jones, being. I am told, more like Wilson, of Wor- ' eestershire. and does not possess Jones' tremendous cast-iron physique and sheer ; cart-horse : strength. But he is a bowler who if carefully used shows a fine spk-e of pace and a lively whip from the pitch. He comes in really instead of . Saunders, while MeLeod takes Hugh Trumble's place. Satmders was a van.able and peculiar bowler — sometimes j poor, sometimes very difficult. If we jhave a wet year Saun'ders will be missed, i and Cotter wil] not adequately replace ! ihim. But on dry wickets I should say . Cotter is the more valuable bowler."