NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20257, 8 June 1931, Page 11

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

With a much-weakened attaching side, New Zealand have not made a particularly good start in thci tenth match of their tour. The game with Cambridge had demonstrated what tho loss of Xerritt meant to tho side, but against not only Memtt but the only two effective faster men are' also standing down. Somerset, of course, are one of the weakest teams in tho firatclass County championship, but it may be considered rather risky to face a County side with an attaei whose effectiveness depends on the bowling of Blunt, Weir, Talbot and Allcott. la tho ciyeumstances, New Zealand did cjujto well to dismiss Somerset for 244, Blunt must have bowled very well, and it 5s his best performance bo far on a tour in which his bowling has not been required as rnucl- as in 1927, Ho has now taken nineteen wickets — more than anyone except Merritt and Cromb—fo* 475 runs, an average of -5 per wicket. Weir .bowled exceedingly steadily and was the only other bowler to trouble tho batsmen. The limitations of the bowling at' Lowry'- "sposal in thiei match may be realised when it is mentioned that not one of the bowlers, with the exception, perhaps, of Blunt, is considered the leading bowler for his club in New Zealand. The same •conditions obtained in the later stages of the Cambridge match. New Ze-' "'s chances of gaining a win must have looked fairly good when four wickets fell cheaply in the University's second innings, but with Matheson and Cromb forced to retire from the bowling crease Kenjp-Welch and Brown had no difficulty in putting on a good sc-ore against the other bowlers.

Owing to the omission of tho initials in the cable, some doubt exists as_ to which of the Lee brothers is playing for Somerset, J„ W. Lee, however, is not a sufficiently good br*tsman to open the innings, and tho 98 is probably to the credit of F. S. Lee, a comparatively youngr and improving batsman. Ingle is an average County playor. J. C. W. Macßryan was, a few years ago, on the verge of the English Tost team, but now, with very little practice, ho is not a really first-class batsman. Somerset will rely for Its bowling on J. C. White, slow left-hand Test match bowler, A. Young, slow-spin bowler, and A. W. Wellard, fast-medium right-handsr.

The table below is interesting as providing a means of comparison between the New Zealand team and thoae of the first-class Counties. It gives tho points scored by each eleven in' its matches to date in the County championship (15 for a win, & for a win on the first innings, 3 for a loss on the first inaings, and 4 for a game not completed on the first innings). Some teams have played more matches than others, and consequently have an advantage at the present time that they have not necessarily earned. By tho end of tho season, however, each team will have played 28 matches.

Tho points scored to date are as follows, tho number of matches played being given in parentheses: —Gloucester (9) 73, Middlesex (6) 70, Kent (7) 69, Notts (7) 68, Worcester (7) 54, Yorkshire (6) 43, Surrey (9) 42, Lancashire 41, Derby (8) 87. Essex (8) 86. Sussex (7) 33, Hampshire (6) 30, Leicester (7) 28, Somerset (8) 24, Glamorgan (5) 23, Warwick (7) 14, Northants <6) 12. In its six matches with first-class counties, the Now Zealand team, on this basis, would have scored 33 points, but would be accounted unlucky to have reached a definite result In only one game. If two of those games which were left drawn very much in New Zealand's favour had been concluded, the touring team would be only a few points behind the leaders. Middlesex, the only team to have beaten New Zealand so far, have much the best record to date. * * *

It was thonght that tho increased points tox outright wins adopted for this year's competitions would be a big improvement making for much brighter cricket. This has been so up to a point, bat tbe freak declarations mentioned in tbe cabled report of the Yorkshire-Glon-ceatar game "will give the Advisory County Committee food for serious thought. The declarations must have been by arrangement, and the result is that a team gains tea extra points for a virtually one-innings match. There is no telling ■where this might end, Teams might find it profitable to adopt such a procedure in a number of matches, the effect being to reduce the games to single-innings contests.

COUNTY MATCHES. FREAK DECLARATIONS. (TOITJBO PRESS ASSOCIATION—BT ELECTRIC telegraph —coFYßionr.) LONDON, June 5. , Freak declarations, consequent on the new system of scoring in the county championship cricket matches, reached the limit at Sheffield this morning, in the Gloucester-Yorkshire match, which had been held up for two days, owing to rain. Gloucester, endeavouring to force a conclusion, declared aftor tho flrst ball had been allowed to go for four byes. Yorkshire similarly declared at none for 4. Thus four innings were played In one day. Results were:—

Warwickshire v. Surrey. 'Warwick, first innings, mado 133 (Cover six for 72); second, 262 (Wyatt 100; Fender six for 51). Surrey, first innings lost four for 503, declared (Hobbs 147, Ducat 125, Shepherd 140). . . 110 Surrey won by an innings and lis rUnS * Gloucester v, Yorkshire. Gloucester, first innings lost none for 4, declared; second, 171 (Verity seven f °Yorkshire, first innings, Inone^ for 4, declared; second, 124 (Goddard five for 21}. Gloucester won by 47 runs. Hampshire v. Nottingham. Hampshire, first innings, 220 (Arnold 85): second, 68 (Larwood six for 20). Nottingham, . first innings nine for 379, declared won by ten wickets. Sent v. Worcestershire. Kent, first innings, 76 (Jackson six for 25); second, 110 (Perks six for 40) Worcestershire, first innings, 112 (Freeman seven for 44); second, nye won by five wickets, Sussex v. Leicestershire. Sussex, ff«t innings, lost nino for 397, declared (Duleepsmhji 112)# scc end, two gos ~—

Leicester, first inning- 286 (Astill 115; Langridge six for . Sussex won on tho first inm gs. Somerset v. Middlesex. Somerset, first innings, 114j second 193 (Peebles six for b7 )- „ a „ nT , a Middlesex, first innings, 24C, second; won by eight wickets. Lancashire v. Oxford University. t nnfßshire first innings, 195 (Green 80V second. 93 (Wollings five for 36). Oxford, first innings, 171; second, three f °oio 7 r'd University won by. seven ISr the new system of scoring, introduced this season, lo P°iats are scored for an outright win, five for a S on tho first innings, four for a draw, and three for a less on the first innings.]