CRICKET

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 27 August 1927, Page 12

CRICKET

THE ENGLISH TOUR

The major matches of the- tour are now over, and with the exception of the match against Kent and Leveson Gower ’3 XI. the remaining fixtures should be good wins for our men. “The- Men of Kent” can generally be relied upon to make a good showife against the best. That county has a record and a history equal to those of any other in England, and have included at various eras some of the best in the game. Last year they stood third in the list for the county championship, Lancashire and Yorkshire alone heading them. They lost only two of their matches. They drew with these two, beat Notts by an innings in the first round, lost by 33 runs only to Lancashire, and drew again with Yorkshire in the second round, and' twice also with Surrey and, curiously enough, fell to Sussex towards the end of the Famous players appearing for Kent —and it is hoped they will play their test —are A. P. P. Chapman, Hardinge, F. E. Woolley, Seymour, Hubble, Ashdown, Bryan (batsmen), Freeman and Wright (bowlers). They have two fine wicket-keepers in Hubble and Ames, the latter a youngster, of whom much more is expected in the future. It is to be hoped that the Everard Gates’ XI. and Leveson Gower XI. wall be made as strong as possible so as to try out our men to the utmost of their ability. James is still showing the same consistent brilliance behind the Stumps, and has much more than justified his position. A letter from Mr Hay, the manager, serves to explain why Oliver has been often played when his batting was indifferent —and he is no bowleT. Mr Hay sets down Oliver as the best fieldsman of the team. That is quite sufficient reason for inclusion, but it mades the mediocre form of several others hard to explain. Merritt continues his wicket-taking record and should barring accidents, be able to top two hundred by the end of the tour. It would be a gxeat performance. NOTES. In replying to the toast of kindred clubs at tbe Sargent Cup dinner on Monday, Mr B. McCarthy expressed the hope that the cricket at the school would progress on a par with the football and that in the future some of the boys would be representatives of the Dominion. He referred to the success of the New Zealand team in England, and said that they had made a remarkable showing, far .more than had ever been anticipated. The team, he said, "went to learn,” and had done so well, even against the strongest counties, that they had showed very forcibly what New Zealand could do.

There was a cricket curiosity provided by the recent game in England between Oxford and Harlequins. Not quite 800 rams were scored, yet there were 121 extras.

THE CRICKETER OF THE HOUR,

Hobbs has been overshadowed by young Hammond (said the “London Times” recently). Hammond has scored his ninth hundred of the season —wonderful. Hammond’s father was a soldier, and “’Wally” went with him on foreign service to China and Malta, and as a small boy in Malta he used to play cricket with other boys. Eventually young Hammond went to school in Cirencester, where his schoolmaster believed that all boys should play cricket. “Wally” rose to the school eleven, and jumjed right into the Gloucestershire team in 1920, playing three matches at the end of that season—two in Cheltenham week against Lancashire and Leicestershire, when he scored 0 and 7 not out against Lancashire and 2 against Leicestershire. The next week he made 18 against Worcestershire, his figures for the season being 27 runs in four innings, with one not out, and an average of 9. Hammond was an amateur in those days, but his qualification was called into question, having been bom at Dover when his father was in the garrison there, and not being afterwards permanently resident in Gloucestershire, and it was not till 1922 that Hammond as a professional entered the Gloucestershire team again. That season Hammond registered 88 runs in nine innings, and so his wonderful success since then came of perseverance. As a child he used to wa-tch the soldiers play cricket at Dover, but his father did not encourage him, and it was not till he went to Cirencester that the boy seriously played cricket. At the present moment Hammond is the cricketer of the world.

Writing of him a Home critic said ■that the New Zealand match with ■Gloucester is of special interest because of the appearance of Hammond, •the young county player who has ■achieved such fame. Hammond is still ■making centuries and may easily beat ■Hobbs’ “record” of 16 centuries in ■one season. He is attracting large crowds to watch him just as “W.G.” used to do. THE BATSAIAN’S HARD LUCK. The batsman walked pompously to the wicket, surveyed the crowd loftily, had the sight screen moved, patted the pitch, adjusted his cap, hitched up his trousers, patted the turf again, and dug himself in. The bowler sent down a simple ball ■fYhich shattered the stumps, and the batsman slowly returned to the pavilion. “ ’Ard luck, sir!” came a voice from the crowd. “Just as you was getting set!” PROTEST AGAINST SPEED. Following the match played ax Christchurch on Saturday week between the Christchurch Club and Otago University for the Payne Shield in which the superior speed -of the University rearguard gave them a 13-3 victoi-v. An amusing appeal was contributed to the Christchurch “Star” lav ‘ ‘Ti-red and Black” who wrote as follows: — “On behalf of the Christchurch team’s forwards I desire to protest against the excessive speed at which the Otago University men were allowed to travel on Saturday. It was quite impossible for the local pack to keep up with the game, and for that reason scrums and line outs were being held on one part of the field while the Reds were 20 or 30 yeards off.”