CRICKET.

Evening Star, Issue 13004, 26 December 1906, Page 7

CRICKET.

OTAGO v. CANTERBURY. FIRST AXD SECOND DAYS' PLAY. When stumps wero drawn yesterday shortly before six Otago's second innings had been completed for a few more runs than their first innings score, and Canterbury were set 249 runs to win. This left the game very open, though most teams would prefer to have that number of runs on than to have to make them. Canterbury's first innings realised 165, which was considerably less than was generally expected from 6uch a strong batting side on such a wicket. Sims sent in Lusk and Anthony. The former batsman has an average of something over a century in dirfetchurch club cricket, but onco or twice, when opposite Downcs, lie did not seem at home,' and very early he gave Fisher at point a sharp chance. After making 8 he dragged one on to his wicket, the total then being only 10. Patrick got no chance to show what he was made of, for he was easily stumped straight away in reaching forward to Downes. Two wickets for 10 was not a promising 6tart for Canterbury, but the next man in, Ollivier, has many a time proved himself a very dogged batsman, and with Anthony—oik- of the most promising of tho Christchurch colts—he set about improving matters. Anthony played good cricket, making several sweet strokes on the off. Yet lie gave the impression of being liable to lose hie wicket any minute, caught in the slips or by the wicket-keeper, for though he made two or three nice cuts, he was constantly playing for that stroke and missing the ball by a shade. He survived one appeal for a catch behind the wickets, and, with Ollivier, took the score to 50, made at tho same rate as most of tho Otago's scoring—a run a minute. Kckhoff was given a try at the howling crease in place of Dowries, but the break in the partnership was accomplished at the other end by Fisher, who sent up a slow one which Anthony tried to hit out of the ground and missed through hitting across at it. Anthony had made 35 out of the 50 runs scored. Ho batted about lifty minutes, and gave no chance in a taking innings in winch were included four 4's. Whitta joined Ollivier. and cs the bowling was good a-nd neither batsman was inclined to take any risks the onlookers had rather a. dreary time. Then Ollivier Tattled on a few at Fisher's expense, and Downes was brought back again, very nearlv getting the tall Canterbury man wittThis iirst "ball. At length Kckhoff got a good ball past Whitta's defence, the fourth wicket falling at 77. Whitta had batted a long time for only 8. Sims is not usually so low down on any batting list as sixih. and as events proved it wns rather fortunate for Otago that he did not go in earlier. He speedily gave evidence re his batting form that disproveel the whispers of adverse criticism on his inclusion that came from Christchurch. The prospect of a Sims-Ollivier partnership was not altogether relished by Otago sympathisers, but this one did not "last long. They took the scoro from 77 to 83, and then Ollivier was plcndidlv taken one-handed in the slips by Eckhoff from a mis-hit. His 25 runs took 6ixty-five minutes to make, but ft "was a useful and characteristic innings—strong defence with an occasional powerful stroke He hit four 4's. Sims kept going to the tirro for drawing stumps on Monday, when Canterbury's record was 130 for seven wickets ; Reid and Bain being the other batsmen disposed of. The former was smartly taken by Williams, and the' latter put one t-oftly into Wilson's hands at square-leg. Sims's score was then 41. made at the rate of about a run a minute by well-nigh perfect cricket. The only stroke that was not along the carpet was a low drive at 40 to mid-off that Graham made a big effort- to reach. Sims was tho only man on tho Canterbury side to play Downes all through with absolute confidence and surenesa. His decision whether to go forward or wait back and cut him was very marked, and all his strokes were crisp and true. Fisher got one very close to Sims's wicket before tho batsman had scored many —so close that- Williams was sold and lei, it go for 4 byes. Play was resumed ycrterriay, at 2 p.m., be-fore a moderate attendance, who, together with the players, found the weather a trifle warm, for cricket. Bennett ran into double figure?, and then fell to a splendid catch at third nun by Ackroyd. Boxilwll gave lis-s trouble than is ofUn the cafe, and Malonc gave none at a]!. S : :n«, meanwhile, had been busy, and carried out his bat for 59. marred only by a hot return to Fisher ii hen his score was: 54. His runs wee made in a style that entitle? him ence mure to bo placed at or very near tho top of Xew 'Zealand batsmen. fie was meeting goad 3ei»Kng. for Downes, Fisher, and Eekhotf ill bowled up to form, and Otago's fielding also was decidedh- good : Siedeberg, as u.Tial. doing great work at cover-point. AVilhams kept wickets splendidly. The Canterbury innings lasted 2h 20min, less than tbrce-ouarter hour's play yesterday sufficing to dispose of the three remaining wicket*.

Otago began their second 111111055 rhortly before three, and were all out in about three houre for 211. Wilson changed the first innings batting order, rending Graham in with Ackroyd. The latter had a short life this time." Tho Canterbury men had discovered bis weakness. Ollivier came up close to his bat at silly point, and took a soft catch off Malone's slows. The total was then only 7, but tbe next partnership took it to 78. Howden and Graham seemed to find no difficulty in playing tho Canterbury bowling, which was entrusted at first to Bennett and Malono. The latter needed a good deal of watching. Graham several times danced out to drive him, but changed his mind, and contented himself with simply playing the ball. Runs were not easy to get" however. The bowling was mostly on tho off. and Sims and Ollivier, standing deep at mid-off and cover-point respectively, stopped any number of drives that bad all the wood on. Graham got a beauty between them to the boundary in Bennett's first over, and later on he and Howden began to punish Malono, who was taken off after bowling nine overs, and replaced by Ollivier. There was a strong cordon of three men in tbe slips to Bennett's bowling, but three times Graham sent the ball between them to the boundary with some prettily-executed late cuts, while Howden pleased tho onlookers mightily with his neat leg glances. It was excellent cricket. Graham proved conclusively that his batting Fkill has not left him, while Howden sailed along in that unconcerned imperturbable way of his, meeting the ball with the full facfl of tho bat, mostly with a good deal of power behind it. One of his square off drives went over cover-point' 3 head to the boundary with just the same sting Darling used to put into this stroke. The pair showed good running between the wickets, and the] longer they were associated tho faster they scored, though t'ue rate of run-getting 'way never out of tho ordinary. At length Graham jumped out to Ollivier and was stumped. His 35 was made without a chance, and included four 4's. Roughly s-peaking. he was batting hji hour and a-half, play being interrupted for a time while Bosshall got a badly-damaged thumb bound up. Siedeberg joined Howden, and Otago's good start was maintained. This partnership was responsible for 10 runs, and as the century was posted with only two wickets down matters looked decidedly htalthy for Otago with their lead of 77 on the first innings. At 118, however, Howden touched one of Bennett's, and was weE caught by Lusk in the slips. Howden bit nine 4V, and this was the only bad :trok» in 0 fine inning?. It would be a nice point to settle whether he or Sims showed the finer batting. The Canterbury man gave * chance", hut was perhaps superior in the art of placing the ball. Three for 118 was tbe score as Bakor joined Siedeberg. Sims at onco went on bowling for tho veteran'.* benefit, and one over sufficed. Baker did not enjoy the luck he had had in his first innings, which was not the best he has played. He got well on to a full

toss, and -was caught near thp square-leg boundary for a single. With four wickets "down for 119 Austin joined Siedeberg, but the Carisbrook pair had only added 11, when" Siedeberg wastaken on the off from OUivier's bowling. His 25 was a serviceable innings, but was not made in quite ' his best form of last season. However, it contained numerous good strokes, especially on the off, where the field was difficult to break through. Wilson joined Austin, but lost-him after they had raised the fcore from 130 to 160. Austin was taken in the slips off L,usk, toe ball glancing off BoxshalTs gloves after having the bat. Austin, as usual, played , very correctly, and seemed more inclined . to vigor than usual. Lusk got another , wicket before long, for Fisher, after mak- | ins a couple of pretty strokes—one a gem , of a drive to the off boundary—returned one to him. To many bowlers it would not have been a chance at all, bnt Ims-K brought off a great catch, and for the second tune this match Fraher had to retire caught and bowled in brilliant fashion. The seventh wicket fell at 171, and Downes added 5. and then put his leg in front. Wilson had then scored about 20, made in alternate periods? of quiet play and vigorous p'ay. For feme time Wilson seemed to . have difficulty in playing Ollivier. Then iu one over the Otago skipper cut lnm square to the boundary twice and also latecut him also to the 'boundary—all perfect i and finished strokes. ;\s soon as Williams joined AYilson, . tbo Otago captain yccined to have resolved to let liis partner do all the scoring while he went for tho not-out—at any rate, he did not fro for the bowb'ng. Bv vigorous bitting William« took the score from 174 to 187, tho addition of 13 for tho ninth-wicket partnership all coining from his bat. There was eomc speculation as to whether Otago would reach tho second century, but Eckhoff followed Williams's example. He mixed scientific strokes with some of his > own specialities in the mowing line, but ho got them to the boundary. After scoring 19 out of the 24 put on by tho last wicket, he- skied one to mid-off, and 01livier held it. . ' OtagoV score did not- pan out so well as the early prospect* indicated. At one time the telegraph showed 110, and only J two wickets had fallen. But no batsmen > was given a second life. Canterbury's fielding was superb. Not a catch was mistrd bv them during tho innings, and ft>me of those taken were out of tho com- \ jnon. Their ground fielding, too, was ex- i cellent. despite the heat. Ollivier, at mid- j off, must have saved his side 30 or 40 ; runs by his brilliancy, iureness, and the j amount of ground ho covered, while his activity iu fielding, to his own bowling : occasionally approached eccentricity. He | is undoubtedly one of the hardest grafters j in the New Zealand cricket field. Boxshall ! showed iome pluck in continuing to keep wickets after having the lop joint of his thumb split oven to the home. It seemed to make no difference to his play, as the extras oulv totalled 5. Tho Canterbury howling was not difficult. Bennett was on prettv continuously, and bowled veiy steadilv, though with only moderate re>ult?. ' Malorie, who opened at one end, for some reason or other was not given a \ s'-cond trial with the hall. Lusfc appeared least difficult of all (except Bead, whoso ,' f?w overs were treated with scant courtesy), vet. a.isisted by the capture of tho two tailend wickets, he came out with the average, if Sims's solitary " 1 over, 1 run, 1 wicket" is excepted. Scores:

Otaco. First innings •- ••■ 202 Second Innings. E. Ackrovd, c b Malone ... 0 H. Grahnfn. st Borshall, b Ollivier ... o7 C E. Howden, c Lusk, b Bennett ... 62 H. Siedeberg, « Head, b Ollivier ... 23 J. Baker, c • b Sims 1 G. G. Austin, c l'atrick, b Lusk ... 15 C. I"}. Wilson, not out 25 A. H: Fisher, c and b Lusk 8 A. Downes. Ibw. b Bonn.-tt 3 V. Williams, c Sims, b Lusk 13 H. Eckhoff, c Ollivier, b Lusk 19 Extras ~ 5 Total 211 Bowling Analvsis.—Lusk, 64 balls, 1 maiden, 33 runs) 4 wickets; Ollivier. 66 balls 3 maidens, 'lO runs, 2 wickots; Bennett, 168 balls, 5 maidens, 82 runs, 2 wickets; Sims. 6 balls, 1 run, 1 wicket: Malone, 54 balls. 2 maidens. 27 ruDs, 1 wiekot; Bead, 18 balls, 23 runs. . Cakterburt.—First Innings. Lusk, b Downes - Anthony, b Fisher 35 Patrick, st Williams, b Downes ... 0 Ollivier, e Eckhoff, b Downes 25 Whitta, b Eckhoff 8 Sims, not out 59 Road, c Williams, b Downes 8 Bain, c Wilson, b Fisher ... ._ ... 0 Bennett, c Ackroyd, b Fisher 10 Boxshall, b Dowries 6 Malone, st Williams, b Downes ... .„ 0 Extras .„ _„„_ _. 6 Total -. 165 Bowling Analysis. —Downes, 137 balls, 4 maidens, 65 runs, 6 wickets ; Fisher, 144 balls, 6 maidens, 69 TUX 6, 3 wickets ; Eckhoff, 54 balls, 5 maidens, 25 runs, 1 wicket. ENGLISH TEAM v. WELLINGTON. First Day.—Tcespat. The innovation of cricket on Christmas Day was a groat success, judging by the attendance to see the Englishmen play their first match in Wellington, for though no trams were running, there were some 4,000 people on the ground in tho afternoon. Tho day was sunny but breezy, and the grourxl very fast. The ball fairly bounded on it, and "it was difficult to stop a. good hit reaching the boundary. The fielding of the local men, however, was very good, and many fine strokes were well stopped. The visitors wero fortunate enough to get first hit, and as thev are already feeling tho effects of constant travelling they were not sorry to miss an afternoon's' fielding. Burns was in excellent form, and with Harrison put on 64 runs at the start. Upham bowled in a way that forbade many runs bcirg made, but tho Englishmen did well until Monaghan went on. He secur<»d three wickets quickly, and had two difficult chances missod as well off him. Branston scored smartly, but so far tho visitors have scarcely batted up to expectations. England having won tho toss, Johnson and Douglas began batting, _ Upham and Tucker bowling, the latter with the wind behind him. Douglas ■ survived an appeal for lbw first ball, out Johnson had barely timo to get in three or four nice boundary hits when Upham was successful with a second appeal, and Douglas had to leave. 22 I—s. When Harrison came in Johnson miss-hit Tucker, and by a groat effort Hawthorne held the catch at cover, rolling over in doing so. 24—2—15. Burns joined Harrison. Both men got occasional 4's off the slow bowler, but trtaied Upham, who was very straight, with great respect. A drive by Harrison for 3 was the onlv stroko of consequence made from him for a number of overs. At 44 Brico relieved Tucker. A run was stolen from his first ball, which nearly cost Harrison his wicket. With tho help of a fine off drive bv Burns 50 appeared at 3.25. As the men got set they began to hit with more confidence. Soven were scored off an over of Upham's, and at 60 he gave wav to Monagnan. Harrison gave a difficult chance off his second ball at mid-on, for which Collins did not start 60on enough. Nest over Burns.drove Brice three times for 4, making ,76 for an hour's 1 play. Brico was thereupon changed for ; Cobcroft, who had tho pleasure of seeing Burns send him over the ropes to leg, 9 1 in all coining from his- first over. In Monaghan's rest over Harrison ivas stumped. 90—3—19. Two balls later Page was bawled. Cobcroft made amends for his bad beginning by bowling SimpsonHavward with the second ball sent down to "him. The batsman played forward, missed it, and seemed very surprised to find himself out. 93—5—1. Branston 1 joined Bums, and assisted to bring 100 up. Burns at the same time reaching 50. Cobcroft's next over produced 9, mostly to Branston, and the score was advancing very quickly when Burns at last returned one to Monaghan. 111-r6—sl. His was a vigorous innings, and included n. 6 and j seven 4's. With Torrens and Branston | Alogother, Tueksr comeback to tlio_creaseJ

A. better change would have been UphaUß, who had been Trawling well. Tucker was hit for 4, and a number of singles followed. Monaghon, however, stuck, the batsmen up, and off him Branston gave a hot chance at leg, which Beechey stopped, but could not hold it. Just as another change seemed advisable Monaghan bowled Torrens. 137—7—8. Branston, who had boen scoring: briskly, brought 150 up with Wynyard's help, and was then caught at point in trying to cut Monaghan. 152—8 lifted Monaghan to the ropes, one of only tn-o boundaries, scored off him: Fox was nuicklv stumped, and nine wickets were down 'af 168. Tho innings closed for 204. Scores: — ' ExcLAND.-rFirst Innings. Johnston, e Hawthorne, b Tucker ... 15 Douglcs, low, b Uphain ... ... ... 5 Harrioon, st Williams, b Monaghan ...: 19 Burns, c and b Monaghan. ~. 51 Page, b Monaghan ... Simpson-Hay ward, b tjobcroft ...- ... 1 Branston, c Hicksou. b Monaghan ... 32 Torrens, b Monaghan ... 8 Wvnyaid, not out ... ... ... •-- ■'. 27 Fox, st Williams, b Monaghan 6 May. c Bricc, b Monaghan ._ _. 29 "Extras 9 Total ■•• 204 Bowling Analysis.—Uph?m, 1 wicket for 18; Tucker, 1 "for 30; Monaghan, 7 for 50 ; Brico, 0 for 23 ; Cobcroft, 1 for 48. Wellington had halt an hour's batting, and lost Hickson (101 and Collins (11) for 27. Tho sum of £350 was taken at the gate. "