SHEFFIELD SHIELD

Evening Star, Issue 19443, 29 December 1926, Page 5

SHEFFIELD SHIELD

SENSATIONAL SCORING RECORDS BROKEN PONSFORD 352, RYDER 335, 3 Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright, 5 MELBOURNE, December 28. ’ In the Sheffield Shield match between ’ yictoria and New South Wales the forf iner made 1,107 runs in their first in- ’ nings. Ponsford made 352, Woodfull i 133, Hendry !PO, Ryder 225, Hartkopfi 61, Liddicut 36, Ellis 63, and Blackio 27 not out. The match wdl go down in history as the breaker of a whole series of records, and especially as establishing the world’s record score, which previously stood at 1,094, made by Melbourne University against Esscndon in 1897. This was. however, only a minor match. Tlie not-out batsmen on Monday— Ponsford (334) and Hendry (86) —re- \ sumed the innings to-day _ in fine but : cool weather, and ou a wicket which, despite heavy wear, was good. After ’ playing himself in, Hendry_ got busy, ’ ana quickly brought up his century, making the partnership a second-wicket [ record for Victoria in Sheffield Shield ; matches. Off the next ball Hendry ! ended a fine innings, being smartly ! taken in the slips by Morgan off ' Mailey. Ponsford, who had now compiled 310, welcomed Ryder’s advent by notching ; the 600th run of tho innings, which had then lasted for six hours tilty minutes. ’ Ponsford, batting steadily, readied his 350 in six hours fifty-nine minutes. Ho ’ brought his wonderful effort to an end ’ two runs later. In trying to drive Mor- ' ga.n to the off the batsman pulled the ball into his wicket. His score included twenty-four 4’s. Though, be failed by 13 runs to reach Clem Hill’s record, Ponsford is tho only Australian to get twice into tho third century in first-class cricket. Ryder, who was joined by Hartkopf, continued to make the pace merry, and the seventh century was reached m seven hours three minutes. Tho smashing of two more Victorian records followed. The pair made history by putting up tho third partnership of 100 in one innings; and Ryder, by scoring a century, was responsible for the first occasion on which Victoria had scored four centuries in an innings. Frequent changes of bowling failed ' to cheek the rate of scoring, and the eighth century was posted in seven hours fifty-nine minutes. Ryder, with a mighty swipe, drove one from Andrews' out of tho ground, bringing his tally to 150, the last 50 tliixtytwo minutes. He was badly missed at 135 by Ratcliffo off Mailey. The next record in matches between New South Wales and' Victoria to be passed was the 815 standing to the credit of New South Wales. The partnership was ended by M'Quirk taking a hot chance given by Hartkopf off Mailey. The partnership added' 177 runs. Ryder and Liddicut, taking every advantage of the tired howling and fielding, carried tho total to 960 in eight hours thirty-seven minutes, the last 50 runs coming in sixteen minutes aiid the last 100 in thirty-eight minutes. Their elfort'added 81 runs in thirty-live minutes before Liddicut played M'Quirk on. Ellis helped to bring the score to . 918—the highest over previously made ; in a shield match. This was the score . made in 1900 by New South Wales ■ against South Australia. One thousand appeared cn the board for nine hours ; seven minutes’ halting, Ryder’s contribution being 263, it eluding three 6’s. ■ He continued to score with splendid , force and rapidity, ably backed by Ellis, till he was caught by Kippax off Andrews. ■ The spectators were keyed up to a great pitch of excitement, and as record after record was broken the feat was greeted with tremendous cheering. The batsmen were accorded an ovation at the close of the play. Mailey took four wickets for 362 inns, Andrews two for 148, Morgan one for 137, M.‘Quirk one for 13U, and M‘Namee none for 124, Three other bowlers were tried without result, except that they badly spoiled their averages. SOUTH AUSTRALIA V, QUEENSLAND Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. ADELAIDE, December 23. Queensland have lost eight wickets for 322 nnu in their second innings (Benstod 42, O'Connor 25, Thompson 77, and Rowe 74 not out). With a deficit of 328 on the first innings, Queensland followed _ on. The weather was fine and the wicket good. The visitors faced their stiff proposition with stout hearts, and batted briskly, Bensted, Thompson, and Rowe particularly showing themselves plucky and skilful batsmen under difficulty conditions,, and laying on the wood with a will. Grimmett’s slows proved most effective. He captured the first three wickets at a cost of 36 runs. [South Australia in its first innings made 579 (A. Richardson 232), and Queensland 251.] PITY THE BOWLERS ! RUNS, RUNS, AND MORE RUNS. [By Wallaby.] The stupendous record put up by Victoria makes one pause and wonder what has come to the game of cricket. Surely the thing is becoming farcical! At one time bowlers were looked upon as important factors in big matches; now it would appear as though they were merely put on to be liit, more or less lustily, for thousands of runs per match. Mailey, four for 362; Andrews, two for 148; Morgan, one for 137; M'Quirk, 1 for 130; M'Namee, none for 124! A smaller ball, forsooth! As Crockett, the old experienced. umpire, remarks, “Bunkum! Something more than this is needed to give the bowler a fair chance. Batsmen’s pads, for instance, play far too important a part in the defence of wickets.” But we cannot help but wish he had been on tho Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday and Tuesday to watch those 1,107 runs being compiled. It is evident there were no “worm-kill-ing” tactics employed, and sympathy for the unfortunate bowlers would be swamped by admiration for the sparkling batting. The records which went by the board in this smashing match are dealt with fairly fully in the cabled account set nut above and in my note of yesterday. It may be added that Ponsford’s 429 against Tasmania was made in 7h 57min (qs against 7h for bis 352), and included forty-two 4’s. In 1923-4 he joined tho ranks of those who have scored a century in each innings in a first class match by making 110 and 110 not out for Victoria v. New South , Wales. The same season he hit the Queensland bowlers about to the tune of 248 in Victoria’s only innings. The following year lie put up another great performance by scoring a. century on his first appearance in a test match. And Ponsford is still but a young man,, having been born at North Fitzroy (Melbourne) in October, 1900. Ryder is a prolific scorer at times. His 201 not out in the Adelaide tast match in 1924-5 is a notable instance,. He is just the batsman to flog tired bowling. Hendry we know to be % fine bat. What a loss to the Australians last year, his illness carried|

New Zealanders have cause to remember Hendry’s batting, notably his 325 not out in Melbourne last year against our touring team. To Woodfull, of course, a century is nothing unusual. It is scarcely probable, even if the wicket bolds, that the world’s aggregate of 1,911 runs, put up in the Now South Wales v. Victoria match at Sydney in 1908-9 season, will be surpassed. New South Wales’s small score in the first innings of tho present match makes it likely, however, that Victoria’s win will be a record one. Local enthusiasts may be reminded, by the way, that Otago and Wellington, at Dunedin, in 1924, compiled between them 1,905 runs, or within 6, of tho world’s record aggregate. One record that was not equalled in the present Sheffield Shield match was that of the most individual hundreds in an innings. The first class match producing this record was that between New South Wales and South Australia, at Sydney, in the 1900-1 season when, for tho hnme team, _S. E. Gregory scored 168, Noble 153, Poidovin (in) 140, Duff 119, and Ircdalc 118.