TODAY'S CRICKET

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 154, 27 December 1935, Page 9

TODAY'S CRICKET

CANTERBURY MATCH

WELLINGTON BATTING

Haying met their engagements with the M.C.C. touring side, the Canterbury and Wellington teams set out today in quest of Plunket Shield honours for the season, their meeting being at the Basin Reserve. The Canterbury . team, with Mr. H. North as manager, arrived from the south this morning, and it was the lot of the visitors to go into the field against Wellington, the local, captain (J; R. Lamason) having won the toss from the Canterbury captain, I. B. Cromb. Conditions for the match, which began shortly after 11 a.m., were ideal, the weather being bright and hot with a light northerly in evidence. : . . Although given a reasonably good start, the local side fared badly during the pre-lunch session. The fifth : wicket fell when. 81 runs had been scored, but i after that the total was carried beyond the 100 mark without ■further loss.. THE PARTICIPANTS. The teams are:— CANTERBURY. I. B. Cromb (captain). F. W. Bellamy. J. L. Kerr. L. A. Butterfield > W. A. Hadlee. F. P. O'Brien. A. W. Roberts. A. P. Cobden. '' W. E, Merritt. M. Graham. C. K. Jackman. S. Andrews (twelfth man). WELLINGTON. J. R. Lamason (captain). D. A. R. Moloney. M. O'Brien. J. Ell. ; ■. S. Ward. J. A. R. Blandford. W. Rainbird. C. Parsloe. B. Griffiths.J. Newman. E. D. Blundell. D. S. Wilson (twelfth man). The umpires are Messrs. C. Webb and L. W. Jenness, and the official scorers Messrs. B. Warwick (Wellington) and J. B. Reid (Canterbury). RUN OF PLAY. A new opening pair for Wellington was found in Moloney (now of Manawatu) and O'Brien, (of Hawke's Bay), who had to meet an attack started by Roberts and Graham. The early stages of play were quiet, the batsmen being content to take stock for a time. Dur.ing this.process Moloney had a "life,' , Bellamy missing a ;catch in the slips in Graham's second over. Graham, after three overs, was relieved by Merritt, and Roberts, who was treated with respect, was kept going for six overs, after which Graham relieved him. , , • With Merritt arid. Graham operating the batsmen adopted more forcefu: .methods, and runs were scored, freely from a range of good strokes, though an occasional ball from Merritt went off the edge of the bat. Boundary hits were interspersed with other scoring strokes, and a steady rate of scoring was maintained. .46 runs beinr: mess in even time. : At that total a double bowling change was made, Roberts taking over from Graham and Cromb from Merritt. There Had been 18 runs from Graham's' six overs and,2l from Merritt's hal£ dozen.,, In collecting runs Moloney and O'Brien were keeping, pace with each other. They were finding Roberts the most difficult of the bowlers to score from. Some forceful .driving brought 50 up in 53 minutes.'after which O'Brien gained his third 4 with a strong off-drive. ; .'-,, OPENING PAIR. OUT. ! When Moloney next faced Cromb he was tempted out to a slow one. and, failing to connect, iwas bowled. In just under ah hour the partnership had put on 56 run^— quite a respectable beginning for an experimental opening partnership. Moloney's score ' was 23, in which there were two 4's. 56—1—23.- • : Soon after Ell's arrival at the wicket O'Brien was given out lbw on appeal by Roberts and.others.. There hadbeen appeals previously in the innings but none had succeeded. O'Brien's 36 included four-4's. 60—2—36 . ELL UNLUCKY. Ell and Ward, as partners. for the third wicket; were cautious, though Ell now and again attempted a forcing stroke without getting anything. Ward had a let-off when the ball, being snicked, was missed by the 'keeper.. This was bad luck for Cromb, who was bowling well enough to have the batsmen thinking hard. His luck changed, ; however, when he gained Ell's wicket. The batsman played forward and missed. The ball was not taken cleanly by the 'keeper, and rebounded from his gloves on to the top of the wicket as the 'keeper pushed his hands forward, but by this time Ell's bat was down within the crease and it came as a surprise to see Ell given out. 64—3—0. , Meanwhile Merritt had been brought on at the northern end and Lamason (the next batsman to appear) got a ball from him away to leg for 4. ; Apart from this Ward and Lamason were quiet against both Cromb and Merritt. MORE WICKETS FALL. It /was not long before the batsmen were .parted. Ward came right across his wicket to a ball from Merritt and, being struck on the pad, he was given out Jbw—a method, of dismissal going heavily .against him this season. 70—4 Rainbird was next and he started off quite enterprisingly. Lamason began ,to look more eagerly for runs, but his young.partner was not destined to re- ! main long. Tempted out by Merritt when he had made*only six runs Rainbird was easily stumped. 81—5—6. From quite a good beginning Wellington had slumped badly, and it was " now up to Lamason and Blandford to improve a far from healthy situation. The visitors were on their toes, their fielding was keen, and there were numerous appeals. Merritt had the batsmen feeling for him at times, but Graham was not so troublesome. Graham had come on again to give Cromb a spell, the captain having done remarkably well in getting two wickets for seven runs in nine overs, four of which were maidens. BETTER HEADWAY. With the total at 89 Cromb came back again, and Blandford pulled one of his deliveries to the ropes.' The same batsman drove Merritt through the covers to, the boundary, and then brought 100 up with a boundary hit to leg. The innings had been in progress 108 minutes. Lamason and Blandford having effected something of an improvement, . Cromb changed the bowling again, Roberts replacing Merritt (two for 43 off 18 overs). No sooner had he made a splendid cut for a'brace than he was missed by the 'keeper off Roberts. At that stage Lamason had- made 18. At the other end Bellamy was brought into the attack for the fiflal over before lunch, and one of the lefthander's deliveries was punched by

Blandford through point to the fence. The total at the adjournment was 112 ] for five wickets—Lamason 18, Bland-1 ford 21. Lamason looked like staying on until going well forward to turn a ball from Merritt he failed to connect, and was easily stumped. Lamason's stand was worth more to the side than the 28 runs made by the captain, who hit only two 4's. The partnership added 71 runs to the Wellington account. 152—6—28. Parsloe did not neglect scoring opportunities, and one ball from Cromb he pulled hard to the pickets. Blandford continued on his way confidently, and,by 2.30 p.m. the total had reached 165 for six wickets—^Blandford 55, Parsloe 7. Proceedings after lunch were followed with interest by quite a large gathering of spectators. Lamason and Blandford, realising that a groat deal depended upon- them, wended their way along to good purpose, and were, not disturbed to any extent by bovyling changes. Runs were not easily gained, the visitors having the strokes well covered, but the account was advanced steadily. BLANDFOKD'S HALF CENTURY. Blandford eventually became more Corceful, and runs came from his bat very freely. In a brief space" therewere.three boundary hits from his bat. He,had forged well ahead of his partner, and was accorded a round of applause on reaching his half century— a performance worth while at a vital stage of the innings. LOCAL SIDE OUT. Shortly afterwards Parsloe with another big hit off Cromb to his credit was bowled by the Canterbury captain. 169—7—11. Newman was next, but did not remain long. Lifting a ball from Cromb to the off, he gave Cobden a neat running catch. 173 —B—o. • ? • Blandford did his best to make the most of the dying stages of the innings, but his was the next wicket to fall. He tipped a ball from Merritt, and was caught behind. His valuable 62 included. eight 4's. 176—9—62. The last man was Blundell, Griffiths already being at the crease. Spectators found much to their liking in the last-wicket partnership. There were cheers when Blundell hit a ball from Merritt towards the pavilion for 6. Other scoring • strokes by both batsmen helped the tail to wag entertainingly. Blundell had made 16 when he was given out stumped. The innings closed at 2.55 p.m. with Wellington's total at 196. * Bowling honours were shared by Cromb and Merritt, who took four and five wickets respectively. The Canterbury 'keeper had a hand in five of the dismissals! Details:— WELLINGTON. First Innings. Moloney, b Cromb 23 O'Brien, lbw, b Roberts ■....• 36 Ell, st. Jackman, b Cromb 0 Ward, lbw, b Merritt 5 Rainbird, st Jackman, b Merritt 6 Lamason, st Jackman, b Merritt .. 28 Blandford, c Jaekman, b Merritt 62 Parsloe, b Cromb 11 Neivman, c Cobden, b Cromb ... 0 Griffiths, not out 4 Blundell, st Jackman, b Merritt .. Iff Extras ..'... 5 r Total ...-.' 196