CRICKET.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 293, 11 December 1929, Page 21

CRICKET.

SENIOR B GRADE. THREE CLOSE FINISHES. BROBERG HITS A CENTURY. Another wet Saturday contributed towards the glorious uncertainties of cricket. Not that the weather counted much in the actual winning or losing of any of the games, as the majority of matches were sufficiently advanced to enable the prophets to make fairly accurate forecasts at the end of the first day's play. It was the calculations of •points that upset prognostications and four pointers were entirely absent. Naturally in the rain cricket was by no means pleasant, but in two of the three contests the results were so close that play was followed with the keenest of interest, and it can be safely stated was full of anxiety right up to the bowling of the last ball. At Papatoetoe Parnell made a tremendous effort to overtake the home team's score of 195, but they failed by four runs. At one stage of the game they only required 57 runs, with four wickets in hand. This changed immediately to 144 for six. Thanks to a stubborn defence by Dow, twenty-two runs were wanted at the fall' of the ninth wicket, then Dow was snapped up by Winks within four runs of victor}-. There was more than a touch of the sensational about Eden's achievement. With five minutes to go and only two wickets to fall, the eighth-wicket pair, Jamieson and Shelton, took the score past North Shore's total and then both lost their wickets. Eden, with one man short, won by one run. Balmoral counted upon getting four points from Y.M.C.A., but the_ game proved more even than was anticipated, and contained some sensational batting. Broberg, for Balmoral, accomplished some vigorous hitting, notching 104, not out, in a little over an hour.. He hit sixteen fours, and five sixes. Organ, on the opposite side, also figured prominently, scoring 80 and 33, not out, two excellent performances. Gillespie (74) and Ivory (68), of Eden, rose to the occasion at a.critical period. Worth (69 not out), Y.M.C.A., and R. Stehr (64). Parnell, also made runs under trying circumstances. Two fames were abandoned on account of the rain. King's College (125) obtained three points from University (121) as the result tf the first day's play. Ponsonby '(132) beat North Shore B by 45 runs on the first innings. The following table shows the position of the teams at the end of the third series of matches. — Ch. P W L . D Pts. Ponsonby .... 3 3 0 0 10 King's ....... 3 3 0 0 10 Parnell 3 2 10 7 Eden 3 2 1 Q 7 Balmoral .... 3 2 10 6 Shore B 3 111 6 Papatoetoe ..3 1 2 0 5 Shore A 3 0 2 1 4 Tarsity ..... 3 0 3 0 3 X.M.C.A. ..... -8 0 3 0 2

EDEN'S SENSATIONAL VICTORY. North Shore, who on the opening day had batted very slowly to score 184 for the loss of six wickets, continued their first innings on a wicket considerably affected by rain. An occasional ball kicked suddenly, but; with the slippery foothold and the greasy ball the task of the bowlers was not easy. Lusk, who was not out with 100, was bowled by Gillespie before he added to his score, paying the penalty for playing back to a ball which presented a scoring opportunity. The remaining batsmen took the score to 231 before the innings closed.

Hintz, Jamieson and Gillespie bore the brunt of the Eden attack. Hintz took four wickets for 74 in 26 overs, Jamieson two for 35 in 15.3 overs, and Gillespie two for 51 in 13 overs.

Eden commenced their first innings with a little less than three hours to bat. On the face of things victory seemed well nigh impossible. The wicket, while too wet to be of any great assistance to the bowlers, was likely to play occasional tricks, the dead outfield went to counter any advantage accruing to the batsmen through the greasy ball, and then North Shore had the services of its two stock bowlers, Nicholas and Buisson, who were absent on the opening day. At the start Nicholas obtained considerable nip' from the pitch, and the first three wickets fell cheaply. Blair was just beginning to settle down when he snicked one from Nicholas into the slips.

Gillespie, who had opened the innings, then settled down with Harrop, -who hit powerfully if inelegantly, and the score was taken to 84 before Harrop was caught in the outfield off Macindoe. Hintz went cheaply to a fine catch in the slips by Smith, and it appeared to be the beginning of the end. The next man, Ivory, was having his first strike of the season, and to follow him there was a very pronounced "tail."

However, Ivory and Gillespie gave the best batting exhibition of the match. Gillespie was playing a fine fighting innings, and, with the conditions beginning to tell on the bowlers, Ivory commenced to reap a harvest of ■ runs. The pair put on 100 before Gillespie was run out through failure to back up his partner. He is a young batsman who has shown promise for some time, and he rose nobly to the occasion on Saturday to score a fine 74. His innings was not without chances, but it was a great effort. Ivory went soon after for a quickly compiled 68. With Gillespie he had given his side a chance to save the match, hut it appeared to fade with his dismissal, when 42 runs were still needed for victory. But Eden refused to play for a draw. Although Nicholas occasionally made a ball sing dangerously past the off stump, both Sholton and Jamieson stuck manfully to their task. The latter made the winning stroke and fell to an easy catch off the next ball. Shelton went without any addition to the score, and Eden scraped home by the narrowest possible margin.

The North Shore bowlers stuck manfully to their task, but they had to bowl against the conditions as well as the batsffien. North Shore really lost the

game on the first day through adopting ultra-cautious methods, especially when the Eden bowling was tiring. North Shore scored 231 runs off 67 overs, while Eden made its 232 off 37. It was a victory for enterprising hatting.

A GREAT GAME. The match between Papatoetoe and Parnell was concluded under anything but cricket-like conditions, and resulted in a win for Papatoetoe by four runs after a keen and interesting struggle on the part of the Parnell batsmen. With four on for none, Whitley and Righton started off quietly and took the score to 25 before a separation was effected. R. Stehr joined Righton and runs came steadily, until Bright caught Righton in two minds, and an off-break saw his stumps scattered. E. A. Stehr partnered his brother, and both batsmen soon got the measure of the bowling, but a slow outfield reduced the rate of scoring. However at the tea adjournment Parnell had 95 for two wickets, which made their prospects bright. The score was taken to 117, and then E. A. Stehr (30) 'played across a straight one from Wotherspoon. The retiring batsman made many good strokes, featuring a off drive, and timing his leg shots to a nicety; three fours were included in his quota. Bob Stehr meanwhile was going for the bowling, but with the score at 18 he failed to get on to a ball from Dr. Valentine, and was easily caught in the outfield with his tally at 64. This was easily the best knock of the day. Stehr made some splendid straight drives and square cuts, and never allowed the ball to hit the bat. He notched a six and five fours. After his dismissal Parnell wanted 57 to reach their opponents' total, and with six wickets in hand it looked quite on the cards that it would be accomplished, but two more wickets fell for an additional half-dozen runs, the pendulum swinging the other way. Parnell had their backs to the wall. Dow held his end up, but no one could stay with him, and when the last man, Sharp, went in 22 runs were still required to avert defeat. The Papatoetoe bowlers were on the spot, and with the field keen runs were a difficult proposition. Still the score mounted by singles and twos until only four were required to tie, then Dow touched an off-swinger from Burnside, and was well taken leg behind by Winks, Sharp being five not out. Dow (31) was more subdued than usual, due no doubt to the tensity of the occasion, still it was a dogged effort at a critical time and nearly achieved success. Leg pulls were his most prolific shots. Of the Papatoetoe bowlers Burnside and Wotherspoon bore the brunt of the attack. The former sent down 20 overs and took three wickets for 38 runs. He bowled a very consistent length with a nice off turn, and was invariably treated with respect. Wotherspoon (three for 39) sent down a medium paced ball which "did a bit" from leg, and during his spell at the bowling crease served up very few loose balls. The ground fielding of Papatoetoe was fair, but the catching was good, and only a couple of hard chances were missed.