M.C.C. v. WELLINGTON

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 23, 27 January 1923, Page 8

M.C.C. v. WELLINGTON

plax commences on soft ; wicket

-(LOCAL TEAM'S POOR DISPLAY.

■Partial compensation for the disappointment experienced yesterday in the postponement of the M.C.C. -Wellington cricket match was received to-day, when conditions were more in keeping with • cricket. The change, however,...; did. not occur before the wicket and ground had received another thorough drenching by the heavy rain which fell after the decision to kbandon play yesterday. Last night's downpour did not hold out much promis"e for .an'improvement of conditions to-day, but the prosence of a mist early this morning was more satisfactory, and, ' ,when it lifted, the sun shone out brightly, and, with a. light:.southerly prevailing, the condition of the wicket and ground benefited considerably. Mr. A. Brewer, the custodian of the Basin Reserve (where the match is taking place), afld his assistant were at work early to provido the best possible for the players, and in' the process of removing a great deal of - water from the wicket they made use of scriny As the wicket dried it was rolled at intervals, and by 11 a.m. —the time set down for the commencement of play—it-had shown much improvement. The sunshine at that hour was strong, and there was every indication that.conditions for play would continue to improve with the progress of the match. Prior .to starting, time the two captains,. J...C. Hartley,.M.C.C, and Jl. C. Collins,, Wellingon, made an inspection of the wicket, as also did A. C. MacLaren, who was still limping as a result of the strain ' vfhich he ..received in the first Test match at Wellington, and who was una-ble to take part in the-present match. While on the field the captains tossed. The turn of, the coin ' favoured the Wellington skipper and he .elected to take first strike. Early proceedings indicated, that the batsmen.would-be, troubled by the bowleSs and in the pre-hmch play Wellington found to their: cost that they had opened on anything'but a batsmen's wicket. Confidence "in facing the bowling was much ur.steadied by the uncertainty of the deliveries after they landed on the very sticky pitch. „ There'was a fair attendance during the Jnorning, but it was considerably augmented this afternoon. ''■ The teams are as follow:-» :; ' M.C.C. ; J. C. Hartley (Captain). . T. C. Lpwry. - : ' - ."' A.-P. F. Chapman. ,:: ,A. C. Wilkinson., " F. S. G. Calthorpe.' '»' C." H. Titchmarsh. - ,'. . C ■C. H. Gibson. t , .).' F. Mac Lean. D. F. Brand. : , W. W. Hill-Wood. ! A. P. Freeman. . k WELLINGTON. D. C. Collins (Captain). J. S. Hiddleston. ' . i < [ E. H. Bemau '-' .L.£...j ; . Kortlaiig. ft .'. " W. A. Baker. • fH. M. M'Girr. 1 -S. Dempster. A. Grant. ■W. S. Brice. •■< H. J. Tattersall. .". M.' Henderson. -'"; J.: Hutchinga (twelfth man). ■The umpires are Messrs. 0. Webb and T." Cocker, and the scorers Messrs. W. Ferguson (M.C.C.)-and H. D. Clementspn (Wellington). :';■': ' THE PLAY. ■ The visitors took the field ai> U-3 a.m., "followed by Collins and Hiddleston, the opening batsmen. A minute later Hiddleston took strike to Gibson, bowling Tram the southern end. After letting the first ball go, he quietly slaved the remainder of the over, and it was, left -to Collins, who faced Calthorpe, bowling' .from the ether end, to. open WeUmgtoiys scoring' account. ■ He did so with the first ball, -placing it through the slips lov .i single. Hiddleston recoriad a 2 'in similar fashion, and that was the 'total result-of--two overs. Gibson/sent 'down another maiden, this time to Collins, who was hot prepared to attemnt sjngles for short strokes, iicrticularly when they were made in the direction of Chapman, at'eover. A little advancement in the score was made as the result ef good leg strokes by each batsmen. 'Scoring; was. alow, ah the soft wjck?t, but *hoth batsmen' were shaping well. The total reached 40 after 15 minutes' play. Shortly afterwards, Hiddleston, w'uo had fi.ot had so much of the bowline ;is his partner, notched the first boundary of the match—a nice leg stroke, lhe next, ball he..placed into the hand 3of ifce bowler, but Gibson failed to I'.cceot an easy catch. No addition-, had t>en r.it de to the score when Collins, 'in makir-j; a. good stroke through the slips from a well-pitched ball by Calthorpe, just touched his wicket, and was out. i.4—l—

■ Bernau joined Hiddleston, and for quite a time he remained very quiet, being at the wickets for nineteen minutes before "breaking his duck." He was then apparently more confident, -and opened out to Gibson, getting a 3. Meanwhile Hiddleston had been holding his ond up fairly well, though a weak stroke in playing a ball from Gibson' ftjmost gave Titchmarsh a catch close in .on the leg .side. That, together with the fact that Hiddleston was not doing much with Gibson's deliveries, prompted the. bowler to place Chapman, at short "silly" mid-on, Freeman going to cover and Titchmarsh to second slip.- •• At length Hiddleston's defensive methods were broken by vigorously driving a ball from Gibson to the on boundary. The same batsman made a couple more scoring strokes—one to the boundary—and 30 appeared on tho . board after fifty minutes' play. By that time Hiddleston had evidently become set, as he commenced to open out in good Style. Off Calthorpe's tenth over, he registered three boundaries, all on the leg side. That made matters appear much brighter, but there followed a turn of disaster for .Wellington. FOUFu WICKETS FALL QUICKLY, ! " Bernau, facing Gibson, played a ball back to the bowler, and this time the «atch was accepted. 47 —2—-4. Kortlang filled the vacancy, but hopes that ,there would be good things from the player whose omission from the second Test team had caused much comment ' ,were soon dispelled. The ex-Victorian played the first ball, but the next, bumping off th' 6 pitch, was sent back to Gibson.-. , , "' Baker was next, but it was only to see Hiddleston returned to the pavilion. After getting one ball from Calthorpe passed the- 'wicketkeeper for 2, he apparently tipped the next behind the stumps, and the ball lodged between the keeper's pads. An appeal was made, as the ball was still held between MaoLean's pads, and the umpire ruled that Hiddleston was out. The ball was thereupon taken from between the . wicketkeeDer's leas bsv.one.pf Jko fisl&mefl, |

Hiddleaton had batted for sixty-one minutes, and in his score of 38 there' were seven is. 49—4—38. M'Girr filled the gap, only to place the-next ball from Calthorpe into the hands of Chapman at short "silly" leg. 19—5—0. Dempster joined Bilker, and the exercise of a good deal of care on 'the part of both batsmen stemmed the rot for a brief period. Gradually a few runs were scored, but only to the extent of seven, when the tide of disaster again rose. Dempster, after scoring 3, was given out Ibw to Gibson. 56—6—3. Brice was next sent to the crease, but fell a victim to smart fielding on the part of Calthorpe, close in at square leg. In making the stroke to leg, after treating two or three of Gibson's deliveries very cautiously, Brico commenced to run, and before he had time to regain the crease the ball was back to Mac Lean, and the bails off. 56-^7—o. . BAKER BATS WELL. With the advent of Grant, there was an improvement, Baker taking in the situation and using the willow forcibly. By a succession of well-placed strokes, some of which just failed to reach the boundary, he carried the total to 72, after which Grant made his first score— a single from a well-placed stroke to leg. Evidence of the state of the wicket, which had undoubtedly had much to'do with Wellington's collapse, was provided* when Baker narrowly missed being hit by a . ball from Gibspn, which bumped high off the' pitch. A big hit by Baker, though it produced only 2 on account of the "dead" outfield, brought that player's total to 20 after forty-four minutes at the crease. He was receiving good assistance from the Palmerston .North player, though not productive of many runs. After scoring, a dozen, Grant was unsteadied by a 1)3^1 from Calthorpe striking! him .on the leg. He beaten soon afterwards by a ball from Calthorpe-r-the only time during the pre-lunch ' play that a player was clean bowled. Baker had 23 to his credit. The luncheon adjournment was then taken, Wellington's score being 87 for eight wickets. Details :— WELLINGTON. First Innings. Collins, 11212, hit wicket, b CalHiddleston, 2142442444412,"'." c" MacLean, b Calthorpe. , 38 Berriau, 13, c and b Gibson 4 Kortlang. c and b Gibson 0 Baker, 31233213212,. not out 23 M'Girr, c Chapman, b Calthorpe ... 0 Dempster, 12, Ibw, b Gibson 3 Brice, run out ........:... , 0 Grant, 212232, b Calthorpe 12 Extras , ■„.. 0 Eight wickets for ■... 87 Fall of wickets:—One for 14, two for 47, three for 47, four for 49, five for 49, six for 56, seven for 56, eight for 87. ■BOWLING ANALYSIS. 0. M. R. W. Gibson' 20 6 51 3 Calthorpe 19.3 8 36 4,, WELLINGTON JUST PASSES THE CENTURY. Tattersall accompanied Baker to the crease after lunch, and played out the remainder of Caithorpe's over. Baker failed to score from Gibson's first over of the afternoon, and Tattersall, in again facing Calthorpe,- notched a 'brace by means of a straight drive. Apart from that, he was content to keep his end up. Baker again iiad Caithorpe's bowling, and received a round of applause for dispatching a delivery to the ion boundary, making Wellington's total-93. Tattersall caused a feeling of uneasiness by a weak uppish stroke, but the ball was too close in for a catch to be effected. Baker ' just afterwards placed a ball, from Gibson, just out of reach of Brand at mid-off, and- obtained 3 for the stroke. A small dog had ta^en up a position in the field, and the ■ spectators were .amused to observe it endeavour to beaC Brand for the leather. A period of quiet play without any addition to the "score was taken by Baker, who just failed, on account of the heavy nature of the outfield, to lift, Calthorpe to the on (boundary. Tattersall supported Baker's 3 with a 2 from a well-placed, stroke to leg, bringing 100 up after 132 minutes' play—Baker 33, Tattersall 4. The batsman shortly afterwards escaped being run out through 'Wilkinson, fielding at leg, fumbling the ball in making a good save. With the total at 103, Hartley decided on a change of bowling. ■ Brand was put on at the southern end in place of Gibson—three .for 59. The change was effective, Brand's second delivery scattering Baker's stumps. Baker had been of valuable assistance to his side, scoring 35 jn eighty minutes. 103—9—35. Henderson, the last man, succeeded in playing the rest of the over, after .which Calthorpe sent down a maiden to Tattersall. 'Henderson jumped out to the second ball of Brand's next over, and, failing to connect, saw -Mac Lean quickly whip off the bail. Wellington's innings had lasted for 144 minutes, and had realised 104 f Additional details:— Eight wickets for 87. . ■ Baker, 3123321321243311, b Brand 35 Tattersall, 22, not out 4 Henderson, st Mac Lean, b Brand ... 0 ' Extras—No ball, 1 1 Total „...:.......... 104 Fall of wickets: Nine for 103; ten for 104. ■'" '■ BOWLING. 0. M. E. W. Gibson 25 9 59 3 Calthorpe :.... •' 26 13 44 4 Brand .........;....,. 1.2 10 2 ENGLISHMEN AT THE. WICKETS. At 2.45 p.m. M.C.C. commenced theninnings, Wilkinson and Titchmarsh being tha opening batsmen. The former faced Brice; and was unable to survive the first ball, being given out Ibw. o—l—o.0 —I—o. Le'-vry filled the vacancy, and opened with a single. Smart fielding by M'Girr at short-leg made Titchmarsh quickly regain his crease to avoid being run out. Bernau bowled from the .southern end, and hie. first over was expensive, the batsmen scoring 13 runs.