CRICKET AND ITS PLAYERS

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 69, 14 December 1932, Page 7

CRICKET AND ITS PLAYERS

Australian Team for Second Test

TOWN v. COUNTRY—AND PLUNKET SHIELD

Before •meeting Australia, in -the second Test .'match, which is to commence at Melbourne on December 30. and will be played out to the bitter end, the English team, will enjoy a trip to Tasmania, where matches will bo played at Hobart and Launceston. The Australian selectors are to be commended for adhering in the main to their original selection. They could hardly do otherwise. For the first Test, they said, in effect: “Here, in our opinion, is the best eleven in Australia.” That team was decisively beaten by the. Englishmen in the first Test, but it would have been a suicidal policy on the selectors part to say, “Very well, we will now see what the second eleven can do.” Nothing so destroys the morale of a team as for the selectors to keep continually chopping and. changing the personnel. Of the team which represented Australia in the first Test, the selectors have retained Woodfull, Ponsford, Fingleton, McCabe, V. Richardson, Oldfield. O Reilly, and Grimmett Of course. Bradman had. to be brought in for the second Test, so he and Ironmonger and L. P. O Brien (Victoria), and Oxenham (Queensland) have been brought into the running for places in the. second Test. This means that Kippax and Nagel have been dropped. Larwood v. Bradman.

Supporters of Australia are pinning their faith in Bradman, who did such phenomenal scoring in the Tests in England in 1930.' But Englishmen belipve they have found a counter to Bradman. Ranjitsinhji, the Maharajah Jam Sahib of Nawanagar. who is better known as K. S. Rangitsinhji,’ a prince of cricketers 30 years :; ago, is of opinion that Larwood is Bradman’S master. “Larwood is the bne bowler we have who can be relied on to frighten the Australians,”, the Indian Prince said in a recent interview. “I am told that he is bowling, really fast after his operation, and the Australians do not relish fast bowling—no, not even Bradman. “In my opinion, Larwood, carefully nursed, is our potential match winner. "By all means play him for his batting, if you like, to keep him fit, but if I were skippering the side I would, certainly not let him bowl a ball in any match except the vital games. “I am not a pessimist, and I believe that we have an excellent chance of regaining the Ashes, provided Larwood is nursed judiciously. . "If Bradman plays he is always a danger—but Larwood at his fastest Is mord than a match for the Australian wonder-bat. If Bradman does not play, I believe ■ Australia has a very poor chance of retaining the Ashes.” It can he taken for granted that Australia’s fighting spirit has been roused by the sharn reverse sustained in the first Test, and it remains to be seen whether Bradman. Woodfull. Ponsford, and McCabe can repeat the fine batting performances they registered when they won back “the Ashes” in England in 1930. Town v. Country.

It was a happy inspiration which induced thje Wellington Cricket Association to inaugurate an annual trial of cricketing strength between the town and country players in the Plunket Shield area under its jurisdiction. This match, desp.te little jealousies in both town and country, has now come to be a permanent fixture, and has done a great deal to make Wellington the M.C.O. of the Dominion. Since its inception, both Nelson and Marlborough, at their own request, have been taken under Wellington’s wing, and able plavers from Hawke’s Bay. Wanganui, Wairarapa, Taranaki, Manawatu, and Rangitikei have from time to time been included in the Wellington eleven for Plunket Shield engagements. The Rival Teams.

Followers of the game here will have the pleasure of seeing the Town and Country elevens engaging each Other on the Basin Reserve to-day and to-morrow. Despite the fact that H. N. Lambert, F. Finlayson and T. P. and H. E. I. RJaney, all of Hawke’s Bay, were not available, and no nominations were received from Taranaki, owing to the fact that that province has just completed a match for the Lord Hawke Cup against Soutli Auckland at Hamilton, the Country team is the strongest which has taken the field for some years. Though everyone will miss the commanding presence of T. C. Lowry from the Country'side, his mantle has fallen upon able shoulders in H. M. McGirr. now a cricket coach at Nelson, who will be making his first appearance on the Country side. „ On paper the Country team appears the stronger side, particularly in bowling, as .7. Newman. A. Newman, and McG:rr (Nelson), Massey (Wairarapa), and Gal-

lichan (Manawatu) form a formidable attacking quintet. Against this the Town will have to relv upon Parsloe and Crook (fast medium) and Griffiths, Browne, and Morris (slow right-hand). t . , The teams will be constituted aa 101-10 Town: 10 Town: C. S. Dempster (petone), captain, W. Dustin (Midland), B. R. Ross (Hutt),' V. H. Du chateau (Old Boys), J. R. Lamason (Old Boys), A. E. Morris (Kilbirnie), C. Parsloe (Old BoysLJ. A. R. Blandford (University), R. Crook (Kilbirpe), M. Browne (Old Boys), B. Griffiths (Kilbirnie), L. M. Pacey (University), twelfth man, Country: H. M. McGirr (Nelson), captain. A. Newman (Nelson),, J. Newman (Nelson), D. A. Cameron (Rangitikei), M. A. O’Brien (Hawke’s Bay); H- Nairn (Hawke’s Bay), G. H. B. Bullock-Doug-las (Wanganui), Mete Kingi (Wanganui), H. B. Massey (Wairarapa), N. Gallichan (Manawatu), W. Norris (ManaW Emergencies: W. Hayward (Rangitikei) and Freeman (Nelson). An Able Batsman.

M. A. O’Brien, of Hawke’s Bay, who will be a member of the Country team against the Town eleven at the Basin Reserve to-day and to-morrow, is fast qualifying for a New Zealand cap. Last season he scored 123 and*3s against South Auckland in the Hawke Cup match, and 0 and 41 against Canterbury at Napier. He showed brilliant form against Wairarapa in the Hawke Cup match a few weeks back when he scored 95, and has maintained this form on the Hawke’s Bay team s southern tour, which ended with the match against Canterbury at Christchurch oh Saturday. _ , In the match against Wellington, O’Brien scored 0 and 100 not out; against Otago, 21 and 45; against North Otago, 39 and 30; and against Canterbury, 33 and 131 not out. Thus. in_four matches on the tour, he scored 405 runs, at an average of 67.50. This young man may have to face Larwood and Voce when they start rocking them down in this country in March next. The Plunket Shield.

The first Plunket.Shield match of . the season will be played at the Basin Reserve at Christmas-time, when Otago will endeavour to wrest the Shield from Wellington,- the holders. Otago will be represented by the following well-balanced sideF. T. Badcock (captain), T. Chettleburgh. R. W. Coupland, J. A. Dunning, C. Elmes, W. Hawkesworth, A. R. Knight, V. G. Cavanagh, D. A. R Moloney, A. J. Priest, D. Smith and V. Leader. With an experienced player like Badcock to lead them the Otago eleven should make a bold bid for the .Shield. It is bad luck for Otago that Dickinson, their fast howler, so rarely leaves his home town. , . ■ , Followers of the game here will be anxious to see Chettlebiirgh, a slow bowler. and useful all-round player, make his debut in Plunket Shield Cricket. D. A. R Moloney, another good slow bowler, had developed this season into a very serviceable batsman. , ' . Elmes, a left-hand bowier, has also come on since he was last here. Wellington should be able to place a powerful eleven in the field to defend the which, by the way. is still in ■Christchurch. Though the city appears to be short of outstanding pl/yers this season, plenty of good talent is available in the minor associations, and with J. Newman and H. McGirr (Nelson), M, A. O’Brien, 11. N- Lambert, H. E. I. Reaney and-®- Finlayson IHawke’s Bay), H. B. Massey '(Wairarapa), _N. ' Galliehan (Manawatu), and D. A. Cameron (Rangitikei) to draw upon, a well-balanced eleven should be available. A Useful All-Rounder. O. Parsloe, the tall Wellington College Old Boys Club player, is heading for re-. pres'entatlVe honours this season. So far he hae scored 101 runs at an average of 25.25, and has taken seventeen wickets at an average of 11.35. He secured six for 49 against Petone, and followed this np with seven for 76 against Kilbirnie last Saturday. Parsloe gets a lot of pace on the ball, being quite fafetat times.

Varsity Score a Win. The University team is to be _ congratulated upon at last notching a victory in the senior competition this season. Neither University nor Institute had scored a championship point when .they met in the fourth series, and the students won out by 145 runs on the first innings. The students owed their victory to a brilliant century by J. A. R. Blandford, and good bowling by C. 8. Harrison, who captured five wickets for 47 runs. H. Owen (40) and C. Wareham (54) shaped well with the bat for Institute on

Saturday, and Prince was going strong with 38 to his credit when stumps were drawn in the follow-on. Institute could only reply with 127 and 154 for six wickets, to University’s 272. This victory should give the Varsity team confidence.

Wellington Going Well. The Wellington team are doing mucn better this season than they did last year. I*- did not appear as if they had made enough when they only scored 282 for six wickets on the opening day against Petone, but A. M. Cousins -bowled so well on Saturday that Petone could only scratch 121 together. Cousins is one of the most difficult fastmedium bowlers in. the senior competition. He swings from leg at the last moment, which is equivalent to a fast legbreak, and his tally against Petone was five for 27, hi's victims including C. S. Dempster and C. F. W. Allcott. Symes (two for 23), and Blundell (two for 47), also bowled well for Wellington. Allcott hit up 69 not out in dashing fashion When Petone followed on. Petone appear to have got hold of a useful colt in C. A. Hudson, who scored 20 (run out) and 26 not out against Weln j. tO J. 'O'Leary Is another Petone lad who' is not over-awed by reputation. He shaped brightly for 14 not out and 22 in this match, lifting a ball from Holhngs out of the ground on 'to Rugby Street. Impregnable Hutt. ■ • . ■ Hutt’s lucky star appears to be in the ascendant this year. They scored their fourth victory of the season on Saturday when they defeated Midland by 30 runs on the Hutt Recreation Ground. Midland scored 223 on' the opening day, and. thanks to even batting, Hutt managed to head , this total by 30 runs. No fewer than eight batsmen reached double figures, B. R. Ross, B. Pegler, and L. Muir all running into the forties. It is better to see all hands doing their part in the run-getting than for the score to be made by one or two men. There is an old cricket adage that it is safe to bet that the two top-scorers will make more runs than the rest of the side, but anyone taking such a wager would have lost on the Hutt inpings on Saturday. Ray O’Neill has developed into quite a useful bowler for Midland. He gets hit about but he does not mind that, and he keeps tossing the ball well up to the bat, and thus compels the batsmen to play at the pitch of the ball. He got four for 75 on Saturday. He has now taken fourteen wickets for 256 runs. an. average of 18.28. .He was one of Badcock’s pupils. Good Batting.

It was a fine batting performance that Canterbury put up against Hawke’s Bay at Christchurch ,on Saturday, when they had to get 213 runs to win in two hours, and accomplished the task. Dunster got 100 not out, Hamilton 50, and Powell 50. It looks as if Canterbury will- make some big scores in the Plunket Shield matches this season. Professional Captains.

It is not often that professional players are appointed to lead representative teams, but this appears to have become flie fashion in the Dominion this season. F. T. Badcock has been appointed captain of the Otago team which is to play Wellington here at Christmas time, and H M. McGirr (Country) and C. S. Dempster (Town) will be the rival captains at the Basin Reserve to-day. There is no reason why professionals should not make good cricket generals, but hitherto the English tradition has been followed- here. Championship Table. The following is the position of the teams in the Wellington Cricket Association’s senior championship competition at the end of the fourth series of matches: — P. W. L. D. Pts.

The Soul of Tact. ■ D. R. Jardine, captain of the English team now in Australia, is the soul of tact. “If we offend anyone in this country, he said,, at a luncheon given the team by the Millions Club in Sydney, “I would ask you to be charitable, because I am quite certain it would not be intentional.” . He thanked the company for being permitted to address men many of whom, he said, were his elders, and almost all - his betters.

Voce and Foster. Bill Voce, the giant fast left-hander from Notts, looked like sweeping through the New South Wales side in the second innings until he ran up against Cummins (writes C. G. Macartney). In my Opinion Voce wil depend largely on his short, bumping balls, for his victims. His ordinary ball is not terrifying, nor for that matter is the short, high-rising one. but the batsmen appeared to find difficulty in ascertaining which type was coming next. Voce, to my mind, is quite unlike Frank Foster. He does not secure that awkward lift from the ordinary length hall which made Foster such a danger. Then, again, in placing his on-sid.e field, the cordon of fieldsmen is semi-circular, whereiis Foster’s leg field was placed

similarly to a slip field on the off side. Voce seems to depend on batsmen's errors, whereas Foster forced them into mistakes. Mercantile League Notes With only one more Saturday’s play before the Christmas break, interest has reached a high pitch in the Mercantile League grade championship competitions. When the clubs get down to business again after the holidays there will be some strenuous battles for supremacy. By virtue of their victory over Bookers, clinched just before time, Smith and Smith maintained their position at the head of the A grade table. Smith’s have a very consistent side, and will be hard to dislodge from their perch. Thanks to a great stand by Capper and Smith, Sargoods defeated Shipping, and thus recorded their first win of the season. Shipping were a much weakened side, but, on the day’s play, Sargoods were the better team. Sargoods will probably upset calculations in the second round. The feature of Roseneath’s victory over James Smiths was a fine fighting innings by Stolz for 82.. Noot showed very attractive form during his short stay at the crease for James Smiths. The display of wicketkeeping by Condliffe (Smiths) and Martin (Roseneath) was first-class. Customs and Cowans provided a very drab display of batting in their encounter. Customs’ batsmen could not master the bowling of Russell. Rjfcsell kept a good length, bowled a clever slow ball, and kept swinging the ball into the batsmen. He finished un with six for 38. With the exception of Brooks, Cowans’ batsmen could make little headway against O’Connor's attack, and the fast bowler registered the fine figures of five for 26. The B grade match between Pastimes and State Fire produced some very poor scoring. Pastimes would have collapsed badly against Climo's fastish deliveries, but for a determined knock by Eeles. State Fire were not set a stiff hurdle, but they were routed easily through fine bowling by Fuller and Toms. The former kept an excellent length, and tied the batsmen up completely. On the day. Hannah’s were much too good for Combined Press. The feature of , the match wus a brilliant bowling performance by Oliver (Hannahs), who captured nine for 40. Allen scored a century for Hannahs, but his batting was disappointing. Press had to bat on a worn wicket, and never looked like winning. The match between Nivens and Telephone Exchange, two of the leading B grade teams, was a most exciting affair, with Nivens getting the verdict by a narrow margin, Barr played a big part in the win for Nivens, with a splendid knock for 76. Taxes, a much improved team, were too good for Customs, in the C grade. Taxes have a promising bowler in Robinson, who bids fair to become the best bowler in this division. Education had a convincing win oyer Printing, Lake and Worthington scoring the bulk of the runs tqF the winners. Labour were hard pressed by D.1.C., and, but for the fine bowling of Bramwell, might have bad their colours lowered. Bramwell, who has been selected to practice in view of the representative matches ahead, is a heady bowler, and has been largely responsible for placing Labour in a high position on the ladder. Torrington (Taubinans) secured a good double with 52 not out and seven for 15. Telephone Exchange gave Shipping B another licking. Martin. captured five wickets cheaply for Shipping. Macky Logans defeated Pensions rather easily. Pensions had to bat on a wicket that waS showing distinct signs of wbar. Pensions are a much improved team

4 4 0 0 20 Wellington .... 4 3 1 0 15 Old Boys 4 3 1 0 15 Kilbirnie 4 2 2 0 10 I’ctone 4 2 2 0 10 University .... 4 1 3 0 5 4 1 8 0 5 Institute ...... 4 0 4 0 0