CRICKET

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21985, 8 January 1937, Page 12

CRICKET

— —♦ PLUNKET SHIELD GAMES'. GOOD BATTING STRENGTH IMPROVEMENT NEEDED IN FIELDING [By COVER-POINT.] Although Canterbury has one more Plunket Shield match to play—that against Otago, next month—there will be no more • interprovincial games at Lancaster Park this season. Several things stand out from the two games which have been decided in Christchurch. • Briefly the position is this: the side is definitely strong in batting, and also in fast-medium ‘bowling, but in slow bowling and fielding the team has already been 1 found -wanting. There will be few to deny that although luck deserted the home team ih the game against Wellington, it was well on Canterbury’s side in the match against Auckland. The Auckland team certainly lost the match by many "feeble mistakes, not the least foolish being the way in which H. G. Vivian, the captain, got himself out when the match was continued after rain.. Auckland appeared to be as good a team/ as Canterbury, if not rather P e ttGf, and had the final result been m the northern province’s favour most followers of the game would have said that the better team had won. They had an excellent all-round attack, al“°ugh the young googly bowler, N. McMahon, failed to show. anything to whp’jtht. the reputation which preceded him. The onus of taking up the slow bowling thus fell on the captain and well did he step into the breach with' a pitch to help him. * There was an ease and grace about their leading , batsmen which was entirely missing in the Wellington men, always sufficiently apparent in the Canterbury batsmen. In no one this more apparent than in P. E. Whitelaw and M. W: Wallace. They were batting ;at a time when the future looked bright for their side in the match, and they played with great ease and confidence. . N°ne of the matches has produced brilliant fielding. The best that was seen was provided by the Canterbury men at the. close of the Auckland innings, , but this was the only time that there was any keenness in the home side. The Wellington men were badly rattled when W. A. Hadlee and M. L. Page were running their fast singles, and altogether their fielding was not up to the Auckland standard. -The Fast Bowlers There was some discussion . among those who saw both matches as to who was the better bowler of the tw fast men—C. Parsloe or J. Cowie. The-general contention was that Parsloe did not appear to be as dangerous as the Auckland man. But that was only because he received little or no help from the pitch, and Hadlee and Page were batting in such fine form that they wore him down. The difference between the two bowlers was easily apparent to anyone standing behind the wickets while they were bowling. Parsloe appeared to be a little slower, but to make up for this he was able to- turn the ball considerably in the air, and also to get quite a'mip from the pitch. Frequently he would bowl a ball which, when it left his hand, appeared to be pitching on the leg stump. However, it would finally pitch between the middle and off stumps, and swing away wide of the off ■ stump. Parsloe , was unlucky not to have a fiery pitch for his bowling, as no matter how much short of a good length within reason he pitched a ball of this sort it would always need watching, and would not be easy to score from. Cowie, on the other hand, had none of this.run away. He was bowling at a good pace; and kept an average length. Practically all of his deliveries came straight through, and could be met, with the full face of the bat. Had Parsloe been bowling on the sticky wickets which Cowie had he may have taken more wickets, but had both been seen on a really fiery pitch it is almost certain that the Wellington man would have come out with the better average. Lack of Spin Bowlers There has not been seen among the teams which have played at Lancaster Park so far a slow bowler who is really sufficiently dangerous to be taken away on the tour of England. Unless there is a bowler in the Otago team who can fill the blank the team which will leave New Zealand next season will be very poor in this respect. There simply is no one playing cricket in Canterbury, and probably in all New Zealand, who can hope to fill completely the gap left by W. E. Merritt. < The Canterbury batting produced some very bright innings. Pride of place must be given to Hadlee and Page. In the brilliant partnership in the Wellington match the younger player showed a very welcome return to his best form, but throughout the series Page has been batting in great style. J. L. Kerr has been disappointing. but he • has frequently shown valuable form. In interprovincial games he will not do very well,' and then a touring team will visit New Zealand and he will rise to the occasion. When the Marylebone Cricket Club touring team was last in New Zealand he needed one more run against them to have an average of 100. Canterbury would be in a bad position if it did not have A. W. Roberts to represent the province in these games. Apart from being the stock bowler, and the best medium paced bowler in New Zealand, Roberts is a good bat, and is able to go in anywhere his captain may want, and still

make runs. In addition, he is a brilliant slip fieldsman. If one place m the New Zealand team is certain, it is that of Roberts. , , ~ , It is hard to sum up the bowlmg of E. Mulcock in his first two representative games. The leg trap he sets us formidable enough to look at, but by far the most dangerous men are the fine legs and the silly nud-on. Mulcock certainly appears to be more dangerous in bowlitig off-theory to a left-hander, as a quick-moving batsman. who does not mind taking some risks, can easily smash through the leg field. The easiest way to defend against it is to attack it. One thing that Mulcock must do is to gain more control over his length, and also to keep away from bowling too wide outside the off stump. If the batsman cares to let these go, it is very hard for the wicketkeeper to save four byes, as he has to stand well out to the leg side to take the ordinary bowling.. ; „ ~ The drooping of R. E. J. Menzies for F. W. Bellamy proved to be a wise move of the selectors, although the younger player was definitely- unfortunate in not being given a 'further chance, as he opened brightly in his two innings. In Wellington’s first innings Bellamy took two . excellerit catches, but spoilt this by missing two in the second innings. He played some very good strokes while he was at the wickets. • The team for the southern- match will probably not be picked for some time yet, but in all probabality will not be much different from that which played in , the last 'Plunket Shield game. Should any slow bowler, show good form in any of the intervening competition games the selectors probably will realise the wisdom of trying out someone who can relieve Cromb of having to bear the brunt of the change attack. NELSON OUT FOR 153 WELLINGTON LOSES FOUR FOR 148 (PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM;! WELLINGTON, January 3. A cricket match between Wellington and Nelson began to-day, several colts being included in the teams. The bowlers were aided by a strong north-west wind. , • Nelson’s first innings realised 153. W. Smith, with 30, was the highest scorer. Three batsmen were brilliantly stumped by Tindill. Ashenden took three wickets for 36, and Donnelly two for 18. , Du Chateau (89) and Rice. (30) put on 109 for the first wicket for - Wellington. At stumps, Wellington had scored 148 for four wickets, all the batsmen falling Ibw. , • . The match will end to-morrow. Scores:— ..." NELSON , First Innings W. Smith, run out .. ~ 32 R. A. Vass, st Tindill, b Ashenden V. 10 D. Glover, st Tindill, b Donnelly \ . . 15 M. Fowler, b Crawford . . .. 27 H. M. McGirr, b Ashenden .. .. 6 R. P. Ralfe, Ibw, b Ashenden .. 2 C. Delaney, b Crawford .. ..14 J. Thorpe, b Donnelly .. .. o H. du Feu, c Wilson, b Randall .. 16 A. W.. Mcllwraith, st Tindill. b Gaipstick .. .. 12 W. D. Irvine, not out .. .. 7 Extras .. ... ... 12 Total . .. .. 153 Bowling:' Randall took one Wicket for 17; Ashenden, three for 36; Donnelly, two for 18: Crawford, two for 28;” Capstick. one for 22. WELLINGTON First Innings V. H. Du Chateau, Ibw, b du Feu .. 89 H'. F. Rice,/ Ibw, b Irvine .. 30 J. R. Capstick, ibw, b Mcllwraith .. 15 M. P. Donnelly, not out' - .. ' .. 6 M. Thomas, Ibw, b Ralfe .. 1 R. Crawford, not out .. 2 Extras .. .. ,f 5 Total for four wickets .. 148 Bowling: Irvine took one wicket for 33; du Feu, one for 30; Mcllwraith, one for 9; Ralfe; one for 2.