CRICKET.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXI, Issue 12398, 10 November 1934, Page 11

CRICKET.

THURSDAY _ COMPETITION.

SECOND ROUND, PLAYED

CASH STORES .BEAT R.S.A

WANDERERS. AND RETAILERS

DRAW.

The second round of the Thursday competition was played at.the Oval on Thursday,, under pleasant weather conditions. Cash Stores had an easy victory over R.S.A.' on the first innings,- while Wanderers managed to reduce potential defeat, at the hands of Retailers, to a. draw.

CASH STORES V, R.S.A. Fine bowling by H. was the main factor in' the easy win secured by Cash Stores against R.S.A. The losers batted first' and made only 35, R. Nicholson’s nine and E. Rignall’s eight being the only tallies of any size. Clark sent down 10 over and secured five for 12, the other wickets being obtained by C. Scholium (two for 4) and A. McLean (two for 15). Cash Stores started well, the first pair (J. Carroll and C. Scholium) putting on a good number of rims. Carroll was then dismissed for 32 which included one sixer and a four. McLean joined Scholium and rapid scoring was the order of the day. The innings was declared closed with one wicket down for 107. Scholium played dashing cricket for his score of 61 not out, hitting a six and four fours. McLean was 11 not out when the declaration came.

Batting again, R.S.A. made another moderate showing, five wickets being down for only 31 at stumps. McLean secured three for 14. Scores were as follow:

R.S.A.—First innings : A. Bignnll, c Sherriff, b McLean, 1; R. Nicholson, c McLean, b Clark, 9,- H. Lee, c McLean; h Clark, 1; J. Barhour, e .Sherriff* b McLean, 5; O. ROlsen, c McLean, b Clark, 3; E : ., Bignall, b Clark, 8; I>. J. Duncan, b Scholium, 3; F. Graham, not out, 1; J. McMillan, c Macdonald, b Scholium, 0; T. File, run out, 0.: R. KelIv, b Clark, 0; extras, 4; total—3s. " Fall: 9 13 20 20 31 34 34 34 35 35 35.

Bowling:—H. Clark, 10 overs, 3 maidens, 5 wickets, 12 runs; A. Mc-Lean,-7.,-1, 2, 15; C. Scholium, 2,0, 2, 4.

Second innings.—A. Bignall, b McLean, 8; Nicholson, c Macdonald, b McLean, 5; Lee, b McLean, 6; Barbour, st. b Sherriff, 0; Olsen, e Sher--riff, b Scholium, 1; E. Bignall, not out, 7; Duncan, not out;'; extras, 4; total for five wickets—3l. Fall: 11 11 16 17 22.

Bowling.- I —A'. McLean, 5 overs, 1 maiden, 3 wickets, 14 runs; H. Clark 3,0, 0,2; L. Sherriff, 3,0, 1,4; C. Scholium, 2,0, i, 7. Cash Stores. —First Innings: J. Carroll, c EL Bignall, b Barbour, 32 ; CL Scholium, not out, 61; A. McLean, not out, 11 ; extras, 3; total for one wicket declared—lo 7.

Bowling. l —J. Barbour, 7 overs, 0 maidens, 1 wicket, 36 runs; 0. B. Olsen, 4,1, 0,2, 3; J. McMullan ; 4,0, 0, 24? A. Bignall, 2,0, 0,9; R. Nicholson, 1,0, 0, 12.

RETAILERS V. WANDERERS. Retailers were unlucky to, miss victory over Wanderers, the latter side managing narrowly to play out time. After losing one wicket for one run, Retailers . came to light with,. a good second wicket stand which added 42.. Newton wa.s the first to go and his innings of 30 included three boundaries. Foster kept an end going while Slade, rattled up. the runs, he contributing 15 towards a partnership of 74. Falconer made a useful stand for 13 and Slade was eventually out for 90, (one. six and nine fours) The side slumped thereafter and the last wicket fell at 180. Carr was in good form with the hall, securing six for 61, while P, Dow (two for 47) was the next most successful bowler. Wanderers managed to stave off defeat, despite the loss of the first wicket with only one on the board. P. Dow (11) and C. . Sebire (12) ; made a, valuable stand for the second wicket, hut both Were out at 28. Knopwood played steadily for 1.0 not out and at stunips six wickets wete clown for 46. Newton (three for 22) and Slade (two for 5) were the most successful bowlers ■ for Wanderers. Scores were .as follows :- ' 1 ■ _ Retailers.—First innings: G. Slade c. Sebire, h Dow,. 90; G- Stewart, llnv, 1> Carr, 5; E. Newton, b Dow, 30; F. Foster, b Carr, 15; A, Falconer, . Ibw, b Carr, 13;■ J. Smith,- c A. Bryan, b Carr, L; J- Niven, h Carr, 4; A. Coker, run opt, 8; ■ C: Prentice, c and b Dow, 3; R. Gairtlthers, st., b. Carr, 0; H- Swan, not out, extras; 7: total—l 80. Fall: 10, 52, 126, 150, 156, 156,

162 166 167; 180. i ' Bowling.e-R. Carr, 14 overs, 0 maidens, 6 wickets, 61 runs; C. Sebire; 4; 0, 0,*28; P. Do#/ 144,■ 1,2; 47 ;A. McLauchlan 2,0, 0, 1 6; S. Calcott, 2/0, 0, 14; I. Douglas, 1,0, 0, a?, . ' - . ■ Wanderers.— First innings: P. Dow b Newtcin, ’ il; 31. Carr, c Swan, b Newton, 0.; C. Sebire,:b Falconer, 12; S.'Calcett’ lhw- vF Slade; 2ljk hot out, 10; A.-McEaiuchlah, b -Slade, 0; W/ Millichip, c Coker,b Newton, 5; V. -Clement, not out; 0; extras, 6; total forL six. wickets—46. , - Fall: 1282833 36 45. 1 Bowling: F. Newton, 9 overs, 2 maidens, 3 wickets, 22 nins; A. Falconer, 5, 0,1, 13;‘ G:- Slade, 3,1, 2, 5; G. Stewart; 1,1, 0, 0.

SLIR FIELDING

GREATLY NEGLECTED, ART

; In his hook, “Cricket and I,” which should bo read by. all cricketers, Constantine gives excellent advice on slip-fielding— aßyhe 'ghich ifs a,ll the more valuable because it is founded on the. experience of a great field- who is not a tall man. The greater, part of Constantine’s remarks on slip-field' ing is ats follows, If anyone were to hold a pistol to my head aud- command me to say something for myself or be “humped off” I suppose I should ask that at lcaist I should be given a chance to show iwhat I wa s worth in the slips. No branch of- fielding is more important, for it is in the slips that a good batsman on a good wicket is most likely to give chances, Yet in no branch of fielding i s adequate study and .preparation more neglect' cd. People see splendid slip catches made and s,ar “Marvellous!” and “Uncanny!” and “Freakish!” etc., as if such catches are. a, peculiar gift whch the ordinary cricketer only wath and admire. They are mistaken.

IMPROVEMENT THROUGH STUDY,

Speaking for myself I can say that' I have made myself twice the slipfieldsman that I was } by taking care, by practice, and by thinking about it. I can even give dates. Previous to 1927.1 fielded at cover. In 1927 I decided to be an out-and-out fast bowler. Obviously. I could not be a fact bowler and a cover-point at the same time. As a fast bowler slip would bo my place. I did not want to cease being a good cover , t° ; become a mediocre slip. So I settled down to study ■s.kp-fielding. In. a year I was taking shp catches which previously I would have considered impossible. That is all the “marvellous” there is to it.

Of course, I started well, being neither too tall which rather prevents the average man irom getting down very easily, nor too, short, which lessons the range. I was lissom and had a good eye. Further, from early training with my father I was accustomed to following the flight of the ball and taking it with either Hand. But- on that foundation, good as it undoubtedly was, I worked pretty hard,, and anyone who has gifts in that direction and' wishes to- master °ne of the finest departments of the art of cricket can work, if bo wishes, along the lines I suggest here. _ To begin with, there is the question of developing the physique. Training for my fast bowling I used to do, before the season began, at least two miles every morning, running and walking alternately as fast as I could; so that sometime® 1 could almost run the whole two miles and at a very strong pace. But when I decided to develop myself as a slip I talked to a lew people, read a few articles and books, and decided to add skipping to my regime. It helps the legs anr knees and gives added quickness in the leap-off which makes all the difference . between a catch and a ball gone for four.

BALANCE AND DISTANCE. But that was not all. Almost a 3 important as this question of quickness is the question of balance, making the best use of your reach so distributing your weight, that you fall neither before nor while you are making the catch, but : only after. Apart from practising at every opportunity with anyone who would throw a bail to mo, I lived for Hours on the slip- . machine at- our oval -and very rarely didrlLpractise merely for the sake of catching the ball, hut always looking at the distance of the ball from where I put my foot, how much reach I got without overbalancing, why I reached it . but. ca-uld not hold it, etc. Very important was the question of timing, getting the hands behind the line of flight of the ball a s quickly ap possible. There is no doubt that for many weeks I spent more hours on the, slip-machine that at the nets. At home. I -would put down tilings on the floor, 'stand a certain distance away and bend and pick them up; then .stafid farther away so that ! I w'ould have to balance oa'-ono foot in order to reach by objective; then put it still farther away, balance on one foot, and fall forward with hand •outstretched, seeing how far I could, reach. And as I worked I got encouragement because I .saw riiyseif getting to catches which formerly, I knew, would' have got away from me. The amount o,f ground which can. be covered by a really live,slip-fieldsman who. knows his business is more than he .himself, believe^.

Ah you - practise you will find out tilings for yourself, Abut there are one or two points which I can give to those interested. First, that in slip-fielding, more. often • than not, one hand ■ is better than two over' 'lean, for instance,; which, qiiito a, few people know, and when you are juniping sidewaya,; which' some don’t know who should. Jumping sideways, and eyen in. the case of some; fd'st ones where there is mo. need to; jump, it ks, suicidal to try to .psevdiwO'hands. There is the suestion of arranging' ypur. hpdy.; to-get, the. hands in -a 'proper position in order to catch,..the ball safely,, and if y,ou use .two • hands when the ball «» far from you you cut' youiy reach ■short by dip; pr a toot. Quickness and reach, arp by; far. the most important things. Don’t worry about tlie actual holding, pf ,tlie .ball. Constant, practice- will gives, you that. Concentrate on getting ..there,! usjpg every., in cli of. ypiir peach.,mild pr.es.erv- | ipg your, balance. After a time.yoiv - will find that the balf sticks.: I have' ; never known a. fieldsman who when j he got there ■ could, npt hold: the ball; I have known many who, could ho,ld the '.ball ‘ but could never., get there,’ *

and a few unfortunate wretches who could neither get there nor hold the hail, ’ '

CONCENTRATION IN PRACTICE.

PrapUsq and think about what, yog arc doing. Don’t cxpq’ct to practise touday. ancl make a great slip-catch to-morrow., but if every ti,mc yog practice you concentrate—if, when, a catch gets away from yog, you stop and think what you should have done' if, when convenient; you look at an imaginary ball and throw yourself ■ tw° yards to catch it—then vou, will manage in time ,because, these things That you practise conscientiously will find yourself putting ..into play unconsciously. It is -worth trying.

But when you are fairly safe at what. I may call tl\e physical part of plip-fielding the battle is not over. You have to. learn to watch the batsman an the bowler, in short,, to use your intelligence. It is best to give a concrete example. I remember making a catch off Hardinge to Griffith’s bowling, in Kent in 1928. When the catch was made the West Indies sicio was jubilant, and gave vent to the usual “Miraculous!” “Marvellous!” etc. There was. nothing miraculous in it, if miraculous means taking place by means of a. miracle, and I shall show why I say so. Griffith was bwling to BJardinge. who was cutting him right flown ifo the ground, yards in front of me—a perfectly safe stroke. Griffith bowled again, Hardingo made the same stroke, and I noticed that the ball dropped on much the same spot. Here was a ..barely possible chance to make a catch. *£°uld I by any chance reach there? To go and stand on the spot or near it was merely to invite Hardinge to leave the ball alone, by which 'neither he nor I would have profited. A batsman will sometimes see you, out of the corner of liis eye, (waking up. A partner may signal. So I had to be wary. From where I was I judged my distance carefully. How far back could I stand and yet, by taking a slight chip on the. foot and then throwing myself forward, fall so that my band would end on. exactly the same spot where Hardinge was cutting the ball? Of course, af that bad been the first time in my life that I was judging anything of the kind I should probably have bungled it, but it was not. In practice, at balls, real or imaginary, I bad done the same thing hundreds of times before so it was not difficult for me to gauge my distance accurately now.

SAFE STROKE TURNED INTO A CATCH.

I took up my new position. Griffith bowled the ball, Hard in go cut, and as he made the stroke I threw myself forward hand outstretched toward the spot and eyes on the hall. As I was hoping, he made the exact stroke he made to the. previous halls. I moved in time, the ball came full info my hand, and there was- a good batsman gone and perhaps 50 or .60 runs saved;. I daresay that not any and every filip-fielder . would have reached so far. But the point is: If Ke has been training himself and is in the habit of paying attention he can improve such powers as. he has to 'such *an extent as to make him one cf the most valuable members of any side he is playing for. And us the catches are made confidence and reach will increase and a. islip-fields-man will find himself in time full of disappointment at missing a catch which formerly he would have conhitlcred impossible and cheerfully let go by.

Finally, there is, courage. Most '•lipfieldsmen: can stand yards nearer than they think tlxcy can. Trust your eyes and hands. Mian has marvellous powers of protecting himself, and the eves can-be,trusted to lead the hand to the correct place provided you are not 'sleeping.- And merely by •standing near .you lessen the range of the hall off the bat, you encourage.-tho howler, anl you make the batsman- think of you—an important psychological point; ho ought to he thinking of nothing else bu.t the hall.

' CAREFUL STEPS. i ; MARYLEBONF/S LEG-THEORY . ; . LONDON, Oct. 20. . Writing .in. the “News-Chronicle,” A...E. Gilligan expresses*the--opinion ; that the special committee of- the ’ M.C.C. will . report upon ‘leg-theory’ bowling to the -advisory. committee at the end of next, month, an dtbat the j advisory comniittee • will then v»to I npon. it. • , ■ Tho general .opinion, he. states, ; is, opposed to legislation. It is -reiterated that solution of- the. > problem : lies.-, with tho, county captains.- > f ‘l d.°pht whether • legislation, will prevent howling at the man or dic- ■ tate. the : .placing pf -the field to prevent a ring. of men of.the leg-side,’, 5 says Gflligan, “hut it might he sugi gested that such tactics are'contrary ’to the spirit of the game. , ; “Tile committee,” he adds, “dis-. ; crossed hlarley.’s scheme of diagonal i lines and also the suggestion of pla'c- : ing a line half- \yay , between the wickets. A hall pitching on the bo.wl- : er’s side would then ,be a. no-hall,” As South Africa is testing the' offfsicl.o “leg-before” .rule to which Aus- ! tralia is fayorable, lie hopes that tho ; English counties will also, try it..