CRICKET REVIEW

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 92, 13 January 1932, Page 6

CRICKET REVIEW

Battle for the Shield

WELLINGTON’S CHANCE

The Match Against Otago

(Notes by “Burwood.") 7

Wellington will have a chance next month of gaining the supremacy of cricket in the Dominion, but this can only be done by an outright victory over the Otago eleven at Dunedin. ■ • Canterbury at present .leads for , the Plunket Shield with 18 points, gained by outright wins over .Otago at Christchurch, and over Auckland at Auckland, and two points for only being defeated on the first innings by Wellington here. . Wellington comes next, with-12 points, made up by an outright* victory „■ over Auckland, at Wellington, and four points for defeating Canterbury op the first innings, at Wellington. . : Otago is third on the list, with 8 pointe, gained .by. an outright win over Auckland, at Auckland.. ... . Auckland has won the-wooden spoon this season through being defeated outright in turn by Wellington, Otago, .and Canterbury. The northern' province: in the past owed a’ great deal of. its success to English l professionals, such , as, Relf, Pearson, Bowley, and Wensley, and with stalwarts of .the game such, as S. G. Smith, N. C. Snedden, and A. Anthony, on the retired list, the Auckland eleven this season .has lacked the, stiffening which players of experience can give in important engagements. However, the northern province can take heart of grace by the knowledge .that time will mellow the many promising young players coming along, and that next season her colts will serve her much better. z

A Brilliant Youngster. ' , Already in H. G. Vivian Auckland possesses one of the most brilliant cricketers the Dominion has produced.,. He is equally at home while handling bat or •ball .and had not Prater foolishly. run him out in Auckland’s second innings, Canterbury would not have won by such a wide margin as eight wickets. • Vivian is also a realjy good slow left-hand spin bowler. He did not meet with much success against Wellington here, when he had to be content with one for 75 and none for 43, but in the first innings he bowled twice as. many overs as any other bowler on the side. • , .•<? Against Otago, however, he was far and away the best bowler in the Auckland team, capturing four for 73 and five for 02, while against Canterbury be secured five for 59. This was not bad going for a lad still in his ’teens. He should be a great asset to Dominion cricket for many years to come.

A Man’s-Sized Job. ‘ All Wellington has to do to place jt ( self at the top of the cricket tree this season’ is to defeat Otago outright at\Dunedin next month. This sounds-quite simple, but the side has a full-sized nian’s job in front of it. . : Otago is always a hard proposition in its own stronghold, and every cricketer knows that Carisbrook is one of the best seorirg wickets in the Dominion.. Plunket Shield matches are now limited to four days, and big totals do not spell finished games. By its great second innings of 589 against Canterbury this season, when Blunt hit up his record score of 338, and Badcock hit up 105, and by its consistent batting at Auckland, Otago has shown that it has an eleven to be seriously reckoned with. <

Blunt and Badcock at Dunedin will be reinforced by Shepherd and Dickinson, and with this solid quartet will be consistent performers in R.. Cherry. A. Knight, S. Elmes, J. A. Dunning, D. Smith, R. Coupland, D. IL A. Moloney, J. McHaffie, and W. Hawkswortb. The last-named is the stubborn wicketkeeper who made such n determined stand with Blunt in Otago's second innings at Christchurch, and also defied the Auckland bowlers, who could not dismiss him in either innings.

R.' Coupland is the player who was a member of the Y.M.C.A. senior eleven here a few seasons back, and who since

then has been playing at Wanganui and Invercargill. McHaffie did good work as a member of the Palmerston North High School first eleven during the past few seasons. A Battle Royal. The match between Wellington and Otago should prove a regular battle royal, as Wellington will be all out to win the premiership of the Dominion for 1931-32, and Otago will be just as determined to finish ahead. In order to finish the match, in four days Wellington will have to score fast, and toward this end Dempster, Dustin, Lambert, McGirr, James, Hepburn and Crook should be able to play their part well. ■ . James’s 45 not out against Canterbury in the first innings here was a glorious bit of batting. The Wellington stumper banged the bowling to all parts of the field, making some brilliant hooks and pulls off Cromb. This is the stamp of rapid scoring which will be wanted at Dunedin. A win on the first innings will avail the local representatives nothing, so they will have to go boldly for the runs. If Lambert can repeat the brilliant innings he played for Institute against Old Boys at the Basin Reserve on Saturday, • when he hit up 97 in quick time, and put on 173 for the fourth wicket with Massey, he should give the Dunedin public a treat. Lambert is a natural hitter, and one has the idea that he would do better if he were to attack the bowling from the start. It is a pity ■ that Massey is unable to make the trip to Dunedin, as his 09 against Old Boys on Saturday was the knock of a batsman. Few men can rattle on the runs laster when he takes the brake off than McGirr. He is never so good as when playing in important engagements.

A Century Due. • It is just about time that a century appeared from the Wellington captain’s bat, and it may materialise at Dunedin. Lowry has four centuries to his credit in shield games, and Wellington supporters want to see him play just such another magnificent innings at Dunedin as he did for Wellington against Auckland at the Basin Reserve in the 192 <- 28 season, when he piled on 181.

Steadier Bowling. , Wellington’s strength lies in the bowl-

ing, as, apart from Badcock and Dickinson, Otago has no bowlers of the deadliness of Newman and MeGirr, and this pair may repeat the fine form which led to the downfall: of Auckland and Canterbury thia season. It will be no runaway victory, though, and we have not forgotten that Otago is confident that its eleven can defeat Wellington next month. It will be a match worth seeing, and just such another battle royal as took place between the provinces in the 1923-24 season at Dunedin, when the record aggregate of 1905 runs for forty wickets was piled up. This heavy scoring, however, was not done in four days.

Cricket Amenities. The management committee of the Wellington Cricket Association is setting an example in sportsmanship which should make for good feeling between the major associations of the Dominion. A silvermounted ball was presented to H. G. Vivian, the young Auckland cricketer, at Eden Park on Saturday afternoon. The presentation, which was made on behalf of the Wellington Cricket Association by Mr. 0. S.' Thompson, manager of the Canterbury team, was in recognition of Vivian’s splendid century against Wellington at Christmas. Faster Than Larwood.

There is not much doubt that the fastest ball of Gilbert, the fQueensland aboriginal, • has more pace than that of any bowler of recent years, states a Sydney critic. After watching him bowl one extraordinary fast over I gained the impression that Harold" Larwood had never bowled at such a pace. Cyril Vincent, the South African lefthander who faced that over, confirmed my belief. '

Vincent said that he had faced Larwood at his top, and that Gilbert for those few balls was faster than the Englishman. Two of the balls, Vincent declares, he never saw, and Denys Morkel told me that one he had was the fastest he had ever had bowled at him. Gilbert is only a “two over” man, and is erratic. He has been barred from bowling on a matting wicket, and no wonder. I don't know how the chap on the English village greeen who found himself opposed to Tom Richardson, the famous fast bowler, would have got on with Gilbert. > X