FLUNKET SHIELD

Evening Star, Issue 25708, 4 February 1946, Page 8

FLUNKET SHIELD

CANTERBURY'S INNINGS OTAGO FACES SOLID SCORE SATURDAY'S PLAY SUMMARISED There was considerable uncertainty on Saturday morning as to whether a full day's cricket would be possible. Menacing clouds kept rolling up from the south-west, bringing light showers of rain, and although play was, between the showers,- started at the scheduled time of 11 o'clock, two adjournments were taken within an hour. After that, except that the luncheon adjournment was .. prolonged by 10 minutes "to enable another shower to pass over, there were no further interruptions. The wicket, having been covered up to the start of play, was one of Mr Alex. Ross's best. Canterbury carried on its .shield rate of scoring' until the dismissal of the plodding Anderson, after which the pace quickened a hit, though at no time did it reach the run-a-minute stage, and when the innings closed, the 335 runs representing the visitors total had taken 496 minutes, or 8 hours 16 minutes, to compile. Forty runs an hour. There was quite a large attendance of the (public (the gate takings amounted to £137), and it was not surprising that there was 6ame barracking consisting of very free advice to the batsmen to get a move on. When Otago went to the wickets the opening batsmen began comparatively brightly, but when wickets began to fall the need for more care was recognised, and so the old story began all over again, and 55 for 90 minutes' play was the best we could do. Not one of the 10 Canterbury batsmen dismissed was clean bowled, which is a rare occurrence in any ■match. ANDERSON GETS 137. Anderson's 137, slowly made as it was (over six and a-half hours), represented more than half Canterbury's

total at the time of his dismissal. He hit 10 4's, and his score also included 73 singles. Anderson must have exercised considerable restraint, for report has it that he is not naturally of the stonewalling type, and only a week previously had played a sparkling knock for his club team. Then, alas, I came the Plunket wet blanket. The left-hander opened out just a wee bit after he passed- his hundred on Saturday, and gave a hint of his ability to be a busier, better, and brighter batsman. He- was out to a fairly simple catch by Fraser at square leg, halfway to the boundary, when he hooked a shortish ball from Roberts. BUTTERFIELD BRIGHTENS. Butterfield, who had been a solid partner of Anderson's, later delighted the crowd, who were in the mood to appreciate the smallest of blessings, when he began to drive lustily. Straight drives they were, most of them, and prolonged applause followed a hit of his which cleared the fence, at long-on; it was, they thought, too good to be true. And when, before the innings ended, Mcßae also hit a six—well, that was the stuff to give them. Butterfield was twice missed, and was eventually out, last man, Ibw for Despite his burst of driving in the latter stage of his knock, his rate of scoring was, over all, no better than that of his fellows. He took three hours and a-quar-ter to get his runs, hitting six 4's as well as the sixer. •Scott, who also played the straightdriving game, was, comparatively speaking, a fast scorer, getting 25 (three 4's) in 42 minutes, whereas O'Brien, earlier, had laboured along for 103 minutes for the same number of runs. OTAGO'S OUT-CRICKET. Roberts bowled really well. On Friday he had sent down 32 overs (8 maidens) for 32 runs and no wickets. On Saturday he bowled a further 20.1 overs, of which 11 were maidens, for 22 runs and four wickets. His length and direction were excellent. Harwood and McDougall also took another wicket each. Otago's fielding was again smart, but Harwood and Watt each missed a catch. Watt's being a skier from Butterfield off Harwood, to which he had .to run in from the outfield—not an easy chance. Mills was again

very sound behind the wickets, and only three byes were debited against him in the total of 335. A BAD START. Otago's start was not a good one. Mills and Hadlee began brightly enough, but the former, in the fourth over, sliced one of Mcßae's into Butterfield's hands in the slips. One wonders whether it was good policy to send Mills in so early after his long spell of work as 'keeper; work which needs unrelieved concentration. The first wicket fell at 9, and Milnes, although he helped to bring the total to 25, made only 7 before being bowled neck-and-crop by Mcßae. But worse was to follow, for Hadlee. who had been batting solidly, had mad? only 15 when he reached out to Butterfield, missed, and was clean bowled. This was a blow to Otago's hopes, for as long as Hadlee was at the wickets -the side had a 'chance. This disaster occurred with the total at 30, and Watt and Fraser carried on to " 6tumps," both shaping soundly after the first few overs, though Watt missed a number of balls passing outside his legs. With 55 on the_ score books—which, by the way are in the competent hands of Mr C. Martin (Otago) and Mr K. W. Johnstone (Canterbury)—and three wickets down, Otago was in for a grim fight. In Mcßae Canterbury has a useful type of bowler, left-hand medium pace. He bowled 13 overs on Saturday for 23 runs and two • wickets, and was " getting up " occasionally towards the finish. Butterfield, a first-class allrounder, who is in the running for New Zealand honours, bowled 11. overs and claimed one wicket (Hadlee's) for B runs. Scott, Burtt, and Cromb also had a turn with the ball. Following are the scores up to the end Si Saturday's play:—

CANTERBURY. First Innings. I. B. Cromb c Mills b Harwood ... 20 W. McD. Anderson c Fraser b Roberts 137 K. F. iM. Uttley Ibw b Silver ... 2 ,J. Smith c Freeman b Hadlee ... 20 R. C. Shand c Roberts b McDougall 17 F. P. O'Brien c Freeman b Roberts 25 L. A. Butterfield Ibw b Roberts ... 69 R. H. Scott c Smith b McDougall 25 T; B. Burtt Ibw b Harwood.... ... 3 A. E. L. Britton c Mills b Roberts 3 D. N. Mcßae not out 9 Extras (byes 3, leg-bye 1, no-ball 1) 5 Total ■ 335 Fall of wickets: One for 39, two for 48, three for 82, four for 117, five for 186, six for 252, seven for 284, eight for 297, nine for 322, ten for 335.

. OTAGO, First Innings. W. A. Hadlee b Butterfield 15 G. H. Mills c Butterfield b Mcßae 5 L. A. Millies b Mcßae ... 7 L. A. Watt not out H T. C. Fraser not out 11 Extras (bye 1, leg-bye -1, noballs 4) 6 Total for three wickets ... 55 Fall of wickets: One for 9, two for 25, three,for 30.

HELP OF LADIES APPRECIATED. During the luncheon interval at the cricket match at Carisbrook on Saturday, the chairman of the Management Committee of the Otago Cricket Association (Mr W. S. Armitage), on behalf of that committe, made presentations to three ladies who had, over a period of years, rendered very valuable aid in connection with the dispensing of luncheon and afternoon teas at representative fixtures These ladies were Mrs E. S. Wilson, Mrs A. R. Knight, and Mrs Alex lloss. There were others who had also helped on occasions, said Mr Armitage, but the three named had given consistent help in this important direction Mr Armitage also expressed pleasure at the presence at the match of the Mayor (Mr D. C. Cameron), and His Worship, in replying, said that his interest in cricket extended back many years, and he* was proud of the fact that he had sons who, to some extent, had been prominent in the game. Mr Cameron paid a tribute to_ the service rendered to Rugby and cricket by Mr E. S. Wilson, secretary of the Otago Cricket Association

.—Bowling Analysis. — 0. M. R. W. Silver 30 6 77 1 Roberts ... 43.1 19 54 4 Freeman ... 12 2 30 0 McDougall ... 26 5 59 2 Smith. 13 3 27 0 Harwood .... 30 6 46 2 Hadlee ... 14 3 35 1 Milnes ... 3 1 2 0 Hadlee bowled one no-ball

—Bowling Analysis.— 1 0. M. R. W. McRae Butterfield Scott Burit Cromb 13 6 23' 11 8 6 8 3 12 3 0 3 3 0 5 2 1 0 0 0 Scott bowled three no-balls McRae one no-ball. and