CRICKET IN CANTERBURY.

Press, Volume XII, Issue 1680, 16 May 1868, Page 2

CRICKET IN CANTERBURY.

Cricket has never before flourished in Canterbury as it has during the season that has just passed. Not only have many more matches been played than has usually been the case, but practice hag been more constant, scarcely a day passing without a large number of players making their appearance upon the ground. This decided improvement is mainly to be attributed to the fact, that for the first time in the history of cricket in Canterbury, a really good ground has been available for the purposes of the game.

The revival of the Albion club has also been productive of great good, as the re establishment of the match between that club and the United Canterbury, has had the effect of causing the members of both to give greater attention to their practice; the contests between them have consequently been good ones. Each club won a match, and though the "United were victorious in the deciding contest, it is scarcely fair to take that as a test of the respective merits of the two clubs, as the United, in addition to playing their full strength, had the assistance of the Hon. S. Gr. Lyttclton, who was then on a visit to Canterbury.

The establishment of a series of matches during the Christmas week is one great feature of the past season. The selection of the team to represent the province in the interproviacial

match depends very much upon thn way men play in matches; and as ih;! om-ketmgfrte is shortly previous n, tho time when the elew-n i 8 Usua n" chosen, an cxeelU-nt opportunity oilered of judging tho rospoctii 3 merits of the men. It is to bu ho J] that the Christmas week will be* animal cricketing holiday. " n Two successive defeats in tho annu i match with Otago determined th" Canterbury men to do their very be/r towards .securing the victory this yea Proper steps were taken'lor rausinp suuieieut t'uuds to enable the very b e \ eleven that the province could muster to represent it in tho match : no exer' tions were spared to ensure the regular attendauco of the members of th eleven, aud things, went on. So sat j 3 ° Factorily, that it was thought, 'that whether Canterbury were victorious or not, tho result would ho very dif ferent from the ono innings defeat of 1807. But in spite of all the efforts that were made, Otago was n «: U u victorious, and by nine wickets. a There cauuot bo tho slightest doubt that the best men won the match and the question which naturally arises is —in what does the superiority of our opponents lie ? There are of course different opinions upon this point.. our own is that the principal, and, it i 3' scarcely too much to say, tho'only reason of the defeat, was tho very marked superiority, in every point of the Otago bowling. The bowling o f the Canterbury men is for the most part below medium pace, and to bo ef. fective, such bowling requires not only variety in pitch, but more or less work or breakback. Aud this is what is seldom or never seen on a Canterbury cricket ground. Many of our men I can keep well on tho wicket, but the j fact that with practice such bowliug ia I soon killed, is proved by the comparii lively long scores that have been made during the past season. However when opposed to Otago men, whoso bowling is not only straight, but has very good pace, tho best bats in the j province wero utterly unable to make any stand. To win the match the pace of our bowling must be improved, for it cannot bo expected that men who never play against anything but bowling of medium pace, should be able to make a stand against that which is much faster. It is difficult to see how this is to be done without sending home to England for a professional, as there are no college boyu or others who show any signs of becoming bowlers. If it be impossible, on account of the expense, to obtain a bowler in this manner, we see little or no prospect of Canterbury winning the match next year. However, as the attention of the eleven will probably be turned especially to bowling during the next season, some who have not hitherto distinguished themselves as bowlers may become efficient in that capacity. We publish to-day full particulars of the batting averages of the different players, with some remarks upon their style of play. We are unable to give the analysis of the bowling, as it has not been kept in the majority of the matches.

In calculating the batting averages the following matches have been included. — Otago v. Canterbury, the Eleven v. the Eighteen, the Eleven v. the Sixteen, all matches in which the United Canterbury Cricket or Albion, clubs, have played their first elevens; and the matches played during the Cbristmas week. The highest average is that of F. M. Ollivier, viz., 2L-3 in sixteen completed innings, but we think that that of A. M. Ollivier must be pronounced the beet, as two of F. M. Ollivier's greatest innings were in the matches with the Ashburton club. A. M. Ollivier averages 20-10 in fourteen innings. A. J. Cotterill stands next with 17-1. All these three are above any averages of last year. E. Main waring is next, with 13-1 but " not out " have helped him considerably. Dickenson with 11-5 and Stevens with 10-13, are the only othor players who average double figures. We subjoin a few brief remarks upon the different players. E. Bent: cuts in a prettyandeflectire style, but has little defence, and no powers of driving or leg-hitting. A very safe longstop. T. Bruce: fair longstop. No bat. W. Calvert: hits very hard, and baa improved in defence. Very weak held. A. J. Cotterill: a steady but with a fair defence, hits to leg free y, W a rather slow at off balls ; fair longstop, and occasionally bowls, but without much success. » G. Dickenson: has fallen oft J«y much in bowling, but improved » batting. Is still, however, wanting in defence. , « na E. S. Harley: did not bowUo well tt usual last season, owing probaWyx« want of practice. It is to be hoped that he will be able to play »gf 8t Otago next season. Moderate pa«vW. Hobbs: a steady bat, and pty* some good innings during the season No field. „ . Ro i j, t B. Mainwaring: a very fair field Jj long-leg Did not bat » *"L£ during the previous season, being somewhat slow in his defence ; as a bowler is very fast, but seldom on the spot, T.E. Moore: a slow bowler withou work or break back, but is geoera"/ straight. His bowling being very short pitched, is not effective, verj : is perhaps the in Canterbury, and undoub4edl/ W beat field His principal fault i «> much back play. Hits to splendidly. Has not realized the* negations formed of him as a bow Wγ F.M. Ollivier: a very hard Jutt*. especially when the bowling » i Generally gets long scores, but somewhat shaky in defence, and apt* make too little of his reach. WJ d the end of the season improve greatly in fielding. , cte( j APowys: for three years has sc Captain of the Canterbury ®°]f> m Wing just left for Englad, *» feet . will be much felt. An excellent v keeper, and bowled slows occa*'* ffi _ with success. Bid not pntfti* ciently to be a good bat. • j oTe a E. C. J. Stevens: J" IB g tß a greatly in fielding. wlt

.tmiehfr bat, und-generallrgete-good Drives forward imd cuts well, Et is'rather deficient in leg-hitting. E Taylor: a straight bowler, but t very difficult. One of the- best hats in the Albion club. a Turner: batted better than aj last season, but is still very weak I defence. A fair change bowler A J Walker: plays very seldom, hat b°s a fine free style, hitting well to square leg. luditlerent field. J Wood: has a very strong defence and is therefore a difficult man 7 ffe t out. He is however deficient fc hitting power. A very good field atlong le S- .. , , „ ~ Q Young; the bowler of the Canterbury Eleven and could probably bat if be tried.

Averages fob ihe Season 1867-8

Names. Bent,*-, Brace. ICalvert.W. ... Cotterill, A.J. j Picljenson, G. \ "Barley, I'- s --j jlainnarmg, K. Moore, T. B. ... OUivier, A. ... Ollivier, F p owy e,A ;iV ... Stevens, t> Taylor, E. ...... Turner, CI Walker, A. J. Wood.T Young, G o> XL o Iβ i 9 ;n !9 6| 10 Ui ! H in! ! 6 '10 5 6 3 7 si s! « I gi a S: I .5 I -2 C eo J ! = §i o ! O. 12 80| 19, 30 110 27| 9j 9 15 104i 16! 23 I9 324il04|l04 141591 77i 79 ij 8 45| 23] 28 ! 12 109 37: 49 IJ11148 1 35| 35 ;| 9 53! 14 ! 20 |14 29O| 55: 73 1L6 339j Gti. 6S :| 8 : 51 15 1 15 16173 29: 39 9 88; 29; 44 10 88 30; 32 6 41 22i 22 13 99 : 26| 26 Hi 32! 5i 7 , i 1 es Co .5 i^ "oc ■ a ! £ V !• — --' l^ , 1 1 0 1 0 3 3 0 0 1 0 1 3 1 1 4 0 2 lOj 1 01 1 4 0 i! i i! o 2j 0 7 0 0 3 6 2-' 17-11-i 5-i 13-5-i 20-: 2L-; 6-1 io: IS t> © 9-' 8-i 6-i 7-! 2-: