CRICKET.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 72, 24 March 1906, Page 12

CRICKET.

The Xew Zealand-Melbourne match is proceeding to-day.

The final series of matches in the local championships will suffer interruption through the charity fete to be held on the Cricket Ground on April 7th. The games will thus be concluded on April 14.

The first day of the penultimate series left each of the three matches in an interesting position. Scoring was very fair in the first innings of Grafton and North Shore, but City only amassed a moderate total, no less than seven men failing to pass the five peg.

Hemus and MacConniek did the greater part of the work for City, scoring well over half the total between them. MacCormiek opened cautiously, and played remarkably well for his quota of 49. Scbmoll, who opened with him. was just beginning to score nicely when he allowed White to get a full fosser past him. Neill did not reign long, being clean bowled for five, and liennick, who made his re-appearance, had only scored a brace when Masou disturbed the symmetry of his wicket with a full tosser. Hem us made 40 in a manner which made one regret that he could not get away to Christchurch for the New Zealand match, the young jf.at.sman giving a tine display of free, wristy cricket. Of the others Kavanagh was the only one to show form, and he played carefully for 23 not out. Fryer was smartly stumped before the got going, and Caro shaped very indifferently during his brief stay.

Ponsonby's fielding was ahead of anything they have done this year, Mason showing his old form, and Cummings and Braithwaite also doing solid work. Woods bowled capitally, taking four for 46, and Walker, who got three for 32, was also in very fair form.

In the Orafton-Eden match, as in that on the other wicket, the major part of the scoring was left to two men, D. Hay and Sloman accounting for 166 out of the 234 runs. Hay was in fine form, and he punished the bowling very severely, making fourteen boundary hits in his score of 113. His leg strokes were capital, and his driving, both to the off and on, was very fine, the ball travelling at great pace and well clear of the field. He lost his wicket in trying ito hook Beale, the ball being returned to the bowler. Slomau scored 53 by hard, clean hitting- before Stemson .tempted him out, and Haywaxd lifted the bail. Sisam and Langridge, promoted from the juniors, played a good last wicket partnership, increasing the score by 32 runs. Sisam is still a youth, and his performances as a member of the 'Grammar School eleven as bat and bowler are well known. He carried his bat for 13, and played with a quiet confidence that augurs well. He played steadily, but showed that he can get a ball away well to leg, and ithat he knows when not to hit, a most important part of the batsman's art.

Stemson bowled very finely, baggin"five for 57, a tiptop performance in view of the total. Freeman was greatly relished during his brief spell at the wickets. The wicket kicked a bit towards the end of the day, but was easy- at the start.

The Sydney Cricket Championship is in an exceedingly interesting position, Waverley, Burwood and Glebe being all in the running. When the last matches concluded Waverley led by one point, but had'still to meet boththese rivals.

A. O. Jones, the Nottinghamshire cricketer, has definitely decided to retire from I.ugby football.

In spite of several failures, J. "R. M. Mackay heads the batting list in the Sydney first-grade averages, with a total of 536 runs for eight completed innings. Duff is seventh on the list with 52.25, and Trumper eighth with 52.20. Noble is third on the bowling list with 21 wickets costing an average of 14.38 apiece. Alfred Shaw, the famous English cricketer and umpire, was stricken with paralysis on January 20 at his residence in Nottingham. He had not been in very good health for some little time, and was suddenly taken ill. A medical man was immetfiately sent for, and it was found that Shaw had had a paralytic .seizure which for the time had deprived him of his speech. A day later he was much better and had regained his speech, but the doctor did not entertain great hopes of his eventual recovery.

The following incident in the North Hobart v. East Hobart match on March 3is taken from "Nat Lees'" comments in the "Ta.smanian Mail":—Johnstone, the last mau (French being absent), was thought to have been bowled, but the umpire, being unable to see the bail re moved owing to the bowler going in front of him, could not give a decision. It was then referred to the other umpire. The ball, was then thrown down to the bowlers end by the wicket-keeper. The batsmau (Johnstone), who was at the wicket furthest from the pavilion, left his ground, evidently being under the impression that he was out. Whilst he was going towards the pavilion Dodds, of North Hobart, acting strictly within the laws of the game, got the ball and pulled a stump out of the ground, and appealed for a run out. This savoured so much of sharp practice that the spectators showed their disgust in unmeasured terms, and in the pavilion there jwa-s a lively "scene," in which players, umpire, and spectators got hopelessly I mixed up. After a quarter of an hour's unseemly wrangling the two captains and the two umpires retired to "calmly i discuss the situation." The result of their deliberations was that the batsmen, Hudson and Johnstone, should resume. They did so. The renewal of play agoused intense excitement amongst the few spectators who had remained, and there were terrific yells from North Bobart's section when, at one minute to 6, Johnstone was run _**■*-_____.■

North Shore, batting first against!' Parnell, reached the good total of 205 for . nine, wickets, Prime and -Wallace being; chiefly responsible for the total. Pririie ! played very fair cricket for his 61 not ; out, though h? gave a couple of chances. ; Wallace was in good form for his total !■ of 69, making a number of fine drives j and pulling very well. He was out, j, caught and bowled by Sale, who took a brilliant one-handed catch off a hard ] drive, which very few would have got to. Haddon compiled 22 in good style, I and was then out in an unlucky manner, | the ball going from the bat to his foot I and then cannoning into the wicket. S. Fairburn was the most successful bow- I ler, getting three for 43, while Strickland also bowled well, getting two for 36. ' ) It would be interesting to know the ; position occupied by Haddon on the New i Zealand Selection Committee's list. '-, Somewhere below fifteen certainly, and '. for the life of mc 1 can't guess why. His j fielding may be a bit below the mark, i but it is not sufficiently so to warrant i his exclusion in favour of, to my mind at least, inferior men with nothing like the same variety of strokes. "Scoring . Board," of the "Canterbury Times." se- • lects Haddon as the first and only Auck- j lander worthy of inclusion. I A suggestion worthy of serious con- . sideration was made to mc through the '■ \v.?ek by Fred Murray, the Parnell skipper. It was to the effect that all the clubs being now about evenly matched tbe three days' system should be tried- • i This would no doubt sustain interest in ' the matches by giving an opportunity for them to be played right out. It would, of course, involve, an alteration in tbe scoring of points by the clubs, and | probably the system adopted in Sydney . I would be the best—three points for a straight out win, one for a win on the first innings only, points being similar- . ly deducted for each loss. The game i would probably bo brightened in the attempt for higher points. It is to ka hoped that the association will consider I the matter before next season. A curtailment in the second round would be j necessary, and there might be some diffiI culty in this, but the difficulty is not unsurmountablc. j The North Shore Club's two entertainments in aid of tbe cricket pavilion fund take place on Wednesday and Thursday next, and it is to h? hoped that lovers of the game will take a trip across and : give the club a lift. Johnny Fowke, who used to keep wicket for Gordon and for Auckland a decade or so ago, has left Christchurch, j and will in future reside in Wellington. [ Discussing Australian wickets, A. O. Knight, cricketer and footballer, says: "So great has been the influence of the Australian wicket, so especially favoured in the matter of climate, that one would think that the usually-accepted statement that bowling "makes the batting" might very well be reversed so far as the great Commonwealth is concerned. The. game itself may not be I so delightful or delighting a game on these adamantine wickets, where tender green is a blistered brown and spring velvet an unyielding concrete, but these conditions have certainly contributed to the creation of a most resourcefid type of player, characteristically Australian, in a far greater proportion, relative to the number of players engaged, than is the. case with our more happily situated selves." Speaking of the Bulli soil wickets, he says: Its surface partakes of the nature of asphalte or concrete, upon which the wet stunds, partly to drain off to the sides of the wicket, more lightly rolled; partly to be evaporated by sun and wind. The wicket never seems to become sodden as an' English field can become sodden. It is sodden with water, only as the stringy fibres of a plank of deal get sodden, and never does it present the sheer devilry and difficulty which wickets with other soils present after rain. In itself Bulli has no fertilising properties. The wicket is strewn with the crushed and sieved dressing, and then left until the couch grass has permeated through and bound the mass together. It is then completely flooded, after which successive applications of a light roller bring it into condition, the grass apparently crushed and lost in the black mud, the ultimate playing surface presenting the appearance of a sheet' of vulcanite, finished "flat," as polishers would say. Such is the soil and the wicket upon the most perfect and admirably arranged ground in Australia. When he first went to England, Victor Trumper played the correct game, taking no risks, yet got his runs by beautifully clean strokes in all directions (says "Shortslip" in the Sydney "Mail"). Now he is a law only unto himself. All things taught by school coaches are set at defiance. The style 'of cricket he plays courts disaster, and to mc it is surprising that bad luck did not come along before. Time was, and not, so very long ago either, when every bowler stood in awe of Victor. Now a good deal of that has worn off. There oomes a time in every batsman's career ■when he will have, a succession of short scores, and now they are coming to Trumper. Big crowds follow Victor ,Trumper ili the expectation of seeing sensational batting. On Saturday close on 3000 people visited Hampden Park Oval, where the local team were playing University. One does not exaggerate a great deal when he says that almost every stroke of Trumper's contains a risk. The Truraperian influence on batting is to be seen everywhere. We. have not a stonewaller now, no, or even a slow batsman; all are out after runs. This has been the case with us for the past few years, and to it may be attributed in a measure the fact that the Englishmen have beaten us during the last couple of tours. Discussing the delay in the establishment of a Board of Control for Australia, "Stumps," in the "Town and Country Journal," says: Unless the Australian cricket authorities come at once to some agreement among themselves, it is likely that the proposed visit of an English team thi3 year may fall through. Some time ago, it was pro- ; posed to form a Board of Control, to itake over the management of such matters as tours of Australian elevens, arrangements for visiting English teams, etc. This board was to consist of representatives from each Stfl*e. 334 ft _£P»

'posal would seem business-like and sen- . sible, but owing to vested interests there has been trouble over the formation of ! the Board of Control. To* begin with, ; the South. Australian Association was |at one time in favour of the Board of ! Control, but after a conference in Melbourne between delegates from New 'South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria, at which some alterations, were J made in the constitution of the board, the .South Australians said they could ' not agree to come in unless several I changes were made. These objections | have now dwindled down to one. That one is in regard to the clause which 'reads, "To arrange, control, regulate, and finance the visits of the Australian teams to England or elsewhere," etc. [South Australia asks that the words "if necessary" should be inserted before the [word finance. The South Australian As- ■ sociation is afraid that the players may ibe deprived of "the gold mine," which jis the title nowadays given to a visit iof an Australian team to England. And ithe hand of the Australian Eleven cricketer is plainly seen in the point that is raised. Tbe cricketers want to keep 'control of their own finances, and they .fear that if the board comes into ex- | istence and take., control, a tour will not be such a great money-making confcern as at present. For instance, the 'board would see that no match was played on the eve of a test fixture, and that the Australians would be in. the same position as an English team out here. The Marylebone Club stipidated that its team in Australia should have a week's spell from playing matches before the test games. The benefit to be derived from such a proceeding is, of course, obvious. Tbe stand taken by South Australia, viz., that the players 'should continue to finance their own trips, is silently supported by players in the other States; and there are uot [wanting signs that influence is being brought to bear on the _vf_lbourn<_ Cricket Club to make it hold aloof from the Board of Control, and thus, if possible, euchre the whole scheme. The. Melbourne Cricket Club has been asked to state whether or not it will elect one of Victoria's representatives to the i Board of Control. The question it ha» 'so far failed to answer, and meanwhile time is slipping by. What does the Melbourne Cricket Club intend to do? is, therefore, a question that supporters of the Board of Control would like anjswered. Something should be known concerning the Melbourne Club's intentions by March 12 at the latest. The Victorian Cricket Association is to meet ion that date, and the associatio|i has Risked the Melbourne Club for a definite answer by them. The board is a body that is badly wanted in Australia. It may be mentioned thnt before the last Australian team went to England invitations wore sent by the Marylebone Club to about half a dozen different bodies. Then, again, the board would prevent unseemly squabbles over tbo appointment of umpires, like those which 'took place when Warner's team wa* here. In fact, tho board would be for the good of Australian cricket, no matter from what point of view it is looked at. It is expected to prevent an Australian team being picked on the mutual admiration system adopted in connection with the last eleven.