A FEW THOUGHTS ON CRICKET.

Evening Star, Issue 5589, 5 February 1881, Page 2 (Supplement)

A FEW THOUGHTS ON CRICKET.

. Have the Cricket Association determined to let drop the matter of the exhibition certain members of the Otago Twenty-two made of themeelves in the Australian match ? The conduct of the persons referred to has been very s .verely criticised outside of Dunedin, and there ia aome interest felt aa to whether the Association will take any steps to assert their authority. One of the offenders has, I believe, expressed bia regret that he Bhould have acted in a way unbecoming of a true cricketer, but the other has taken up a defiant attitude, ao far as the Association are concerned.; He regaidij their attempted interference aB beyond their functicna, and does not seek to extenuate or justify his action. If the Association understand their position they will deoline to allow thia player to figure in any match they control, until Euch time aa he submit* to their authority and excuses or justifies himself. It ia no secret that the Match Committee, of the Association are experiencing the

utmoflt difti julty in getting together a team to repreeout Oi3go iu the Interprovincial match at the cud of the month. Nor iB any attempt made to conceal the matccuvres of thestring-pullers who are doing their level best to thwart the t-ftbits of the Committee. The latter, at the outlet tf thdr labor*, had the misfoi tune—aome people call it a mistake —to pass over the cl.inis of the captaia and deputy-captain of the Carubrock Club to be included in the eleven, or at all even's in the selection from which the teem will bo finally chosen ; and report pays that those pentlemen consider themselves insulted in consequence. With their feelings, or with the reasons that actuated the Match Committee I h&vo no catcjrn whatever. One tile have the Presa open to them to set themselves right with the public, if tie/ bo desire; the Ma'o'i Committee are respostible to the A a cation, and aro cure to hear from the marab«rs (f that body at tfc* proper time, if they have teen partial, or acted in a vindictive Wn»t interests me as a cricketer and the publio alio, I take leave to think, is that ths state-meat in going the rounds, and has aot been contraoioW, that for the reason jast advAuced the captain of the Orisbrook Club has button-holed those members of Ma Ciab who wera &eleukfd to practioe for the m»t*-h and persuaded a ra&j rity of th-m to make common oause with him. The result has be»n that the Committee aavo received information taut four or five of the leading raeraber* ©f t'r e Carisbrook Club do noi inteud to take part in the iakerprovii.c'al matoh. Inability to obtain tho required ieava of abseuco is andersfcood to be the excuse pleaded by all ; bull when it ia mentionad in orloketing circles it la r-o*iv«d with a dnbiona shak® oi the head, the significance of which it is impossible to misunderstand. The eervioee of »)me of these men can be ill spuvd, tut ;t does not follow that they are uut replaceable in suae mMiner. F->r the hoecr of the Otego district, which is at stake, I trust that the Match Committee will not allow the match to fall through. They mu ,t strain every nerve to show ihomielve* equal to the occasion. Let tkm come boldly before the cricketing portion of the public, put them in possession of tha actual nets, and I am »ure their appeal will nt to in vain. The country, if applied to, cm furnish a costingent whieb, while pos»ibly not equal in e»very departrreat of the gitne to those who have backed out, will do honest servic* for Oiago. Were it even a thorough scratch team that we send asalast they would, in the circumstance*, command the respect of thair opponents and carry with them the sympathy ef every lo\©r of the game. Apropos of the Interproviacial match, an old Obago player, now resident in Canterbury, writea hopefully of car ohaaoce, saying:—"Of one thisg I am quite satisfied, and that is that if the Otago men plek their team at once, and the men play well together, they can win this match. I hope yon will try and bring about this result, bnt ; Hit, great thimj is for U\a men to work itell together." I am nob so aaDguir-e as the writer, who has played for this Provincial ddatricfc; but I thoroughly endorse his advioe, which, if aoted on, will awursdly avert the possibility of a oruihing defeat. Twas a gbrlouj victory. The Aus'-ralians laid themselves out to wipe cut the defeat *f three yosrs ago, and right well did they accomplish their task. True, tha F.fwen who oppos< d them were not ce strong as thoaa who did battle for C*aterbnry m IS7B, nor were they so well generalled. A. M. Ollivier has not the judgment northefaonlfcy to immediately grasp tha point* ef ft gave that the late W. F. NeiUon po»see«ed. Perple outside of Carletchnroh thought It would have baea muih better had eighteen been played, but the eelect few who rule the orloketing roast in the sister oapital Ecouteel the idea. Soimpret«-d were some of Item with their own abilities that fcke proposal was fur a time seriously debated ef (laying the Australians on level terms ! The play on bath sides was bo minutely described daring the progress of the match that there is rery little left now to be sal 1 in legird to is. Tb* Australians were so confidant of ft vie* tory that tbey freely baoked thenfeelves at odds, but not a wager oould they j*t *a. The only wagers of any extent that were taken were obtained by a few Southrew, whoso antipathy to Christchurca "blew" led them to exceed the bonnds ef sHseretioe. At the outset of the game, the winning of the toss by o!livi«r was regarded as a favorable omen. The wicket Sfapier provided was in tplendid o-edition, thongu it mbaeqaently betrayed a tead*oay to " kiok," and it was theugWt that the Fifteen were good for 12© at ltwwt. Bat the bowling of the "demon" and P*Jaer, together with, the grand all-round fielding of the Bloven, did its work. Brorybody ©» Hagley Park last Saturday rejoioed that Secretin was top scorer. Daring the Eeaeon he has been dinplaying rare form, and his piformance in the first innings of Canterbury proved his claim to be considered the best bat in Chdstchurch. Had his oaptaia seen fit to have sent him in earlier I have little doubt that he would have attained the half a century. The colts were seiz-d with unmistakoable fuuk. Reeves, Cotterill, Redmayne, and Hartland played to P*lmer like men in a dream. Of the Australians' innings oomplete accounts have been supplied. In my humble judgment Slight played the inniDga of the match. When he was hurt he was well set, and if he had not been compelled to retire there is no saying for how long he might have continued his partnership with hia oapUin, nor to what he might have assisted to carry the score. When ha returned he piled on his runs, tut never gave the semblance of a chance. Every ball that was on the wicket he played with rare judgment, but when it was at all off he puniahed it properly. His companions wore very glad to eee him come off, a* up to this match his New Zealand performances showed him to be off with his batting. Murdoch, who was anxious before he reached Christctmrch to back himself to make the century, played a dashing inninga, but It waa spoikd by the innumerable chdncea he gave. He should have been run out when he had scored one, and have been caught btf ore he had reachod twenty. A* at Danedin and elsewhere, he lot eff all the legballs, but was down on every one that had the slightest tendency to the off. The display made by Groube and Blackham was very un'n'erestinj; Boyle got his rune in hi.» oustomary free and quick style, and Tobin's 31 were the outcome of a solid defence. Spofforth was bowled by a ball that he did not credit Fuller with the power to send down, Jarvis was a victim of his own foUy, and M'D innell of Wd luck. The last-mentioned, who nut to Murdoch ia the best bat in the Eleven, has been siDgularly unfortunate in this Ci-lony. He has°developed a disposition to slog, which costs him hia wicket very early. But at Christehurch he seemed bent on giving the folk a teste cf hia quality, and was playing proper cricket, when Fowler made an appeal for a catch, which the Christehurch umpire, mistaking the cl'ck of the batsman's glove (which was unfastened) against the bat for that produced by the ball, allowed. A noticeable feature of the play was the manner in which the Australians kept the bowling down. Except the otohoa given by Blackham and Alexander, there was nothing approaohing high hitting. The Canterbury bowlera seemed afraid to pitch up the ball. Canterbury's teoond innings was a surprise. B if ore the luncheon adjournment on Tueeday eight of the best wickets had gone for 75 runs ; and the end seemed rery nosr at hand. Bat tie "demon" put the pace on, regardlees of the state of the wicket, and he was got at properly by the veteran Fowler, who knocked uphiaruns in doable quick t'me. In the early part of the day was bowling well within himself, and putting on a marvellous break, but the ground was so cut up that the balls would just skim the top of the wiokets. To Corfe and Leach he sent down some cf the deadliest balls I ever saw him deliver. Had he kept up the same pace throughout there can be no question that Canterbury would never have seen the century, because none of the other batsmen proved troublesome. Hartland was very few whea he gave the oaaiest of chances to stump him, but to the wender of the ba'sraan and everybody else Blackham declined to avail himself of It. With that exception he played a oapital InniDg*. The other colta stood up better to ths bowling, but they were utterly at a kei te play It. The ire* pond ranee of extras was due entirely to Spoffjrth's increase of paoe. Most of the

b*lls that Blackham let pais him he calculated on taking tho ticket, and made no effort to stop them. Save the let-off by Blackham, and the maifiag of L?aoh by Alexander, the fielding of the Australians waa simply perfection. Murdoch at long-off was neither more nor less than a wonder, by reason of the ground he covered. Fully 30 ran* did he alone £ave; whilst he must be credited with a cou-Ie of sansational catcher. Boyle at midon was another wonder; and Jarviamadeamagu fio-ntcatch. The finding of the Fifteen on the first day had not a redeeming I cannot conooive what oama over the men. It waa bard to believe that the majority of them had so greatly distinguished themselvts three years before, or that it was of them we had heard such encouraging reports. Cowli it hare been that the men felt effects of over-training? Compared with ihe Ducedin Twenty-two the Fifteen's fielding was a wretohed exhibition, and it was gesierally admitted that tho like of It had never been seon < n Hagley Parkin a first-olass match. They pulled themselves somewhat together on the Tuesday, bat even then their Aiding was far short of what the oeoaaioa should have produced. Trophies were given to Palmer an 4 to S3cretan for bowliag, aad to Fuwle* f>r batting. The award to Secret**, decs not give satisfaction ; n»r is it fair, in tho absenoo of any express coadiVion. Unquestionably W. Hrith was the best bowler on the Canterbury tide. Hs bowlad throughout the better part of two days, aad on theTaesday iiiu<thavoßeotdown Het fewer than 200 balls at an expanse cf not m*rs than 20 rm b. It was tho bad fielding that prevented him shawiag a bettor average. The afcteadanco at the match waa enormous, bat tho results financially were very disappointing. The takings during the three dajs were under L 40 8; aad lam within th« mark whea I say that over 30,000 persons witnessed the game. This would average lees than f«urp*nca a-head Being a public reserve no charge csuld be made f»r admission, and it waa left to the visitor to drop what coin he or she pleased into the bigs. The liberality tf tho people was not conspicuous. I saw many in well-to-do positions ooroe to fee gate, aooompan'ed by half-a-doz*a ladies, acd deposit one shilling ia the bag. Of oourss, when the private ground on the Ferry r »ad is finished a fixed charge f r ; admission will bo made; and on the occasion of the next iatercolon : a! contest the Canter- : bmy Cricket AssccV-ion will in all probability rccaive much more than L'3o9 as their ba'f-ohare of tha gross pr< c • ds. The viotoy | of the Australians, crushing though it was, waa v, ry popular in Canterbury. The people have sever had sympathy with the uppish notions of tha clique who control matters ' cricket in tho capital, anl who lost their i heads because victory was with them in 1873, ! whan tho Australians held them too oheaply. The Press outside Ohristohswh advise the | aforesa'd oliijue to take to heart the lesson the defeat is intended to teaofa, sad to prcc 1 t-'s* a little humility. I have had £«nt to ma some doggrel published in one of the Timaru papers, and my correspondent adds : •' The lines are not Al, but the seatiment is good." " One of the Fifteen " olaims to be ■ the author j W« tried oar best t* Make a t,Und, Bub tkoro, it made eae sigh S» so* tha w»y the " Denwa " Wwled, Aad t*Ue oar timbers fir. Oh ! surety >«rer sack a wab Hare wt reoerred befwo. The C»rist(Aarch tee« -of cream the oream— Aad just le«k *t ww sears! He ? arioketerS of Ohriatofaarck, Where l« jew beeettag n<#w ? Weep, weee>, ui read year hair, foV y<m Are Uadljr vfcoe>p«d I tow. He ! galtaat truadlew o* the ball, So w*«dor r«« leak Wtw; IW* tiy Fifteen aa«tker time, B«t Bttatc to Twe*ty-two»

COVHK POINT.