Blackball Eleven Shows Improvement

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 February 1947, Page 9

Blackball Eleven Shows Improvement

Blackball cricketers are enjoying success in their first season, and their victory over the strong Cobden eleven, coupled with their defeat of Marist A recently, has drawn considerable attention to them. Accurate bowling, brilliant fielding, and aggressive batting are for the most part the reasons for their success, backed up by enthusiasm. The team includes a number of capable cricketers, and is made up with keen, if comparatively green, novices, and at the present rate of progress will be a force to be reckoned with in the top class next season. No Fluke. The wicket on the domain at Blackball is not all a first-class pitch should be, and to some extent the failure of some batsmen may be attributed to this, but generally the Blackball players adapt themselves better to these conditions because they have become more or less accustomed to them. There was no fluke about their win last Sundayaggressive batting and good-length bowling, especially by C. Fleming, a former Westland representative, proving too much for Cobden. With an opening partnership of over 50 runs by Vaughan and A. Knapp, Cobden appeared to be on the way to victory in reply to Blackballs 136, but four wickets were lost quickly, and the game was virtually decided in the space of a few overs. Cobden Batsmen. Knapp, Crerar, Thomson, and Vaughan scored 86 runs, there were 12 extras, and the seven other Cobden batsmen scored exactly five runs between them. Galland was top-scorer for Blackball with 39. He made a number of “round-the-corner” shots that were successful, but dealt confidently with the bowling. Lindsay, Ord, and Pascoe were the most impressive of the Blackball batsmen.

Lack of Bowling Support Runanga is doing comparatively well in its first post-war season, with several fairly capable batsmen, and a good pair of bowlers in the former representative, S. Kennedy, and J. Baddeley. Once these two are mastered, however, Runanga has little to fall back upon, with the result that in most of its matches Kennedy and Baddeley have had to be used for long stretches without adequate sup port This was the case again at Cobden on Sunday. These two kept United A batsmen defending for a long time, but gradually their control became less certain, and United ran up a score that was good enough for an outright win. The Runanga bowlinc however, was good enough to give United some uneasy moments until Runanga’s first-innings score was passed. Later some carefree hitting bv Vernon and Thorburn put the issue beyond doubt, and Runanga made a poor showing in their second knock Kennedy finished with four for 38 and Baddeley with four for 39 both of them bowling 14 overs. better known as a footballer Baddeley, and Richmond were the star Runanga batsmen, and McTisue especially, made a good impression. The Runanga fielding could be mven a lot ot attention. It was weakness in this department as much as in any other that caused the team to concede an outright win.

Back to Form. S Garforth gave a glimpse of the excellent bowling form which assisted to gain him a place in the West Coast representative team last season,? when he took five wickets for 17 runs off 15 overs against Marist

B at the Recreation Ground on Sunday. Garforth, though he made the provincial team again this year, has hardly redeemed the promise he showed last term, but on Sunday he gave his best performance of the season. He kept an admirable length, swung and turned the ball deceptively, and varied his pace and flight nicely. He had a fairly successful time with the bat on the recent representative tour, but has yet to reproduce that form in club matches. On Sunday his old habit of trying to turn a good-length ball round to the leg side early in the innings brought about his downfall. It is a bad fault, which will have to be eliminated, and he is too good a batsman to be getting out in this manner. Consistent Success.

Cobden’s star bowler, A. Vaughan, continues to cause trouble among opposing batsmen, and week after week he turns in excellent figures, often extending to five and more wickets. He was again to the fore at Blackball on Sunday, where he took five wickets for 26 runs off 15 overs. His accuracy and clever changes of pace are the rhain features of his bowling, and his physical fitness enables him to bowl for long stretches withoutlosing accuracy, and in this he is rm example to many other players.

Surprising Failure. Brunner performed well with the bat in their two matches prior to Sunday, but against Marist C they made a relatively poor showing. They mustered only 68 runs in their first innings, and were doing even worse in losing seven for 35 in their second at stumps. The Marist C bowling, headed by Abelson and Cornish, was steady, but little more, and it was really poor batting that was the main factor in the small score. Brunner

can do better than that, and they should be able to prove that form all wrong in coming matches. Abelson gave his best performance for some weeks in taking five wickets for 23 for Marist C, and Lee bowled well for Brunner in taking eight wickets for 27 runs. Again in the case ot Marist C the batting was not particularly strong, but more interest will be taken in their effort on Sunday next, as they now share the leaa in the competition with United A. Unfortunately they are in need of a wicketkeeper, and they have also lost W. A. Meates. In R. Donaldson, however, they have a fine batsman

who is good for lots of runs when he strikes form again after his recent enforced spell. Fixtures Arranged For Week-End The West Coast Cricket Association has arranged the following fixtures for the week-end: — Senior.—Blackball v. Kaimoto, at Omoto; United B v. United A, at Recreation Ground; Runanga v. Marist C, at Recreation Ground; Brunner v. Marist B, at Brunner; Marist A v. Cobden, at Cobden. Junior. —Cobden A v. Marist High School, at Cobden; Cobden B v. United, at Recreation Ground; Tech- 1 nical High School v. Runanga, at Technical School ground; Brunner v. Marist Old Boys, at Brunner. Women. —Possibles v. Probables,, at Recreation Ground. . The following women's cricket teams have been chosen for Satuiday:—- T , ... D Possibles: A. Worgan (capt.), B. Liggins, P. Keatin, L. Newcombe, A. Willis, J. Worgan, R. de Goldi, P. Cornish, B. Walker, J. Hopkins, N. Longstaff, B. Roche. ■ Probables: L. Beck (capt.), G. Walker, J. Finlay, J. de Goldi, J. Flood, M. McGuinness, M. Gurden, T Knapp, F. Browne, N. Henderson, P. Fitzgerald, N. Airey. Struck On Head By Cricket Bat (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Feb. 4. Struck on the head by a bat while wicketkeeping for the Petone Cricket Club in a third grade match on Saturday, William P. Cato died in the Lower Hutt Hospital to-day. He was ‘ a foundation member of the Hutt Valley Cricket Association. He leaves a widow and two children.