CRICKET.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 288, 5 December 1929, Page 15

CRICKET.

SENIOR B GRADE. EDEN'S BAD FIELDING. It is hard to say which was the more pathetic in the opening day's play at Victoria Park in the game between North Shore A and Eden—the stodgy, unenterprising batting of North Shore, a team which was once renowned as a fast-scoring combination, or Eden's atrocious Welding. It was weak cricket, and in very few instances was it up to senior B standard. Lusk won the toss and the North Shore team stayed at the wickets all the afternoon to score 184 runs for the loss of six wickets. At the tea adjournment, two hours' play had resulted in the scoring of 77 runs, and even though the scoring brightened a little after tea, the batsmen failed to grasp obvious scoring opportunities, and in another two hours added only 107 runs. There would have been some excuse if the wicket had been tricky or the bowlers holding the upper hand, but Shore threw a golden chance to the winds by not attacking the bowling when it began to tire. Lusk opened the innings and was not out when stumps were drawn with his score just over the century. He scored very slowly, and his only scoring shots were a leg glance, which was hardly more than a touch, and an occasional offdrive. Frequent chances marred his innings, and with his score at 99 he played a weak shot at a ball from Hintz which w&B going away. Aickin ran in from cover and dropped the catch, and Lusk ran the one run needed for his century. None of the other batsmen was impressive. Lusk, of course, was faced with the absence of several of his leading players, and this may have actuated him in his adoption of a policy of safety first. The policy, however, was unsound in theory, and it will be interesting to see how it works out in practice. . There can be no doubt that had Eden's fielding been anything like respectable, North Shore would have been easily dismissed. Catches were dropped with almost monotonous regularity, and added to this the ground fielding and returning to the wicket was pathetic. The ball generally landed at the bowler's feet, and some of the players fielding close to the wicket seemed not to recognise the absolute necessity of backing up for every return. It was a slovenly display. Blair handled his bowling excellently throughout a trying afternoon. Hintz and Jamieson were the steadiest, although at times both were treated with undue respect. Hintz bowled 22 overs and took three wickets, all clean bowled. He had the experience of seeing about four moderately easy catches dropped off his bowling. Blair attempted to bowl to his field, but he could not depend on it for assistance. The game is in an interesting position, notwithstanding the poor class of cricket —anything might happen on Saturday.