At the Crease

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 150, 22 December 1922, Page 23

At the Crease

BIG EVENTS COMMENCE LUCK OF TKS WEATHER COMING EVENTS. ' December 25,' 26—Wellington v.; Auckland, at Wellington. December 25, S6—JI.C.C. v. Cantcrour;', . r.t ' Christchurch. December 29, 30, and January I—Auckland v. Canterbury, at Cbristchurcli. December 30, January 1 and 2—First Test, M.C.C. v. New Zealand/ at Wellington. January 5, G, B—Auckland v. Otagu, at l>uucdin. - January 5, C, B.—Second Te=t, M.C.C. v. Ifew Zealand, at Chrbtchureh. January 9, 10—M.C.C. v. Ashburton, South Canterbury, and north Otago Associations, at Temuka. January 12, 13, 15—M.C.C. v. Otsso, at Dunedln. January 20, 22—li.C.C. v. Southland, at InVercargill. ■January 26, 27, 20—M.C.C. v. V/elliDSton, at . Wellington. . January 2G, 27, 29—Otago v. Canterbury, at Dunedin. January SO, 31—M.C.C. v. "West Const, Nelson, arid Marlborougli Associations, at Nelson. February 2, 3. s—Third Test, M.C.C. v. Now Zealand,, at Wellington. February 6, 7—JI.C.C. v. RangitiKei, -Manawatu. and Wairarapa Associations, at Palmer3toD North. February 9, 10—M.C.C. v. V/airoa, Poverty Bay', and Hawlies Bay Association!:, r.t Napier: ■February 14. IS—Wellington v. Southland, at Invercargill. February 16; 17, ISMH.CC. v. AKckland, at AucklandFebruary 17, 19, 20-Wcllingtoa v. Otago, at Dunediu. . ■February 22, 23, 2-I—Wellingtoa v, Canterbury, . at Christchurch. - -. SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP. r. Out- First riclit Inn. Champ. ■" • . Win. Win. I. D. Points. ; Vellington ... - 3 — —»' » Thorndbn ...... 11 1 — 7 Hutt ,-- .B 1 . — G Midland — 2 1 — 11 Petone I—2 — i Institute — 1 2—3 Old Boys — 1 2 —3 TL;Ji.C.A ■*- -r 3 — 8 (By " ivbT Out.") i^lacLaren and his team of yoiirig English players did not have to wait long to discover that New Zealand can offer them pitches that differ considerably from the hard and fast wickets of Australia-; and that the visitors are nibres at'home in the ''soft gding" was demonstrated by-their'\ faig. total against. Auckland. As the . opening game progressed,, they esps'vi-, eneed. a taste of the wea.ther treatment that has been meted out far too liberally this season, finally causing ihem to. pass on to their neit match without being able to complete the match that ■ could have Been taken as a fair indication of the strength of cricket in this country. That was most unfortunate in moro waya than one. The ganie, as fai'as ifc went, iiidicated to the cricketers of the Dominion 'that Mac Wen has a side that will take a power of beatiiigj and those' New" Zealanders who are to face; the visitors in the first. Test, coinmencihg .next Saturday will require^ to be at the top of their form-to.he aiiywhero within reach of success. Of course,. Auckland is not' New Zealand, 6ven though tho Northerners may be filling a. good number .of places in the Test • team, aiid Auckland weather is not always general. itad the New Zealand Council adhered to the original programme, piaying the Wellington match on the dates originally spt dowii; there would have been ah entirely different experience, from th^e weather point of view at any rate". \ Wel--lih*ton- ■ ordered the right weather for such ah event, "and had the pleasure of taking advantage'of it f6r local games, a'pleasure that was more than welcomo after, the 1 run of bad weather Saturdays. But hopes are entertained that a repeat , order 1 will be- available. for the.M.C.C. team's first appearance here, ahd, given line weather, the first ' Test ijrill, no doubt, attract a greater amount of, attention ' than any previous big match iii the history of local cricket. What saw.of the Auckland men at tho crease prompted him to express the litiiiiibri .that' New Zealand should be:iblo to 'keep his side "on the stretch throughout the Test matches." The reason for such a predictidn evidently lies ultder the surface of the performances in Auckland asf they 'appeared to those who had to view them per ■ medium of the telegraphed report. That is indicated by iVfadLareii' 3 high praise of Allcott, who obtained only one wicket for 103 runs. New Zealanders; even provincial teams, have risen to the occasion against pi'eviotis English teanis, aiid, under favourablo Conditions, they may do so in the ilrst Test. The play which has taken place since . the last notes Were written offers new fooH for thought on the probable personnel of the New Zealand team. SeVefal of. the Aucklanders, who were regarded, as .almost certain to 1 gain a • place, failed.badly against the M.aC. team, while others came into the 1 limelignti notably. ! Anthbny and Garrard. In the lo&il; senior matches, the claims of some players were supported by excellent performances—those of M'Girr and ColJins being the most outstanding-, as indicated' elsewhere. Dempster, in both batting and fielding, save further evidence of his undoubted ability; while-tjernau again played well enough to be included in the class from which the selection will be.made. Outstanding performances in other j districts have been recorded by Lambfert in Tarfoiaki and • Wanganui, Dickinson (five for 14), A. W. Alldo (75 and four for 13), H. O. Alloo (130 not out) in Otago. and. Sandman aid Ca-y----gill in Canterbury* [Since the writing of these notes the personnel of the Njew Zealand,-tsaiii has baen announced.] ■ It 'has been taken for.' granted that Auckland has more material than Wellington for the New Zealand team. To what extent,.if at all (on this season's performances) will be shown in ,the Plunket Shield match, Auckland v. Wellington, commencing to-morrow. It is to be regretted', however, that the Wellington representatives, as a whole, ha.ye not had 'much opportunity' for opecial practice, and.that they have not taken full advantage of the little that has been of-, forod. A. for/ have .benn very keen, andfruits of that fcea'nneao will, no "doubt, ba observed in the present match. Those few have not neglected. Bidding •pvßctice, and this week tfceV had. Kort: lar.g to nfsiat them. Inscribing- tho pley of tho second day in the M.C.C.-Auckland match, the "Auckland Star" states :—Titchnarsh • (87) Slid Wilkinson (18) carried o» quiaily ,'ab fii-'dt, till the Herts; man got his century, after! which they both opened out rcarrily, till Wilkinson waa brilliantly thrown,*; out by Dacre. with the score at 248. The change in ffio scoring pace from the opening day Sis indicated by the .fact that they put on 100 runs in the first hour ou the second day, mid the» Hill-Wood,, who wjj shaping well in getting started, while tas little Herts batsman .was hitting hard, was brilliantly taken in Xhe slips by Alcott off Anthony. The same over Titehinaroh, after having- driven another bounary, was beaten and bowled, and five wickets were down for 29&. The retiring batsman had made his 154 in three hours. Asensation was caused by Anthony bowling Calthorrjo first ball, and sii wickets were down for 300 runs. With Chapman and Geoff Wilson together, the spectators sat back to get, thrills from the bia lefthander's 1 hitting, and presently he. accaiiiinbdated them by straight (irivhijc Smith twice, tc, the boundary, but Anthony troubled him, and when ho went to hit a cix off the Parnell bowler lie failed t6 get right on to the shot and waa a victim to Caere's sure hands &t

long-oft. Anthony now had five wickets for 30 runs, and'there was a strain of thankfulness mingled wit!" disappointment of the spectators At Chapman's failure to get going: Seven wickets for 313 was rather consoling- after the board . had shown three for 248 only a.- little I while back, and immediately afterwards Antli'ony brought further solace to the local crowd by jumping to take a brilliant oris-handed catch, that, sent Wilson back home w'ih the total at 323. For a dash of variety, Brand and Hartley were dropped in succession off hot .drives bySmith, tho bowler, and Anthony at midoff, but iii Smith's next over Brand was well taken near tho boundary, bp- Whelan.' As Ma'cLaren hr.d decided to t-sy to win tho game without the assistance of his two professionals, Tyldesley and Freeman, the last man was Gibson, and he had not scored when Anthony beat batsman, wicket, and v/icketkeeper with, a ball from' which a, stumping chanco was given. Three overs later Gibsou skied one from Smith a<id Alcott ended the imungs^ai S.cO p.m. with a total oi 350 runs. The contrast between the opening of 243 runs for three wickets and the finish of seven wickets for 100 runs was largely caused by. Anthony's excellent bowling on a wicket that'reraained still a- batsman's wicket, with tho factor, of Course, that the quality of the later batting wes much behind th;it shown by the firib fois- raf, . PLAY AND PLAYERS. • Tiiree members of the Wellington representative eleven, H. M. M'Girr, D. t. Cbllins, and A. Itonalckon, were en--1 gaged in the Old Boys-Hutt fixture on ' Saturday, and their performances were , watched with soma interest in . consequence. M'Girr' and Collins, both in the <■ batting and bowling departments of the ; game, acquitted themselves" very Well, . ahd fully justified their inclusion in the ' team, and, possibly, enhanced their chances of selection in the: New Zealand '.. team. Both players bowled exceedingly. [ well all the afternoon, and provided they ■ maintain that iform they should taktf ' wickets against Alacliafen's eleven. Eonaldsonr-was something of s disappointment, his scbres being 6 aiid 4. It is_ doubtful if Eonaldson would justify : himself against the good '• bowling of Brand, Calthorpe, Gibson, and possibly Freeman and TyldesJey. '. Although moderate, and at times ' slow, batting was a.feature of the^Old. Boys-Hutt fixture oh Saturday, specUtors did not find the match lacking Su interest, as thei'3 were several outstanding performances and several eiciting, if not sensational, episodes. 1 With tlie exception of. Collins, who scored 64 hi . good style,, the members of the Old Boys team failed miserably in their first in; nings, and aU succumbed fairly quickly : to the .bowling of Watson,. AldefsleV, and JM'Girr, who were in fine form with '. the leather. The total was 104, and , ■things, looked rosy for the Hutt. The ' siibiirbanites, however, did 'not do very \ much better 1 than their opponentsj Whose \ >tally they passed by ten runs .only,- , after a poor -.batting display. M'Gir-r '■ batted .well for hi£ 42, and scored some . nice boundary s'hote. Collins bowjed a good ball all thrbugh, and capped his ■ efforts by doing the "hat-trick," his victims .being M'Girr', Niiitnj and Cond- , liffe. Old Boyij opened their second j innings disastrously, M'Girr doiiig most j of the damage and finishing. no ,ihe . afternoon with 'a-u average of four wickets for two runs. From a spectator's point of view the match provided, a fine . afternoon's sport. . % ! Fetone disposed of Thoradon for 143 ' rims after about two and a half hours' ■ play, and. at the close of the day had ' passed that innings total by half adoien ' runs at a cost of six vyickets. Thorndon's innings was not a spectacular one, practically the only excitement being occasioned when Carruthers^-lifted three sixers off a. single over before being somewhat dramatically called "out." . Baisine. his bat while his feet were out- , side the cre&se, he enabled Cate to _ Whip off the bails with commendable ' quickness of action. Hamilton, who . opened Petone v S innings in company with ' Gedye, compiled a nice 52, which, in- | eluded nine fours and four twos. The ! century was .hoisted in a little over an ' hour, but^ftsr. that runs, cams more i ''slowly. " . ■ A feature 'of . the Petbne-Thorndon 1 match % was the excellence, of the fielding. j Parrant made a brilliant left-hand catch ' Off Lomas's bat, and he and ■Bort.-ows J iVere tho most conspicuous fielders. Corner was throwing in remarkably Well, and, Brice's bowling waa a eburca of ! much annoyance lo his opponents. _ A. Oox,. a junior who has compiled- j some fine Ecores this season, wiis tried j out in the Old' Boysl senior team on Saturday, but, whether on account -of j nervousness or bad luck, he- failed to t score, being cleaned bowled by o::e of M'Girr's deliveries. ■ . '

: Cricket of ths kind that- ..popularises the n-ame was provided in aood measure by V.M.C.A. and ..Wellington at the Basin Reserve.. In the first place Pete> Fulton came to light with a lively batting display las ting for two hours, during which he showed no respect to Six bo>vJera, rind gave the field" a fairly nleri.y time. It was a- reproduction of , th» former Hawkes Bay captain's best form, and it Waa delightful to watch. tSscafikV from weak shots, though not offerine. actual chances, lent colour to the effort, the termination of which—after Fulton had scored 128—provided another enjoyable incident from the spectators' point of view, and an acceptable one to the Wellington' toil. C. G. Wilson decided to put himself on tt> bowl, and that settled Fulton (dismissed by a catch from the. first delivery from the "old man") as well as most of the young rase who followefl.

A Btriking instance of tile uncertainty of the game : V.M.6.A.; first innings agaiiist Petone, 31; first innings in the next match (against Wellington), 376. All but 40 runs of the latter total were on the board ai the fall of the third wicket. ,

V.M.C.A. were without White, Weatbrook, and R. Henderson last Saturday. Westbrook and White are likely to be away from Wellington for Borne weeks. The vacancies wers filled by ' three juniors, Philpott. llilne,. and Smith-, whose total contribution was only 1. The yeierans of the game are oversh&dowicg the colts this Reason.. The latest aiid most surpHsing caee in point — ■':. Q. Wiljon, five wickets ic-.- ,17 runs. - . Wellington hava set out boldly to overtaka V.M.'s big start against\them, the batsmen responsible being Bernau and Koi'tiang. Tliia pair ti'eated the specta- . tors at the Basin Keaerve to an attractive battius exhibition.towards the close of thfi oay'a play. Bernau is showing consistently good form, and"- the first appearance of Kdrtlang, the, noted exVirtorlr.n cricketer, suggested that he is still a polished cricketer: NHsd he been abjs to play earlier in the. season there iss v:0 doubt that''he would lhive been one of the first selection for the representative, team", aiid he may pO6sibly have been called Upon to meet MacLaren's .team in the Tests..

2<?ilibrook's part in local club crickethas been attended with an extraordinary amount of ill Jiicl:. • On four out of five visits to the. -crease so far this assson he has boeu "run out." 7_jast Saturday hs opeued with O. G. Ws'scvi, but fou;id that \))B veteran had j;o inclination to "jjfeak evens" for tho. caj:o of A single. x la the Inidat of a ':.ys.K'-' and. "no" argument between lha 'oaisrcen, the br.II was whipped back to the v.-icksi-kesper, iinrl Jlillb'rook' hud t;> ;,s;;p'u Muotlior disappointment, tlioug;: it hnd beeu his cell to which there was r.o ?z----sponse.

Midland were permitted to cio very little, asrafnsfc Institats, the fielding and

bowling of the young team keeping the batsmen pretty well .tied up. • -Gibson was the only Midlandeu- to attempt to make the- runs that were wanted, and Bruce did fairly well, But Baker'showed no initiative, and although he succesded in making top score), his display Was far from that which should come from a representative batsman. Watson appeared to give him a lot of trouble, ahd eventually Baker, snceuhibed to that bowleri. Five for 38 is another indication of the ability of H. C. Watson as a. bowler, and from what he had previously done tvith bat and ball it is difflci.lt to understand how he missed a place in the rep. team. More time for practice would make him a top-nbtcher in local cricket. The fielding of the % Institute team against Midland was of excellent quality, although there were several instances of players "lot' being fully prepared when the' leather was sent in their direction. Incidents in ths adjoining match may have.affected Uie concentration of.one or two Justitute players on their game. Taken as a whble.however, the performaijpe was orie of the best witnessed in lbcal cricket this season. Even bo, the young Institute players should not be content to reef, upon their present standard as the best that they are capable of. Wellington showed improvement in fielding, Arderson and- Kortkmg bein°- particularly noticaabis f 0 ? r^od work in the field. AMONG'THE JUNIOBS.

People with weak hearts would be well advised to keep away from Hie Midland junior 'A team, who appeal- to delight in close finishes end tense situations. Two rounds -ago they left Wellington 75 rims to get in the last in'nmgs, and the getting cost eight wickets. While all the while it was touch and go who would win; last round, after being 5 runs down on the first innings, they defeated YjM.C.A. by 3 runs; and bri Saturday ..thsy had another desperate struggle for a first innings lead, this, time against University. Taking firat strike, they fared .very badly at the start, losing, eight 'for. .87, but Hatch,came to light with a vigorous 48, and it was nine for 105 and all out 146. Lusk" took six wickets foi\- 44. University had three down for 43, but Lusk and Smith took it to 100 before the former ran himself out, going for a tun when it was his partner's call, and slipping in tho middle of tho pitch in attempting to get back. One mi! later Smith went, -after making 36 neatly, md two more" wickets fell cheaply, seven being down for 105. - Cousins meantime was presenting a bold front, stopping the straight oriea and hitting what little loose stuff there was, but when Williams, the last man, came in, unive»sity wore still : four behind* Tho newcomer survived two balls, then hit two 4!s; ran two,byes, and was bowled, but "University had gained a.lead of 6 rims* Cousins wks not put with 27j and undoubtedly saved his side at. a critical time. Gibson took three for 37, Hatch, foul- for 54, fend-O'Connor two for 57. Midland had 27 up fof ono wicket when stumps were drawn, and it is anybody's game.

Close -.finishes were, the order of the day at.Kelburr.. Kilbirnie" iiad s. close -call against Wellington] who, so long as Jack Qiiinn was in possession, looked: like heading the'leaders. However, the big felknV was .bowled in trying >a big hit when he was 51, and Kilbirnie wp.und up 20 to the good. They have made a good start in the second innings, and appear to be safe, bat it 13 unwise to prdphesy. ' ' . Old Boys are a strong team/ but Myers, and Porteous were on the spot, and JohnsonvjUe got them out. for 132. When the suburban team went in to bat Frank Morton's leg breaks iftst with' varying treatment. Some of the batsmen stayed in their crease and felt at ■huhj and they had a short stay; others went but and iiit him; so that the innings was full of incident, wickets falling or bills travelling to the boundary. At flle finish Johnsonville got within two Of their opponents' total, * and another' interesting finish is in sight. Gerald Bell, of Institute, is usually too busy looking after the boys to indulge in a game himself, but when he does play he usually does something worth while. Saturday'was no exception, for 1, playing against )Gld Boys Junior B, he claimed 106 but' of 216. - The total was a good one, but quite within the reach of Old BoysT who have 194 up for five wickets (Duff 54).' . Marist beat Makara in the Tmrd a match, the country team thus sustaining their, first defeat. D. Goskin (39) and T. Jervis (50 not out) hit lustily for Makai'a, who made 153, arid Marist thanks to Burke (72) and O. IJavies (81) passed this before the third wicket iell, but thereafter''there was a collapse.' Three fOl 162 soon became six jfor-4>/, eight for 184, and all ,out ISO/. %. Lewer, coming on late, took idur lor dU. Burke took five for 62 in Makara 5 innings, and had a good day The Marist fielding was very good, snd &* Davies in particular took a brilliant catchy at the fence, Bennett taking another, ciose in a lew minutes later. COST OF SOUTHERN TOUK. •' J> scheme to raise money towards "covering the cost of the Wellington representative team's southern tfiui' thisi sea- ' son has been put forward by Mr. U U. Wilson. He Stater that the tour -will cost about £300, and that the .receipts aro likely to be ahout only one-third •of that amount. To meet that deficiency he has suggested that during next month . the Championship Committee- should arrange for one senior thatch to be played on the Basin Reserve in one of the senee of fixtures, and that the charge for admission to that thatch should be one shilling. He also suggests that a sale of tickets should bo ,made, and that as an inducement to make the match a success, the clubs and the Boys' League be .given one-third of the gross proceeds of the sales, and, further, that the City Council niight be asked to forego'the percentage of the takings to which it would be entitled- The Management Committee *has adopted the suggestions made by the chairman. NOTES. ! Rhodes, whose portrait, may shortly adorn the pavilion afc Lord's, has well ) married a piaco amongst the great onesi At an age when most men are Jong past the strenuous life of county cricket he handed the bowling averages and came high ii? the list of batsmen. His record h more than national; it is international (states an- English writer). He 13 the only cricketer who has gone in last for England and has worked his way up to one of the lirat men in. With Hobbs . he shares the first-wicket record in Test matches' (323), ard 1 .with B. S ■ -Foster he shares the record for the last-wicket partnership, .their score being 130. tie played in his .'first Test match 20 years &%o, and had been 0, regular member of almost all the Teot teams ever since* 'uiviiiK played in more Test games- than r.ity other contemporary player. Ho is tWI only Englishman wMb has scored 1000 rittis and take:i 100 wickets in Test eriekctj and lie signalisad his fcst omfa' situ) from a 1W- team in the aunimcv of 1921 by >ir.akir.g the record ggc.'s of his Jit's. • -/ . S'or yesi'B past (saya tiie "Athktiu Nsv/s") cricketei'3 i.i New Zealand have co^nic-d able to devolp their ckill to a tTiiti.ii) degree, i:nd then to have failed to make the iiefescKi-y furthei' headway Vt'lrlch would liavo caused ther.i to rank ii 3 c;i'oati players, instead oi' merely decidedly useful'o::ys. • Why this oiiould be is ib uci easy to say, lor the men themselves are very keen, the game is well organised in r.'ll the chief centres, and the "tiyual conipstition tor. the coveted PiiuiKct Shield serves to maintain the ■public jntsroßu in cricket.