CRICKET

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 17 April 1926, Page 10

CRICKET

THE GAME IN INDIA. A COSMOPOLITAN SPORT. ADVANCE IN RECENT YEARS. The fascination of cricket has established the game on a sound basis in mcna and its popularity has been responsible for the formation of many ciabs m the numerous States.

that the play of India hak improved is admitted everywhere, althougn it is not yet up to recognised international standard, a Soutn African writer states oh his return from the East. The keeness shown by some of the ruling chiefs, combined with the frequent visits of first-class professional players from England as coaches, has been chiefly responsible for the improvement in play, while it would be safe to say that"there are now three clubs in existence to every one that was playing before the war.

The main interest every year centres in the quadrangular tournament, which is usually played in Bombay or Poona. The Europeans, .Parsees, Mohammedans and Hindus all enter for this competition, which >.is played on the knock-out system. The first-named are, possibly more handicapped than the others in the matter of getting a really representative side together, but a pretty useful team is usually collected, and the play is of a high, order, and well worth going some way to see. The tournament is usually very open, and enormous crowds gather to watch these matches; However, the place to play cricket, the Mecca of India, is Kashmir. It Would he interesting to know if there are many cases similar to that of the late Maharajah, who started playing at the age of 60. Not only that, but he became really keen on the game, and the Kashmir cricket eleven, which he formed was, and may still he, the best club team in India. The Maharajah of Patiala is another of the ruling chiefs who has done much to encourage cricket in his country. A keen player himself, he took an Indian team to England some years ago, and the Patiala State eleven is a very sound side indeed. North ; of Bombay lie the Kathiawar Native States, another stronghold of cricket. Every year the inter-State championship takes place, with fluctuating results, hut the best side on the whole is probably Jamnagar. The Jam Sahib, better known; as “Ranji” has, of course, given up active cricket for some time, owing to his shooting accident, but he s’feill takes the keenest interest in the game, with the result that his team can always he depended on to give nothing away. Generally speaking cricket is played more in the south of India than the north, climatic conditions being the chief factor. Also, for some curious reasons, the north-countryman does not seem to have taken to the game to anything like the extent of his southern brother. Hockey and wrestling seem to he the chief forms of exercise in the north, while chances of cricket in the North-West Frontier Province are few and far between. The Parsees, whom one does not as a rule associate with any particular form of sport, turn out really fine teams in the south, while innumerable Hindu and Mohammedan clubs have sprung to life during the past few years.

IN SYDNEY. A great jecord stands behind the Paddington Cricket Club, which this season lias come out on top in the senior competition. They are five points ahead of any other club. Commenting on the result the Sydney Morning Herald says: “Only one round remains to be played, and as Paddington cannot be overtaken, the premiership pennant for the 1925-26 season will fly from the club’s headquarters at Hampden Oval The premier team has a fine record, having only been beaten once during the season. Last year the premiership was won by the Sydney Club, which, owing to the decision of the association, had to disband at the end of the season. The ex-Sydney players then joined the Paddington Club. The newcomers were in a great measure responsible for the success of the older club, which in years gone by included many of the giants of the game, notably. Victor Trumper and M. A. Noble. L. Wall and O. P. Asher were the l bowling mainstays of a team which, though not strong in outstanding batsmen, generally compiled respectable scores. J. M. Gregory was a tower of strength to the club, but owing to the interstate matches he was often an absentee.

NOTESPlaying in the Easter match with Manawatu, Lowry and Beath of Hawke’s Bay both made centuries, the innings being closed with six wickets down for 484. They beat Manawatu by an innings and 113 runs. In a match between a team from- the newspaper offices and a city team in Wellington last week, B. Blundell bowled well for the Press, capturing eight wickets for 67 runs off ten overs. In his sixth over he took a wicket with his fourth delivery, and ended np by doing the hat-trick with the last three balls of the over. G. Ohal loner_ one of the outstanding batsmen in the West Indies, is to visit England in the coming summer. He will take part in the Scarborough Cricket Festival, as he has accepted the invitation of Mr H. D G. Leve-son-Gower. Challoner made his mark in English orickfet 'when the West Indies team toured at Home two years ago.

In the first laws of cricket were drafted, and though, they have since been changed’ in many ways, the length of the pitch, 22 yards, has always remained As to why this distance was adopted, an English clergyman has put- forth the following. A person named Gunter, who lived and died more than a centurv before the first cricket rules were formed, was responsible for the unit of land measurement which became known as Gunter’s chain of 22 yards. When cricket became popular and matches were arranged, the team had to agree upon the length of the pitch, and many* schemes were tried out until eventually somebody with an idea for uniformity thought of Gunter’s chain. The distance occasioned general satisfaction, and has stood the test of time.