AUSTRALIANS ON TOUR

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 5 March 1928, Page 6

AUSTRALIANS ON TOUR

MATCH WITH CANTERBURY VISITORS MAKE 404 A GREAT BATTING DISPLAY. (BY TELEGRAPH— PP.ESa ASSOCIATION.) GHRISTOHU'RCH, March 4. Canterbury ’a respectable score of 305 in the match against Australia on Fridav had pared the wav for a good attendance, the crowd to-day being estimated at from 12,000 to 15,000. The takings for the two days were £593. It was assumed that with over 300 against them the Australians would take no chances, but would adhere to their strongest batting order. The assumption was correct, for Ponsfoi'd and Woodfull were the opening batsmen. Each gave a chance early, and with tin total at 46 Merritt ,beat Ponsford all the way. "A't the same figure Read, who wag bowling finely, beat Woodfull, whose pads stopped a straight one. Richardson, when partnered by Jackson was not happy and soon put a fast one into the slips. Jackson was immediately eaughlt at the wicket and four were -down for 64. Notwithstanding that several of the crack batsmen of the side failed to get going the Australians’ batting on the whole was a veritable cricket feast to the thousands who were there. Ponsford, Woodfull, Jackson, Alexander, and Richardson had all shown batting form which suggested thait Canterbury was lucky to have captured four for 64, five for 128 and six for 135. At that stage it looked as though Canterbury would have a substantial first innings lead. On Oldfield joining Schneider, however, there commenced one of the finest partnerships ever seen at Lancaster Park. Schneider had been playing sound but aggressive cricket when Oldfield went in, and the latter trounced the bowling from the start by faultless, forcing batting. The score mounted rapidly and before long the batsmen had complete mastery of the bowling. It was here that Cunningham ’s services were sorely missed. For some unaccountable reason Page did not bowl, so that the side, which was thought to be strong in bowling, was really two short of its strength. Read, Newman and Merritt thus had to do the bulk of the work, as neither Nixon nor Evans, Who were given a turn with the ball, was accurate enough to steady the run getting. Schneider gave a wonderful display of sound butt very aggressive batting for such a diminutive player. It was a marvel where he gets the power that he put into his strokes. He used his feet to such purpose that if anything was overpitched lie either go*t it on the full or made a half volley of it with powerful drives on either side of the wicket. Anything short of" a good length ball he went back t'O, and not for a defensive stroke but for a scoring shot. He; had Merritt s o much under subjection that the slow bowler, in order to keep down the runs, had to discard his ordinary style and send down fast, straight ones. Oldfield’s innings was a little inferior to Sehnider’s as a high-Mass batting display. The latter, as a left-hander and a very small man, seemed to have 1 a style peculiarly his own. On the ■other hand, Oldfield is a right-hander of orthodox type, but with a facility for hitting practically everything that is not of perfect length, whilst his offside play was marked by fine scoring strokes from late cuts to off drives. His or. side play was even stronger and very rarely did he fail to hit anything on the leg side. The Australians’ innings on Saturday enabled one to conclude that there are nine good batsmen in the side, the Two exceptions being the last two men in. Of these nine, Oxen ham alone failed to show his form, but he is recognised as a fine batsman. On Saturday’s batting, neither Ponsford nor Woodfull played up to their reputation. Each gave a chance early, and though each batted in faultless style, neither stayed very long. They certainly met the bowling at its best and it was very good until the big partnership. In Alexander and Jackson the Australians have two stylish and very fine young' batsmen, both of forcing type, with beautiful strokes all round the wicket. Alexander particularly impressed one as being a coming champion. His wris’ty and stylish cutting was the chief feature of a repertoire of high-class strokes. Grimmett was in long enough to show that he is more than a bowler. It is his misfortune that there are eight fine batsmen to come before him. Little fault could be found with Canterbury’s out-cricket, except that a. number of catches were dropped. They were, however, all more or loss ■ difficult. The bowling was distinctly good until Schneider and Oldfield took toll of it, and it was here that Cunningham’s loss was severely felt. Read bowled splendidly during the early part of the innings, but ho was overworked, and towards the end his length suffered. Newman was not quite so accurate as Read, but still bowled well and kept good length' and direction throughout. Merritt also did his part. Apart from Schneider and Oldfield none of the batsmen was able to take liberties with him, and in an innings of 404 his tally of five wickets for 105 was an excellent one. The ground fielding of the Canterbury men was uniformly good, though it was not quite so good as that of the Australians on the previous day.

The scores are:— _ CANTERBURY. First Innings 305 Second Innings. G. R. Gregory, not out 7 M. Hamilton, b Grimmett 3 Total for one wicket ........ 10 AUSTRALIA. First Innings. H. W. Ponsford, b Merritt 3 0 W. M. Woodfull, 1.b.w., b Read .. 30 A. .TaeksUn, c Porreen, b Merritt I*2 Y. Y. Richardson, c Hamilton, b Cunningham G K. J. Schneider, c Read, b Merritt 13S -W. C. Alexander, b Read 30 R. Oxen'ham, b 'Newman 1 W. A. Oldfield, st. Porreen, b Merritt 137 C, Y. Grimmett, not out 12 D. J. Blackie, st. Dorreen, b Merritt 3 R. MeNamce, b Read 4 Extras 4 4 Total 4 °-* Howling analysis.—R. •!. Read took three wickets for 120, J. Newman one for 114, W. E. Merritt five for 305, W. 11. R. Cunningham one for 10, D. 0. Nixon none for 28, C. E. Evans none for 16.