CRICKET

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22319, 5 February 1938, Page 4

CRICKET

OTAGO SCORES 285 AT DUNEDIN PLUNKET SHIELD GAME WELLINGTON LOSES ONE FOR 29 (FUSS iSSOCUTIOg XILMBSIt.) DUNEDIN, February 4. The Plunket Shield match between Otago and Wellington began at Carisbrook to-day in ideal 1 conditions. The long spell of dry weather had left the pitch and field hard and fast, and conditions were promising for high scoring, Otago’s hopes were high, when Uttley (captain) won the toss, but the Otago side made a bad start, Uttley being dismissed for 3 and Knight for 19, two wickets being down for ,28. Robertson made a good stand {or 63, end Mills (59 not out), Elmes (39), Groves (34), and Holden (22) helped to retrieve the position for Otago, the last wicket falling with the total at 285. Wellington' with 40 minutes to bat, lost one wicket for 29, Tindill being fun out lor 16. The teams; are:,— Wellington—J. R. Lamason (Wellington College Old Boys), captain*' E. W. Tindill (Midland). C. K, Parsloe, V Y; £: Bain - D. S; Wilson (Kilbirnie), J.. Ell, M.' Thomas (Wellington). M. P. Donnelly (Taranaki), T. L. Pritchards , (Mafiawatu), M. Browne (Karori); twelfth man. S. Ward (Kilbirnie); , »

Otago—K. F.-M. Uttley (University), captain, T. Chettleburgh (Grange), J. A. Dunning (Carisbrook), C. S. Elmes (Grange), T. C. Fraser (Carisbrook), L. J. Groves (Old Boys), A. Holden (KaikoraiVA* R, Knight. (Grange), G. Mills (Old Boys), J. Robertson (Dunedin), R. Silver (Albion); twelfth man, W. McLeod (Old Boys). , The - wicket and outfield looked very fast.. In, lefct, the discoloured patches in the. outfield and the .baked appearance of the wicket were not In. ,accordance with carisbrook, traditions. In splteOf the extensive, network of the surface and cracks, the pitch looked a batsman's partdise and T.t played as well as any bawaan could desire throughout the day.; It - was not really fast, and . pace bowlers could not get-'* great deal of ••lift" out of tt. The only difficulty with which the batsmen had to contend was the variation in the height- at ..which the. ball came. through. The .Otago cap|ahv.Uttley,. started well by winning the. toss,, but the first two wickets fell cheaply and the later batsmen had to make a good recovery to build up a total of 285. Neither side could claim a definite advantage on the day's play, although Otago's score did not come up to expectations In such encouraging circumstances. Wellington Attack Wellington’s main attack comprised three medium-fast bowlers, T. Pritchard, C. K. Parsloe, and D. S. Wilson, but although they accounted for four wickets between them, they did not appear to be really dangerous, and it was left to a young spin bowler, M. Browne, to do most of the damage. Parsloe was not bowling as fast as usual until late in the Innings, when he got more life out of the wicket, and nelther/he nor Pritchard was dangerously accurate. Wilson varied his pace and flight more and might easily have been more successful. Browne was the sixth bowler to be tried, and he finished with six wickets for 89 runs, off 18.4 overs. He imparted a considerable amount of spin to the ball, and it was not until late in the innings that he was forced to open out a very closely-set off field. He had erratic patches, and might have proved expensive to quick-footed and more enterprising batsmen. As it was, too many of the Otago batsmen lacked the confidence to get right on top of their strokes, and a whole series of catches to the off was the result. J. R. Lamason; the Wellington captain, had a field day. Close up at mid-off. he made four catches off Browne's bowling, three of them very good ones, and the catch which he took in the gully to dismiss Uttley brought his bag for the innings up to five. Wellington’s fielding was consistently good. No catches were dropped, the ground work was clean and smart, and no runs were given away in the outfield. Otago Starts Badly

The day’s play started almost disastrously for Otago. Uttley. who had such a successful northern tour, was out with the total at seven, and the other batsman, A. R. Knight, followed him at 28. Both lost their wickets through edging balls behind the wicket.

It was fortunate for Otago that C. J. Elmes. No. 4 batsman, was not out to his first ball. There was a strong appeal for a catch behind the wicket, and Elmes seemed to be about to walk out when the umpire, who appeared to be unsighted, gave the decision in his favour The G l r ® n «e left-hander then settled down with G. J. Robertson to retrieve the lost ground, and the pair took the total to 95 by * s ? cricket before they were separated, Elmes being out to the first of Lamason s catches close up. His 39 invery® force£ul Stroke s and was

Robertson continued doggedly, watchlno the ball closely and getting most of his runs on the on side. He lost T. ChettlohowlpHa,wT& F^? s u fL ulckly ’ both being >« S Li, Plu «w et shield game, helped him to take th 6 score to 169 The latter • started shakily, but played f°«i e -. g 5 od co^ e F strokes after he had settled down. Robertson followed him to £ ayl i ,on one run later. Lamason’s u h lu ds snapping up another good Dunedin Club batsman played the most valuable innings of the day. He be tempted by anything that looked like getting up on the off side, and Played very few strokes in the air! ? , J 6^ was a determined innings, and It held the team together when the Wellington bowlers were, definitely on top. and might have gone through the side. ' Another Good Stand was still fighting for tuns when the Old Boys pair, G. H. Mills and L. J, Groves, got together. J. A. Dunning was out just before the tea adjournment, but Mills and Groves treated all of the bowling with scant respect, and scored quickly and by bright cricket. Both took chances, but they hit hard and Browne’s spinners were profitable. Mills indulged in his favourite pull and hook strokes with great vim, and Groves scored singles through the slips and occasionally hit a clean off-drive. The partnership had added 80 runs when Groves hit one into Lamason’s hands and was out to a brilliant catch. Since the last wicket fell to the next ball, the innings closed at 285. Mills, not out with 59, was applauded for a cheerful and aggressive Innings. Otago started just as badly In the field as it had with the bat. One of the Wellington opening batsmen, H. G. Rice, was dropped by Dunning at third slip in the first over. The Otago fastlsh bowlers, R. Silver and Robertson, could get no more assistance from the wicket than the Wellington trio had, but their length was Steady. The only wicket to fall, that of E. W. Tindill, who was run out, was a useful one, since the Wellington and New Zealand left-hander was shaping very confidently. It appears that the weather may be the most important factor in this game. If it remains fine and dry, it is possible that the wicket will began to crumble for the fourth innings, but some rain over the week-end would ensure Wellington of good conditions right through the game. Scores: — OTAGO > First Innings A. R. Knight, c TlndlU, b Wilson .. 19 K. F. M. Uttley, c Lamason, b Fritchard 3 G. J. Robertson, c Lamason, b Browne 63 C. J. Elmes, c lamason. b Browne 39 T. Chettleburgh, b Parsloe .. ... 9 T. Fraser, b Browne .. 5 A. C. Holden, c Lamason, b Browne 22 G. H. Mills, not out .. .. 59 J. A. Dunning, Ibw. b Parsloe .. 11 L. S. Groves, c lamason, b Browne 34 R. Silver, c Ell, b Browne .. • 0 Extras (byes 12, leg-byes 8, noballs 1) - ... ~ 21 ..285 FaH aj| fine for % *we for

WELLINGTON First Innings E. W. Tindill. run out .. ~16 H. G. R}ce. not out .. .. 12 M. Thomas, not out .. .. 0 Extra (X no-ball) 1 Total for one wicket .. 29

M. P. DONNELLY FOR CHRISTCHURCH OUTSTANDING RECORD IN BIG MATCHES M. P. Donnelly, the Taranaki cricketer who made such a success on the recent tour of England, will be playing in club cricket in Christchurcn later this season, probably for the West Christchurch Club. He will be in Christchurch to attend lectures at Canterbury University College, having already passed the first section of his B.A. degree. He intends to take up secondary school teaching later on. Donnelly’s record in school athletics has been remarkable, and he was only 20 years old when he was chosen to join the team for England last season. At the New Plymouth Boys’ High School he had an outstanding record in cricket, Rugby, lawn tennis, swimming, and boxing. In senior club games, in representative and interschool matches he made no fewer than 10 centuries while still at school. His performance against the touring team captained by E. R. T. Holmes brought unstinted praise from the English captain. In the English tour, Donnelly finished with 1414 runs, which placed him second to M. W. Wallace in the batting averages, and one century was included in this total. He is a brilliant field, especially in the deep, and is useful as a slow left-hand change bowler. In the Plunket Shield fame against Canterbury, he made 0 and 0 for Wellington, and is at present playing for Wellington against Otago, at Dunedin. FRIENDLY MATCH The Veterans beat a team from J. C Williamson’s musical comedy company in a friendly cricket match at Hagley Park by 45 runs on the first innings. The Veterans scored 165 runs (A. King 32 retired, H. E. Lawrence S 3, F. Dibden 16. C. Hotz 14, H. Wilson 13, J. Forsyth 30 not out). F. Moon took five wickets for 47 runs, J. Dobbie one for 13, and P. Le tf're two for 29. The J. C. Williamson's, team replied with 120 (D. Sharp 35 retired, K. Yates* 33 retired, F. Moon 15). H. O. Elvy took five wickets for 47 runs, and F. Dibden three for 33. NOMADS BEATEN IN FRIENDLY GAME In a friendly cricket match at Sydenham Park, Blue Star Taxis beat Nomads. Batting first. Nomads made 120 runs, the best scorers being Cross 36, Jenkins 22. Lewis 17, and Hall 11. Harding took three wickets for 24 runs. Woods one for 4, Campbell one for 6, Archer one for 18, and Symons .one for 20. After the loss of two wickets for no runs, a good thirdwicket stand of 112 put Blue Star Taxis in a good position, and they compiled 180. lor eight wickets. The chief scores were Harding 75, Fuller 56. Tindall 17, and Woods 26 not out. Cotton took three wickets for 9. Lye two for 19. Hall two ,£or 39. and Randall one for 34,

28. three for 95, four for 122, five for 125, six for 169. seven for 170, eight nine for 285, ten for 285. BOWLING ANALYSIS for 205; O. M. R. W. T. Pritchard . 20 2 57 1 C. K. Parsloe . 13 2 36 2 D. S. Wilson . 12 5 26 1 H. G. Rice . 11 3 33 0 J. R. Lamason . 3 0 9 0 M. Browne . 18.4 1 89 6 M. P. Donnelly Parsloe bowled one 4 0 no-ball. 14 0

BOWLING ANALYSIS O. M. R. W. Silver 4 0 18 0 Robertson .. 4 0 10 0 Dunning .. 2 2 . 0 0 Elmes .. 1 1 0 0 Groves .. .. 1 1 0 0