CRICKET.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 256, 26 October 1907, Page 12

CRICKET.

CRICKET FIXTURES. First Round: Eden V. N'ortli Shore, l'.irnell v. City, I'onsonby v. Grafton. Second Round: Kili-n v. Parnoll, North Shore v. Gnifton, PonßOiiby v. City. Third Kound: Eden v. I'ousonby, North Shore v. Pariiell, City v. Orafton. Fourth Kound: Kdcu v. City. North Shore v. I'onsonliy, I'aruell v. Ciraftoii. Fifth Round: Eden V. Gnifton, North Shore v. City, I'arnell v. l'ousouby. The opening of the cricket season was fixed for to-day. Tlio M.C.C. team commenced its Australian campaign to-day at Perth. Cricketers were favoured with beautiful weather for their first practice on Saturday afternoon last, and there was a splendid muster of players on the Domain. Caretaker Yates, handicapped as he has been by the wretched weather prevailing. Ikis got the Domain into splendid order, and the \vicket3 look remarkably well. The new soil found by A. K. Relf, has been used for top-dressing, and has apparently proved a great success, though the test of time will, of course, be necessary to sliow how it will wear. From present appearances, cricketers can look forward to a season of better wickets than they have ever had before. Subscription lists have now been issued in connection with the Plunket challenge match, and it is to be hoped the response will be sulliciciit and ready. The challenge is n provincial matter, and is to the supporters of the panic in country districts who cannot be reached by the, canvassers. j Mr. A. Fisher who has always i taken the keenest interest in promoting j cricket among the primary schoolboys, : has collected .. sum of about £20 for l this purpose. A portion of this sum has ' been ex|>ended in obtaining a banner for comjicti tien n tlio v«i nous scliools, 1 and tlie remainder in purchasing gear for | the boys. Thej- will thus have their own material this year, and this alone should do a great deal to promote interest in the game anions; those it is most desirable to reach, the youngsters. One ' hopes that the teacliprs will jrive a little, i time to the same, by assi-ting i.t {he umpiring, and otherwise keeping t!io boys up to the mark. ' At the opening of the season, it may 1 not be out of pliee to remind umpires that the laws of cricket provide that! byes shall be signalled by raisin™ the open hand above the hear], and boundaries by waving the hand from side to ! side. I Ponsonby have secured the services of MeLellan. a fairly fast bowler from . Christchurch. Opinions were very divided in Auckland as to whether Relf should be played in the match for the Plunket Shield in December. The Cricket Council considers that players engaged on such terms should be permitted to play, and that settles the matter. The drain put in to carry off the water from the Kden ground has proved effective, and the field is gradually clearing. It will be a long tiinu, however, before the ground will be fit to play \ipon, for the work of making the wickets will have to bo done de novo. This is very unfortunate for the cluV who will be deprived of the revenue which would otherwise accrue, and in addition will have to pay for wickets on the Domain. The Xorth Shore selection committee, following the system which they adopted some seasons back, have left Ka.l--lender out of the first eleven. Kalleniler was not in his best form last season, j but 1 think he would have been si eoni siderably more use tHian one or two of those included in the senior team, young players who would in no way sufTer by a sojourn among the first juniors. Only two entries having by.-n received for the fourth grade championship, these were placed in the third grade, which includes eight teams. The draws have been so arranged that there arc no byes in any of the grades this year. This is a matter for congratulation; byes arc a nuisance to all concerned. A supporter of the !\orth Shore club has offered a bat for the senior who accepts the greatest number of catches this season. This should help to tighten up the fielding. A. E. Relf has arrived in Auckland to commence his season's coaching. A better coach could not be desired, and his work, following upon the beginning made last year, should leave a lasting impression on Auckland cricket. Mr C. G. Wilson, the ex-Melbourne cricketer, has been re-appointed sole selector by the Otago Cricket Association. Seideberg, the Otago and Now Zealand rep. will bo unable to play until late in the season, having but recently recovered from n serious illness. Clem Hill is early in form this year, and on the opening day of the season scored a brilliant 82 not out without giving a single chance. H. B. I.iisk performed well on the opening day of the season at Christchurch, getting four wickets for .'3O. Lusk. who opened the batting with Cook for West Christchurch, had an exciting time, owing to the vagaries of the St. Albans fieldsman. He should have been easily run out before he had scored, and altogether gave about halt'-a-dozen chances in his forceful innings of 44. The trustees of the Sydney ground have given twelve months' notice to the M.R.U. that the terms for use of the ground will be Z0 instead of 121 per cent after next season. The Canterbury Cricket Association made a heavy loss over the late tour of the English team, and in order that the guarantors may not suffer, the Association has decided to hold a monster Art Union. The terms for the use of the Melbourne Cricket Ground for first-class matches this season are to be determined by one representative from the Victorian Association and the Melbourne Club and the Minister for Lands. The club wanted 15 per cent, while the association was only prepared to oiler 5 per cent. In one of the most notable matches ever played in local cricket the I Hyde Park team defeated the Pullj man team by 115 runs tn 0. says the "Sunday Record Herald," of Chicago. Pullman had only eight men. Only IS balls were bowled, and only one

of them was hit by a batsman, and that went to a fielder. Burton, the wicket keeper, and E. Waldron, the long stop, were the only other fielders to touch the ball. Jones bowled 12 balls for 4. wickets and Evans G for 3. Abbey for Pullman took 5 for 3. It would appear at present that Canterbury will have a "newer" representative team than usual (says a Christchurch correspondent). Of those who represented the province last season, Oilivier is on the West Coast. Sims is in England, Patrick is in Wellington, and Bain is in Timaru. J. D. Lawrence and j Callaway are "doubtfuls," and neither ; of them is playing this season. Two men who will probably get representative honours are Ackroyd and Moorhouse, both of the Sydenham Club. Moorhouse is an old Wellington representative, and he has lately played a good deal of firstclass club cricket in England. He is a forcing bat, very pleasing to watch, and a good field. On Saturday he was J given caught at the wickets before he "got into his stride." He had scored five. There will thus be a big change in i the personnel of the representative team. C. B. Fry writes thus in the "Daily Chronicle" of A. 0. Jones, the Eng- ! list captain:—"Mr A. O. .loncs has been I the main influence- in winning back the allegiance of the Notts people to cricket. Mr Jones' success with the Notts team augurs well for the prosperity of the M.C.C. team in Australia. I can sco nothing so useless as criticising the composition of the team and running it down because it is not the team which would take the field against the Australians in England. Nobody has the least idea how a new team like this will do. It has had. as yet. no opportunity of showing , what it is capable of as a team, and there is no so fallacious an idea as to criticise a few individuals simply because they have not hitherto played in tost matches. I think Vine, of Sussex, and George Gunn ought to have been taken. Vine would have been a most wise speculation .is a bowler, apart from his soundness and good nerve as a ha", find George Cunn is just the man for .Australian wickets; but, 1 have ov»ry belief in the capacity of the chosen men to glv" a good account of themselver., and in Mr Jones' ability to inspire them with the energy and enthusiasm which count so heavily in big matches. You mint something morn than cold skill in test matches. Some of the comparatively untried men are sure to turn out well, and we shall have the advantage of a wider selection of salted players when next the Australians come over Mr Frank Iredale. a distinguished Australian cricketer and a member of the selection committee out there, his offered some very unflattering criticisms on the M.C.C. team, but I think he wil! have reason to alter his opinions, just as he had to alter soni. -, of his criticisms of individual English cricketers when ho was over here during the last Australian visit, acting as a special correspondent. His recent stat'-.nent that the Australians regard Mr A. 0. Jones ns not of sufficient standing io captain the M.C.C. team is particularly owlish. The Australians are not such bad judges as Mr Iredale takes upon himself to r-.'prc-sent them. For a man who has himself played in big cricket. Mr Iredale appears singularly ill-informed. From a critic who knows nothing of the gam--; I extravagance and sensationalism are ! merely amusing. But Mr Iredn!-2 ought to know better, and we feel rather hurt at his indulging in wanton nonsense." Playing for the Gentlemen of the South against the Players of the South, 10. L. Jessop did some hurricane hitting. j Nothing bottt'r could be desired in i hrt batting line than Jessop at his best. JMs glorious batting dwarfed everything else, and it will long live in the memories of all who were privileged to aoc; it. The famous amateur came in immediately after lunch, when Day, Young, and Perrin had departed in the Gentlemen's second venture for 25. It was a critical moment. The success or failure of the captain meant much. Fortunately for all—the poor bowlers and fieldsmen except e<l—lie was a success—a itar turn of the first magnitude. The bowlers at this stage were Fairservice and Dennett. He soon proceeded to knock them off, and by way of prelude took 1G off Dennett, and when Keif came on 20 from his first over, hitting both bowleis for G's. Having whetted his appetite for runs, so to speak, the "Croucher" proceeded to score at express speed. ft mattered not who bowled or now the field was placed. He seemed able to gather runs when and how he pleased. It was dazzling batting. It sent the spectators into ecstacios of delight. While McGahey "pottered"' for 14. Jessop totalled SO, and when the former was out for obstruction the stand had realised 10S in 35 minutes. The famous amateur seemed to revel in the short boundaries, and runs literally flowed from his hat. Thus he had 100 in 42 minutes, 130 in 03 minutes, and finally 101 out of 234 in an hour and a-half. Durimj his stay, he only gave one chance and that a difficult one. to Woolley runr.ing from -micf-on. Moreover, \here was only one real mishit, such was the perfection of his play. He drove, cut, and pulled tremendously well, and his' chief figures were five' OS's (two from Woolley, and one each from Keif. Dennett, and Vine), thirty 4's. two 3'e, and ten 2's. Ilia innings was amazingly confident, for while he was hitting so freely both MeGahey and Blaker experienced considerable difficulty in getting the ball away. The Kent amateur, for instance, saw 77 added, yet his own share was but a moderate 10.