CRICKET

Evening Star, Issue 24157, 30 March 1942, Page 7

CRICKET

THE SEASON REVIEWED SUCCESSFUL. IK SPITE OF ALL (By Wallaby.) Despite drawbacks incidental to war conditions, plus the enthusiasm-destroying weather conditions under which the gamo laboured for a greater part of the season, the first grade competition provided a good deal of very interesting cricket. The introduction of one-day matches, made inevitable by the existing conditions, proved quite successful, although, as was but to be expected, the standard of play was, on the. whole, not up to that of normal years. One direction in which, speaking generally, players failed, was that they did not fully adjust their movements to the altered circumstances. That is to say, in the majority of cases the same, leisurely, “ plenty of time ” attitude still prevailed in between the fall of wickets, in changes in the field, and so on. The respective captains must shoulder the blame tor this As for the rate of scoring, this improved a little, though there is still room for greater improvement. The average innings which lasted the full two and a-quarter hours totalled between 140 and 170 runs. Naturally, there was nob much scope for big scores, and only once —by Kaikorai against Carisbrook B in January—was 300 reached. Between 200 and 300 was made seven times, while on 33 occasions a side failed to reach 100. Success of Older Players.

One notable feature of the season’s play was the manner in which old and seasoned players rose to the occasion and registered fine performances. For example, take tbe all-round figures of C. P. W. Allcott, of Kaikorai, who averaged 30.0 with the bat, 10.0 (56 wickets) with the ball; of L, J. Groves, who leads the field with 31.0 and 7.59 (82 wickets); of A. R. Knight, the grange skipper, whose figures are 30.8 and 10.0 (30 wickets) respectively; of G. McGregor (Kaikorai), 23.0 and 10.30 (52 wickets) ; R. O. Talbot (Carisbrcok), 38.0 and 12 0 (34 wickets); of G. J. Robertson (Dunedin), 25.0 and 9.50 (52 wickets); and L. Smith (Albion-Y.M.C. A.), 24-0 and 10.0 (38 wickets) These are all particularly good performances, which go to prove that there is lifo in the old horses yct-rthough one or two of those named cannot be said to have reached the stage of " old horse--01”* The batting averages are approximately correct, but the non-production of full scores makes it difficult at the moment to stale them exactly. (l There are others, however, who had been turned out to grass,” but who put on harness again in order to fill gaps—W. R. Brinsley, for Old Boys, A, W. Sinclair, for University, for instance. Then there was J. HcMullan, who showed that 30 years or go of cricket had not drained his enthusiasm or his capacity to make runs—or even take wickets—for Carisbrook. Some Good Colts, Too,

Among the more prominent and promising younger 'fry may be mentioned lan Galloway, tvho, though only available to Carisbrook when on occasional leave, retained the form which stamped him last year as a coming representative wicketkeeper; J. Fraser, a consistent scorer as an opening bat for Carisbrook; H. Jack, an all-rounder of the same club; T. O. Freeman, a hard-hitting batsman and fair change bowler, who gave good service to Grange; K. Burke, a much-improved Kaikorai batsman; L. Watt and E. Jaffray, useful members of the hill team. In the ranks of Old Boys were V. McArley, a medium-pace bowler who should develop, A. Graham, an all-round player who should do better than he has done so far, A. S. Mills, who is a distinctly useful reserve wicket-keeper, and E, Harraway, one of the bright batsmen. The Premier Team.

Once again High School Old Boys has demonstrated by Us success in winning the senior shield that it is strength of attack, backed by a moderately strong batting side, that is more likely to win matches than is an array of batting talent unsupported by bowlers who can get the other side out or keep the runs down.' Particularly is this the case in one-day cricket, as witness the fact that the only two outright wins recorded during the season were gained by the premier team, which, it may bo added, lost its first two matches and was undefeated for the rest of the season.

Outstanding among the Old Boys eleven, and one of the small group of players who have this season shown remarkable allround form, is L. J. Groves. A consistent scorer, he has made his runs in bright, attractive, yet correct style, and has invariably followed up a good score with a striking bowling analysis. Groves’s bowl-ing-slow leg-break interspersed with one from the off—is of the type which inexperienced batsmen find extremely puzzling, but it is not only with “ rabbits ” that the Old Boys bowler’s bag is filled this season, he has claimed plenty of victories from among the elder players as the result of a well-controlled length and spin. Certainly, lack of enterprise on the part of willow-wielders has helped to build Groves’s figures, but that is—just that! An average of less, than 8 runs per wicket for 82 wickets in 15 matches, added a batting average of 51, with a century included in his list of scores, indicates the big part this all-rounder had in bringing the honours to his club. Other members of the side who did good work during the season included its captain. V. J. Leader, who, although not so consistent as ho has been in former years, has on occasions, and particularly when the side has been in a tight corner, proved his worth as an all-round player. G. H. Mills, whose wicket-keeping is as good as ever and his batting almost, was another of the older plavers who kept the backbone of the side stiff. Then there were the youngsters mentioned above. Kaikorai’s Two Stalwarts.

Kaikorai has had a good season, and was beaten only by Old Boys (twice) and Grange. Two players stand out prominently among the eleven. These are Cyril Allcott and G. McGregor, both of whom, week after week, gave yeoman service and helped to gain many meritorious victories. For a plaver who has been in the game so long Allcott has shown remarkable form with both bat and ball. His scores include one century and a half-century, but it was as a bowler that he was most valuable. Keeping an irritatingly good length and turning away a trifle, he was extremely difficult to score from, and only once (m the hurricane score bv Grange) did lie fail to take a wicket. McGregor also maintained an excellent length, but had not 'the guile of Allcott. He, too, added to his value by his ability to make runs. Indeed, the similarity between the averages (both batting and howling) of Allcott and McGregor is remarkable. In addition to the young players mentioned earlier, A. Pringle occasionally helped with the ball. Always Dangerous. Grange, a bit weak in bowling, was nevertheless always dangerous, and its surprise defeat by Dunedin was one of the sensations of the season. Its other conquerors were Old Boys, Kaikorai, a.tul Albion-Y.M.C.A., Iml it defeated both Kaikorai and Albion in earlier matches, Alec. Knight, as already mentioned, was a great asset, even though his scoring was on the slow side, C. Elraes was much below his old form, particularly in the earlier matches, and the ex-Canterbury man, F. Bellamy, shone intermittently, though he was generally useful with the ball. T. Freeman was always entertaining, _ and young J. Stephenson hitting powers which, when he learns discretion, will bring him lots of runs. Good Recovery. Albion-Y.M.C.A. began badly, losing live of its first seven matches, but won the last eight and finished in fourth place.. Its best win was that over Grange in the return match. The side depended largely upon such tried players as L. Smith (again one of the best all-rounders of the season). W. Ditchfield (who could not be hustled into time-limit activity, yet made some very useful scores), S. Duncan, 0. Evenson, and its skipper, A. Sinclair, who emerged with some rather hemarkablo bowling figures in tho latter matches. An Extraordinary Slump. Carisbrook’s career was a peculiar one. The club began the season with its usual two senior teams, A and B, but in January it was realised that losses in membership made it impossible to any longer field two elevens. Amalgamation was agreed to, and one side represented the club for the remainder of the, sejtgon, The estraor<|jftaiy.

thing was that, while, tho B team in its sepiarate existence woii five of ' its six matches, the combined eleven .won only one of the remaining nine. Talbot was the outstanding member of the team, his batting whenever he got going (which was pretty often) being up to his best form and delightful to watch, and his century against Dunedin was a brilliant effort. His bowling was also often effective. J. Fraser scored consistently, but his fielding still needs improving.; A. C. Proctor led the B and combined sides, and was particularly useful as a player also. He made some acceptable scores, and took a few odd wickets. J. Nimmo had a lot of work to do as a bowler, but was only now and again impressive. He was as carefree as ever in his batting, and whenever he connected the ball “ stayed hit.” Hogg and Jack, as mentioned, were distinctly promising. Still Dunedin’s Best.

Although G. J. Robertson did not have quite as good a season as usual he was still Dunedin’s best player. He had several batting failures, and his bowling was now and again hit about, but when he was right ‘ 7 on the job ” Dunedin usually won. The side lost several players as the season progressed, notably the three Wedlake brothers, but D. McDonald, a solid batsman, and one difficult to dig out, E. Ledgerwood, who bowled really well, especially in the later stages of the season, and T. Rodgerson, a useful bat, kept the flag flying. A sensational win against Grange and a defeat by the promoted juniors, North-east Valley, was characteristic of the play of this unreliable team.

Struggled Through. University had a weak side, and its only victories were against North-east Valley. The personnel of the team frequently changed, as usual, but 0. Toomey was a consistent scorer, and towards the end developed into a bowler. Others who gave adequate assistance during the season were F. K. Rennie, E. R. Blakely, C. Hocken, and A. A. Joel.

Good Experience. North-east Valley, coming into the senior competition when one of the Carisbrook teams dropped out, managed one narrow win—against the sportingly irresponsible Dunedin side —in the last of the nine matches it took part in. It is only when lower grade teams or players are given an opportunity in the higher grade that they realise how great a difference there is in the standard of play. The Valley team had carried all before it for years as an intermediate and second grade eleven, but it could not prevail even against such weak sides as University and Dunedin. Still, even though it may eventually have to step down to its former grade. : the experience will have done it good. The side has a first class bowler in J. Gullen, and R. Peart, T. Hughes, and the veteran, A. Riach, have shown quite good form.