CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1271, 28 October 1911, Page 12

CRICKET.

THE PRESS AND ITS DUTY,

[By The Bbeakee.] , Etude in B Flat by C. Hickey. Charles Hickey, as most people know, .is a (rood bowler. Whenever ho capsizes ■ a bagful of wickets on a Saturday his '■ friends are as pleased as he is, and ho has many friends. But, latterly, he has been giving his friends some concern by endeavouring to star as a musician—and a one-tune musician at that. Everybody knows how tiresomo tho liest tune in the world will get if it is played week after week, and that is just what our friend C. is doing. Whenever tho slightest lull occurs in tho proceedings of tho association in he comes with tho samo old agony effort—ctudo for tho fluto in B flat, Depreciation dn Saunders"—let us call it that. We hare heard it so often now that wo know overy note, and phrase, and pause, and we aio getting weary enough of the old thing to pine for a change. Of course we all admit that tho East bowler plays his oternal solo with feeling and expression, but that's just tho trouble. Ho plays it with so much feeding that it sometimes looks liko sheer animus. Ho had better leave Saunders alone. Another Musician—Something of a Basso. At the same meeting at which the inevitable solo on Saunders was heard thero also escaped a sort of deep bass growl about the press reports. This came from the chairman: "Their experience," ho said, "in regard to cricket reporting had been that the papers had done very littlo to promote the sport of cricket. Last year they had shocking reports." Tact has never been Mr. Luckie'a strongest point, and, fortunately for all concerned, tho remarks made may bo printed in all their unjustness without I doing anyone much harm, considering the ! source from which they come. No doubt 1 if it wero stated that "Lnckie put up an excellent bowling performance" that would be a good report. And it would be a "shocking" report which stated that Lnckie is sneh o wretched field that, when he goes in to bat, ho has to make 20 or 30 runs beforo ho is practically any. Yes, that would bo a rather "shocking" report, no doubt. • But it would be quite true. Are the Press Reports Good Enough? The fact is that the cricket reports of nil the Wellington journals seem any amount good enough for tho wretched kind of cricket which is often played. When tho knight of the pen has been obliged to sit it out for a whole afternoon, ho naturally leaves the ground a littlo bored and ill, wondering why a fullgrown, intelligent man should be called on to watch a'ad chronicle such piffling stuff. The-public are not so badly placed as the poor scribes. They, at least, are free to leave the ground whenever they feel that they can endure tho agony of it no longer. And, what is inoro, they often do. Stand in the line of the wickets almost any Saturday, and watoh what happens. Two bowlers trundle up stuff without an inch of work on it, or an ounco of "devil," or any atom of pace. At this, a couple of very timid batsmen will scratch for half-an-hour for two runs apiece, and then end by running ono or the other out, for nearly half our cricketers are not very brilliant judges of a run between the wickets. Meantime tho field is "playing at funerals," and the crowd yawns and goes homo.

Tho time has onrao for a livelier and more intrepid stylo of play. Last year little was said about it, for it was only tho first year of the good Saunders wickotsi.-fs But .fchis~is the second year of J them,'ajid the time is at hand when tho scratcher will be compelled to hit out or go out. And, if the opinion of 1 his fellows cannot galvanise him into doing either ono thing or the other, thero will bo at least ono other shot te fire—there will presently be somo very "shocking" prces reports, wine fearless and frankly "shocking" newspaper comment indeed. Opening Day at tho Basin. The city match which was left in tho mest interesting state nt tho end of last Saturday's play was that between Victoria College and North. College went, in first, but in spite of the fact that the attack did not appear to be very formidable, thoy made a poor showing until tho ninth wicket fell, with the score in the seventics. Then Berendson and Salmond became associated, and, batting freely, carried tho 'sooro to 148. Of the earlier batsmen, tho only players to make any stand wero Fanning (22) and Burbidgo (19), neither of whom showed anything like the form of tho last pair. Both Berendson and Salmond were quite at home at the wickets almost at once, and they knocked their scores up without taking anything liko a risk. To add 80 for tho last wicket is a very good performance at any time, and for the hrst match of tho season, after the bulk of the team had failed, it was a really good effort.

Findlayson did most of tho bowling for North, for he kept ono end going very nearly throughout tho innings. Ho finished with an average of fivo wickets for 39 runs, and tho wicket was not helping him at all. Luckic began well, getting three wickets for about half a dozen runs in a very short while, but there his success stopped for a time. 'Ho eventually captured another unwary batsman, Bruce, who tipped ono into the slips, but his four wickets in the end cost 30 runs.

North also began badly, for Wynyaa'd, Phillips, and Windley all lost their wickets for an aggregate of eleven runs. Oombie had in the meantime been making runs carefully, though not very slowly, and with Lambert ho raised the ecoro to '17 runs beforo stumps wero drawn. Lambert had only half a dozen up at the end of the day, but ho had shaped very well for them, and ho may yet turn out to bo a difficult proposition for bowlers. His main asset is his long reach, and ho plays forward fearlessly. East A amused themselves for the wholo afternoon at the wickets, and thero was nothing in the South bowling to warrant a good batting side in going out for anything less than 200 runs. Unless South can harden up their attack a littlo during tho season, they will spend tho bulk of their playing time in the field. Tho only bowler who did any damage to speak of was Fenton, but ho was given far too much bowling—B4 overs in ono afternoon.

Midlano and Grimmett were the first pair, and they at onco .set to work to forco tho pace. Grimmett had not gone far when ho was out leg-beforo to Fcntoii, but Midlano went on merrily. Ho cracked up 22 by forcing (though mostly inelegant) strokes, and then r'enton bowled him with n good length one. And so it went on throughout the afternoon. Nono of the batting was at nil brilliant, but everybody made Tims. Cortaialy tho wicket and tho outfield woro slow, and tho bowling was so loose in patches that tho batsmen had to slam everything rather than trust to mora d«lica(o strokes on the off-side. Gibbes was top-seoror with 18, but he began very weakly, and ho made quito a number of bad sla'okes—some of them uppish. Hickey (27 not out) wont !or everything and succeeded tolerably well, rather better than anyone else hail during the day. The New Senior Men, Interest centred a bit on Potone's first "go" *n a senior field last week. They met the Tlntt men at Ilutt, and the wicket was so easy that a man might have playe.l forward at almost everything with his eyes shut. For the first half-hour tho affair was a deadlock. Brico could not bag th* wickets, and tho batsmen could not get the runs* So thoro it was. Proceedings livened a lot when Nnnn was put on with' slow, curly stuff, and, thereafter, the proceedings were not half bud to watch. It is hoped to bo able to say lomcthing more about tho individual form after the match is finished. Quite a top-notch catch was brought off by Fhirdliam at deep-leg. _ It was a- slow ball, and the batsman sighted it, timed it', and smote it in steam-hammer stylo. It appeared to strike tho veteran on tho chest with a thump that might have been heard ljoyoml Somes Island, but, when ono looked again, ono saw that, chest or no die-it, Hanlbam had got both hands round n sine-enough catch. That's tho sort of fielding that puts' dash into tho bowlers,