VIVIAN'S DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 153, 26 December 1936, Page 13

VIVIAN'S DAY

CANTERBURY V. AUCKLAND

(By Toleavaph.— I'ress Association.)

CHRiSTCHURCH, December 25,

Canterbury gave an unimpressive dieplny in the Plunket Shield match

against Auckland, losing six wickets for 175 runs to some fine wet-wicket bowling by H. G. Vivian. The more seasoned batsmen coped fairly well with the conditions, but after three had gone wickets fell cheaply. Play began in fine and warm weather. Canterbury won the toss and batted on a wicket which was slow after rain. The surface dried fairly rapidly under warm sunshine, but early play cut the wicket up a good deal, and the batsmen very 1 frequently left the crease to pat down scars. The pace of the wicket did not help the fast bowlers, but Vivian was in his element, and bowled 37 oyers unchanged for the excellent figures of five, wickets for 55 runs, with 13 maidens. L. R. Spring took one wicket for 37 runs, and bowled well, with an excellent length. The fielding was good, only one very hard catch being missed. The comparative batting failure could in part be attributed to the tricky wicket. All found difficulty in playing Vivian, who had a deceptive flight and made the ball kick up off the pitch. M. L. Page and C. J. Oliver, two former New Zealand representatives, were the only batsmen able to handle the bowling in the conditions. Page was careful, but whenever an opportunity offered he seized it. Oliver was very much more subdued than usual. All the bowlers kept the batsmen quiet except ,N. McMahon, the new slow bowler, who could not find a length. The teams were:— ' Auckland: H. G. Vivian (captain), P. E. Whitelaw, E. J. Dunning, G. L. Weir, M. W. Wallace, W. Carson, L. Spring, A. M. Matheson, R. A. Marshall, J. Cowie, N. McMahon, and G. Hook (twelfth man). Canterbury: I. B. Cromb (captain), M. Graham, W. A. Hadlee, C. K. Jackman, J. L. Kerr, R. E. J. Menzies, E. T. Mulcock, 'F. P. O'Brien, C. J. Oliver, M. L. Page, A. W. Roberts, and A. P Cobden (twelfth man). TROUBLE DEVELOPS. Canterbury made a goo.d start, but trouble developed as the afternoon wore on. Page and Kerr, two righthanders, opened for Canterbury to the bowling of Cowie and Matheson, both fast-medium, and were very careful. Page seemefl the keener to start scoring, but would riot be tempted by shorter balls on the off, which bumped badly at times. Vivian came on with the score at 25, relieving Cowie. Vivian flighted the ball deceptively, and the batsmen had to play him with a dead bat. He bowled three consecutive maidens to Kerr. Forty runs came in the first hour. Very soon afterward Kerr hooked a short one vigorously and Whitelaw took a good catch fairly close in. Kerr made 17, out of 42. ; Oliver followed Kerr's method of defensive play, but the wicket was obviously cutting up sq badly. that even some of Vivian's slows were bumping chest high. McMahon was brought on for his first effort in a representative game. He was very erratic, bowling full tosses or shortpitched balls which the batsmen hit hard. Page scored his fourth boundary from a ball which pitched about midwicket, and in the next over Oliver banged a full toss to the long-on boundary. McMahon gave way ,to Spring, who bowled a leg field. At tea the score was 84 for one wicket. Page brought 100 up a few minutes later with a four and a single from Vivian. Page looked for balls to hit, but when he tried an off drive the ball rose sharply and Matheson took a good catch. Page scored 73 out of 129. Hadlee pulled his first ball to Wallace, who took an excellent catch at silly mid-on." O'Brien' scored two for a miss-hit through the slips, and then another valuable wicket fell when Oliver tried to hit Vivian out of the ground and Carson took a catch just short of the fence. Oliver batted well for 35. - Cromb had a risky two through the slips before being tricked in the same way as Oliver. Carson again took the catch. Menzies shaped easily, but fell to a catch behind the wicket. Roberts and O'Brien kept their wickets intact, but without scoring many runs. O'Brien gave a hard chance to Wallace, who failed to,hold it. The two played out time.