CRICKET

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 62, 10 September 1921, Page 11

CRICKET

PROSPECTS BRIGHT

(By "Not Out,")

It is safe to say that never before in the history of the game in Wellington has interest been so keen as at present. The glorious iveather which we have been experiencing this past month is, it is hoped, a happy augury for an early summer. Most of: the grounds in and around Wellington are much harder than they ; generally are at this time of the year, and a week's good solid rain would be of immense value to the groundsmen in their preparation work. Speaking of grounds, in conjunction with the interest being shown in cricket, makes one' wonder where all the wickets are to come from this season. It might not be out of place to advocate for the extension of Anderson Park by filling in the gully on the Kelburn side. The soil for the work is already there, and by carting away the soil from the bank and tipping it into the gully the ground could be made twice its present size. The council is endeavouring to raise a loan for works so as to give employment to "out-of-workers," and it is to bo hoped that consideration will be given to this long-delayed job in view of the. urgent need for more grounds, Unless the matter is represented to the City Council there is a chance, if the loan is floated," of it being overlooked. One might ask why we have not a central executive to protect the intorests of sports in this connection. Of ''course, there is the Sports Protection League, but amateur sports bodies in generall do not appear to be sufficiently linked up with it to appreciate its aims and objects. Whether the weakness lies with the league or the sports bodies, I do not know, but the former has never appealed to me as being a live body. There should be more cohesion amongst the amateur sports bodies, a3 they are all working for the one cause, and their wants should be made known and advocated for by a central body composed of delegates from representatives of ' all the bodies catering for amateur sport. United effort attains better results than that of the individual. Endeavours are boing made to form a club at Makara to affiliate with/the local association. A team is also being raised at Trentham Camp to enter the junior competition.J ' Mr. J. P..Firth, a vice-preaident of the association, will be in the chair at the annual meeting, to be held on the 22nd inst. I have been asked to settle an argument as to who has the quicker and bigger turn off the pitch—Clarry Grimmett or "Curly" Marris? As I was not here in the former's time, probably some of the senior players who have batted against both bowlers will oblige me with their opinions. Marris certainly has a big turn, but so far has not-mastered control of length. It is .to be hoped he will settle down to practice next season, as our need for slow bowlers, is great, and he has the qualifications if he will but persevere. Eden Park, where the, footbal Test match was played at Auckland against the Springboks, is the property: of the Auckland' Cricket Association, although at the present time the ground is loaded with a fairly heavy mortgage. However, under, the agreement with the Auckland Rugby Union, a percentage of the gates goes to tho Cricket Association, and it should benefit considerably as a result of the good attendance at the Test. Reports from Auckland indicate that interest is very keen there, and prospects for the season bright!l They are keen on regaining the Plunket Shield, at present held by Wellington. The northern city has this season beaten Wellington at League,' Rugby, and Soccer, and to-day the representative hockey match is being played. , Mr. Bennett, manager of the Springboks team, is also a prominent official in cricket circles in South Africa. Perhaps we may have the pleasure of a visit from a South African eleven in the near future. Warwick Armstrong's jteam, at present playing in England, commences a tour of South Afrioa at Johannesburg on the 2nd; October, and /we will be- able to: form some idea of their standard of play after the tour is finished. ; Two of the selectors chosen by -the N.S.W. Crickat Association are new to their task . They replace H. L. Collins and A. A. Mailey, who are busy in England with another phase of cricket. The old member of the committee is "Tommy" Howard/ who ha 3 held the position for more than ten years, and who was in Wellington last season as manager of the Australian eleven. He hails from the Waverley Club, and has taken an active part in the game, both on the field and on tho business side. In his career as an Interstate player, there was probably no match which gave him greater satisfaction than that against South Australia, when the record firstclass sooro of 918 was registered. Though a bowler, Howard contributed 68 to tn» score. For over ten years ho has been a member of ' the Board ,of Control, of the Grade Committee, .and of the Country Committee. „ ■ ■ ■ ■E. L. Waddy, one of the new members, and who was vice-captain of the Australians here last season, comes of a family famous in cricket. His father was wellknown in the game, and his brother, T. S. Waddy, was in the Oxford Eleven of 1896. Another brother, E. F. Waddy, is a master at Rugby, «nd top scored for Warwickshire in , the county's first game with'the Australians this season. ' "E.L.; is well known. He was an Interstate player, and represented his State acrainst an English team some years ago. He visited New Zealand, with an Australian teany of which V. Trumper was a member. He visited the Dominion again last season. H<? is * forcing bat, a brilliant fieldsman, »nd a mainstay of Central Cumberland. . The othor now member is C. D. Wright, who keep* wicket for Sydney. In the absence of Collins he captains the team v For some years he ha« been a/ "delegate for his club. He is a member of the Grade and of the Country Oommittew. MEAD'S 3000 BUNS. 1 O. P. Mead is the first batman to reach 3000 rung this season in England. His average is 72 per innings. It is 15 years since the last 3000 aggregate was recorded, by Tom JSayward, who made 3518 in 61 inningsl, the average being 66.37. Others who have distinguished themselves in this way are Robert Abel K. S. Banjitsinhji (twice), O. B. Fry, and J. T. Tyldesley, besides Hayward a iecond time. ' , . OLDFIELD'S WIOKETKEEPING RECORD. W. A. Oldiield stumped four batsmen and caught two against Somerset last •week. This brought his total to 59 (stumped 31 and caught 28), which equals J. J. Kelly's record in 1896. It is, however, a good way behind the record of J. M. Blaokhara, who, in 1890,; caught 42 and stumped 31, giving .a, total of 7* for the tour in England. Blaokham visited England eight times, and the number of firstclass matches played by the teams of 1878 and 1880 was limited, but ho never approached the 1890 total in any of the other campaigns. The only wieketkeeper who has ever taken more than 100 wickets in an English season is F. H. Huish, of Kent, who took 102 (70 caught and 32 stumped) in 1913, and 100 (62-38) in 1911. The results achieved by Oldfield are most excellent, especially as he has played only as the second wioketkeeper of the party. The Zingari Australia 0.0. held its annual meeting in tho Hotel Australia recently, when the annual report was prei sented. It showed that Dr. S. H. Harris ' was the most successful batsman last eeaeon, scoring 601 runs at ian average of 66.77 runs,'with A. Johnston second, 567 runs at 51.55. Warren Bardsley topped 2000 runs for the English tour recently, it being tha third time in succession he has done so with an Australian Eleven. G. A. Faulkner's all-round form, topped by his big innings against the Australians recently, shows that he is practically as . fine a player as ever. And Australians, having seen him play for South Africa, know him as one.of tho world's best allrounders.