SHIELD HUNTERS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1361, 12 February 1912, Page 4

SHIELD HUNTERS.

• —— —« . y AT CHRISTCHUftGH. CAN LIFT*. IT < i; A bowlei?s; ; day-;; •-.-; -'"■'■ i '(Br Telegraph--prc3B Association.) ' - ;.'■ Christchurch, February 11. j : It'.'is a long time since a cricket match has'jbaused so much interest as has been evoked by the tweon Auckland and land.had their very best ado down, .and - with' Thompson, tho All-England eleven man, to strengthen them, were thought to have an.excellent chance,of lifting the , shield. ' " Unfortunately,, rain set in on Thursday': and Friday. This made ..the pitch very isJbw and cramped tho;' scoring. «-'/.Wh'en ...Jplay.v started, a drying wind prevailed, and cjbnscquent- - ly Reese's actionem deciding' to bat after he had won the/toss wasVadvcrsely commented on. It was understood that if Auckland had won the toss they would ■] have, sent Canterbury in. The wicket, lm^ ; 6ver,,^as. l ,iu,-.s.uc,h.,.a.stale that it was ' pute guesswork as to what was the best thing to do, and in any case Canterbury's downfall was duo only; in a very small degreo : to tHo"wicket," as "the-majority of i the. sido got out by bad strokes. .•I.' Thompson's Bowling Deadly. Hayes and Carlton were "yorked," Reese hooked no fewer than four balls up to the off, but all fell out of hann's way. The'fifthj however, went into Thompson's hands. Patrick niado a half-hearted stroke 'at'-a leg ball arid sent it softly into" the hands of ' Hemus. 'Sandman and Thomas both got out oft' absolutely Teckless strokes, whilst Lusk, Norman, and Hickmott'were'the only ones who could, by any stretch of imagination, be said to, have got out through the bad wicket. Thompson bowled really well. He. always had the .batsmen playing him, but. there appeared to "be'little else to contend with in the bowling, and Olliff's six wickets runs were, mainly the. result.of poor batting. Tlje -Auckland batting was a hundred per- cent, better than the Canterbury, for t.he\ wicket .was still difficult when they went in, and the .Canterbury bowling w.aV as good as their batting had been bad. Auckkid's total was the result of their solid batting under difficult oondi-, tions. t Sneddon gave a mastorly display, ami-except for an easy chance at the wickets when he was 28, he never made a weak stroke, never lifted-a ball, but invariably punished any ball not up to standard. His late, cutting and leg play were especially . strong. Hemus played almost' equally good cricket, though once - of twice--.he lifted tho ball' rather dangerously. Like Sneddon, lie .'did some beautiful late cutting, and his forcing' strokes from length balls just off the leg stump were very pretty. Taylor, also made a very favourable impression. He batted in masterly style, and: Canterbury were lucky to get him run out when he was looking very dangerous. ■ ' ■' A Paralysing Ball. Thompson batted like a master, until what was possibly the i best ball ever bowled by Reese got him. It was a delivery of perfect length, and the ball swerved, ; and then broke in about six inches from leg. Thompson looked first at the pitch and then at the wicket in surprise. Reese, in fact, was Canterbury's master boyder, and, had Auckland batted fir.-jt, the positions would, probably have been reversed, as Reese would no doubt nave, played havoc.on a .real bowler's wicket.. As it .was, ho sent, down a lot of yeSj difficult 'balls. ""'' "' Iho fielding on both sides was tirstclass, though Hickmott, who '.was posted near the boundary,' and Hayes in different positions closer in, did such magnificent work that Canterbury's fielding was rather "better, than that of the-visitors; Boxshall, however, was right "o(T" as wicket-keeper, for, in addition to 25 byes, his missing of Sncdden • was disastrous. There was-an' attendance of over 3000, and the takings totalled £M. Tho weather promises to be.fine for to-morrow, and .Canterbury are not down-hearted, as thoy reckon that they still have a sporting chance in view of their fine recovery last year,-.-.. • ■■"'■■ ,-, ;.-" ■ ;'.-. Details of the Play. . Lusk and' Norman took' strike'for Canterbury, and Thompson opened the bowling.; from the south end with a stronowind behind him. In his second over he beat Norman with a ball that came in from leg and took the bails. Hayes followed, and at once had a close "go" for an l.b.w appeal from Thompson, and then, after some slow play, the English bowler yorked Hayes with' a fast one. Uirlton.followed, but, when 40 had been hoisted, Thompson beat Lusk with two successive balls. .The next one the-bats-nuui drove to.,the : , on,;.aiid.,Thompson snapped up a one-handed catch' cleverly r Reo.se caine in, and-the'score craw-led aO, which had taken an hour and 1" *Z %V° ?et , Fiv ;° nlns later,.ho*: ever, Ihompson bowled ..Carlton with, a Glow, hanging yorker. Hickmott opened Tilth a clever stroke, to leg off Thompson, four resulting, and, at. 69, the players ndjourned for lunch:" P'ayei*, ,Ji£-r S ; ,n \ in;r, , Hk ' :l ? mott " ot Thompson m-qttily to leg for three,.-but, in Olliff's JL - l "flu ol theso tOUDd «• restingplaoe 111 Thompson's hands at mid-off Patrick, did not add to the score. Rand! "an joined Hekmott, but. the latter 1 h?'ni\T Xe t aMy af terwards was beafe 11 &&sVb?J a <«-*«> H>e iufroer, but a +h - Pm ln -- h ? ost Sandman his'wicket third $°™Ws I>a"ls at thrK„Jk ' ,? oX3hall wnt first ball °, lliff ""I'behi ed... The innings Ihitvclosea fni rr' fl ' two- hours pk/ 6 ' atit * an J at once got each- bowler away for P a '- contenting h.mself irath singles. ETcr-n?. or.somc-nice--late-cute by each ba smau he runs came slowly, but 50 went up for 5-! minutes play. ■ W. Carlton was given a trial with the ball, aud his second delivery, pitched about half-war, and good, and runs came slowly. When Sned.28 missed him at the wicket off Bennett,, and: Sandman beat Jhonipson-sjveraltimes...:With'tw.o short off the century. Reese replaced Sandman and. with his fifth ball boat Thompson with a beauty. . . . : Hot-spool filled the gap, but Reese rorkfd his off-stump with a fast one 'first hall. la.vlor followed, and. at 11<> Thomas relieved Bennett. The change was expensive, and, after a couple of overs, Sandman replaced him. This was "o bitter, as both batsmen wer? warming li, to their work, and several other changes failed to achieve the desired remit until Carlton had another turn. Taylor then .went for a single.' but was sent hark, and a good return to the wickets saw him run out. Wallace went in only to sec Sneddon hnve a lash at Carlton, and sret clean bowled with a big lee break. Mason followed, but Rmsp beat Wallace with a good one. Ellis filled the jap. and survived one confident appeal for 1.b.w., but I he next-one sent him-back. Time was (hen called. Canterbury—First Innings. H. B. Lusk. e. and b. Thompson 27 A. X'lnnnn, b. Thompson 0 W. Hayes, b. Thompson 5 U'. Carlton, b. Thompson 10 D. Row, e. Thompson, b. OUiff 18 R, G. Hickmott, b. Olliff 14 W. Patrick, c. Hemus. b. Olliff 0 7). Sandman, c. Horspe-01, b. Olliff ... 1 A. W. Thomas, b. Olliff'. 1 C. Boxshall, st. Ellis, b. Otlilf 0 J. H. Bennett, not out 5 Extras ......: 5 Total 86 -_ :.... : Bowling. Analysis, -G.-J.Thompson,fonrwicketafor 32-.rujisj'

C.'OllilT, su: for ,17; F. R. Mnson,_.nonc (or 1-' runs. Fall of the AViekets. I 2.. 3: ,4 5 6 7 8 9 ,10 5 VI: U' 55; ,71) 75 SO SI SI 'SG 'Auckland— First Innings. E. V. Sale, b-- Sautlman 4 Hemus,' I>. Carlton 34 }V. Bro'ak'(vShrith. b. Recce ; 1 , Sneddon, b. Wj.. Carlton "G G:. 'J: Thompson, li. Reese .-..-'.>.. 12 E. HorWpool, b. Roiso (I I!.'-Ta'vlor,'hi'u'ont 17 A. Wallace, :b.'Bctse * 0 F. If. Mason, not out :i W. H. Ellis, 1.U.W., b. Reese 5 Extras - 31 .;■-. Total for niirc wickets IS3 .;, ■. '■ Fall nf, the' Wickets. V 1 2' 3 4- 5 G 7 8' 9 "s 13 70 101 101 10!) IG9 17G 183