THE WORLD OF SPORT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1307, 9 December 1911, Page 12

THE WORLD OF SPORT.

cricket;

£Bi Thb Bmajceb.] A THIRD-GRADE COMPLAINT, North Retains iti Fast Bowler. It is now a matter of certainty that Wellington North is not to loss its fast bowler. For • several months the matter wan in doubt, but the question was placed beyond the palo of uncertainty on one of the most famous of. famous days—December 7. The voto on whether or not North wo'jld retain I'indlay was taken in I'arnell, and Parnell has voted "Yes." Parnell has further voted for Mr. J. S. Dickson, and no fast bowler. Victoria College teams for Saturday, .December 12:— Seniors v. Hutt, at Hutt; train 1.20. —, Dempsey, Caddick, Saunders, Berendscn, Steinton, Griffiths, Fanning, Burbidge, I Salmond, Miller, Dickson. . '.'■ ' Juniors v. Hutt, at Hutt; traitil.2o.— Bruce, Broad, Martin, Schram, Jameson, >Atmore, Duncan, Mackay, O'Shoa, Joblin, A. Castle. Thirds r. St. Mark's, at Eolburno Park.—Stewart, Casey, MeMahon, Rogers, Le Crcu, Cook, WiUis, Longhurst, Cos, Macartney, Jackson. A:Utter on Third-Grade Cricket. vTne following letter on thjrd-grade cricket and tho Templars' team in particular was received during the week. Tho witter states:— '

. Sir,—Thera is one .team in this competition which, if tho Cricket Association were alive to tho interests of the game, would not be permitted to enter a team therein. Prefer to the Templars. This team is easily, a junior grado one. Sev«rll of its members have averages approaching a century and over; some play seaior Wednesday cricket regularly; tho teiim is not composed of young players, »s one would naturally imagine in third grade, but seasoned Veterans. It has won All its matches, most, if not all, by an innings and wickets to spare, and must win tho competition with tho rest nowhere. Apart from this team, tho remaining teams aro much of a muchness, at.d were it promoted it would be hazardous to pick the ultimate winner. One asks, If a" team wins so easily, eon this be Rood for tho game? Tho answer is assuredly not. What is the use of a competition if the result is a foregone conclusion?. It is no competition at'all. The remedy lies with tho association. If they took any interest in the lower grades, a Classification Committee would have been appointed long ago, as I believe has been dono in other centres, e.g., Dunedin. Their such a state of things could not exist. I think other players will fully endorse this letter. Trusting that this has not been written iii vain,—l am, etc.,- "Third Grade."

\The Sensational Finish last Saturday's cricket was brightened by the best finish that has been seen in the city for many, a day. It was the iitcbnd day of tho match, and South's ciinces were considered'nil.

When Wagstaffc and Goldfinch went to tho crease for East,-and faced the bowling of Fenton and Patrick, there was scarcely a man on,the ground who looked for anything but & coiumon-place everyday sort of finish.; It simply seemed that East B would go in and fritter away tho balance ot the afternoon, and South would loso on the .first innings. So far as the chances of the opponents went, there was nothing left that one could take an interest in, and one might as well go home .t-j tea. Cricket is a good gamo in soliie places on, account of tho quality of the, '• if lay. Cricket's fascination hero largely lie's in tho magic query! "Who'll win?"" With delightful- suddenness (from a •porting point of view) a change came dor tho scene., Wngsta'ffe was sent back to where ho had. left his coat and hat, n fid, with him, ho took tho small and aggravating sphere—tho dreaded "egg." He had boon expected to score well and freely, and there \ was hope that East B would reel off the necessary 121 in good time. For a while Goldfinch and Hatchings stood obstinately in tne path of Sionth's progress, but tho former was soon cut for 10, and the latter for G'. Now the excitement was growing. South, indeed, bad a chance, Mason came and went for t. Single; O'Shea whacked off a tlireo, and thon was dispatched on the return voyage through a wonderful catch by Patrick, who took a hot one while standing close in. Next there was a chaotic sound in Oolletfs timber-yard. Kates was let oft' by J. Johnson first strike, but when he 'had four up Word caught him off Keys. Wills compiled ten in three' swipes, and ivae then braten in the most glaring manner by Keys. Wills simply stood and watched tho ball pushing his stump down, nn'd he did not ofTer an ounce of resistance.

iftn Evergreen Memory. There iras fivo minutes to There 'irfcro two wickets to fall. East, were iipOrts; they wado no unnecessary delicto i.rob worthy opponents of a splendid win. Tho excitemont now was ,at fever heat. Evidently it had its effect on the batsmen. Halej went to tho crease, and first smack sent a chance to Patrick at mid-on. Patrick brought off another fine catch, and Hales left for homo. Two more minutes of time! ' One more wicket to stand or 'fa.ll! - Nosh and Hornby were the last men. The over was to bo the last Of tho match. Law's was bowling to Nasn. It was n duel of batsman and bowler. If Lairs could dispose, of Nash the match was South's. If Nash could ■withstand six deliveries from Laws .victory'was East's. Oiio,, two, three, four balls weht down, andNash survived them. Two'mofo balls for Nash to' weather! Two more shots for Laws to fire. Whiz—it had not.beaten the batsman; he had. warded it off. the wickets, but he had risen it a little, and before Nash or anyone else was alive to what had occurred, 0. Johnson- was loosing the ball in tho air. It was all over—a finish that will he an evergreen memory.

When Fanning Lashed. Tho public dearly loves to see a man toiftking runs fast, preferably with boundary hits, and they were all on Farming's •ido last week when ho was lashing the ball oil over the. landscape. It was hopeless to suppose that College had any chance of a win, or even to save Ihcuiwl+es from crushing, defeat, But with a few more men like Fanning on their side the formidable East pair of trundlers, Gibbcs And Ilickey, would not frighten tbrttn out again for a miserable 32 runs. When Fanning tame in it was quite on Iho cards' that the side would go out for less than a hundred, but ho had apparently co-nlo to the conclusion that _ attack was tho best possible defence against this bowling that was like to do such damage. And lie proved heyond a doubt that it. was so, for, not Only did he seoro freely himself, but ho gave a fillip to tho flagging spirits of the other bat«men, who might otherwise have poked and scratched helplessly at' the slows. Lot us hop that others of our cautions batsmen will produce somo of their net form when next they are faced by the Hickey-Gibbes comIrination on an easy wicket.- The pair aro good howlers, always liable to break nip a whole baiting side, but after all ? Well, the best bowlers in the world can be hitAfter such a lively innings Fanning hod hard luck in being run out as he was alleged to be. It was. a foolishly risky run—tried as much by his own as his partner's fault—but there was room for at least some doubt a.s to whether he had grounded his hot in the crease before his wicket was npsct. The Umpire had no hesitation in declaring him out, and that of course ended the matter. The Bpectators, howevor, wore somewhat surprised by the decision, and Fanning hininelf wa« certainly nuzzled by it. ■ No other College batsman deserves any Fpocial credit for his showing except Htirbridg''. He began steadily and not too confidently, but after making a dozen nr so lin hit out in fine style, and carried his L-at in the end for 38 runs. A word about tho College fielding on the first day of the match. They were taken to task in this column for bad

,ieldinf,' in a previous match, and it Li mily fair now to say that, their work in the" field when East were batting' was distinctly goud. Bcrendstm gave a feallj ei-j

'A WEEKLY RECORD OF SPORTS AND OTHER PASTIMES,

C. B, Fry on the Australians. "Fry's Magazine" contains an interesting review of the prospects of the English team in Australia by C. B. Fry. Ho looks hopefully, if not confidently, on England's chances, and "lays on" sevorejv to an Australian correspondent to, an 'English paper who has been asking, "Where are tho stars?"—a question, by the way, C. B. Fry notwithstanding", which is not tm unfair one. "C.8." makes clear, however, his sense of the strength of tho Australian resources. He observes-.— "Apart from the main 'class' batting strength, consisting •of Hill, Bardsley, Hansford, Trumper, and Armstrong (and perhaps Noble), the batting is good all through,' for, with the exception of Whitly, who' wa3 no bat when here last, but has decidedly improved, and of Cotter, who is quite likely to knock up 50, the whole side consists of professed batsmen. "And if it comes- to it, Macartney showed himself so good a bat over here that if, as wo are reliably. told, he has rince much improved, I do not know why he should not be 'classed' with Hill and Trumper and the other .'swells.' And Kolleway was good enough' to go in No. ■t when the South Africans were in Australia. And Hordern is described as 'very promising.' "Secondly, the bowling is not only good, but comprises that desirable quality in Australia, distinct variety. There is Cotter, a genuine fast bowlor; in Whitty, a first-rate, fast-medium left-hander; in Macartney, a slow to medium left-hand-er; in Hordern, a first-rate 'googlio' bowler; in Kolleway, a 90und modium righthander; and in Armstrong, a bowler called a leg-breaker, but really sui generis, and, anyhow, quite unlike the others, slow-medium. "Thirdly, so far as wo can see, there is no hole in the fielding, though unless somethong new has developed it contains no 'electric' slips, and in this respect rather resembles our own team. In sum, an obviously powerful oil-round team,"

Clearance of Stock of best makes of Orickot Bats, at heavy rodnotions. Estate of lat« Gootro Denton, 58 WiDis Street.— Adrt,

oellent display behind the wiokots. Ho ha 3 certainly possibilities as a stumper, but hi) must hrst got over a bad habit common to nearly all young wicketkoepors of letting an odd ball that looks like a straight one, run past. For the rest, he lakes the ball equally well from bowlers and fieldsmen, and he watches the batsman's rear foot very closely. The Latest Recruits. A team of standing made a trip to the country, .played a combination, mainly juvenile, and came back with the scalps of its enemy dangling at its belt. That is a thumb-nail history of the encounter between Central and Petone on tho ground at the head of the harbour. It was a natural result, and just what nijght have been expected, but it does not follow that the team from town had a walk over. On tho contrary, there were intervals wben the boot was on the other leg. Against a team liko Petone, Central 'might have been expected to knock up enough runs in a single turn at the wickets •to ensure a' three-point win. Instead they had a somewhat rough-and-tumble progress through the better part of two innings before they attained this result. The bowling of Bennett in the first innings, and of Brico in tho second, had a good deal to - do with it, but the Petone eleven, as a whole, put up a better light than might have been expected. It has its full share of younger brethren, but, nevertheless, there is a notable absence of passengers. It may bo cautiously conceded that the presiding geniuses of tho Management Committee mado no very serious mistake in promoting the suburbanites to senior rank. If the lately-elevated eleven does not get swelled head, it should presently begin to cut ice in tho cricketing world. With a ground like the Petono Oval at its disposal and freedom from tho financial worries that trouble clubs in Wellington, an eleven can havi only itse.: blame if it does not make -rapid progress towards proficiency.

Unexpected Ups and Downs. I The unexpected downfall of the leading batsmen in each eleven was a feature of tlio game. While Blamiros lost his wicket for a paltry gain in runs, Robinson came out of his shell, and fairly Smote boundaries off the bowling that brought trouble to his more seasoned colleague. ' Petono had a parallel experience with Ilricc and Barber.- The veteran reaped. a poor harvest of runs, whereas Barber knocked the bowling about in great stylo, and, in each innings, was a soro thorn in the flesh of the visitors. Brice made amends for his. failure with tho bat by his bowling in the second innings, and his performance was really better than it looks on paper for Robinson and (to a lesser extent) Blamires, were tho only batsmen who put up muck resistance to his attack.

A Batsman Good to Look Upon. A writer in the "Bulletin" 6ays that F. R. Foster takes the eye as the "best batsman in Warner's team; and the figures thus far justify the opinion. -Against South Australia the youthful plaver banged a century; tho Victorian bowlers also had a century debited against them; while a well played 22 (and out to a brilliant catch by Gregory) was tho reymnl of the- first innings against N.S.W. loßter is vigorous, and his style is the jiuuuoouiest uii cue rJnglish side. Of course, style is not overytlliug, and when the final figures are up, it may prove that somebody with a much more camellike'fashion of' play has produced better results, but Poster is good to look upon when he smites and gives value for the money.

Cricket Control in Australia. Eiye, years ago, when tho Melbourne Cricket'C'lhb was beaten in its effort to dominate the control of Australian cricket, and constitute itself tho Maryleboue C.C. of tho Commonwealth, it fell further in the soup than it thought. It was given its fair shiiro of representation when the V.C.A. was constituted, and also the right to nominate one member of tho Board of Control; but that was mere shadow, inasmuch as it is always in a minority in a place where the majority rules. The o.thor day a young Tasmanian batsman, named H. 0. Smith, came across the Straits, and settling in South Melbourne, applied to play with that team under tho district cricket scheme. Before he got a chance to don flannels, an emissary of the M.C.C. took him and plantedhim in a city coffee palace, and invited him to play with the big club. 'The V.C.A. executive, however, curtly ordered him to play with South, which he did. _ The M.C'.O. appealed to tho V.C.A., which upheld its executive— the M.C.C. delegates alono dissenting—and that should end tho nrgument. Tho club applied in August last to be allowed to enter tho pennant compotition, : and, though tho application earae very late, was told it could do so on tho ordinary terms, i.e., take a defined, district and give up its right to a special delegate on tho Board of Control. It refused theso terms, and wanted extra consideration, that it might keep itself in the leading position. Now it perceives that if it isn't to get any rising new players, and can offer no inducement, by pennant chances, to others to join its playing ranks, it is liable shortly to become a thing of naught, a mere lessee of a paddock, which a controlling body may take over some day.—Tho Sydney "Bulletin."

Misfortune for Minnelt. In missing three chances off K. B. Minnctt;s bowling in the slips, Dr. Hordern surprised everyone, liecause ho is such a splendid fieldsman there. In two of the catches ho lost sight of the ball in the dark back-ground of the crowd.

But even so, it is remarkable that such a fieldsman should drop all these chances. It does not lessen one's opinion that he is a thoroughly first-class slip fieldsman, any moro thnu_ Victor Trumpor's once making a blob in three successive innings in Test matches made him any tho less great as batsman. It was, nevertheless, tho misfortune of the younger bowler. It, was like J. N. Crawford's no wickets for over 100 against Victoria—a barren record for which he was not responsible—"Tho Arrow" on tho England-New South Wales match.