LOCAL OPENING

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 96, 20 October 1924, Page 4

LOCAL OPENING

PLAY AFFECTED BY RAIN

SEVERAL GOOD BATTING PERFORItfANCES.

Although the weather on. Saturday morning did not promise well for the opening of the cricket season in the afternoon, there was a chance of condi't'.oiis improving., a,nd it was taken with the disappointing result that play occupied only a small portion of the afternoon. From the start of the matches the rain commenced to fall steadily, and it continued without a break. Under those conditions the opening of the season was anything but happy, but, although performances were | affected, there were a number of instances of good play in the senior games, as well as in other grade matches. The opening a\, the Basin .Reserve was made by the official coach/]?. T. Badcock, who toon tii-st' strike'ior institute against Old Boys. His stay at the

crease was of short duration, but during it he shaped attractively. The Petone leader, W. S. Brie©, started the batting in tho other match at the Basin Reserve —Petone v. Thorndon —and he also failed to stay. Others in the Institute and Petone teams, however, netted, good scores—Prince 63 not out, Dempster 43 not out,.W. Hamilton*l^, and Finlayson 34. When stumps were drawi.j, shortly after.' 3.30 o'clock, Institute had lost two wickets for 125 runs, and Petone had six down lor 116. In the I other two senior games there were similar experiences. At Kelburn Wellington registered 128 runs for five wickets, C; G. Wilson and J. B, Brughes being the principal scorers with 41 and 4i> respectively. Midland occupied the crease in their match with Butt at the Hutt Recreation Ground, and before play was stopped they put on 83 for the loss of: three wickets, A. Grant making a good start for his new club with a score of 43 not out. Details of the play are as follow: —

INSTITUTE AND OLD BOYS. Old Boys and Institute had the use of No. 1 wicket at the Basin Reserve, and there were prospects of a good game, but rain from the commencement of proceedings affected t.he play, and as iii the case of other games a full afternoon of cricket was not obtained. Rodgers captained Institute, and F. j Joplin was the Old Boys' leader. First ' strike was taken by Institute, and the afficial coach, F. T. -Badcock, was given the honour of opening the season. lie was partnered by Banks. After opening the scoring account with a wellplaced shot to leg off Duncan for a single the coach picked out a couple 3f deliveries, one by Duncan and one by Barclay, for scoring purposes. Two joundary hits resulted, but that was ill that -the coach could manage. Institute's total was 13 when he was :lean bowled by Barclay. Banks did not reign long, and Dempster and Prince then became associated. They were immovable against four bowlers, both jatsmen making use of good' scoring strokes to improve Institute's position to the extent of 110 runs before stumps tvere drawn. In spite of the conditions the partnership was entertaining, and it made a very promising start of the season. At the time of drawing .stumps Institute's total was 125 for the loss of two wickets (Prince 63 not out, Dempster 43 not out). Details: — INSTITUTE. ' . First Innings. F. T.-Badcock, b Barclay 0 linnks, b Duncan 2 Dempster, not out 43 Prince, not out 63 Extras 8 Two wickets for 125 Fall of wickets:—One for 13, two for 15. ' ■ Bowling Analysis.—Duncan took one wicket for 35 rnns, Barclay one for 40, Lusk none for 29, Ronaldson none for 13. PETONE AND THORNDON. Petono won the toss against Thorndon in the match on No. 2 wicket at the Basin Reserve, and the captain, W S. Brico, elected 'to occupy the crease. Ho was. accompanied to the wicket \by Senior, but had a very short stay. Warne opened tho attack for Thorndon and Brice sent tho first ball just over cover to tho boundary. In trying to repeat the stroke ho fell to a catch by Mason. W. Hamilton was next, but woa not so easily disposed of. He shaped well against Warno and Hyder (who captained Thorndon), and, after Senior and Smyvk\ had beon dismissed, ho was. associated with Finlaysou in n useful partnership. Carlyle and Ellerm were given a hand in the attack, and these two bowlers accounted for the dismissal of Petone's principal scorers during tho timo that play was in progress. AVith tho dismissal of Finlaysou it. was. decided to draw stumps, Petono haying lost six wickets for 116 runs. W. Hamilton and Finlayson baited wejl, tho former's score of 46 including six fours. Finlayson batted aggressively for 34, and .registered four fours. Details:— i PETONE. \ First Innings. Brice, ■c, Mason, b Warne A Senior, b' Hyder 9 W. Hamilton,.c'Carruthcra, b Carlylo 46 Sniyvk, b-Warno 2Finlayson, b Ellerm 34 . Pawsori, b Oarlylo .0 I Gate, not out 13 Extras' ...;...... ;ii Six wickets for 116 Fall of wickets.—One for 4, two for 28, three for 37, four .for 80, five for 82, six. for 116. Bowling Analysis.—Warne took two wickets fur 41 runs, Hyder one for 22, Carlylo two for 35, Eilcrm onc_ for 12. WELLINGTON v. V.M.C.A. 1 Players taking part in tho WellingtonY..M.U.A. fixture were lliu l;ist to give in toVtho elements at Kclbum Park, slumps not being drawn until after 4 o'clock. In tho hour and a half durj ing which play took place Wellington, who won the toss and elected to bat, lost five wickets for the very fair total of 128 runs. C. G. Wilson, who opened tho innings in company with White, gave a promising glimpse of form, and when lie was caught by Weslhrook off Cox lie had 41 runs to his credit—a good start for the season. During his innings he showed that he has lost none of his old dash, playing many forceful .strokes. Bruges also batted well, reaching a lutol of 45. the top score, before Winy Eiiappeil up behind the wirkcls off one .of Henderson's deliveries. Henderson was in1 good form with H.io leather, anil of the live wickets that fell i ius. a^fctacd three., at a cost o£ 40 runs.

Cox and White secured one each. , Details follow:— ' WELLINGTON. First Innings. Wilson, c Westbrook, b Cox 41 Whvte, b Henderson 0 Wagstaff, b White .'... 0 Whitwell, b Henderson 1 Bruges, c Condliffe, b Henderson ... 45 Jacobsen, not out -f. 18 Johnston, not out 11 Extras 12 Five wickets for 128 Bowling Analysis.—Henderson took three wickets for 40 runs, Cox one for 25, White one for 51.

MIDLAND v. HUTT.

Midland met Hutt on the suburban team's own recreation ground, and when stumps were drawn on account of the rain the town team, who batted . first, had lost three wickets for 83 runs. W. A. Baker and A. Grant opened the innings, but the former, after scoring 15, 'skied one to King off Aldersley. The exManawatu representative continued^to bat freely, and at the end of play was unbeaten ,with 43 runs to his credit. J. Hutchings and Patrick did not reach double figures, and J. W. Hutchings was 3 not out when stumps were drawn. Bowling honours went, to Aldersley, who captured two wickets for 5 runs a-piece. Nunn took one wicket at a cost of 15 runs. ' M'Girr bowled eight overs, but failed to secure a victim, 20 runs being scored off him. Beard, who was so successful with the leather last season, also failed to secure a wicket in five overs. Details arenas follow:— . , - MIDLAND. • .'■ First-Innings. Baker, c King, b Aldersley 15 Grant, not out .' „ 43 ,T. Hutchings, c Beard, b Aldersley 6 Patrick, b Nunn 2 J. W. Hutchings, not out 3 Extras .\ 14 Total (for three wicliets) ... 83 Bowling analysis: Beard took no wickets for. 17 runs, Watson none for 7, M'Girr none for 20, Nunn. one for 15, Aldersley two for 10.