CRICKET NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 15729, 17 February 1915, Page 9

CRICKET NOTES

[By Wallaby.] —Position of First Oracle Teams to Date.—

Though no rain fell on Saturday afternoon ciicket was made more or less unpleasant bv reason of a. fairly strong and, at times, cold wind. The breeze bad onegood effect, however, it dried the wickets, which had suffered from the previous night's heavy rain. 'There was some bright batting on the centre wicket at Ce.ris'orook, where- the home dub's B team met Si KiMa-._ It will he remembered thai in the previous match between these two team* St. Kilda spfang a surprise by defeating their opponents bv 3 run*, a result largely _ due to the excellent all-round play ot 1. Livingstone. On Saturday the Carisbrook eleven out•jlaved the seasides in every department, i-.r.d tamed a substantial moral victory. Moia! victories, however, do not count '*n Hie p-endership list- to the points were divided, Kiida getting one for thenBeure -vi 76 for eight wickets, and Carisbiook ,me for tluir score of 312 for s:x a-i.'kcU. In addition to eetting a lot <,i runs, the •'!>" hatMiien got them bv free, attrac;ive cricket. For instance, the first 100 ner.t up in 55 minutes, 150 in 84 minutes, 200 in 107 minutes, and 512 in 2 hours 26 minutes. There i* nothing wrong with tfiis rate of scoring. West'oio.ik and Nugent opened the tunings, and both began to score quickly, even Nugent being more aggressive than is his wont, and scoring fours from nice stroke*. Nugent- has a very effective cover hit. which lie brings into play on the proper ball. Westbrook mado a lot of rhanu'teiLstic sweeping idiots, somewhat unorthodox, it is true, but productive of boundary hits, of which he got 16 in all. When these two had taken the score to 134 Nugent plaved forward half-heartedly to Genrce Edwards, missed, and was bowled. Ho had made. 47 of the total, 28 of them from boundary hits. Westbrook went, on till he had reached 99. when, just is his comrades in the reserve were making ready to applaud his next scoring ft rake, lie lashed out. at MTavtrn's first tall a v id was clean-bowled. Thus narrowly ;lid Westbrook miss the distinction of being the first batsman lo make two centuries this season in club cricket. He

g?vc- no chancer. Tuckwell got coin:: again, and by a neat find attractive display scored 72 in 63 miontes. The «c-Victonan got ;s go:»d many runs from the hook stroke, and also made pome nice leg hits, though he, in cominon with the majority of the Oarisbreok batsmen, misssd a lot of leg stuff. Tuclcvell. who bit eleven fours, was out to a. good catch behind the wickets, Kerr tak3iii; the. ball on the leg side. Watson fell to a lofty hit to long-leg. Ward—who had moved round from a mare forward position—taking the catch. ]t is not often Watson hoists the ball in this way, his strokes being mostly along the cavp'jt. Ramsden had a brief stay. He just got doubles, ami then let out at fc. straight one fr-.un Livingstone, missed, and paid the penalty. Cameron played carefully for fome 20 minutes, but he, too, could not tesisl a "lash" at Livingstone. This time Ih-e ball was hit, but landed in the safe hands ot George. Edwards in tVn> longfield. Loinas and Hardie had a. niCTiy partnership. Both of them hit hard and often, and rattled up a l in a quarter of an hour.' Watson then "declared," the tinio being 10 minutes to 5. Though the St. Kilda men to he keen .enough, their fielding was patchy. Occasionally a good stop and pick-up we.ro manV. but generally speaking the work w,is uncertain. " The field, too, was badly placed ; frequently men covered each other, ami accommodating gaps wre left through which the; twill passed unmolested to the boundarv. Kerr, as usual, kept vifkrts '.veil. The bowling lacked sting, nnd nißtiv short-pitched balls were severely puuishfd. Livingston-?. Fdwards. and \Vard scut down an occasional good one, but as. a rule length and direction were rrratit-

At 5 nYln-ek St. Kilda began their innings, but it was "a. long, long way to Tlpperaiy," and realising the impossibility of making tho runs, they set t>> work to stonewall. The result was a. display of p.bsoluiely spiritless batting. Very few soaring stroke* were attempted, and maiden overs were plentiful. T. Living, stone wa-s once Trove top-scorer, but though his pffoit was doubtless valuable to his sid-e in the circumstances, it was awl'u' wearisome to "watch. He was Ih loniiti netting double figures, and 100 minutes ■coring his 26. During his innings he got a nasty knock >">n the leg. and Harvey svnt out to run for him. Ward was in 33minutes for 12, M'C'arten 22 minutes for 4. At 7 o'clock eight wickets were down for 76—the result of two hours' " batting "—and the match was taverl. The Oarisbrook's fielding was mart, though one or two mistake© were made. Cameron dropped Ward at a rather critical stage. On the other hand Tuckwell took a nice catch in the slips, jusfc petting his right hand the ball and the ground, and sending Livingstone to the pavilion. Baivsden was easily the beet bowler: he swung away awkwardly. the wind helping him, and four of his ! '.ve wickets were caught. Nelson was right "off": the left-hander was all ove:She place, and some of his swingers were very wide to leg. He got a couple of wickets, however. Of the. 43 overs se:.t down, no let* than. 21 were maidens! King appeared to think that tho catch which disposed of him was off a bump ball. Wh<m he appealed Umpire Davenport could not give a decision, his view having P. en obstructed, bat Umpire Foster had r-i hesitation in declaring the batsman out. There was no doubt whatever about the riit.-i; : the ball rose straight from the bar to Watson, who took it waist high. Opoho made sure of one point at any rate re leaving Carishrook A just over an hour and a-half—full time—to get 249 run-. The lesult was a drawn game, the lulino t<\-im having lost five for 118 at live nenutes to 7, at which time stumps were ■drawn, there being no possibility of a. finish. .The consistent Kenny once more, got reionot the runs, scoring 44 before being inn out. ITis dismissal came, about in a p< ruliar maimer. He put up a " tuppeny " catch to Matheson at short-leg which the Jvldsmau dropped. Meanwhile Casey had jen, and Mas almost up to the other wicket vbeii the ball found the ground. Kenny, v.bo bad been watching the ball, then ran. hut was too late. The Opoho stonewal'er ■v iiu •n-t aside his usual methods and hatted quite freely at times, was third out at 127. During his stay he survived a roufldent appeal for a catch behind the v.w-ket ; Cue batsman stating that the bait lift his'pad. and the howler being equally cm tain that it touched, the Hat—so there

Anderson, the young batsman who made the fine stand with Ingram th« previous S.-..u:rdav. again showed form. * and was iipfo<-ninate in being Tun out when going frrnr'g. His 47 included, some clipping Piv.-.kes which were, made with little effort

• -.-, proof of perfect timing. He holds the bat well up the handle, ami wrist work j s not much in evidence; consequently, mo-t f.f his urns are got in front of the wicket. F" bats confidently, and should make .some n-.rve lug scores. Casey, aJthough a little streaky at first, batted freely for 56—top score. This batsman gets to work quickly, and while hj: i< at the wickets there is always " something doing." He, also, had a peculiar experience. Running well down the wicket to Hutchison, he missed, but Martin, failed to take tiie ball, the bails being knocked off with tho glove. Casey, taking it for granted that he was out. did not. attempt to get back, but started towards the pa.viliea. His comrades called from tho fence

for him to go back, which ho did—wondering, no dotibt, what the matter was. Meantime Martin had recovered the ball and pulled nut a stump. and Casey _ was obviously out. The Carisbrook skipper, however, declined to allow the appeal, and Casey went on batting. Martin's was a perfectly legitimate action, one that any wicket-keeper who plavsl the same fairly, but "up to the hilt," would take. I cannot .imagine Noble, or Darling, or Earner, or any keen rkipper being quixotic enough to give the batsman another chance in like circumstances. 11. would he just as logual to say that the fieldsmen should not have urn Kenny out because the latter, thinking he would ho caught, did not start to run soon enough. However, Casey did not stay much longer, being caught by Alloa of! Hutchison.

Moore, Evans, and Downes all hit freely towards the end of the innings; in fact, the rate of ecoring was fast all through, though the short boundary—two to the fence and four over—kept the .scores, a bit lower than they would have been with a full sized field." Attar, was the only bowler to give much trouble to tho batsmen, though even he sent down several loose ones. Baunerman's " variety" class of trundling got three wickets.'but sorely tried the wicketkeeper and added not a "few to the number of extras. Siedeberg did not bowl. The fielding was elack. Banneriuan was easily top score tor Carisbrook. He made 51. ami showed a special liking for Eckhoff, off whom he made some pretty shots between point and cover. Casey's fast off stuff, however, lie could not time, .shaping repeatedly for the cut, but finding the ball not there. iJe was missed at. deep slip, but next over Timlin took him nicely on the rails. Siedeberg made 17' in a stylo that has come to be" characteristic —getting his runs bv watchful play, and plating of tho bah for singles and twos. After a while, however, he made rather a wild hit at Casey and had his off pin knocked back. _ Casey had previously missed him in the slips oil Eckhoff, who" had reappeared for Opoho after an absence of two weeks. Alloo (lo) and Bruges (10) were not out when stumps were drawn : Albo swung them away high to leg in his usual stylo, and Binges drove well.

Apart front the misled catches Opoho fielded snnrtlv. Eckhoff took a nheeatch left, hand low"down in the slips off Casey, Martin being the victim. Ca.->oy was the most effective bowler: he kept np his pace very well, and took three of the five wickets that fell Davidson, after gettui.; 14 knocked off his first eight halls, bowled stcadi.lv, and finished, with two for '-'.O Eckhoff'did not. get a. wicket, though he should have bad SiedebergV. The Dunedin men are to bo congratulated on the fight they put up against the Colts. Indeed, with a little luck and the wicket-keeper in anything like form, the wearers of the dark blue would have had the honor of inflicting the first defeat on Crawford's boys.

The. wicket, especially at the start of the game, was patchy, but this did not altogether account for* the. downfall of the Colts for 144. Nor did Johnston, who got five wickets for 34, bowl particularly well; he. was erratic, but in spite of this, or perhaps because of this, he got them out.

Graham and (liven did bowl well. One over sent down by the young right-hander was a beauty. The first two bowls beat both Crawford and the wicket-keener, anil went for 4 byes each; the next Crawford played, but the fourth was too good for him": pitching on tbo blind spot it came on very fast and took the wicket. The Colts began badly, Galland and Alloo being out" for two runs. Galland was run out in the first over, and Alloo played inside one from Graham that was a little short of a yorker. Then Shepherd and Nicholson made a stand, butting careiulW, and gvadually bringing the score to 68. The latter played a nice, stylish innings, while Shepherd's was more subdued than usual, by reason of the fact that his favorite stroke to third man was blocked. . <© . Dunedin were fortunate m getting hell out early; the solid left-hander going first ball* Ibw, to Johnston. Crawford did not bat up to form. I understand he was feeling uneasy by reason of a damaged heel, sustained while ascending the steps after a swim. The coach got in a couple of nice straight drives in making 23. but when only 5 he had been rather badly missed bv Jack Wilkie.

Eight of the eleven failed to reach double figures, so the Dunedin bowlers did their full share, and did it well. The. fielding, too, was safe, with the exception of the wicket-keeper, who allowed 50 extras.

Les Chadwiek again played for his club, and began the innings with Crisis;. Crawford's opening over was full of incident. The first ball was poked up by Chadwiek just out of reach of Bel!; then Origg should have been run out but for the" fieldsman returning the ball to the wrong end, and finally Bell dropped Chadwiek. The two opening batsmen and Bryden were eventually bowled after playing good steady cricket. With the half century up and onlv two out, things looked promising for Duuedin. but soon there was a slump. The third and fourth wickets went at 55, the fifth at 67, and the sixth and seventh at 68. Craham and M'Kay heartened matters up. the latter laying on the wood in good style, and bringing up the century. -Again, however, there was a double disaster, both these batsmen being out at 101. and the innings closed for 105, or 40 short of the desired number. It was a great chance that the Dunedin men missed.

Alloo bowled really well, and captured four wickets for 37/ Crawford, who was below form in this department also, taking three for 51. The Colts' fielding was patchy, and bad judgment was shown in at least two instances, the ball being thrown to the wrong end when each time a rue.-imt was possible at the other end.

I hear nothing but the highest of praise for Eckhold's fine innings of 169 against Albion. Only one chance, and that a verv difficult one,' is urS e t l against him. and his runs wore got in his crispest manner. It is unnecessary to sav that a large number of them came from his favorite square cut, while his driving was also strong and sound. One straight drive went almost the whole length of the ground, and six were run for it. kckhold hit another 6 and 22 fours. He and M'Alullaii. who hatted in bis usual confident .mid forceful stylo, put on 123 for the fifth wicket.

1 think 1 am .orrcef. in saying that in almost every year Kckhold has played senior cricket, his most prolific scoring has been done m tho second half of the season. JI H always seems to get fairlv going after Christinas.

Previous to putting up his big score. Kckhold had taken live Albion wickets for 24, so his was a brilliant dav's work. J. Craham got the other live w'ickefs for 28. There was nothing at all in Albion's batling worthy of note.

Granges score of "d. j s the highest total for a senior side »> f; ir this season. Total- rnnmmr into the third ccnturv are not pi-'iitilnl u; v\\» .lav matches, tho cleelarati.m" Moping ))lal ,y teams ' from accomplishing this. /it the .-.ond-off u» ''Dave," Thomson. lipkl or. Monday evening— a bright and pleasant function. I> v tho mv—L X. Crawford voiced the desire of all who are anxious to see , ricket, go ahead in l)unedin when lie (he public t.r. attend the matches, even if, onlv for part of nil afternoon. " Don't make" the excuse that it is too mid. or the ground is a. rotten one, or the, play is bound to be slow," .said our coach, "but go, and by so doing you will encourage those who are workin s{ lini'd to push the ahead." and, in addition, you will give the players, heart," J.>.".'' also expressed the opinion that there are some good cricketers In Duncuin who would improve still further it they would only practise regularly, and, moreover, take notice of the advice tendered them by those who know a little more than they do themselves. 1 might sugas the cause of many of our cricketers getting to a certain stage and staying there this disinclination to accept hints from others. There, is too much of the

"you can't teach me anything" about some of our players. Which is amusing, because there are not many local men whose play could not be considerably improved.

F. Joplin, the young Wellington batsman who visited us "last season, made 199 not out for his club last Saturday week. He batted for four hours, and gave no chance, his cutting being described a? particularly fine. To-day the' Otago-Southland match begins at invercargili, .and I fully expect our men to gain the'honors. If Ciawford is in form, indeed, there should not be any doubt about it.

A couple of weeks ago I expressed the opinion that a bowler was quite justified in running out a batsman who was backing up too far. 1 notice that in the recent match between New South Wales and Victoria Warwick Armstrong, the skipper of the latter team, attempted to dispose of Hull, in this way. Tho attempt, however, did not come off, as Bull noticed the manoeuvre and got back quickly enough to get the benefit of the umpire's decision. When a man of Armstrong's experience and reputation does this sort of thing there should be no doubt as to the fairness of the action. —Junior Jottings. — Grange were in good batting form on Saturday, no less than seven men getting doubles "in a total of 225 for nine wickets. Veteran ". Gus " Kestieaux top-scored with 59. Kca'st and White also got into tho thirties. Carisbrook I) (for whom Wynne got 59) were easily beaten. It was a close thing between Carisbrook C and Dunedin 13, the former just getting home bv 8 runs. M'Hutchon (37) and Haynes *(2o) did some tall hitting for the Colors. Timlin got 51 for Dunedin. Bunn. a very keen player, made 20 and took four wickets.

Mornington added 3 more points to their tally by defeating High School by an innings rind 23 on a wicket that was a bit "tricky." Fred Haig, Watson, and Hope all reached the twenties, tho total being 126. Hope and Morgan put up good bowling figures —seven for 17 and eight for 59 respectively. The wicket-keeping of Anderson was first-class. M'Naught 21 and 23 shone conspicuously for the School. Evidence of tho good existing between the junior cricketers of Canterbury and Otago was given last week, when several members of the northern province's rep. team which visited Dunedin at Christmas met Vic Holderness, en route for Trenthain, and presented him with a gold sovereign case. George Russell made the presentation to the much surprised and delighted Momingtonian, whoso speech in reply is said to have been "suitable." Cheers were given for him as the train left the station. By the way. I am glad to learn that George Russell has mado some good scores since he returned from Dunedin. It is always unsatisfactory to have partisans of either of the competing teams acting as umpires, and palpably wrong decisions have caused bad feeling on more than one occasion. There surely must have been something radically wrong with the umpiring in tho second grade match Duuodin ("J v. Christian Brothers on Saturday to cause "Dave" Wilkie to take his team off the field. As all cricketers who have played against him know, the Dunedin G skipper is nothing if not a sportsman. The culminating trouble, I understand, was a decision of "not out" in tho case of a Brothers batsman caught in the long-field—two yards inside the boundary, says the Dunedin fieldsman ; just over the boundary, says the Christian Brothers umpire. A previous decision of "run out " against a Dunedin batsman who, it is alleged, was well inside the crease had irritated the home eleven. I take it that the Brothers will be awarded 3 points for tho match, but it is an unsatisfactory business, whichever way yon look at it. Tho junior team chosen to represent the province against Southland in tho match beginning to-day is a strong all-round combination, and should score a win. The wooden cup. -for which the junior

representatives pi ptago and Canterbury will in futuro compete, has been nicely mounted on a pedestal bearing a silver [date, and is now on view in the window of the Otago Sports Depot in Christchurch.

ci -r > >s IH <•* Colts ... . . 13 12 "o 1 25 Opoho . 13 8 2 3 19 Graiijjo . 13 7 4 2 16 Cansbrook "b '.'. . 13 5 4 6 12 St. KiMa , . 13 4 6 3 .11 thmedin . 13 4 7 2 10 Oarisbi'ook A '. . 13 1 7 5 7 Albion . 13 0 g 4 4