CRICKET.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 95, 21 April 1923, Page 21

CRICKET.

THE SEASON'S GAMES. ; "REVIEW AS!) PROSPECT. <1 JJO CAUSE FOB I'KSSIMISM. I (By At TAI-OX) ■ ] i The crick el season L'b-b". in Av.ekland fl has been a ma h more -v. cc-lnl one iv L dub play •■■• ln ,r "' ;1 !hf * 'ntcr- h provincial point oi view, l.a.t season , Auckland carried ail l'fiorc it in thel, plunk et Shield game-, which were j t played for th ■ i'*r.-i time under Sheffield | , Shield conceitii'-.i-. in which one of the ,1 four competing ;■ am- ,\„- no travelling. ! ] Auckland then had ail homo matches. ,= This year Auckland w.i< at full strength only for tbe match again-! Wellington, a magnificent contc-t in which 1 -" Wellington had a narrow win on their Lome ground. Again.! Canterbury our learn was again narrowly licalou, while injf Otago it pained a narrow victory. Can- j ; terbury defeated Otago nnd Wellington ! as well as Auckland, and took thel] shield. Otago had all their matches at • ] home, nnd were d •■"■•aied by Auckland , j and Canterbury, while t'ne game against | Wellington was abandoned owing to ! , rain when it was at an indefinite stage. ' j The advantage of playing on a home * wicket seems to lane boon one of the,, deciding facte.. in the Auckland- ', Wellington. Auckland-Canterbury and', Wellington-Canterbury matches. The i tale of'the match.-, however, shows,, that despite the local pessimism con- j 1 cerning it last year there is little wrong : _ with Canterbury cricket, on the Xew j Zealand standard. * IX THE TEST GAMES. Taking all lite circumstances intojaccount, Auckland followers of tbe game ■' are not at all despondent about the! 1 allowing made by Auckland in the rep. i • matches. On the strength of Inst, year's '' form Auckland got six men into the j • first test match against tho M.C.C. team ;' —Snedden. Smith. Rowntree. Garrard.. McLeod and Allrott. Of these only/ Garrard survived the three tests, with j the changing of personnel as tho current : ' season's form was disclosed. Pmif h and j ' McLeod were not given a second chance, and an injury put RowntrQa out after lie ; had given a brilliant display of wicket- . keeping. Dacre came into the team for the second test, and justified his retcn- | tion for the third, while iho selection I episode resulted in tho withdrawal ot | Snedden after he bad captained the team j for the first two games. Allcott dropped j out after the second tost. On per- j formances Dacre, Sneddon. Garrard and . Rowntree fully justified their places. j

"Chummy" Hemus. After two decades of senior cricket "Chummy" Hemus still wields the hat to such effect that lie was only headed in his club averages by ont player, the ver satile Anthony For yeast; Hemus has delighted the cricketing pub lie with his crisp drives W, c 11 timed behind the wicket shots and hy the general breezi ness of his play. 'Chummy saw to it thai there was something doing while hi was at the wickets, and the field ha: to he on the alert when he is facing thi attack.

INTERESTING CLUB PLAY. The cricket in local club matches has been of a most encouraging character, and has* been keen and interesting throughout. Early in the season Grafton, with Allcott bowling well and supported by a strong batting side. looked like making a clean sweep of it. but as the wickets hardened Allcott lost his sting and Parnell, Ponsonby nnd Kortli Shore began to make headway. Too much reliance on tho bowling of Smith and Snedden, which was not of the standard of last year, set Ponsonby back, and Eden came" briedv into the limelight by dint of solid all-round batting and good team work fill their weakness In bowling and wicket-keeping found them lacking. Xortii Shore upset calculations by the success of Dacre and Elliott as bowlers, -and the end of the I season found Grafton and Parnell. the latter of whom had .boon steadily I 'inning through by all-round play, the! leading teams. Improvement in bowling by Somervell. Mann and McLeod. who I Were enabled to relieve Moore and Anthony of much of (he burden of attack, and an improvement by Badolov behind tho slumps, made Ibis side, always a good fielding one. a purtirularly well-balanced lot. ft would ho bard to s ay if Parnell would .boat -Grafton on another gum", for when they have a day on the two stock bowlers of Grafton. Wilson and Allcott. are the jnost effective i„ Auckland to-day. but « they should happen tn fail the side 'acka the support in change bowlers needed to break no a stubborn partners bSp. On his improved bowline form. Wj4 his batting :■■,■} fiel.linjr ability. Wilson has boon u'nluckv ibis season not to have been in the reps. THE OITI.OOK. ParnelFs win i. a popular one for ihp dub has plodded aw.iv through had Masons keeping Its seniors and juniors together, and has got its reward i" Betting to the top this year in throe grades. Eden. North Shore and Ponsonby as well ns p ; ,rncll show k(*i*nii".« amoio» the juniors, with s„n,e of the lads giving W promise, and this more tlun' aavthing else keeps the outlook for the game encouragm".

A. Anthony,

head of the batting "■yerages of. the champion club of the sp a . *»>• is a veteran of, *" c game, cool, clear beaded an-tl resourceful. For years he was/ °f of th-s mainstays J* Cantcrburv's batt,n S. and: since his waoval te this rftT f .has k*_pt tho Hag %-»g. He was unusttal| y successful with ti* ball in rP n. etches this season, and was also amono**>"heads" in the ?«« figures.

The management committee has been studying ways and means for keeping the local standard up, and was in communication with Tyldesley, of the M.C.C. team, relative to the possibility of his settling in Auckland and combining the duties of coaching schoolboys and juniors with that of ground bowler. A I possibility of securing the services of an 1 Australian player of the stamp of A. E. c l.iildirutt, of Victoria, complicated the . ncL'otnitions, and no arrangement was ) arrived at with Tyldesley, who has \ returned home, but has written to say c there is a chance that he will return to |( Auckland to settle down in two or three i 1 years if his affairs go as-he desires them .. tr. Should I.iddieutt in the meantime t t ••: be Iffered a place in the Australian c Cloven, it is just possible that he may j 1-e induced to come to Auckland next s sea .on. < (