CRICKET

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 23, 28 January 1933, Page 20

CRICKET

Brtf'NoT Out" ~ PLEASING REPORTS

AUCKLAND-WELLINGTON MATCH

VALUABLE EXPERIENCE

With a third of the afternoon gone, it looked as though Kilbirnie 'a position was safe, but when w.ithin a few minutes Bilby, Christophersen, and-Morris were back in the pavilion with only three runs scored, the spectators began to stir with the prospect of further excitement. Once again Hepburn and Monkhouse came to .the rescue, but this time Monkhouse was very subdued, aud in ..the course, of his half-hour's stay made only four of the 27 runs scored during the partnership. Still, it was a valuable half-hour, with time running all the while in favour of Kilbirnie. Crook had a short stay. After giving some indication of using his feet to deal with Dunn, he went out to the slow bowler, played a half-hearted shot, missed, and was stumped.- When will batsmen realise that the proper way to deal with bowlers so slow through the air as are Dunn and Mallard is not to fiddle, about, but to go out resolutely and deal with them? Five wickets were now down, and once more Hutt had a sporting chance, but Kershaw came in and procedeed to take charge. "Using his reach and the power of his shoulders to the fullest extent, he scored 45 runs in 43 minutes by clean, forceful batting, one straight full-blooded drive off Judd to the northern fence being perhaps tb^e most delightful shot in a sparkling exhibition. At one stage Hepburn had seemed set for a century, but he quietened down after Kershaw came in, and finally had to be content with 79, compiled in a little, over two hours without a chance. It was a fine fighting knock, in which the batsman's full repertoire of strokes was brought into play, with his usual preference for leg hitting. His two good innings in this match should give Hepburn the confidence he had lost and enable him to take his old place at the head of the batting order, helping Bilby out of a difficulty which he has been in for the last few matches. With all danger past, the Kilbirnie tail-enders indulged in some light-heart-ed hitting, Wilson making 14 in three hits. This ex-Eongotai boy, making his first appearance in senior ranks, pro^ mises to be an acquisition. Tall and strong, he. sends down a fastball (with which he secured the last two Hutt wickets); he is an,enterprising batsman, and; like all other players who have graduated from the Bongotai first eleven, a fine field. If there is a fault to be found with Ms bowling, it is that he is inclined at the moment to try to bowl too fast. Another Bongotai player who -■ is knocking at the door of the Kilbirnde first eleven is Wrigley, who was the all-rounder of the junior representative team on its northern tour. He, however, is serving an apprenticeship in the second grade team; which perhaps is no bad thing. Judd once again bowled very steadily, and despite the. aggressive methods of Kershaw, Griffiths, andjWilson, wound up with five wickets for 64, giving him thirteen for 106 for the match. Au Outright Win. Petone gained the first outright win in senior cricket this season by defeating Institute on the • Petone Recreation Ground. Institute made: only 74 in the first innings and 113 in the second, totals which were easily surpassed by Petone's first innings score of 240 for five wickets.. , ', ■. •.. -. Mallard, Mark Nicholls, and Dempster gave Petone their victory, the firstnamed by his deadly bowling and the other two by splendid batting. 1 The youthful Mallard, who had played havoc with Institute's batting on the first day of ..the match, continued his career last Saturday by taking six wickets for 44 runs. Grant was next best with three for 52. ' Petone's total of 240 for five owed much to Dempster's 89 (made on the previous Saturday), and to Mark Nicholls's99 not out. ' Institute's score-sheet was a dismallooking page, relieved only by the efforts of Prince, who scored 40, Bilby (22 not out), and Aldridge (18). ;. Notes. " . :.: y : '■ . ';•;. : ■'■-■■<' . . E. W.Tindill, who scored a.century against Auckland,, has made- over 1000 runs this season, including those made on his tour with the University'team. C. S. Dempster is very near the 1000 mark. . A correspondent ("J") writes:"ln a weekly publication the following rappears under a photograph of Larwopd: 'Ho visited Australia in 1928-29; but, after bowling sensationally in the first two .Test .matches, fell away. W. H. Ponsford could not make any headway that season against Larwood, who invariably got the Victorian's wicket early in his innings.' What are tho facts? First Test: Ponsf ord, h Larwood, 2; Ponsford, c Duckworth, b Larwood, 6; bowling: Larwood six for 32 and two for 30. Second Test: Ponsford, retired hurt, 5 (having received a blow from Larwood that broke one. of his fingers); Ponsford, absent injured, 0; bowling: LarwoodthrW for 77 and one for 105. Ponsford took-no further part in matches against the Englishmen that season. More seems to be written about cricket than ever before; but a lot of it is woefully inaccurate. That is amazing since cricket records are most carefully compiled, and aro available for reference purposes." In view of the fact that the protest by the Australian Board of Control is regarded in some quarters as "a squeal from a beaten side," it is well to remember that the protest was made after Australia had won the second Test, and before'the third Test was finished. Mercantile - Leagued The Mercantile League matches last Saturday again produced some good scores, Olliver (Hannah's), Cameron (Gas Co.), and Hancock (Exchange) all passing the century, while Parton (Hannah's), with 93, and Kilby (James Smith's), with 90, were unlucky in not getting that far. '. Baker and Johnston (Macky, Logan's) played havoc with the Telephono- Exchango batsmen, Baker in the two innings taking nine wickets for 49, and Johnston eleven wickets for 36, including the '.'hat-trick." As happened last year, the defection of two or three of the A grade players left a weakness in the chosen team for Monday sufficient to prove beyond all doubt that with the exception of perhaps Brooks, Murphy, and Jupp, the three lower grades could very comfortably fill the majority of the league's major engagements. Always excepting S. Brooks, the A grado bowlers were positively outclassed, Baker (D grade), Swain (C grade), and Chadwiek in ,the B?s being infinitely superior in length, accuracy, and all-round ability. There were four grades playing, and the fielding (particularly the returns to the wicket) was of a poorer standard in the A grade than in any of the others, one batsman alone being dropped four timeß. W. Crisp undoubtedly earned full credit for his century, bnt with fieldsmen of any ability he would have been out for under 40. '■ The D gra"cle players were just a shade superior to the C'a. The latter ultimately won the game by a very narrow margin, but it was due more to good generalship than to actual batting or bowling. In the final fifteen minutes the D grade allowed themselves to get a little bit flurried in the field, a. fact that Fraser (Milk Department) took full advantage of, and it was chiefly due to his alertness for short runs thathe' and Worthington were able to cut the issue beyond doubt. The players < whose form would perhaps qualify them for the league's first eleven were Brooks, Murphy, Melville, Barr, Chadwiek, Baker, Swain, Aamodt, and perhaps W. Johnston. Jupp's batting was good, but his bowling was quite ineffective, ; whilst Grisp', despite his century, was hardly up to standard.

determination and steady effort which keepshim content to remain in the ruck instead of getting to the forefront of Wellington cricket.

"Witt much stirring up of strife in the cricket world through happeniuga in connection with the M.C.C. tour of Australia, it is pleasing to hear reports of the Wellington-Auckland Plunket Shield match having been played in the true spirit of the game. According to-some accounts of Wellington 'a "^recent visit to Auckland, the match z *as regarded as one of the most enioyable of its kind on record and the fine sporting spirit in evidence through- , out the contest gave great pleasure to northern enthusiasts. That, is just how cricket should be, and the "Wellington team is to be congratulated upon having created such a fine impression. The team, too, is to be complimented upon the part winch it played in. making the match so interesting. "Wellington did not win, but that is neither here nor there. The main thing was that it was a good game. It also in part served the valuable purpose of bringing along some of. the younger players 'of promise. In this respect it could-have been carried further. Morgan, for one, should have been given a game, especially as he was in the original selection o* twelve players and would naturally be expected to fill the vacancy which occurred even if he was originally chosen as twelfth man. Teams, of course, should be chosen on merit, and in this it is to b? regretted that the side, particularly as it was a, young one, did not have the help of Foley, who most certainly should have been thore to open, with Dempster. Still, the match served a very good purpose, and it makes even stronger the case for encouraging the local talent of promise. The one unsatisfactory feature of the match itself was that ten . wickets fell-to appeals for lbw—five on each side. It was also unfortunate that some other decisions obviously went the wrong way, James in particular haying bad luck with some of his smart work, behind the stumps. However, that is all in. the game, as is the experience of some of the Wellington: players in. 'not having any success. Tindill (what a fine debut he made in big crieketl) and the other young players tried out this season will be greatly benefited by the experience. There are more young ones' deserving of this opportunity. "Wellington has the talent for the "building upof a. very stong team; in. fact, the strength should, have been more fully disclosed this season. ," Ere the season ends there will be one other big engagement—that with the M.C.C. team. For this Wellington should have its best side of the season. Great. Partnership. Not long ago special reference was made in "The Post" to {he attractiveness of Monteath as a left-handed batsman. This young player was.regarded as one of quite a/number in local cricket" likely, to go far in the game. He came right into Ms, own last Saturday., when, in partnership with Hollings, he played one' of the finest innings seen in senior club - cricket, for some time. His side (Wellington) was in a bad "way when he was joined "by Hollings for the fifth wicket. . Hollings, too, struck form, and not onjy did the pair work up to give bright batting displays, but they also collected runs freely and won the •match (on the first innings) without the fall of another .wicket. That alone represented one of the finest feats on record in local senior cricket. Monteath kept going in fine style nntil he had made 181, Hollings having been dismissed for 148. It was a magnificent performance. As has been pointed out in "The Post," the total of 305 runs by Monteath and Hollings for the fifth wicket is not a record. Hiddleston and Wagstaffe put on 307 runs for North against Petone when partnered for the fifth wicket in "the 1918-19 season. Dempster and Foley have a record of 303 for the first wicket (made in the 1927-28 season). Among big fifth-wic-ket partnerships are the following:— 275, by Burton and Middleton (Wellington v. Old Boys) 1921-22; 254, by D. Burt and Foley (Institute v. Old Boys), 1926-27; 215, by Henderson and Prince (Institute v. Wellington), 1D29-30; and 206, by Sinyrke and D. O'Donoghue (Petone v. Old Boys), 1913-14. Wellington's win over Midland, the defeat of Hutt, and the outright win gained by Petone make the championship position more interesting. Wellington and Hutt are now on even terms in the lead, with Petone not far behind and others still well in the running. Winning Way Checked. Eilbirnie supporters—and judging from the attendances at Kilbirnie Park on Saturday afternoons they are more numerous than ever—have not been at all pleased with the doings of their team this season. Christophersen. and Hepburn., their two most reliable bats- * men in past years, have been right out of form; Kershaw, whose first two innings suggested that he was in for a good season, faded away; Crook, Griffiths, and Morris, good bowlers on their day, had too many off days, while Ashenden and Hauscomb, colts of whom much was expected, failed to realise expectations; the new captain proved himself a poor tosser, and with some big scores being run up against the side the .fielding was inclined to weaken. A fortnight ago, however, with everything in the-batsmen's favour, the toss was won at last, and there were hopes Ihat on one of Dobson's shirt-front ■wickets a respectable score would be compiled. These hopes were dashed ■when the third wicket fell with only five runs, on the board, but the fourth wicket partnership by Monkhouse and Hepburn not only redeemed the earlier failures but indicated that Hepburn was nearly himself again. The good example set by these two was not followed, and 167 could not be regarded :is anything in the nature of a matchwinning total. Another ray of sunshine appeared when Crook proceeded to go through the Hutfc side, and when stumps were drawn on the first day with six wickets down for 97" the game was left in an interesting position. On the resumption, Aim, who had on the first day received assistance from Champness, found another good partner in: the colt Muir, who batted confidently and well, making some particularly good shots on the leg side. The pair added 20 runs before Aim was bowled "by Crook for a solid 33. Muir soon followed, and although McLeod made the most of his opportunities he could find no one to stay with him, and the innings closed for 146. Crook, in taking six wickets for 66, bowled "better than he has done for some seasons. Keeping a good length and direction, he at the same time "bowled with great pace—so great, in fact, that one or two catches were dropped by reason of the speed with which they came off the bat. Crook has many of the qualifications that go to the making of a great cricketer— youth, strength, physique, and a good eye, and one can only regret the lack of