DOMAIN CRICKET REVIEWED

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 99, 28 April 1945, Page 20

DOMAIN CRICKET REVIEWED

Bowling Strength A Factor In H.Y.'S Nine Wins Out Of Ten

THE ease with which R.V. won the City and Suburban cricket championship honours, the difficulties experienced by players in changing over from one to two-day cricket, with the consequent decline in the rate of run-getting, and the failure of many of the old Domain favourites to reproduce their form of recent years all tended to rob Domain cricket of some of the sparkle and interest that has marked the play of recent years.

The exciting finishes of one-day cricket were of course fewer, while a scoring rate of a run a minute on the main wicket was not often sustained throughout the afternoon's play. Batsmen accorded the great majority of bowlers far too much respect. Had Goldsworthy and Simpson, for example, the same agility and quickness of eye of a few seasons ago many flattering howling averages would have had the necessary correction applied to them.

Slow Bowlers' Influence In winning nine of its ten games, two of them outright, R.V. demonstrated its effectiveness as a matchwinning combination. It took the lead in the first series and never looked back. Much of R.V.'s success could be attributed to the success of three slow bowlers, all of whom were appearing in the R.V. side for the first time. None of them, however, were strangers to good class cricket. Bell and Wood had rendered Brixton valuable service in the past and Wood, too, had appeared for M.T.P. Cleal, the third recruit of note, played senior A.C.A. cricket before the war and achieved for R.V. the rather unique distinction of claiming two wickets with every five overs he sent down. In finishing the season with nearly 30 wickets he showed himself a most valued member of the well varied and accurate attack. Bell, the spearhead of the attack, was seldom mastered. He received at times valuable aid from Woolley, who made the ball move quickly and usually kept a steady length.

Cloke, who has played for the club since its foundation, was a tower of strength and averaged nearly 40 runs an innings. This left-hander was often associated with Wood in partnerships that finally decided the match. Bell, too, played some solid knocks, while Simpson, especially towards the end of the season, treated spectators to goo<j cricket. An injury prevented Goldsworthy from producing his best form with the bat, but it had no effect on his judgment and skill in leading R.V. to victory.

Green Lane Improves Green Lane, which finished fifth last summer, was the runner-up, ten points behind the champions. Like most of the other teams in the competition, their form suffered sudden lapses. At times they scored runs more freely than any other team in the championship—five of the 14 scores of over 200 were compiled by Green Lane. Kerr, of course, stood out head and shoulders above anyone else in the competition. His allround form again earned him a place in the Auckland representative side, and later 'in the North Island team. He scored two centuries for Green Lane, apart from quite a few knocks of over 50. His bowling was perhaps even more valuable to Green Lane, who found it hard at times to keep the other end going. Gifford and Farquhar, and later Scarborough, a fast bowler, were the best of the other trundlers.

Kerr received better support in batting. Farquhar, a left-hander, at times drove strongly on the off side, while R.. Russell and Watkins, recently returned from overseas, often succeeded when the earlier batsmen had failed. Most of the other batsmen, too, "came off" on various occasions. Another stock bowler of the class of Donaldson, who helped Kerr the previous season, would have made a great difference to the side. Batting Never Strong Manukau, two points behind Green Lane, never touched the form that gave them such an easy victory in the .1943-44 competition. They never seemed to settle down to two-day cricket. On paper their team was a strong one, but too often were wickets thrown away. With Scholium unable to play and Wilson, Rollins, O'Meara, Dunning and York all showing loss of form, the Manukau batting was never really strong. Only once was 200 topped, and that was when Manukau was beaten the second time by R.V. Peter Stace, from the Middle East, a versatile left-hander and a grand fieldsman, with an aggregate of 337, was the only batsman to pass the 200 mark. Organ, Innes and York, with averages of less than 20, were the more reliable of the remaining batsmen. In former years Manukau has relied on the bowling of Dunning and Mann—they each took 60 wickets the previous season. This season, however, these veterans of suburban cricket found their work much harder. Dunning, nevertheless, enjoyed quite a few successful days, as did Organ, an all-rounder of more than average ability, on whom fell the burden of the faster bowling His 33 wickets cost less than 16 runs apiece. liongville and Axon After being second to Manukau in 1943-44 Brixton, winning only four games, tied with Railway for fourth place. The departure of the slow bowlers for other clubs and the decline of Longville as a matchwinnlpg factor no doubt had much to do with Brixton's failures. Longville, who averaged over 30 runs, was still, however, the- most prolific scorer. Axon, who showed great promise, more than any other young batsman in the competition, was easily the best of other batsmen, who were consistent, rather than brilliant. Eight of them averaged double j figures. , , . ! By taking 17 wickets, and thereby heading the bowling averages, Longville proved an effective charge bowler. The burden of the attack, however, lay on Bunting and Mitchell, both of whom took 21 wickets. Bunting, the faster bowler, was much less expensive than Mitchell, who sent down slow leg breaks. After losing their first game outright, Railway lost every second game from then onwards, but .hey redeemed themselves later when they soundly defeated the champion team, thereby inflicting upon R.V. its only defeat. Though it improved later in the season, the Railway batting was unstable. Often it was a case of holding the team together and then it was that Davidson and Cranefield were seen at their best. Clarke, an enterprising batsman, often hurried along the Railway scoring rate. As the bowlers were usually the best

batsmen, the last man in was often in the side for his batting. Clarke, the fast bowler, kept up a good pace for short periods and met with 'a good measure of success- Boreham and Davidson also distinguished themselves with the ball, while Bracewell and McKay when they appeared were usually in the wickets.

Failing on eight occasions to reach a three-figure total, Dilworth for the second year found itself at the bottom of the championship table. It was weakened, however, in losing two prominent batsmen, Lynch and Gibson, to the forces after they had played in only a few matches. J. Hetherington completed a great double for the Old Boys. Top in the batting aggregate with 261 for an average of just under 20, it was as a slow that Hetherington really distinguished himself. He was called upon to do much more work than formerly and rose splendidly to the occasion, taking 48 wickets at a cost of 14.8 runs per wicket. This performance is all the more remarkable when one discovers that only 30 wickets were claimed by the rest of the bowlers put together. Sanderson, Lonergan and Taylor were among the best of the run-getters. Taylor, the captain, showed a pleasing return to form and played some splendid knocks, especially when Dilworth found itself in a tight corner.