CRICKET CHAT.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9604, 19 December 1896, Page 3

CRICKET CHAT.

[By Dark Blui.] •' Weekly Press and Referee." In Christchurch on Saturday the weather was fine, and the light rain that had fallen the previous day had done but little harm to the wicket. A large number of spectators assembled at Hagley Pnrk to witness the continuation of the°match between Lancaster Park and the United. At the start of the day's play the latter had decidedly the better of the situation, tho Lancastrians being 225 runs to the bad with eight wickets to fall. Some of the Park batsmen played up so well, however, that, at the end of an innings each, they u-ere only 9 runs behind, and the bowlers, continuing the good example set them, got rid of seven of their opponents during the last hour for only 43 runs. At the call of time therefore they had a decided advantage. A. K. Ridley was once more top scorer for the Lancastrians and he batted very well for his 68, although he gave a chance before making 20. He exhibited sound defence. He hit hard when he had a loose ball and he was eventually caught by the vricket keeper off a mis-hit. His score included nine 4's, two 3's and six 2's. Wilding gave no chance in putting together his 49, and ho was becoming very aggressive towards the close of his innings, his last 17 runs being made in five strokes. Mahar ihowed good cricket in compiling his 34, but Cooke was decidedly lucky, as he gave two easy chances in making his 23. Orchard was the only other batsman to reach double figures. The United fielding was a good deal below the average, some of the younger members of the team being very much at fault with their catching, while the bowling calls for no special mention. When the United went in for a second time tho light was not very good, but still it was not bad enough to wholly account for the indifferent display of batting. Sims batted well, scoring 19 out of 31, but R. D. Barman was the only other to make the semblance of a stand and the call of time saw aeven wickets down for the small score 0 f 43. Bates secured five wickets for the imall cost of 13 runs and the fielding was good all round. ~ The feature of the match between the Midland and United Thirteen was the fine batting of De Mans, of the former team. He went in second wicket down, with the score at 68, and at the end of the innings was not out with 110 to his credit. He gave two hard chances in the slips when he had made between twenty and thirty, but so far as I could see, these were the only blemishes. He got all his old force into his off strokes, the way in which he drove the ball along the ground to the boundary being a treat to witness. His play on the on side was also jery good. D. Reese exhibited fine form in compiling his 35, which included but three jingles, and he had the bad luck to have his career cut short by Vincent catching him at pint off a hard, low cut. T. W. Reese ihowed up better than previously this leason in compiling his 22. If he could give more attention to practice he would probably do even better. Stephenson began with a couple of strokes for five apiece, but he then quieted down and, after making 18, was run out. Robertson shaped well Until he was dismissed by a curly one from Medlow, andPearce hit freely until he skied one to I). Wood in the long field, enabling that fieldsman to bring off a well-judged catch. Walls was batting steadily when he was badly run out by De Mans. Barclay bowled steadily and the fielding was good all round. The. United had nearly an hours batting, and after S. B. Wilson had been dismissed by the first ball he received, Tapper and Vincent played out time, 23 runs being made from 24 overs, 14 of which were maidens. The fielding was good and the bowling steady. In the Lancaster Park Thirteen—Sydenham Thirteen contest the former increased the advantage they gained on the first day to such an extent that, at present, they appear certain to. win by an innings, Sydenham being still 92 runs to the bad and with but three wickets to fall to complete their second innings. A good deal of interest was as to whether Pavitt would reach the century. He. only required to make 3 runs to gain that distinction, but Halley dismissed him before he made another run. • Smith, the other not out, only added 3 to his previous total of 20, but several of the other Lancastrians did well with the bat, and the score reached 309 before the last, wicket fell. R. Johnston contributed 45 in good style. He did not appear at home at the start, but after a few overs he settled down and played good cricket. Washer shaped fairly tor his 21, bat he missed scoring off a number of balls which should not have been allowed to -go unpunished. Stringer batted streakily in putting together his 20, and F. O'Brien's 15 was decidedly a better exhibition of batting. The Sydenham fielding was fair, and Halley Was the most successful of the many bowlers tried. Sydenham commenced their second innings with'23s runs to the bad, and at the call of time they had made 143 for the loss of nine ' wichets. Lafferty was the principal contributor with a well-played 41, his defence and hitting all round being first-class. Halley followed closely with 39, but he had a lot of luck, as he was missed before he . bad made a run, and he gave two or three chances later on. Malloch, Jones, and -Rowe also reached double figures, and each showed fair form. The Lancastrians' fielding Was below the average, and Smith proved the most successful of their trundlers. In the Senior Cup matches in Dunedin on Saturday, Liggins for Carisbrook against Opoho compiled 102 in faultless style. The Grange Club made 108 for no wickets against the Albion Club, Baker contributing 45 and Johnston 51. 6. Marshall will not be able to play for the United any more this season. In addition to being a good and hard-working field he showed promise with the bat. . W. J. Cptterill was in Christchurch a few days ago, and he was evidently pleased to 8«t on a good wicket again, even though for enly one practice, and he informed mc had had no luck this season with the bat at Timaru, having failed to score the two •ecaaions he has batted. Pavitt had hard luck in not making his . GWjtoury for the Park against Sydenham, when he had made % on Saturday week he hit a ball high in the air to where Caygill was standing near the boundary. The fieldsman failed to make the catch, but be ■topped the ball. In doing so, however, his i * If?' 0n? * ne * Uf f» an d some contend that the hit should have registered a boundary instead of a single as was given. The extra 3 would have given Pavitt his hundred. .A. Sims, of the United Club, enjoys the distinction of being the only player in Senior Cup cricket in Christchurch who has made double figures in every innings this season/ Untd big last effort H. C. Ridley shared the same distinction. It is a coincidence that on Saturday week both of the Unitcd's senior teams were msposed of by their opponents almost at the »mc moment, and on Saturday last the dub s eleven had hardly reached the pavilion wter getting rid of the Lancaster Park team before O'Brien, the last Midland man, was dismissed by tho United thirteen. r>v • * Mmor member o! parliament for Chriatehurch, Mr C. Lewis, played for rrebbleton against Sumner on Saturday and, though he failed to make a run, his •tubborn defence went towards assisting his side to win by the narrow margin of one run. The committee of the Wellington Cricket '■ **M on at a meeting held on December <th decided that it was not in a position to t*>ve a guarantee in respect to possible loss °*« the Queensland-New Zealand, but it Was prepared to take over the management worn the Council if allowed 50% of the proceeds. ■ rne l*rgeat willow tree grown in England w »» at Boreham, Essex, and for quality and ■'» was one of the finest willows on record, in °£* BUred ' when down, 101 ft long, sft 9in m diameter, weighed upwards of 11 tons, iniA*« as sound as a bell. It was planted U^ I"***'1 "***' *°d was taken down several years jß° for the solo purpose of making cricket ri. v 79 beine mado out of U - AbeAiew Zealand Cricket Council required •guarantee of £60 from the Nelson Associa- ? ,on (9* * match with the Queensland team, wt the Nelson body passed a resolution "•retting the fact that they were unable to guarantee a stated sum, but would give the Pew takings. (U* RldloT W »H he unable to play for canterbury against Queensland owing to •"winesa engagements. This is to be reFfwd, as he is one of the most reliable y l i en - a ß amst foreign teams. ••■*. Firth soored & and W. F. Ward 66

in a Junior Cup match between Wellington College and Wellington Second on December sth. 1 H. Moses (never before known to wear a batting glove) made his first appearance at the practice nets in Sydney recently armed with a finger protector. Throughout his long cricketing career in ihe colonies he never needed one, but quickly found English wickets different. In discussing Iredale's letter to the New South Wales Cricket Association asking for certain terms for playing in inter-colonial matches, Mr Sanderson moved that nothing but legitimate out-of-pocket expenses be paid to Mr Irodale. If the association gave way this time, probably £25 would be demanded next season. Mr McElhone seconded the motion. Mr Phil Sheridan opposed the motion. He said the association owed a lot to Iredal. and his comrades, and they owed the association nothing-. The players provided funds for the association. It was unfair to expect that while upholding the credit of the association they should be money out of pocket. It would be unfair to the other associations to send a team over to Adelaide and Melbourne that did not include the best men that could be obtained. In a month or so tlie return matches j would take place in Sydney, and if the l other associations retaliated by putting a ■ third-rate eleven in the field "the public would not attend. The men who made the money for the association were entitled to more consideration than thoy were receiving or had ever received, and surely that association was not going, in an inquisitorial fashion, to demand a statement showing every petty expenditure. Mr Sheridan concluded by instancing the case of .Net* South Wales player being brought from Melbourne to play for his colony and his expenses, amounting to £47, being paid without demur. Mr J. C. Davis thought that the matter should be held over, and that Mr Iredale should be asked to put in his claim after the matches were over, in the usual way. He moved an amendment to this effect, which was seconded by Mr J. Hardie. The chairman (Mr Briscoe) agreed with Mr Sheridan that the players did not have sufficient consideration in the matter of money. He knew of representative players who had to decline hospitalities in Melbourne and Adelaide for the simple reason tliat they could not afford to return them. The association allowed each man only £4 pocket money—with which he had to pay for his washing, for his incidental refreshments, and for his meals on the journeys to and fro—for the three weeks' trip. Mr Davis's amendment was carried. In Melbourne on November 28th the erst Junior club, Hawksburn, created some sensation by disposing of the Melbourne club for 191 runs. They got eight wickets down for only 58 runs, but Jennings (61) and O'Halloran added 101 runs for the ninth wicket, and the last two men put on another 32. Hawksburn responded with 70 for four wickets.—On the same day East Melbourne scored 326 for four wickets (V. Thompson 121, not out, and S. McMichael 141, not out,) against Richmond. A. E. Trott only scored 9 and Harry 11. •Regarding this latter match "Observer" in the Argus remarks :—Young Thompson, a Kew High School boy, who showed a natural talent for cricket as soon as he could handle a bat, was being given a trial by East Melbourne. He had averaged about 50 in a few games with their second eleven, and had got the century last Wednesday in a style that caused Horan, Gaggin, and other Jolimont worthies to say, '•' This boy is a batsman." On Saturday he was batsman enough to go in first and stay there until stumps were drawn. He had two lives, one at 16, and another at 60, but for a boy—he is only eighteen—he batted with exceptional ability. Except in being lefthanded, he is as a batsman an absolute fac-siinile of "Hughie" Trumble, from whom he has obviously copied his style, and as he already stands about 6tt clear, the resemblance is further aided. Young Thompson's pet strokes are square and late cuts, which he effects with the ease and certainty of a veteran. He can drive, too, but was obviously curbing himself on that stroke, as one likely to spoil a good beginning. He had made 121 when stumps were drawn, hanging a long time in the nineties, as most batsmen do. 1.1 mistake not, he will be a batsman of the Giffen stamp, who will begin a second hundred with the same calm deliberation as he opens his innings. Such are the batsmen who make great scores. But the innings of the day—one of those finished, vigorous displays that we sometimes see when a batsman's eye and brain and muscle are working with the unison of a well coached crew—was M'Michael _ unfinished 141. The popular Sam almost struck his fate in the first few minutes, in a chance to Blake, at point, when his score was 2, but it was not until he had made 115 that he gave his second chance, a very hot one, also to point. M'Michael. cricket was of a kind that one must see to thoroughly appreciate, but it will give some idea of his play to say that Thompson had made 50 when he came in, yet he went after his colt companion like Ken Lewis after a third-class novice, and got the hundred first. While the schoolboj' got twelve 4's, M'Michael hit twenty-two of them and a five, while in one stretch of batting 60 out of 72 runs' were made by boundary hits. It was a display of clean, unfaltering cricket, played with such decision that the batsman seemed to know where each ball would pitch before it left the bowler's hand. Major Wardill, secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club, writes to the Argus under date November 25th as follows :—" Will you please insert this contradiction to the' telegram published in the Argus of to-day, from Perth, West Australia, in which it is stated that I informed the secretary of the West Australian Cricket Association, in answer to his inquiry as to terms for a visit of Mr Stoddart's English team, that the team would play two matches there (in West Australia) if paid £1000, and that I told him that Ranjitsinjhi would be included in the team. I never mentioned Ranjitsinjhi, or any other of the English team, and I said that at the first blush I thought £1500 would be required for a visit. 1 did not mention anything about £1000 as stated. I informed the secretary of the West Australian Cricket Association that i the Englishmen could not leave England I before a certain date, and they had to be { back again by a certain date, and that a visit to West Australia would take up so much time that I did not think that less i than £1500 could be accepted, but asking for further information." T. Drew, a prominent member of the North Adelaide Club, was to have left Adelaide for this colony on Tuesday last. He intends returning to South Australia about the middle of February. The Cricket Council of Australia will meet on December 28th in Melbourne, and at the same time probably Major Wardill and Messrs. Sheridan and Creswell will arrange the first-class programme for Stoddart's 1897-96 Eleven. I have it on excellent authority ( says an Adelaide writer) that unless the South Australian Cricketing Association renews its offer to retain Ernie Jones as a ground bowler that celebrity will hie away to one of the other colonies or to England, where the engagement with Sussex is still open to him.