CRICKET

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 6 March 1926, Page 12

CRICKET

'TO-DAY’S FINAL. Very keen interest will centre round the continuation to>-day of tie Excelsior and Stratford match, begun last Saturday. Excelsior are faced with a difficult position in being over a hundred behind on the first innings. They will need the very best that is m every member of the team in batting, in bowling and in fielding. i.A l)l EX’ ENGO-URAGEMEINT. A good lead is given by the .Okaiawa ladies in their encouragement ol; cricket in their distinct, and in fact all round, for every Saturday when there has been a match at Okaiawa, they have turned out in goodly numbers and have provided both, teams with most welcome refreshments. One has often heard of the cry against the afternoon tea interval in big matches, when many thousands are present watching the play and cannot leave their seats or their standing places, it is no doubt distinctly annoying to have to wait while the piayers have afternoon tea, only a couple of hours after luncheon. But when served on a country ground by a bevy of fair enthusiasts, who would object to the short spell Y Okaiawa ladies have for many years taken the keenest interest in sport and show this by their presence at matches not only in cricket but other sports, it certainly should be encouragement to the member of the local team. The sentiment is well expressed by one of the great poets when he says:— “ With score of ladies, Whose bright eyes rain influence.’ THE HAWKE GUP. The next challenge match will be commenced on Thursday next at Wanganui between Wanganui, the holders, and Poverty Bay, the challengers. •(Since 1919 Wanganui have fought for this cup on 15 occasions, having won eleven matches and lost four. It. PLondon and I. A. Wood are the only two who have played in all these matches. Of the 59 members who have taken part in the contests 29 are still playing in senior cricket and 10 have left the district. Only one member has succeeded m reaching the century, viz., 11. W. Orton, who made 2CH against Waikato and 138 against South Taranaki. He also made 87 and 5Q against Hawke's Bay. The result will be watched with very keen anticipation by all the minor associations. AUSTRALIA'S CHOSEN With the exception of Gollins and Oldfield (who did not play), Australian Eleven representatives made their final appearance in the round o.f club games which commenced last week. Wiokets were perfect from a batsman's viewpoint, and the intense heat affected bowlers and fieldsmen. J. M. Gregory hit with great freedom against Mosman at Hampden Park, where .a fair crowd saw his dashing display. In 95 minutes he made 122, lifting sis balls out of the ground at the northern end, and bitting fifteen 4’s. There was no uncertainty about his shots. He used his feet nicely to the slow bowling of Bassett, on which he was particularly severe. His first 5U took only 30 minutes. Thei hits out of 1 ground were either straight or to the on. Though fierce it was free from the uncertainty of actual slogging. NEW ZEALAND 1 IN AUSTRALIA. A commercial man from Sydney, who travels New Zealand regularly and who is keen on cricket, saw the New Zealanders play over there in several matches. He .says they gave very sparkling displays of batting and in many eases outshone their opponents. He said they appeared to bat with the greatest confidence and to have quickly accustomed themselves to the “glassy” wickets so well-known in Australia. Speaking of wickets over there, he said that the utmost care was taken with those used far practice, which were quitel as good as those in the centre of the ground used for matches. SOME! COWER SHOTS. Victor had the funeral of an Emperor, and the streets of Sydney wez-e lined five deep. He was carried to his grave by Australian. XI. men, and I can tell you we all broke down. No more modest cricketer than Trumper ever lived. He, if anyone, bad the straight bat and the modest mind.—■ Clem Hill, writing to P. F. Warner at the time of Victor Trumper’s death. A good fielding .side is the bail-mark of cricketing efficiency. It encourages the bowlers, it gives the skipper of the side enormous confidence, and it leaves the opposing batsmen with the feeling that all their scoring shots are being blocked. —G. A. Faulkner. No game except cricket combines’ a great amount of science with the advantage of bodily exercise. In fact, the mental and physical qualities required for one who would excel as a cricketer are about equally in demand.—’Richard Daft.

Auckland's batting was timorous against Wellington, says the Dominion. It was obvious that the visitors were flaying Badcock’s name and not the deliveries he was sending down. The South Australian, Alexander, is said to be the greatest cricket colt since Victor Trumper. He has freedom, dash, versatility, and skill. Mr. Peake's New Zealanders will never forget the century he made against them. Alexander topped South Australia's figures in the Sheffield Shield fixtures with an average of 64.. TOi MEET TELE AUSTR ALI ANS. ENGLAND’S PROBLEM. CORNSTALKS LEAVE ON MONDAY. England is getting on with the extremely serious business, which . has been so much emphasised by corresents from the Old Country, of selecting a team to do battle with the Australians, who will leave on Monday for the tour of England, the tour which has roused much more discussion than any tour for many a long day. For the series of test matches, in all of which Australia has kept her hold qn the famous Ashes, has made many wonder when the overseas players’ run of success is to come to an end. Gilligan’s team in Australia was very disappointing, despite the wonderful success of some of its members, and the tail failed to' wag on several occasions when a comparatively small effort was required to win. The captain has at least been chosen to co-opt with the three selectors and the principle of counsel with two leading professionals —a very sound idea it

will generally be conceded has ibeen affirmed. , , . The work of the selectors will be watched and criticised very closely by thousands of well-wishers and critics all over the Empire One of the soundest cricket, ciitics. Colonel Philip Trevor, writing in the Daily Telegraph says: — 1 Ihe choice of the selection committee is a wise one. Experts know that Perrin is one ol the soundest judges of batsmen in the world. The decision to add two proiessionals dispenses of the canard that the Board of Control or Marylebone desire to ignore professional opinion.” Colonel Trevor hopes that the three selectors will immediately co-opt the professionals and then the five can decide a definite policy, which should be match-winning, not mere matcli-saving. When the team is chosen the selection committee should regard its duties over until next time, and not talk to the man at the wheel. A tour of England, with its strenuous play every day for. four months, is only for young men, except they are inured to Marathon cricket such as Australian (says the New Zealand Times). The educative value must be Paramount in the minds of the selectors, as it is only the younger players who develop by such a period ol regular play. A search will have to be made for howlers, and all promising trundlers should be tried out during He next couple of seasons. . It id quite interesting to look oaciv over the records of the various touring teams in England since vhe first Australian team of 1878, and note the progress made. Oif course, everyone knows what these tours have meant for Australia, bfit everyone, perhaps,•does not know wfiat they Pave done for cricket in South Africa and the West Indies. A Cook's tour is not planned more carefully than the forthcoming tour de luxe of the Australian cricket oeam. JNo longer have the cricketers to find any of their passage money, as did the adventurers of 1878. It is provided by the State associations, which, in proportion to their importance in the cricket world, hand the manager of the team cheques aggregating about £4UUO to cover the £lls fare to England for each man and a small amount lor expenses in England to carry the tourists alono- until gate receipts begin to flow in. This advance is made a first charge on the receipts from matches, and, in the event of a wet season, and financial failure, would have to bo met before the members of the team were allowed to draw the £4OO each which the Board of Control has aranged to give! them. Each, member of the Australian cricket team will be insured against accident, as was done in the case of Armstrong’s team in 1921. When the tests begin, the cricketing public of New Zealand will cast their eyes Homewards during the winter months, and the form of the Kangaroos will be followed with the keenest interest from the beginning of hostilites in May The test match programme will

open on June 12 at Nottingham, the second test will be played at Lord’s on June 26, the third at Leeds on July 10 the fourth at • Manchester on July 24, and the last at the Oval three weeks later. The old system of three-day matches -will be adhered to, but in the event of the rubber depending upon it, the final match at the Oval will be played, to a finish. The hours of play in matches between the various counties and the Australians will be from 12 noon to 6.30 p.m. on the first and second days, and 11.30 to 0.30 on the final day, with an extra half-hour if demanded when there appears to be achance of a definite result. WORTH A PLACE. (Christchurch Star.) A suburban cricketer with the reputation of always being on the look-out for recruits for his team recently had a severe set-back. Some young players were out on the New Brighton beach the other Sunday tossing up a few halls to work off stiffness, when a stranger walked up and asked for permission to join in the game. He stood behind the wickets and started jumping and catching all and sundry. At last the enthusiast sidled up to him and asked quietly if he would fill the keeper’s position in their club team as their regular was out of action. The stranger smiled and said that as he was due in Wellington for the Plunket Shield match on the Saturday he did not think he would be available. It was only Rountree, the Auckland keeper, down on business. The enthusiast turned sadly away—another hope blasted. One recalls the story Told years ago of the famous player Lehmann, one of the greatest that ever played for England. Before he was so well-known he happened to reach a village just as a match was about to begin and one of the teams was a- man short. Noticing the young fellow on the ground, the captain asked him if he played and, on being told “a little,” he was enlisted to the vacant place. The story goes that his side were being badly worsted and at last he was put on to bowl and, of course, the wickets fell like nine-pins. A similar position was presented when he went on last to bat, hut he scored easily and put on enough to win the match. When asked what name he said, “L. O. Mann,” and his identity was not disclosed until later.