SATURDAY CRICKET

Hawera Star, Volume LII, 19 November 1932, Page 8

SATURDAY CRICKET

SOUTH TARANAKI FIXTURES FORM IN SENIOR TEAMS KAPQNGA’S RECORD SCORE , Kaponga liacl the distinction of putting up last Saturday the largest score made for many ydars in a championship match in South Taranaki, their total being 340 for nine wickets, made at the' expense {of High. School ,on their own wicket. The team has this year been strengthened by the acquisition of Dormer and Court, .formerly of Stratford, Eden, of Okaiawa, and now Jefcoafce has returned from V. Betts, make a solid .foundation for an eleven. It looks as though they should be strong enough to go through without a loss if they can retain all these players. Dormer was in specially fine batting form and reached a century when he was run out. He has a nice style with many good strokes all round the wicket and is an attractive bat ,to watch.

E'den is a good bat and features a pull that gets him lots of runs. He has good defence and reached 48 when Rogers heat him. Y. Betts, though not so forceful a batsman as his brother, has a lot of good strokes and lays on the wood effectively. He ran out to Rogers when he was 40 and was stumped. S. Betts was going well when at -8 ho part one up and wtis well caught. Court, Foster and Palmer all played serviceable innings.

Jefcoate proved /that he still can send down good balls and got four of the school wickets at small cost.

High School were disappointing, for after the very excellent opening partnership of B. Thomas and Whitehead, there was a collapse and eight batsmen put on only nine runs. Thomas played a solid innings of 70 when he was run out, most unfortunately for his team. He was going sj weir that he looked set for his century. But there are a lot of players who fail often to* judge a run and so fall to their lack of judgment. Thomas laid on the wood "well and gave a capital display. He was well by Whitehead (who scored 22 when he fell to a catch) and by Lester, . who scored a useful 14. Rogers was the only School howler to do any good with the ball and he secured four good wickets. STRATFORD “A” v. “B.”

Stratford “A” have’ proved so far to be a solid combination, though they feel the loss of Dormer. They should give the best of the other teams a good, contest. Hall, their leading bat, started the season well, but he did not do much on Saturday. His clubmate, put on a brilliant 72, hitting a number of boundaries and showing good defence. Wilson played havoc with Stratford “B" in the first innings and captured no less than seven wickets. He was assisted materially by the wicketkeeper (Henderson), who achieved the feat of stumping three batsmen in the innings-. Ernie. Cole, the Stratford veteran, still makes good scores. He had had luck in being caught and howled by •Wilson in the first innings when set, hut in the second innings he played capital cricket and retired when he had reached 37. Beere also did remarkably well and was unbeaten in the second innings. But the B’s first innings was poor and time gave them no chance of retrieving their position in the second innings. They are, however, a team that may upset calculations at any time.

OLD BOYS v. PATEA

Old Boys haci an easy win from Patea. The latter have' a Rood batting team, with several solid batsmen, but their bowling is very weak. A. J. Gibbs came out to help .them and he showed more command of length than any of the younger players. But with the exception of Paterson, C. Palmer and Jones, they did not do so well as would be expected. Paterson opened the innings and played good cricket for his 40. Jones has many nice strokes and is an attractive bat, but Palmer is more stubborn than pretty to watch. He played an unbeaten innings. Tire rest was a procession.

AV. Barker once more showed his consistency in batting and played with confidence from the outset. He appeared well set when he played over one that kept low. ■ The order of batting lias been altered this season, probably with a view to having a left hander. Thrush, with Barker. Thrush played fit’ll while at the wickets, hut went fairly’ early to an l.b.fi-. decision.

H. Barker played the opposing bowling with ease and freedom and scored fairly fast till he was 49, when he retired. ‘ The rest of the team helped materially in advancing the total and they drew just after reaching 200.

HAAYERA “A” v. “B”

Hawera “A,” though making only a small total, 109, secured the easiest of wins from their “B” team. The latter made a deplorable showing, the only batsmen who showed any enterprise being Geary, Worley and Pine. Geary played nice attractive cricket with a number of capital strokes and he had bad luck in being caught just as he was set in the first innings and before he had scored in the; second. He was the best on the day’s play. Three “BP batsmen were foolishly run out, all .showing a serious lack of judgment. So far Stratford “A” and Kaponga ire the only unbeaten teams .and their meeting will be awaited with keen interest.

LADIES AT CRICKET

It was interesting to see that a ;eam of ladies has at last been achievid in Hawera. There have been a few mthusiasts for several years, keen and inxious to make a team, but until this Sear they could not make up an eleven, fow they have broken the ice it is to e hoped others will join so that if osaible two elevens may be secured

and they may be able to get practice together. They played a men’s team on Wednesday and showed fair form. SCHOOLBOY CRICKET Even though it. was in a primary school match, tlie bowling of young Landers for Hawera Convent last week, when he got all ten wickets for no runs, was an outstanding performance, probably a world’s record. It is very good to see the keen interest taken by these youngsters in tjieir cricket, which makes pleasant reading and is an example to the seniors. The masters of the various schools, who have organised the competition, are entitled to great commendation for they are doing « very valuable work in the interests of the great game. These boys are to be the seniors of the future and such encouragement and help ns they are getting is all in the best interests of cricket. It is to be hoped the boys will continue in the same way as they get older, for cricket needs all the enthusiasm and keenness that can be imparted to it in this as in every province of the Dominion. EARLY HAWERA CRICKET An interesting report is given in the “Hawera Star’’ of December, 1884, of the matches between Hawera and an Auckland touring team —a member of the latter team being here with the S-outh Auckland bowlers last year. Hawera slaughtered the visitors, dismissing them for If) and 18, F. and G. Bayly sharing . the wickets, equally. They scored 70 and won by an innings. In a second match Hawera put on 122 and Auckland made only 3S and 31). M.C.U. TOUR. Interest in the great struggle, between England and Australia is fast increasing as each successive maten draws the itinerary nearer to the First Test on December 2. “Australia’s first test team to meet England will probably be chosen after the Australian eleven match against Jardine’s men in Melbourne and before New South Wales meets the tourists,” says “Not Out” in the “Referee.” Testmatehitis appears to have affected the latest form of some of the younger candidates for places. That is a pity. Prospects, however, point to Australia having a very- fine team. Though it may carry- the weaker batting tail, at the moment the prospect* of the rivals look equal. We will know more, however, after seeing the Eng lishmen against New South Wales.” It is good to see that this expert critic stresses the need of fielding, for it has been urged here time and again. Inter alia he says: “For the next place the selectors will have before them a number of batsmen with good claims, one or two very- good, yet none outstanding. The selected man, to my view, must be a crack fieldsman, fast enough to take the outfield if necessarv, and a good thrower. He must also be able to take the right toll oft bowling that may have lost some of its earlier sting, and therefore not a batsman dominated by defence. He must likewise be one who can, if necessary, keep an end going for a better batsman who may- be set. The candidates as one sees them in first-class cricket this season are K. E. lUgg and L. Darling of Victoria, H. C. Nitschke, V. Y. Richardson, and A. R. Lonergan, of South Australia, and J. H. Fingleton and S. Hird, of N.S.W. It will become a. inatter of form at the moment the selectors are making their final decision.’’

ENGLISH CRICKETERS’ AGREEMENT It was a simple agreement the English cricketers had to sign before they left England for Australia. For instance: “Flying is forbidden; players must not take part in games or sport that might endanger life or limb; and players must not write or give interviews to the Press.”