CRICKET.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19508, 3 January 1929, Page 11

CRICKET.

PLUNKET SHIELD MATCHES. WELLINGTON V. CANTERBURY. GOOD UPHILL PLAY BY HOME £ TEAM. 1 . Canterbury had an uphill task when Uuy entered on tbe second day's play ia their match against Wellington yestardar. On Monday Wellington Jtad put ea the big total <>i 433 tor the loss or eight wicktts, and in view of the l ft wicket con«<X|i.K*tu on the previous dav's ruin. Lonr>' declared. The wicket waa soit when Canterbury .started mi tbeir bip ia>k at 11 o'clock, and it got more difficult a.-i time wore on. firciitnstances. ('aiitrrbury put up a ,fr . v 'i' l '" batting performance IB occupying the wickets the whoie day. The match has to be finished to-day, ■nd as Wellington will have to bat again, a draw seetns inevitable. fhere was only a fair attendance. Probably it would have been very much larger had the cricketing public had laitb in Canterbury's ability to make * h t good uphill tight. T present entertained by a really inter•utioe dav's cricket, for although at ££* the scorns wa s slow, there wa* tlvay* plenty of incident. Lowry s ttuick changes in the bowling, and his freooent alterations of the held were m feature of Wellington's out cricket, mikA he himself filled everv imaginable portion in the field at different tunes, Sliding that of wieketfceeper. He tried nine bowlers, Dempster and Browne being the only two who d7d not hare a turn with the ball. , Page once more came to C aiiteruury.s •Mtstance. and he played cricket for hi-s 71. H« met all the bowljac like a class batsman and m equallr at home to the tast ana rimr bowling. He made a few uppish ■trokes, but otherwise his scoring shots all round the wicket were well timed mmi beautifully executed. During tne Mflier part of the day the ground M spongy that the ball would not and under ordinary conditions atany of Page's shots that only brought aac« and twos would have been boundaries. It was a chaneeless display ot batting, ar.d was an invaluable rootribution. Newman's 64 was also a. welcome addition, coming at a when sound batting was urgently arriH He was not, however in his |fft. form, especially against Henderaan'a fast off theory stuff. He peraisteetiv nibbled at them m a manihat presaged disaster. OtherwiM his defence was very jmmd and correct. He made many <|b) arcring shots, and but for the very rfvw outfield his total would have been JMN& buscer- There was not a 4 m tlia whole of his score. Merritt ga>e a display that earned him high praise. Ho w«at in at a time wheu Canterbury wmv hard pressed to save the follow IB , |.m4 he was equal "to tb© occasion. At the start he waa not too confident at tbe fast staff, bat gradually gained confidence and then shewed fine aUjmmd batting. Gregory hatted ' aoundly and c*mfidently for his 26 and C ii at rtnerallv thought that the bail thai, bawled Mm had been called "nomi " Bnt it was a senseless banker who hadgahouted it just Hope delivered toe ball, and it is not uulikely that this put Gregory off his stroke. Jarohe'ißaae a uurtiber of .fiote scdrmg ahota in putting his 26, but many of Ua deferwive strokes nerrwwMM. Powell batted well while «H in, but l»e showed an utter lack *t restraint, for, after being dropped m the deep field, he lifted another tempting one high in the air and paid the penalty. Tbe Wellington bowling was not. impressive. The only bowler who looked fifce setting wickets was Henderson, •ad won onlv when batsmen were in » allii'wcre indiscreet enough to "feel | l*r his fast ones outside the ofi stump. Hip others were of very average quality, ■ ad in the whole" day's play there was mtf about one instance of a batsman Inag beaten by a good ball. The fthang was good, though there were jjffwr instances of fumbling. It was - Aliactly better than Canterbury's, jSI several of the men—notably Dempffar —did fine work. Wellington, having declared their isgnrngfi closed, took the 'field at 11 flfefecK, Hamilton and Newman being » Oiaterbury's opening batsmen. Lamalaa from the north end" and Rotherp ha were the Iwwiers. The first six * **m produced five singles, and NewMai prettily cut Lamason for two. .the hirj outfield saving the boundary. B«r then replaced Lamason, and a j •fctrpfy run single brought 10 up. With i leg shots for two and three ~ mm wan reached doubles. At 17 " laabert replaced Rotherham, and off Haar*s next over Newman got three fair*, 20 gx>ing up. Hamilton broke a' jaUtiiion of singles with a pair to hut after getting another single tad iudgine nt by both batsmen saw wMraton ran ont. Newman played a Mto leg, which the fieldsman let fMt khn. Hamilton went for what JwH haje been an easy single, but Newman never moved out of Ha crease he continued nearly the of I Fie pitch before he started Even then he nearly got home. B—l—B. Roberts was nest, and after jj# had gone up as the result of singles Wfts drt>ve Hoar for three and placed mm* through the slips for antwo. At 46 Lowry replaced Hoar. X-*sMbert was bowling fairly well, getftSr a lot of turn from either side. 'HMata with a single sent 50 U P * k««r» play, and Roberts reached with a pair to the on. At 06 j ffaaikiMMi replaced Lambert and had * Cordon of three slipsoien, which he ■ter increased to four. I'obcrts tried Jb on drive a sliort pitched ball off his JMk foot, but missing it was clean jhiahid. sS—2—l2. Pace opened his JWlBt with a pair to square leg. aTI ." faibert rephiced Lowry. Henderson s oner was exciting. Newman was unhappy. nibbling at the fast fl Milt, two of which he touched, but J down. Henderson then bowled 'j yijt the wicket and sent down bis auooeasive maiden, not a rmi been scored off him. Following principle of rapid changes Lowry Foley on in place of Lambert. It U* left-handed, -.low stuff, with plenty jiwariety, but though it looked tcinpt■jlKj runs very slowly. Heuoer- *!■, Who had bowled 12 overs for fare Jliln, *s-s replaced by Hope. New- » PNi reache<J 40 with a pair to square ' tending B0 up. and the luncheon •diaonuijent was then taken. . 5 han>. from the north end. ■PP' ware the bowlers on resumingJjf the former each batsman got a P*- Three byes sent 90 up. A P®., P , (singles, and three mpd u. send 100 up. It had taken ft naara. Newman turned Rotherha Whs fo- three, and Page hit a short 9h to the kg boundary for the aPH the innings. Hope was bo theory, and all but four fiel _ _ »» were round the leg side. re plared Rotherham. an d ® ~ ■4 50 with a short H Wamd bounds rv came' ro "L» • ■i PA«h|i "to - Pswu-fienfc-kL

Hope continued to bow] no-balls, and Page lifted Hoar orer the bowler's head for four ? reaching 30. At 128 Henderson relieved Hope, and three ruua later Lowry took the ball from Hoar. Lowry had ail but one of the field spread round the on side, but four singles came off his second over. took Page to 40, and Newman reached GO with a pair. Runs were now coming faster, and 150 went up. Then Newman touched one of Henderson's fast ones, and was caught by James, standing back. 150—3—64. Gregory joined his skipper, and the latter swung a short one from Henderson to the on fence. Lowry caused some amusement by taking his only off side fieldsman to the on. Gregory sent 160 up by turning Henderson prettily to the fine leg boundary. Bert replaced Lowry, and Gregory reached doubles with a single. Page got to 50 with a pair to the on, but the scoring was slow. Some diversion was caused by a swarm of bees passing along the south bunk, which caused the onlookers to scatter. With 180 on the board Foley relieved Lambert. Page lifted him dangerously towards long off, and then reached 60 with a pretty pair to the on. Hope replaced Henderson, and Gregory put a short one sweetly to the square leg boundary. Both men were batting dently, and a neat late cut to Page for two brought him equal with Newman's sc-ore. Page got a tricky four through the slips, and a lofty Dair to the on to Page sent 200 up for 3 hours 53 minutes' piay. Page reached. 70 with another pair, and then there was an exciting moment. Off a no-ball from Hope .Page went for a single, but Gregory, refused the call. The ball was thrown at Gregory's wicket and went for two overthrows. Lamason replace*! Foley, and the change came off. Page back-cutting one sharply to Dempster at second slip. 2064 —71. Jacobs was next, and got a single and a pair. At 210 Lambert took the ball from Hope, and the afternoon tea adjournment was taken Henderson, from the north end, and Hope were the bowlers on resuming. Hodg waJ bumping dangerously, two balls bouncing right over the men's hefcds. Jacobs got four with a beantiful stroke behind point, and he got to 10 with a single. Then H®P® bowled Gregory with a good one. 2195 O0 ; Powell followed, and Jacobs gave James a chance which he missed, but nearly turned into Dempsters hands at second slip- Powell opened with a pair to leg, and at 227 Lambert renlaced Hope. Neither batsmen looked like staying, for they were nibbling at Hendersons off stuff. Jacobs reached 20 with a nice three to square leg, and in Lambert s next over lie hit a full toss over the leg fence. The last ball of the over, however, he put weakly into the hands of Hope at forward Oiort legWith Merritt's appearance Hope jvent on again in Lambert's place, he appealed for Ibw against Merritt. Play was painfully slow until Merritt off drove Henderson beautifully tor 4. 2-50 went up and 34 were still wanted to save tho follow on. Canterbury were having a dire struggle to get runs. Powell reached 10 with a 3 through the slips, and Lambert replaced Hope. \ pair to Powell and two leg byes sent 230 up. Three to Me«-ritt, two of them overthrows from a wild return by Hope, helped the score along. Merritt gained further applause by lifting Henderson ■to the long-on boundary. |n Lambert's next over Powell htted one into the deep fie.ld. Dempster took the catch but dropped it as he tell forward. Powell did not profit by ■ tois escape, for he lifted another one nigh to the on, where Browne made no ml ®" take about.the catch. 270—7—16. Read joined Merritt and played a maiden over from Henderson. He opened his account with a pair and at Hoar replaoed the fast bowler. A paic to Merritt sent 280 up. A sharply run 3 to Merritt saw the follow-on saved and he Mien got 4 for a beautiful square cut, Another nice late cut gave him a pair and he reached 00 with a single. He then hit Lambert to the square leg fence and back eu him for 2. At 299 Foley replaced Hoar and a single to Read sent 800 up for six hours' plfiy. A. pretty late cut to Read went for 3, and at 306 gave the gloves to Lowry and had a howl —-amid the jeers of the crowd.. He bowled a maiden and stumps were drawn for the day. Seores: — "WELLINGTON. First Innings. C. S. T)<ibpater, 214114X11111311211i1*21'22121112211421113, lbw, b Read •• 63 H. FoVsv, b Read .. •• 0 J. R. "Lamason, 1221211, c Burns, b Cunningham .- ••• T. C. Lowry, 31311131114111111111312111222134111313!3211141241124144141224414211, b Pago •• •• •• ••, 134 H. N. Lambert, .311141214, st Bums, b K. C Uet j)U -2111U!2'21213m!21Hni1-111411211114112211141411413221231124, 111411211114112211141411413221231124, G A. Rothnrham, 14611C4414222141141, b Cunningham • • • • " n L. V. Browne, Ibw, b Isewmad •• « U. H=ndeT®o*, 1211311, st Burns, b McrF. Hoar, 13121111111, net cut .. •• 13 Bves 4424111, leg byes 11112121, no bails in .. •• •• . ; 3 Total for eight wickets (declared) .. 133 Bowlins Analyß'S -K. J. Read. 29 -overs, 9 maidrns. 71 run*. 2 Mar. f ts&z s-Shivvsa 4 overs. 1 maiden. 11 runs. CANTERBURY. First Innings. y 9 1112112211131 11 Hl* I* ' c James, b Henderson • • • V. Roberts.. 1113321 * /,« c, U«rmi4iii 22 ii. "b ; 6 J. jIlTs. 1214112V1236. c" Hope, b 26 J. W. out . 7 R. J. Read. 2113. not out •• ' Byes, 12123141 •• „ I.eg-byes, ** 9 So balls, 111111111 •- •• Total for seven wickets • •' 30 ® The game -will be resumed at It o cloc* this morning.