CRICKET.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 25 October 1924, Page 9

CRICKET.

The following are the fixtures for next Saturday: Nov. I-—Midlands v. Patea, at Hawera; Excelsior v. Manaia, at Manaiap Okaiawa v. Eltham, at Eltliam; Stratford a bye. The local cup fixtures were set down to begin last Saturday, but the raiu interfered, and all games had to be postponed. Hawera was not alone in that respect, as Christchurch also had: copious rain for the third. Saturday in succession, which necessitated a further postponement of the opening day down there. , Wellington managed to get in about one and three-quarter hours before rain called a halt. As usual Wellington has been reinforced bv several good cricketers from other parts, the most noteworthy being Badeock (Surrey). Sharpe (Dorset and Middlesex), and Butler (Melbourne C.C.) The Empire City is holding the Plunket Shield, and the contests this year give promise of plenty of excitement .before the custody of the Shield is finally settled for the season. In the discussion which arose regarding the tour to Australia by a New Zealand team in 1925, one of the speakers said that he did not wish to see a tour put off any longer, as it would deprive certain players, -wlio had borne the burden for some time, of their chance of a good trip. This style of reasoning might sound very nice and grandmotherly, but it is not much good for the game. Tour s sueh as the one proposed should be educational, and to send players away who are just at the end of their careers is to spoil any good effects anticipated. Our players in New Zealand require more, experience, and the process of building up the standard is not accomplished by one tour, but only by several.* In the past, it lias been the custom for provincial and Dominion teams to be selected t>nm players who are

mainly veterans, who are not Ikelv to develop into any bo; te:• players on account of their age. with the result that the game drops back again to where it started. All the cracking in the world is of no avail unless practical experience is gained. The coach can only lay the foundation, but the building up must be done “out on the middle.”

The Australians and South Africans can be used as cases in point, Tf there were no English tours the standard would fall speedily. It has been shown time and time again that there is a class of player who shines in cup cricket and perhaps in State cricket, but on elevation to Test cricket he fails to rise to it. This, of course, may -be due to temperament or (inability tc fight to a finish; still the fact remains and will furnish food for arguments while the. game lasts. Sentiment is one of the nice things to possess at. the right time; but the state of our cricket at present does not warrant any charity being bestowed on anybodvf The goal of a high standard is the one to go for, and if it necessitates a certain amount of ruthlessness to gain that objective, the individual feelings have to be sacrificed for the good of the, whole community. There is rather too much tenderness towards the veteran at times, but no thought is given to the good youngster coming on. whose outlook on the game can be easily soured. There should not be any waiting till the players have got “frosty pows” or “the dew of their youth has dried from off their backs” before they get the chance to develop their resources. A. good amount of work has been done,on the Eltham pitch, and a decent strip of matting has been bought. Thus it is anticipated that the wicket will be in first-class order. The outfield, thanks to the footballers, is in a very bad state, and will take some time to knock into shape. The team this year will lie much stronger than last season. The following are the new members: D. C. Hay. W. H. Parker, H. Horwood, H. O. Donnelly and K. Hemingway (promoted juniors). A. A. Stewart is donning the flannels again this season. TWO NOTABLE BOOKS. The writer recently became the proud owner of two books on the game which even now take rank as classics. They .are “A Cricketer’s Book,” and.“ Days in the Sun,” both by Neville Cardus, of the Manchester Guardian. Even though the books deal solely with cricket they contain some rare literary gems and purple patches. The characteristics of the game and its players have been touched on. as it were, with a pen dipped in gold, and the, already vast store of cricket literature has been greatly enriched by the addition of these books. CRICKET IMPROVING IN ENGLAND. Talking of the standard of the game in England with a Christchurch reporter, Mr F. Wilding said, He is of opinion that English cricket is now improving after being for a few years under a cloud. They have no bowlers out of the common, he said; their fast bowlers were not nearly fast enough to be dangerous on a good wicket, and their slow medium bowlers were good, but nothing beyond the average. However, the batting of the team chosen to visit Australia is extra-

ordinarily safe and good throughout. He had seen practically all the men play at Lord's under very different conditions, “and,” he said, “I shall be much surprised if they don’t put up some huge scores in Australia during their visit. Those who think the, test matches, will result in easy victories ror Australia may be very much surprised. “How they are to finish a match in less than a week in favourable weather conditions with batsmen like Hobbs and Hendreu, I cannot see.” Hia own view was that the Australians’' bowling on their own wickets would be better than that of the Englishmen. SYDNEY RESULTS. ' University beat Randwiek by 205 runs on the first innings. Manly beat Waverley by 74 runs on the first innings. Marriekville beat Mosman by 62 runs on the first innings. Gordon beat- Glebe by four wickets and 104 runs. Paddington beat North Sydney by 118 runs on the first innings. Sydney beat St. George by an innings and 24 runs. Petersham v. Western Suburbs, draw. Balmain beat Central Cumberland by 51 runs on the first innings. Batting: N. Phillips (Gordon) 94, A. P. -Wells (Paddington) 73, C. Lambert (Petersham) 69, 11. C. Steele (Marriekville) 67, W. Gerdes (Gordon) 60, Dr. W. J. McCristal (Randwiek) 59, C. Kelleway (Gordon) 56, W. S. MeCloy (Randwiek) 54. Bowling: J. Randell (Manly), seven for 63; O. P. Asher (Sydney), six for 32; A. A. Mailev (Balmain), six for 53; J. Scott (Marriekville),. five for 54. THE CRICKET BALL SINGS. Leather! the heart o’ me; leather! the rind o’ me, O but the soul of me’s other than that! Else, shoukUl thrill as I do so exultingly, Climbing the air from.the thick o’ the bat? Leather! the best o’ me; ay, but in verity ' Kindred I claim with the sun in the sky. Heroes bow all to the little red ball, And bow to niy brother ball blazing on high. ■ Pour on us torrents of light, good Sun; Shine in the hearts of my cricketers, shine; 1 Fill them with gladness and might, good Sun; Touch them -with, glory, O Brother of mine, Brother of mine, Brother of Mine! We are the lords of them, Brother and Mate, I. but a little ball, thou but a Great! Give me the bowler whose fingers embracing me Tingle and.throb with the joy of the game; One who can laugh at a smack to the boundary, Single of purpose and steady of aim. That is the man for me; striving in sympathy, Ours is a fellowship sure to prevail; Willow must fall in the end to the ball, See, like a tiger I leap for the ball. Give me the fieldsman whose eyes never stray from me, Eager to clutch me., a roebuck in pace; Perish; the unalert, perish the “but- > tery,” Perish the laggard I strip in the race. Grand is the ecstacy soaring triumphantly, Holding the gaze of the meadow is .granff; Grandest of all to the soul of the ball Is the finishing grip of the honest brown hand. Give me the batsman who squanders his force on me, Crowding the strength of his soul in a stroke; Perish the muff and the. little tin , Shrewsbury, Meanly contented to potter and poke. He who would pleasure me, he must do doughtily— Bruises and bufferings stir me like wine. Giants, come all, do your worst with the ball, . ; Sooner or later you’re mine, sirs, you’re mine. Pour on’ us torrents of light, good Sun, Shine in the hearts of my cricketers, shine, Pill them with gladness and might, good Sun,

Touch them with glory, 0 Brother of mine; Brother of mine, Brother of mine! We are the lords of them, Brother and Mate, I but a little ball, thou but a Great! —E. Y. Lucas. ANOTHER TRUMPER. Balmain has developed a young batsman who may take a big part in Australian cricket, reports the Sydney Sun. Arthur Mailey deals with the “find” as follows: “It is not often that we see a 15-year-old batsman —he was 15 two weeks ago —with such a splendid variety of strokes as A. Jackson, the boy cricketer, who. scored 71 for Balmain against the Juniors recently. As a rule, in a boy so young, there is that apparent anxiety that affects his cricket, and periods of cramped play occasionally are seen. But Jackson just moyes along, flicking this ball past point or through the covers, and turning the next sweetly to leg with the grace of a master. As a second line of defence, his legs are always in a handy position, but it is-refreshing to know that he intends to use his bat whenever possible. I am not going to compare him with the glorious Victor Trumper at this stage, but if a: wealth of common crick&t sense- and ability is an asset, then this boy’s future is assured.” * Choosing touring teams. CRITICISM THAT SELECTORS HAVE TO FACE. One cannot help wondering how the members of the earliest cricket teams which visited Australia rvould have regarded the tremendous public discussions which always precede, attend, and follow the actual selection of a touring team nowadays, states a correspondent of the Manchester Guardian. Every writer on the game is expected to produce his ideal team, every name in which becomes at once a battleground of enthusiastic amateur team-choosers, sometimes approving, more often (probably) wondering at the crass stupidity of a writer who has omitted from his list the name of the correspondent’s favourite player or a due proportion (about half the team) from the correspondent’s favourite county. The

names are scrutinised from every point of view. We discuss whether So-sml so.’s propensity to sea-siekness is a bar. Someone else is known to dislike long journeys by train; A has a temperament likely to be ruffled by expert barracking; B cannot stand the Australian glare; C’s physique is unequal to the strain. One imagines the- selectors studying not merely cricket form, but medical charts, the reports of nerve specialists, tomes on the after-effects of sea-sickness, and so. forth. It may be guessed that teams were chosen more light-heartedly in the beginning, sixty, and more years ago, though it is true that the first team went off in the midst of a fierce controversy caused by the anger of the northern players at the choice of H. H. Stephenson, a Surrey man, as captain. It is true that the actual cricket labour was smaller; a good many of the matches were more or less exhibitions, and it seems, from the bowling averages, to have been in the early, eighties that Australian wickets began to terrorise our bowlers. In 1876-7, for instance, Alfred Shaw bowled 260 overs for 200 runs and sixteen wickets; in 1881-2 the best- analysis was over 17 runs to the wicket. Even in 1887-8 Lohmann’s 62 wickets cost less than 12 runs apiece, but the batting averages were beginning to. tell a tale of long innings. Perhaps it was when the M.C.C. took charge that we became acutely critical.