CRICKET

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 3, 4 January 1930, Page 18

CRICKET

By "Nor Out"

PLUNKET SHIELD

TWO EIGHT-POINT WINS

WELLINGTON'S CLOSE CALL

Two of this season's series of matches for the Plunket Shield have been concluded and a third is now in progress. The results of the two completed matches place Wellington and Auckland on even terms so .far as points for the Shield are concerned, each having secured an outright win. In the matter of averages, however, Auckland are -well ahead, as they defeated a weakened Otago eleven by an innings, whereas Wellington only narrowly averted defeat at the hands of Canterbury. The Wellington-Canterbury match had one of the exciting finishes on record, the southerners putting up a very fine performance in their second innings when 407 runs were required to avert defeat. Wellington were generally looked upon as having a much stronger team than Canterbury, and it came as a big surprise to find the latter running Wellington so close as to lose only by 19 runs. The 1 visitors went the right sway about their formidable task, and their meritorious performance in this • match suggests that Canterbury cricket is coming into its own again after a fairly lean period in Plunket Shield cricket. To score 388 runs in the fourth innings of a match and against an attack made up entirely of players who havo represented New Zealand was a wonderful achievement. Canterbury did exceptionally well and it is hard for them that' their performance is worth 119 more in" points than the very poor showing of Otago against" Auckland. Canterbury ,are now meeting Auckland at Auckland, and.Wellingtons next engagement, for the Shield will be with Otago at Dunediu on the 31st January, Ist* 3rd, and. 4th, February. , Brisk Scoring. • ■ . During the Wellington-Canterbury inateh 1213 runs were1 compiled, and this'was a very fine total for two and a. half. daya. 'At stages of the match the scoring was exceptionally', brisk, i those- mainly responsible for. making the pace in run-getting being Badeock, •Dempster, :Airey and M'Girr for Wellington and Talbot, Lester and Merritt for Canterbury, with Roberts playing more steadily for his good "double" with the bat. All these players gathered in runs in plenty, and another to contribute well to the account was Lowry, who indicated that he was getting right back to form, he having benefited by the play in previous matches. James and Mackenzie shaped' well in Wellington's first innings, • both meeting the slow bowling in good style. Mackenzie's footwork was a treat. Dempster, who was out of action for a period, played a great, innings for Wellington on the first day, scoring 141 without a chance and without losing his wicket. Thus, he at last succeeded in making his first century in Plunket Shield cricket. Badcoek played a rattling good innings of the type which puts the spectators in the best of humour. He was right on the job, and in about fifty.minutes 78 runs came from his bat. In the same time the Demp-ster-Badcock partnership put on 134 runs, which was great going. Dempster's last 40 runs were also Scored at a. very fast rate. As already pointed out in "The Post" an error was made in declaring "Wellington's innings" closed at the tea adjournment on'the-first day. By that time 366 runs had been compiled—an excellent result for a little under four hours' batting—and it was with a view to' forcing an outright win that the declaration was made. Before stumps were drawn on the first day Canterbury had made 142 runs for the loss of five wickets, so that for the day's play (a little under six hours) the aggregate was 508 runs. On the second day the aggregate was 419 and for about three and a quarter hours on the third day it was 286. In spite of some quiet periods the scoring ra^e was really good. all through the match, and the wicket stood up to requirements splendidly. Talbot's 113 runs were knocked up by clean hitting in just as many minutes on the last day, and the LesterTa]bot partnership put on 100 runs in ffty-five minutes, While in the concluding stages Merritt hit up his 57 runs in quick time. Airey and M'Sirr on the second day made 84 runs in 40 miuntes. , fowling and Fielding. Canterbury's bowling in the first •innings was not very impressive, except for Merritt's performance in taking 'five, wickets, three of which were from snicks behind the wicket. The visitors would have been better off with Eeg. Bead in the team, but the main need was a fast bowler. In the second innings there was an appreciable improvement, Lester, in particular, doing very well. By the manner in which ' ihe Wellington bowlers performed in Canterbury's "first innings it seemed that the visitors were hard up against it. Badcoek always had them thinking, and his figures were excellent— twenty-one overs included six maidens and four wickets were secured for the small cost of 29 runs. Henderson and M'Girr put plenty of sting into the attack, but Hope was not very successful. In Canterbury's second innings the Wellington bowling fell off perceptibly, and did not keep a good length, except in the case of Henderson, who, throughout the match bowled much better than his figures suggested. Lambert came right into the picture as a slow bowler, and the rr.nnner in which he, was used by Lowry counted a good deal towards Wellington's ■ success. Lambert took bi* wisfcots. The really bad feature of the match was the poor form .shown by many of the players in the field. Some good work was accomplished on both sides, but much of the ground work1 was not clean, and quite a few catches were dropped, especially in the slips, where Wellington was worse off than it has been for some time. There will have to be much improvement in this direction, and it seems that the New Zealand team in the first Test is also going to bo badly ,off in the matter of fielding. Indications are that Blunt, Page, and Dempster will be the slip fieldsmen in the New Zealand team. In the selection of teams attention must be given to the fielding department. Otago's Poor Showing. • Auckland, which won the Plunket Shield last year, has made a good start in this season's series by scoring an outright win of eight points over Otago last week. On that performance, however, it probably would not be safe to assume' that Auckland has a particularly powerful side (states the "New Zealand Herald"). It is difficult to esti■mate Auckland's real strength as the opposition offered by Otago was so feeble. As a batting combination, it was the weakest Otago side seen in Auckland, and the only excuse for its failure is that.the players have had little match practice on account of the wetness of the season in Dunedin. However, Otago ■;\-UJ, be a fa r different proposition on its own ground, as Blunt and Dickinson, apart from their individual ability, will give the others more confidence. The Otago representatives wore at **">. Basin Reserve on one day of the

Wellington-Canterbury match on their way back to Dunedin. They readily adtnittcd that they had been well and truly beaten, tut at the same time they considered that some of the figures in the match were flattering to the Shield holders. - Wensley certainly bowled well, but not to the extent that his exceptional performance" in taking nine wickets in an innings indicated. Mills gave a taste of his true form with the bat, although he gave a number of chances in compiling his big score of 185. Although it is expected that Otago will ba a much harder proposition on their own ground, the southerners did not give a very good account of themselves against the M.C.C., being beaten by ten wickets. Otago's only Plunket Shield match at home this season will be with Wellington, and for this it is doubtful whether Wellington will be at full strength. Test Standard. "Test cricket." has a magic- sound and appeal. How long will this last if English teams 50 per cent, short of full strength are to be given, the full title? asks a writer in the "Athletic News" (England). Opinion is divided as to whether the- matches played by the M.C.C. teams in New Zealand and the West Indies against representative sides should rank officially as tests — on the same level, that is, as those between England, Australia, and South Africa. A decision on the point, the writer believes, will not be come to until the New Year, when the Cricket Committee of the M.C.C. meets for the next time. Both sides chosen are good, but certainly neither represents England. In the circumstances the writer will be surprised if the big games in the West Indies are regarded as a continuation of the test series inaugurated in this country in 1928. So fnr as New Zealand is concerned the M.C.C. sides of 1906-7 and 1922-3 both met teams representing the Dominion, but in neither case were the matches ranked as tests in the full sense. There does not sem to be any reason why the games taken part in by the M.C.C. in the Dominion should be accorded a different standard. Woodfull and Oldfield Injured. When W. M. Woodfull was struck j on the hand by a flying ball from H. M. Thurlow (Queensland fast bowler) in a recent Sheflield Shield game, two bones in tho back of the hand were broken, and he was, of course, unable to take any further part in the game. It is expected, however, _ that the broken bones will mend quickly, and there is a possibility that Woodfull will be able to play again before the season ends. One of the breaks, at any rate, is a clean one, and .tho other is not a bad one. It would be a disaster indeed were Australia to lose the services of Woodfull in the coming English tour, for he is the man we can least spare of any of the probable Australian eleven players (says a Melbourne writer.) There is very little fear, however, that he will >be out of the game for long. With Oldfield also suffering from a fractured finger, two of our leading players are temporarily out of the game through, injury, but they should both be in the thick of it again before long. Bis Totals. Although New South Wales has made 21 totals exceeding 500—one of them exceeding 900, and two others exceeding 800 —against South Australia, the latter's 508 last week is only the fifth total exceeding 500 that she has. made:against the Sydney men, the highest being 575, at Adelaide, in 1900-1 —the innings in which Clem Hill made . his famous 365 not out. South Australian bowlers ' have had some torrid times at the hands of the New South Wales batsmen, and one can quite believe that their troubles are not yet ended. New South Wales is developing- a wonderful lot of young batsmen, and all the other States are going to suffer when they get going. Notes. • \ Percy M. Hornibrook', the Queensland left-hand bowler, was made for English wickets, says a Sydney paper. He went to New Zealdnd with an Australian team, and there performed wonders with the ball, making it do everything against the sticks save talk. In 1921 the Australians went to England without him. They-did the same in 1926. Hornibrook's form in the Trial match suggests that he will get there in 1930. Mr. F. Earl, president of the Auckland Cricket Association, and Mr. A. M. Eeale, Waipiro Bay, have each presented a bat to J. E. Mills as tokens of appreciation of his scoring a century in the Plunket Shield match against Otago last week. : The Otago-M.C.C. match will not help the Otago Cricket Association financially; in fact, it is likely; that the expenses of running the match will be far in excess of the takings, which for th,e first two days did not amount to £250. It is likely that L. G. Clark, who has been playing cricket in Invercargill, and who has been Otago's representative wicket-keeper, will be returning to Wellington shortly. . Prior to going south he played for Midland. L. G. Clark, the Otago representative wicket-keeper, is the former Midland player. . Archie Jackson, the brilliant young New South Wales batsman, is at present on the sick list. It is expected that he will be out of cricket for three weeks. Macartney was in tip-top form in a recent match in Sydney, scoring 147 runs in- 78 minutes. F. Bryant, one of Western Australia's outstanding cricketers, though only in, the early twenties, scored 158 by delightful, batting in ,a recent match. In the course of an interview in Christchurch, Hugh Trumble, the noted Australian cricket representative of former times, said that M'Leod played a very plucky game and generally batted very well for Wellington against M.C.C. He was hit by Nichols many times, but the more he was hit the better he played. "After he had been in a while," said Mr. Trumble, "I was thinking he should have been given a coat of armour. M'Leod did not seem to be able to get out of the way. When a fast bumper comes along, it is usually off the wicket, so the best thing to do is to. step in front and let it go by." In connection with the Auckland-Can-terbury match at New Year, the point was raised at a recent meeting of the Auckland Cricket Association that Canterbury had decided not to play its profecsional, Newman, in Plunket Shield games this season, and the propriety of Auckland to play Wensloy against Canterbury was discussed. Mr. E. C. Beale mentioned that the rtonappearance of Wensley would detract from public interest in the game. At this stage a statement from a letter by Mr. D. Eeese, president of the Canterbury Association, was read. Mr. Eeese stated that his association had no objection to Auckland playing its coach. The matter was not further discussed. Edward T. Thakobau, the big Fijian who developed into a useful all-rounder under C. S. Dempster's coaching while at the Wangamii Technical College, winning his way into the Wanganui representative side, is evidently coming into his own again after having been out of the game for a season or so for health reasons. He is a student at the Auckland Training College and plays for the Eden club. A bright contribution of over 70 in a recant match caused an Auckland writer to suggest that he should be promoted to senior A from, the senior B grade. In the next match Thakobau played senior A aud compiled a hard-hitting score of 91 against Ndrth Shore.