Cricket.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 106, 31 October 1908, Page 14

Cricket.

« (By "Half-Volley.")

Twenty minutes, as the gentle and unspeedy tortoise meanders, would not carry one very far up a Mount Cook slope ; but it is ample time in which to win or lose a cricket match or a match of any kind, for that matter. Last Saturday, when Midland and Gas Company teams rejoined issue on No. 3 wicket, it was 25 minutes to three o'clock, instead of 2.15— a matter of twenty lost minutes. Time was essentially the essence of the contract Midlands had on their hands — viz., to dismiss the Gas Company's team beforo six o'clock. The latter had absolutely* no chance of getting the runs needed, and tho only thing for them was to play the game " it's dogged as does it." And 'twas dogged as did it, when the time expired, and there were but eight wickets down. Those twenty minutes probably made a difference of two points to Midlands ; and perhaps this will teach them a lesson. If the ordin- | ary means available for all andi every one cannot bring a team out punctually, it should try alarm-clocks; and, fail- ! ing these, a fine or penalty of some kind — either in cash or points — should be provided by the association for the benefit of these dilatory ones. If punctuality is the eoul of business, it is also the same -absolute necessity of championship matches. In the case under notice one team blames the other, and the honorary umpires also are saddled with the responsibility, but there could be little doubt on the matter last Saturday. Though the reason is as yet only a toddling infant, tftere have been more delinquencies of this kind than one, and it behoves those entrusted — knowing the time matches begin — to be up U> time. Present writer does not know uniei what terms and 1 conditions the local cricket association is allowed the use of the Basin Reserve, but at, the risk of becoming borcsome in this respect, ho would emphasise once again the necessity for the removal of the small and t middle-sized boy from the fountain side of the ground • when senior matches are in progress on wickets Nos. 3 and 4. Time and again on Saturday a small person in a commendable, but reckless,' desire to limit a leg hook to a single, dashed' across No. 4, where .Wellington were tottei'ing to defeat, quite upsetting and delaying the senior game. Here and there," too, these boyish intruders, intermingled' with and jostled and crossed a senior player, utterly regardless of encroachment. Two men of the Midland team provided) billets for certain, leather-covered; bullets, and only a kind Providence, an ince-santly careful eye, i and timber dodging apparatus, safe- ' guarded from further mishaps. Never before has one seen the game — championship matches, at least — played under such farcical conditions. To reiterate a warning : the boy must go (on Saturdays) before he is carried off, stunned or slain, on tho Wellington battle field of cricket. But the game's the thing. The weather for the conclusion of the first round last week was fine, but cold, and the wickets and ground, affected by the heavy fall of rain a few hours previous, were slow and dead. Aided by the nature of tho wicket, the bowlers were able to introduce a good deal of variety, and a lot of break, into their trundling, with the consequence that theirs were quit© satisfactory averages, while the batsmen' 6 were otherwisevery otherwise. Odd instances excepted, the batsmen were overawed by their somewhat slight disadvantages on Saturday last, and displayed no head work whatever in grappling with their difficulties. It i& said that we learn and remember most by our mistakes : we can do likewise by the errors of others. As pointed out in Monday's Post, the wickets were very slow and dull, but 'there was no danger or risk in playing back to almost anything ehort of a halfyorker. Yet the uevr V M.O.A. seniors played forward, feeling for the ball, and found it not, and Phoenix repeated the sad delusion, with the result that their last state was much worse than the first. The batting of the two teams I mentioned was, on the day, far below that seen in inter-collegiate matches be1 yond the Tasman. In each case the innings was a dismal, hopeless rout, with no extenuating circumstances. When will that coach be requisitioned? Against the welterweight Old Boys the tf.M.C.A. "feathers" were downed badly in the first round. Of all their little propositions, now and to be, the newcomers will find that their late conquerors are just as difficult as any to overcome. When play began Old Boys had 164 runs for live wickets, and the innings closed for 192. Monaghan went no further, being easily caught by Midlane. M'Gill, when batting safely, chased an impossible run, and caught a run out, while C. P. Blacklock opened confidently and briskly, eventually mistiming a hanging ball into Cornfoot's hand at cover. Herlihy captured &ix wickets for 55 runs, obtaining two of them on Saturday at a cost of 13 runs. His length was too uncertain. With 103 to. make to save an innings defeat, th© Youkg Men opened badly, and soon, closed up. J. P. Blacklock held Midlane at mid-off, Tilyard, one of the hopes of the eleven, was caught by the same fieldsman off a poor stroke, and in the argument with H. W. Monaghan the remaining batsman had but little to say, and said it in a stuttering fashion. With the exception of Atkinson, who compiled the relatively large score of 12 before he lifted one to Willis at long-on — a fine catch — the last five willowwielders merely indulged m a constitutional to and from the wickets. It was sad cricket. Monaghaai's average read thus : 7 overs, 3 maidens, 8 runs, 7 wickets ! His length was not above reproach, but he fooled his opponents out in d, distressingly monotonous fashion. Tucker's bowling, a near fence, and a swinging batsman, quick on his feet, would have made a fine run-producing combination. Grimly, doggedly, and successfully the Gas Company team beat back the onslaughts of the Midland bowlers. As anticipated, the latter "closed" with 235 for seven wickets — a safe declaration. On the day and the wicket the Gas Company had no chance of making runs, so the game resolved itself into a long, strong pull, and at 6 o'clock neither side had gained an appreciable advantage, the result being a draw, the score 133 for eight wickets — a strenuous performance on the part of Ashbolt and Co. When Waters, Waugh, Hawthorne, and Gourlay departed .vith an aggregate of only 12 runs off the bat things looked sultry for their side, as Mitchell was sticking the batsmen up. Then Hodge (17) and Ashbolt (30) set up a partners-hip that took the verve out of the bowling, and made the way smoother for Dredge (31), Hull (17 not out), and Topp, who all held the fort with much success. No chances are debited against the top ecorers, though Ashbolt survived two appeals for l.b.w. The latter, though suffering from iin affection of one eye (he had been in tho dark room during the week), set his men an excellent example, and he and his men are to be congratulated on their uphill performance. For Midlands, Mitchell and Upham bowled successfully, though Dredge dealt severely with the latter once or twice by consigning them f.o.b. to the boundary. Mitchell began well, but later lost his length, and became erratic. He secured four for 43 off 21 overs, while Upham's average reads — 14 overs, 8 maidens, 13 runs, 3 wickets. The Midlagd'6 fielding was generally good, Mit-

chell taking a clover catch in the slips, falling forward full length to secure it; while Wynyard, at point, was as safo in the pick up as could be desired. Altogether this was a gritty game, and honours (though negative) deserved to be evenly distributed. Pctone pulled Phoenix up short and trod on them with both feet. Resuming with 31 for two wickets, chiefly through the agency of Brice (51), Isherwood (33), and Joyce (27), the suburban team ran up 147, or 9 to tho bad on tho first innings. Brice displayed excellent and vigorous form in compiling his runs. Ho hit lustily, pulled, hooked, and banged the ball about to and over the fence in refreshing style. He was caught at mid-on, deep, from a weak stroke. Joyco, too, batted vigorously. Gibbes, Hickcy, and Wilson accounted for nine out of ten batsmen, the firt,tnamed bowling with rather bad luck. The Welding was but mediocre, and tho return poor. Phoonix collapsed badly beforo Conolly and Cobcroftj and only reached 27, batting two men short. Conolly, bowling a length ball breaking back a good deal, got five wickets for 12. Consistently the batsmen played forward to him, with fatal result. Cobcroft was aided by somo good fortune. When the astonishingly poor effort failed, Petone, with about 25 minutes to go, and 31 runs to get, hit up tho demoralised Phoenicians and got the runs in about 15 minutes. It was an unexpected ending to a match when the fortune of war wobbled so distinctly. As for the two deserters — L'ttle and Miller — their executivo should have a heart-to-heart talk with them. Newtown beat Wellington by 80 runs on, the first innings. Mahoney (23) was rather perturbed about the lbw decision that sent him to the right-about. Nash (17) and Quinn (14) made a few runs, but Alpe came with a late run, and finished up, the innings by taking three wickets for 2 runs off six overs. Quinn batted very streakily, and Keys threatened his off stump twice in succession. At the end the batsman lunged at a plain one from Alpe, and missed it. Newtown "declared" with 80 for four wickets, going for a three-point win, but Naughton (42) and Mahoney (22) flogged the bowling to tho tuno of 71 for no wickets. For Wellington Luckie trundled effectively. Newtown's field work was vigorous, if not artistic. Rain interfered sadly with Sydney oricket on 17th October — so much so ,hat several matches were perforce held over. At Manly, on a wet wicket, Sydney put up an excellent performance of 257 for four wickets, in response to Middle Harbour's 398 for six. For Sydney, W. E. Pite (118 not out) and W. A. Richardson (106) put on 201 for the second wicket. Some time ago Pite was declared by critics to be a second Trumper, but he did not fulfil the promise of colthood days. Richardson is about the oldest senior player, he having represented New South Wales twenty-one years ago, and he was playing senior cricket long before he was promoted ,to intercolonial. Last year he retired from the game, but after a season's absence he returned to his club. That h<s is still a prolific run-getter is shown by the fact that in three matches thio season his scores are 80, 12, and 106. His century on Saturday occupied under two hours. As is well known, W. A, is brother to Richardson, of the Wellington Club. The best bowling in Sydney on the date mentioned was done by A. J. Bowden, the Glebe slow-break bowler, who captured eight wickets for 58, all told, against Waverley. Bowden has imitated Bosanquet, and now bowls an off-break with an apparent leg-break action. Rain also interfered with the Pennant matches in Melbourne and Brisbane, with the result that there were iio notable performances'. Against a weak team, Warwick Armstrong got a good double — seven wickets for 18 runs and an innings of 44, made by hard driving Thus early the cricket authority of the Sydney Ref3ree is introducing tho "probables" for the next Australian Eleven to visit England. There are only six of the fifteen of 1905 with good prospects of inclusion ranging fair to good, Az., M. A. Noble, 7. Trumper, W. W. Armstrong, C. Hill, A. Cotter, and S. E. Gregory. And of these the selection of only the lastnamed is doubtful. The new men at present considered most likely to win places are C. G. Macartney, H. Carter, JS. F. Waddy, W. Bardsley, E. R. Bubb, and F Johnson (N.S.W.), V. Ransford, J V. Saunders, G. H. Hazlitt, P A. MAhsler, and L. P. Vernon (Victoria), and . Hartigan (Queensland), and J. A. O'Connor, C. E. Dolling, L. R. and E. R. Mayne (South Australia). But there are qthers who may como to the front at any moment. A bowler of the B. Grounds or C. Kelleway type is needed ; so are two left-handers, and at least one slow bowler.