THE LATE CRICKET MATCH.

Evening Post, Volume XXI, Issue 34, 11 February 1881, Page 2

THE LATE CRICKET MATCH.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE EVENING POST. Sib — The Australian Eleven have been among us. have conquered, aud have goneaway again. Now, what is the impression they have left bohmd them P And what do our townspeople think of the performance of our playora? Are they satisfied with the efforts that have been made to improvo the reputation of cricket in Wellington ? I will try to explain what I think in reply to the above queries. Wo have boon anxiously looking forward to the late match to givo us a sight at play of what mußt be considered the ohampion cricket team of tho world. We have had an exhibition of bowling power such aa you would fail to see in the world outside the present team ; we have eoen the demon," the undoubted master of tho great " Grace," doing his level best to upset Ul wickets in an hour and a quarter; we have had Palmor, " second to none," wiring in with a Vengeance to assist in accomplishing the same object ; and wo have seen such fielding as wo aro not likely to sec again until we receive a visit from such anothor team of visitors ; and though, unfortunately, we had no chauco of seeing Murdoch, the premier batsnun of the world, and his colleaguo, Maodonnefl, treat our players to some leather-hunting, yet wo saw enough to convince us that Buch men a3 Slight, Alexander, Jarvis, and othors, all men ot '• a century," aro quite worthy of the reputation they have got as batsmun of very superior merit. Everyone viewing tho match inr>st admit that thoir fielding wa grand, the judgment displayed by each individual member of the team in spotting the weak points of tho batsman, and the regular manner in which tho toam work togothor in compassing the dismissal of any batsman skilful enough to keep his timbers oroct lor a few overs, and the accuracy with which on all occasions they work into ono another's , hands, more resembling machinery than living men, is quite romarkablo, and yet this is all acquired skill— a standard which any of us may reach with constant practice and energy. And now about our own players. Ever since tho Australian Eleven proposed to visit U3 wo have had to run tho gauntlet through all sorts of chaff from the friends as well as those who do not care anything about cricket ; where we looked for sympathy and good wishes for our sneooss we were laughed at for thinking of playing against such a team, aud yet what would tho Fame persons have said of us and the Empire City had we allowed such a team of visitors to pa3B us by ? Mr. Editor, I am proud to have been ono of the team to meet and play againtt such men. I consider cur team made a very creditable show in tho late match. In a local team of this kind, where the batting tail is sure to be long, and against tho champion bowling of the world, the advantage of 22 men is only felt in tho field, and I am Borry to admit that tho team never once took their places in the field until the Australians were at tho wicket 3. It was ouly by good and careful fielding we coald have any any hopes of making a decent show ; our only chanoo was in keeping their total of runs down, for we could not possibly hope to .make a very large score against thoir bowling. Our fielding was only medium, several chanoea might have been tamed into certainties had a big effort been made ; whereas against U3 there was no letting off, no chances refused- -that is what you may call fielding. In your to-day s issue, also that of your contemporary, ore Bug* gested reasons for the non-suocoss of cricket* in Wellington. Your contemporary thinks " cliqueisin, favoritism, and want of unity are the causes. I can only Bay he is mis- _ taken ; the whole of the clubs have been working well together this season, and have played four Association practice matches, the whole of the clubs being represented. Tho reference to clique and favoritism I fail to understand. There having been only two representative matches, the Match Committee of three having been on each occasion elected almost unanimously by tho representatives of clubs, I think, Mr. Editor, yon have gone nearer the mark when you Attribute our want of success in getting a good cricket team to the ground, thongh you are unreasonably hard in throwing the blame on tho Cricketers' Association. What can wo do more than we are doing at present ? In these hiuM, dull times, we have already spent JB90 ; we have turfed the centre, and have kept a man constantly employed on the ground since last September ; and what will be our position at the end of the sessott? Instead of reaping the advantage next year of the money we have spent this year, as soon as we have done playing, in April, football will commence, the turf vrill be cut up, the grass worn off, and our work wii 1 have to to done over again. If there were any block of land available, wo m'ght lease it and be independent ; but there U not, so that is out of tho question. There is a, sufficient extent of ground in th/> Basing ' Reserve, were it) levelled and the hillock on the east boundary partially taken away, to allow separate portions to be devoted to football and cricket ; but it can hardly be expected the cricketers will again lay out a larga sum of money to make a ground that can be almos-t immediately destroyed. The want of a ground is the immediate cause of our non-success in cricket, and, until that want is supplied, Wellington, though well endowed with good cricketing talent, will always remain in the background. I am, &c., Wellington, 9th February, 1831.

Sweet Home.— A beehive. Substantial Footing.— A good booi.