CRICKET.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 8 November 1924, Page 9

CRICKET.

JUNIOR FIXTURES. Nov. 15—Stratford Juniors v. Manaia, at Manaia; Excelsior v. Eltham, at Eltham; Hawera Tech. H.S. B v. Stratford Tech. H.S., at Stratford (school ground); Midlands v. Hawera Tech. H.S. A, at Hawera. Nov. 22—Hawera Tech. H.S. B v. Manaia, at Manaia; Excelsior v. Stratford Tech. H.S., at Hawera; Midlands v. Stratford Juniors, at Stratford (school ground); Hawera Tech. H.S. A v. Eltham, at Eltham. Nov. 29—Stratford Tech. H.S. v. MuL lands, at Stratford (school ground); Manaia v. Excelsior, at Hawera; Stratford Juniors v. Hawera Tech. H.S. B, at Hawera; Hawera Tech. H.S. A and Eltham a bye. Dec. 6—Stratford Juniors v. Eltham, at Eltham; Manaia v. Hawera Tech H.S. A, at Hawera; Midlands v. Hawera Tech. H.S. B, at Hawera; Excelsior and Stratford Tech. H.S. a bye. Dec. I&—Stratford Juniors v. Excelsior j at Stratford (school ground); Hawera Tech. H.S. A v. Stratford Tech. H.S., at Hawera; Eltham v. Hawera Tech. H.S. B, \ at Hawera; Midlands and Manaia a bye. SENIOR ~ FIXTURES. Nov. 15—Midlands v. Eltham, at Hawera; Okaiawa v. Stratford, at Okaiawa; Excelsior v. Patea, at Patea; Manaia a bye. The rain that promised to spoil last week-end seems to have been fairly general. over the ; country, and South. Taranaki cricketers were lucky to get their games in last Saturday m bright eunshine.. Wellington and Christchurch were rained off, and Aucklanders played on rain-affected wickets. MANAIA v. EXCELSIOR, _ This game was in the. melting pot right up to the eighth wicket of Ex©elaior’s innings. _ If a chance or two given by the visitors had been taken things would have , gone hard with' them. The Manaia wicket is concrete with a very thin matting, and as most of' the players were all at sea under the new, conditions; and the grass being long, too,, scoring was low and slow. '■ The scores were Manaia 61 and Excelsior 79. .'McCarthy, for Excelsior, with eight for 20, was in his deadliest vein, and bowled with splendid length and verve. Bairstow, with five for 16, was in' good form for Manaia, and made a lot of pace off the pitch. The fielding on both sides was of a high order, the catching was splendid, and the one that Monaghan took from McMahon was right out of the box. MIDLAND v. PATEA. The game in Hawera was full of interest, and the eventual winners in Midland had a narrow enough go to he, pleasant. Patea only made 54, of which Hoult . made 17, and he was the only one to get - doubles. . The wicket was very slow, but not difficult, and it looked as if the players magnified, the difficulties. Davies with four for 24 and „Giblin three for 's' were destructive, and both , bowled with a length. On Midland going into bat they found the Patea bowling steady, and eight wickets fell for only 40 runs. Vowless and Plank pulled’ the game out of the fire, and the former merits great praise for his invaluable 53 not out. Good defence was shown, and the scoring strokes 1 were vigorously executed. Plank with 18 displayed much improved form, and is a promising, bat, who only wants to remember that the bat is used to strike the ball with. Hoult three for 28, Fiiullay three for 11 and Gibbs one for 18 bowled with great precision, while the fielding was good. Patea sadly miss the services of J. Smith, last year’s captain. J OKAIAWA V. ELTHAM. Okaiawa away had a substantial win against Eltham in a lowscoring game. The rains had made the wicket very slow, and as the grass was long, the bowlers reaped a rich harvest.

Eltham, who hatted first, only made 23, Priest getting 10 of them. Their second innings was a little better with a total of 55, Donnelly 10 and Philpotts 17 getting doubles. Okaiawa made 63 and 16 for two wickets, thus notching the full points by eight wickets. For Okaiawa, Penny 25 and Thomas 15 were the only ones to get moving, but it must be confessed that none of the batting in the game was inspiring. In bowling Penny had, remarkable figures, and seven wickets for 5 runs shows the deadliness of his attack. Thomas three for 18 and Brooke four for 20 also did well, the latter getting a really good one past Philpotts. For the losers, Pearce, who mixed them well, five for 8, Philpotts two for 8, and Priest three for 30 did best; and the first-named’s figures also go to show the difficulties of the conditions.

In th© junior matches there was some good bowling, and in the Midland v. Manaia game, won by the former, Busing seven for 13 and Mahoney five for 11 were too much for their opponents. Busing is a very promising'colt, and with a, littlo more experience will develop into a good class bowler.

Cheevers, of the Technical School team, made a splendid 72, and demonstrated that he has quite a good working knowledge of how to bat. In the matches played so far the bowlers have easily had the upper hand, and it seems as if practice could be indulged in by the batsmen with profit to themselves. It is to be hoped that a return to form will.ensue as regards some of our leading players before the match with North Taranaki comes off. IN OTHER CENTRES. AUCKLAND. Th cricket season opened on Saturdav on wickets affected by rain. Eden scored 124 • runs against University, Whelan compiling 30 runs. ! Saunders took seven wickets for 51. University scored 114 for four wickets (Metze 40). North Shore had scored 157 for seven wickets against Grafton when rain stopped play. Dacre scored 77 not out. including four sixes. Parnell • made 166 for seven wickets against Ponsonbv, Somerville notching 54 and Irving 45. DUNEDIN. The first senior cricket matches were concluded in wet weather. Grange (207) defeated Dunedin on the Oval . Dunedin were dismissed in

the first innings for 106, the best scorers being Strang 39, Higgins 38. Bowling for Grange, McGregor took tour wickets for 25 runs. Dunedin, in the second innings, scored 59 for four wickets (Strang 24, Baker 23). Bowling, Conradi took three wickets for 25 runs.

Carisbrook, 189 and 70 for two wickets, beat Albion, 132 and 162, on the first innings. In Carisbrook’s first innings, Dickinson made 52 and Douglas 32. In Albion’s-first innings, Shepherd notched 62 and Keast 34, Dickinson taking three wickets for 48 runs. Dunning and Dickinson made 31 and 23 respectively in Carisbrook’s second innings. SYDNEY. Results: four wickets for 324, v. St. George; Glebe, six wickets for 473, v. Rand wick; Mosman, 393, v. Petersham, one wicket for 19; University, 243, v. Waverley, no wicket for 38; Marriekville, 101, v. Balmain, seven wickets for 164; Paddington, six wickets for 475, v. Cumberland; North Sydney, 264, v. Western Suburbs, one wicket for 27; Sydney, 230, v. Manly, three wickets for 58. Batting.—W. Chapman (Mosman), 207; G. Morgan (Glebe), 173; A. P. Wells (Paddington), 154; G. O’Neil (Paddington), not out, 110; N. Phillips (Gordon), 10Q; J. M. Taylor (University), 93; W. Gerdes (Gordon), 91; J. Foskett (Glebe), 74; C. Winning (Paddington), 72; A. Ratcliffe (Paddington), 68; R. Harris (University), 63; B. G. Long (Glebe), 61; S. Thomas (Balmain), not out, 51. Bowling.—S. Everett (Petersham), five wickets for 76; J. Randel l(Manly), five wickets for; 100. ENGLISH TEAM. With _ the full knowledge that the Australian wicket is a miracle of the groundsman’s art, made with Bulli soil from the Blue. Mountains, I consider that the selection committee have got together an enormously strong side, who, bar accidents, ought to recover the Ashes. A. E. R. Gilligan is the skipper, and J. W. H. T. Douglas the deputy-loader. Here you have the enthusiasm of youth and the judgment of the veteran pastmaster combined, writes A. C. Russell, the Essex professional, who was a member of the "previous M.C.C. team in Australia. The strong point of the side is, to my mind, that the batting is stronger than it has been for years. The bowling is accurate. Both Colonel Trevor and A. C. MacLaren seem to doubt its being sufficient, but it is certainly very strong. The fielding should be. extremely good. Gilligau, Chapman, Hendren, Bryan and Sandham are exceptionally good fieldsmen, and, indeed, there is not a weak man in the sidb.

Sutcliffe, of Yorkshire, goes out for the first time. He has had a wonderful season. In the Test games he averaged over 75 runs per innings, beating Hobbs. He made a century in the Lord’s game in June. With Holmes he has compiled a record number of first-wicket partnerships, and last summer they sent up the century for the first wicket on nine occasions.

Roy ICilner, another newcomer, is. Yorkshire’s great all-rounder. He is a native of Wombwell, Barnsley, and is 34 years of age. He came out some 14 seasons ago. He,, progressed slowly, but after the war, in which he was badly wounded, he made his mark. He got over 1100 runs for his county last year and took 143 wickets. He is a lefthanded slow bowler, and has, apart from his wonderful spin and accuracy of length, the gift of imagination. He is always thinking out new ways of beating the batsmen. Devoted to the game and blessed with a cheery temperament, Roy Kilner is liked by everybody. ) M. W. Tate, a native of Brighton, is only 29. Last year he jumped into fame as the best bowler, and this season he took far more wickets in the Test games than anyone else. He has all the best qualities of bonders of his type—accuracy of length and power to make the ball break back or go away a little with his arm, but his chief merit is extra pace off the pitch. He is a dashing hat. He is the son of the old Sussex bowler, F. W. Tate. Gilligan. is second in the bowling averages in the Test matches against the Africans, and has taken 100 i wickets. He has led the finest fielding side in the world, Sussex, and is popular wherever he goes. R. Tyldesley, of Lancashire, a fresh coiner, ie second on the list of howling averages. He has nearly 200 wickets at the cost of 13 runs each. In the series of Test games he took a dozen wickets. Lhst season for his county he did well, and Parkin strongly urged his inclusion in the Tests; J. L. Brvan is a great left-hander. He was born at Beckenham 28 years ago, and is a member of a famous brotherhood. He was captain at Rugby School. After the war he went iro to Cambridge, but did not get his “Blue” until 1920. Playing for Cambridge and Kent, lie had an average of 50, and was fifth among English batsmen. TARRANT’S SELECTION RESENTED. (Referee.) It is doubtful if ever the public were more confounded at the selection of a player than in Tarrant’s case, which is not in the best interests of the game’ and the Victorian selectors are deserving of great censure.

F. R. SPOFFORTH

THE DEMON BOWLER

(By J. A. Dobbie, 8.A.) “Fred, my boy, cricket will be your ruin.” Thus spoke my employer to the youthful “Demon” one morning in January, 1874. He was a friend of Fred’s father, who was a director in the Bank of New South Wales, where Fred —a clerk—vainly attempted to banish cricket from his mind by the exciting expedient of making up passbooks. Mj employer (a bachelor and a Scotchman, with his due Quantum of national humour) I served in the capacity of office boy at the humorous salary of 4s 2d a week. In the genial words of Mr Mantalini, “the odd twopence be demined!” And so it happened that young Spofforth. and his friend, “Charlie” Beal, often came into our office. I had already been devoted to ruin- by my employer. “Swimming will be your ruin-, all the worst characters congregate at the water’s edge.” But the future manager of Australian Elevens, “Charlie” Beal, fared worst of all at these prophetic hands. , “Charles, mv ,boy, footba'll will bring you to the gallows.” Thus was he cheered on his way in the formation of the famous Warntah Football Club of the seventies. This “fine old Scottish gentleman” met his end in a highly unsporting wav. He was run over bv his" own cab in Macquarie, street, but not before he had informed a

young politician, named George Reid, that “polities wuu.d i.e ub i\au.” Thus j passed one of the olu-tasmoned business men of Syuney—splendid men—interiorly kind, exteriorly blunt. In no sense deteneci by his impending ruin, “Fred” speedily bowled his way into the New south "Wales 18 to meet W. G. Grace’s 1874 team. Given a brief trial in the second innings, he quickly took several wickets, and his name was made locally, and, barring ruin, his cricketing future assured. In those days “Scoff” was somewhat of a “tear-away” bowler, who, like his English exemplar Tarrant, of the 1864 Eleven, rejoiced in stump-smashing and a little judicious terrifying of the batsmen. \et found he out a more excellent way; and no bowler ever surpassed him in the art of detecting a batsman’s weakness, and turning it to immediate account: Among other artifices be developed a slow ball—most deceptively delivered, and worthy of, Armstrong. With marvellous endurance, a lithe, supple frame (Conan Doyle called him “the man of indiarubber) and a run up to the bowling crease which promised a cannonshot—only to result in a cleverly disguised medium-pace or absolutely slow ball, he always kept a supply of stumpbreaking shots in his locker. I do not know whether Noble, Trumble and Armstrong remember him at his best. If they do, they will call to mind his fine “head-work” as something quite equal to their own, while he had certain gifts, no other ever possessed to the same degree. “He come# down all over you,” said one Englishman. This he did, and in more picturesque and demonesque action than the famous Jack Gregory himself. Whether, as many have asserted, he was the best bowler of all time is, of course, uncertain, but certain it is that he was the grand, Australian pioneer of great bowling in England and Australia. Right furious to behold, he blazed the track; and, first of all onr bowlers, he sent fear, and often consternation, into the English camp. Most of all, he rose to the occasion with a Napoleonic dash and celerity. Since 1880 we have always gone to England with the determination to beat England, if possible. The great desideratum was first achieved in 1882. Prior to the Test match the “Demon” was by no means in his best form. Behold! the day comes round. To the intense relief of his comrades he “walks through” an eleven, in which there were ten magnificent batsmen— W. G. Grace, A. N. Hornby, Ulyett, Barlow, W. Barnes, A. P. Lucas, A. G. Steel, C. T. Studd, Alfred Lyttleton (sometime in the British Cabinet), and Maurice Read. (With the exception of Lyttleton, all of these have visited Australia.) He takes seven wickets for 46 and seven wickets for 44; >in all, 14 wickets for 90 runs. This is not pioneering; it is buccaneering. As we won by only seven runs, clearly the “Demon” won the match. “The fierce hitting of Massie in the morning rendered a victory .possible, and Spofforth: converted this possibility into a reality by his wonderful howling; and this, in popular estimation, serves to make him the greatest of living bowlers.” What could impress the Englishmen more than his bowling against the M.C.C. in 1878? .

First Innings: 6 overs, 4 runs, 6 wickets. Second Innings: 9 overs' 16 runs, 5 wickets. 11 wickets for 20 runs.

Again, m 1884, in a match against an ‘Eleven of England, at Birmingham— \

First Innings: 7 wickets for 34. Second Innings: 7 wickets for 3. 14 wickets for 37 runs; However, as Gicero would phrase it, “by no means are all things contained in’’ wonderful averages. To _ make “the hour and the man” coincide is the test of classic greatness. Spofforth did this in cricket. Then, what bowler past or present can boast of three such partnerships as—Spofforth and Evans, Spofforth and Boyle, Spofforth and Palmer. Of course, the first two teams to England played many eighteens and few elevens. Thus in the 1878 tour Spofforth obtained the enormous number of 764 wickets at a cost of 6.08 runs each.. This tour covered Australia, England and America. In 1880 Spofforth* had his bowling finger broken, and could not play in the Test match; and in 1886" he was also put out of action. His best howling, perhaps, was injlßß4; it was a dry summer. From 1875 to 1884 he and Evans sometimes paralysed the Victorians and visiting English teams. Hence old Sam Cosstiek, of Victoria: “What can a batsman do, with a cannon-ball at one end and a corkscrew at the other?” Evans “the Fakir,” beat Spofforth the “Demon,” in purely intercolonial matches. Privatelv. “Scoff” was what Mr Pickwick would call “a capital fellow.” Spofforth, 69 years of age, is still alive in London, and, inasmuch as be presented each member of the last Australian Eleven with a medal commemorative of the hundredth Test match, “cricket has not moved his rum” so far.

Of the 14 members (including the manager) of the 1882 Eleven, which first heat England on English soil wven survive—Massie, C„ Bannermam Blackham, Sam Jonea, Giffen, Garrett and Spofforth. The other seven—Murdoch. Bonner, Macdonnell, Palmer, Horan, Boyle and C. W. Beal-are lost awhile.”