OUR CRICKETERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 101, 2 May 1927, Page 14

OUR CRICKETERS.

GREAT TEST AT HAND. UPS AND DOWNS OF THE GAME IN NEW ZEALAND. ONCE A RIVAL TO RUGBY. Our New Zealand cricket team has arrived in England, and is getting ready for the test of playing in a series of first-class games under the critical eyes of the British public. It is not out of place to take a look at some points of the history of the game in New Zealand, and discover why this country has been so late in "arriving" so far as cricket is concerned. The most striking thing about the history of New Zealand cricket is the narrow margin by which the game failed to become the national game of the Dominion. Reading between the lines in Tom Reese's recently published "History of cricket in New Zealand," one cannot help but be strcuck by the fact that, though the game did not become really known to New Zealanders until 1850, it was well on the way by 1880 to become the paramount field sport in the colony. The tours by Parr's and Lillywhite's teams to Australia, with flying trips to New Zealand, and the intermediate provincial rivalries had etimulated the populace to a tremendous interest. Firstclass players from England and Australia were constantly lifting the standard of the local game, and developing local talent. Auckland, Canterbury, Otago and Nelson developed fierce rivalries. The fact that the two famous English elevens mentioned defeated provincial teams of 22, only spurred the local players to better effort, and some notable feats of bowling were performed by the provincials against the great ones of the game. The climax was reached when Canterbury in 1877 (after defeating provincial rivals) actually proposed to play W. L. Murdoch's famous Australian eleven on level terms. The Bannerman brothers, Murdoch, Spofforth, Blackham, Garrett, Eendal and Boyle had no terrors for these players of the plains. Murdoch insisted that Canterbury play 22 men against his eleven, but the New Zealand champions declined. Eventually Canterbury agreed to play fifteen men, declaring that the game would not be played if the Australians insisted on any more. So the Australian eleven played a Canterbury fifteen, and was (beaten by six wickets. £. T. Fuller taking eight wickets for 35 runs in the second innings. The following year a Canterbury team travelled to Victoria and played six matches, winning three and losing three.

It was just after this that the winter pastime of Rugby football, at which many of the most prominent cricketers also excelled (as, for instance, W. Rob inson and J. Arneil, of Auckland, and W. V. Milton, of Canterbury), received a wonderful fillip as the result of the first New Zealand team going to New South Wales, in 1884, and winning all matches. Followed successes against Stoddart's and other English teams, and young New Zealand plumped for th? winter game at which it excelled, with the result that cricket slumped for many years. Pioneer Aucklanders. Reverting to cricket, Mr. Reese reminds us that Auckland was the pioneer of the provincial contests. The Aucklanders' in 1859 challenged Wellington, and travelled to that town to play the

first interprovincial game and won by four wickets. On that occasion the Auckland team was: G. Ireland, Weir, J. Russell, Harris (capt.), Dobie, G. K. Turton, J. B. Steedman, T. Kissling, Simpson, White and Harris, junr. States the newspaper account of the game. The. fast underhand bowling of Brewer and Buck for Wellington was responsible for Wellington having a lead on the first innings, 71 to 43. But then Russell and Turton got the Wellingtonians out for 39, and a stand, Steedman (31) and Turton (16), gave victory to Auckland. Thirteen years later Auckland sent a team on the first extended provincial tour, and defeated Wellington, Canterbury, Otago and Nelson. The members of that team were: J. Mumford, F. Dufaur, S. Alpe, G. Bellars, R. J. Yates, C. Clayforth, W. W. Robinson, T. S. Sweet, H. E. Cotton, W. F. Buckland and G. Lankham.

Commenting on some ol the players mentioned here, Mr. D. Reese states that J. B. Steedman proved himself the best of the early batsmen in Auckland. George Lankham, who arrived from England in 1862, was a fine all-round cricketer, and J. Russell was the best bowler; but G. Johnston, who played in 1863 and 1873 and thus missed the representative matches, was held to be Auckland's leading batsman at the end of the period. G. R. Turton, an all-rounder who played in the first game Auckland v. Wellington, later migrated to Dunedin and played in the first Otago v. Canterbury match in 1864. He was afterwards captain of the Otago team. Iu 1873 W. W. Robinson was the star player of Auckland. A tall man with a curly black beard, he was a heady, slow, left-arm bowler, a free bat and a great fighter. He had the genius of captaincy, too, and his name has been handed down as Auckland's best captain, and one of the few really good captains that New Zealand has had. W. F. Buckland, a cheery optimist, was a good fast bowler. His best effort was in a single wicket match against C. Bannerman, T. W. Garrett and T. Horan, of the Australian Eleven, when he dismissed all three for one run, bowling only five balls. R. J. Yates, a native-born Aucklander, was easily the best batsman of his day, and he did great service for hie province for fully 20 years. Hie batting was of the dogged type, characteristic of the man. T. S. Sweet was a dashing player in every way, but he played in.only one season, leaving the touring team at Nelson to link up with Canterbury. Other giants of the game were J. Lankham, W. L. Rees, J. Mumford and A. E. Dewes. The latter was a good wicket-keeper. Also among the representative players of the 'sixties in Auckland was C. C. Dacre, father of the vice-captain of the present New Zealand team. Mr. Dacre, senr., learned his ericket at Clifton College in England. Era of Small Scores. A point that stands out very clearly on looking over the review of New Zealand cricket is that the bowling in the earlier days was of better quality than the batting. In fact, one seems forced to the conviction that the bowling in New Zealand then was better than it is to-day, even granting that in the sixties, when the underhand and round-arm bowling was common, there were more wides bowled than now occur. The era of small scores persisted right up to 1881, when G. Watson, a lefthanded batsman, of Canterbury, knocked up the first individual century made in an interprovincial match. This score was made against Otago. In the same match Johnny Fowke, the old Auckland and Canterbury wicket-keeper, made his debut for Canterbury. Only one century

had been made in big matches in New Zealand prior to this, in 1678, when C. Blackham, of the Australian Eleven, knocked up 125 not out against a Sors&l land team of 22. They were not so conventional in those days as now. An account of the first Auckland v. Wellington match played in Auckland (in 1863) states that "the umpires were changed during the game on account of leg-before decisions/' And when the All England team played Taranaki in 1877 they had the wicket running north and south the first day, and changed it to east and west the second day to suit the public It was not till ISB4 that the New Zealand provinces played a visiting overseas team on level terms, when a Tasmanian team was beaten by Canterbury and Otago elevens. They continued to meet the Australian sides on level terms, though with little success, for the standard of the game was goinf back as s result of the popular fancy being so strongly taken Rugby. In 1894, the New Zealand Council was formed, and the first New Zealand team was selected and played a Test match against Davis' N.S.W. team. From that time onwards, under the tutelage of visiting Australian sides, the New Zealand cricket e..» have advanced in batting and the tacticj of the game, though it is doubtful if the bowling quality of the game has improved. Tours were made in 1899, 1913, and 1925 to Australia, and now a New Zealand team, for the first time in the history of the game, is making an appearance in Britain. Two practice matches are to be played next week, and on May 9 and 10 the team will open its match tour with a game against Mr. H. Martineau's team at Holyport. Australians, South Africans, West Indians, East Indians, Canadians, Americans, and Dutchmen have all preceded the New Zealanders to Britain on cricket tours. It will interest readers to note the playing results of these first tours of our predecessors. They are:— P. W. Jj. D. 3568—Aust. Aboriginals.. 47 14 14 19 1878 —All Australia.... 40 18 7 15 1884—Pbiladelphians ..18 S 5 5 1886—Parsees 28 1 19 s 1887 —Canadians 19 5 5 9 1894—South Africans... 24 12 5 7 1894 —Gents, of Holland 10 2 7 1 1900—West Indians .... 17 5 8 4 1909—Belgians 7 1* 5 1 1911—All India 23 6 15 S WHANGAREI CHAMPIONSHIP. Marsden won the Whangarei district cricket competition on Saturday, defeat ins Hikurangi in the final by an innings and 184 runs. Marsden made 287 (Boggs 40, Atkinson 92, Martin 118 not out). Martin hit nine fours and seven sixes. Hikurangi made 33 and 70 (Wilson 21, Griffin 22). Against Hikuransi Atkinson too* , seven wickets for 24 runs.