CRICKET

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIII, Issue 285, 17 November 1923, Page 11

CRICKET

Nothing of a startling nature market the conclusion of the first sen io matches in Hawke's Bay this season J Except that Heretaunga quite failec to get runs when badly needed in thei first innings against Hastings and tha High School Old Boys crashed in thei second innings before Scinde’s bowlinf r attack, the matches ended just accord j‘ ing to the promise of the first xlay’i r play. Hastings, High School ant j’ Scinde are tho winners of the opening e games. But form so far has hardlj been brilliant, and play to date is nt # indication of what strength may be a disclosed as the season progresses. n At Hastings two local elevens—botl tl comprised largely of colts—did not t play very startling cricket, and when Heretaunga’s tail added only a dozer n runs to their first day’s total the ref suit was practically a foregone cone elusion. With 84 to the good on the s first strike, Hastings realised 111 for j their second effort with the wood, e Geake played nicely when he carried i his bat for 35, and McTvor took no e chances in collecting a steady 28. Mit- _ chell, Davis and Simpson secured the - best averages. Mitchell bowling really well. Faced with the necessity of putting together 195 to win Here1 taunga never at any stage looked like s getting the runs. But for Davis and Vogtherr their collapse would have [ been pathetic; One might expect a team including so many youngsters to attack the bowling with dash, but ! caution seemed the watchword. HowI ever, Heretaunga look like being a hard team to heat later on, and should improve with practice. * * * Davis and Vogtherr again rattled up ; the greater share of the runs. Davis made 31 in his first- knock and 32 in his second, and last Saturday, in the absence of Paterson, led his eleven ably and handled his howling well. However, the team failed by an exact century to tally up the runs essential for a win, and with Graham, Geake and Beuth all howling with accuracy and steadiness they were back in the pavilion for 95. Geake, whose batting and bowling constituted a good allround performance, averaged three for 18. * * « The absence of Paterson on Saturday affected Heretaunga considerably. His steadiness and experience both with bat and ball are especially useful in so young a toam. but for two or three weeks he will he in Christchurch, and there is a prospect that he will not again be playing in Hastings. For the sake not only of his club hut also of the Hawke’s Bay rep. team it is hoped Paterson stays here. Those who recollect some of his past performances will realise his full value tb 'any eleven as an all-round cricketer. • • • Hindmarsh appeared for United on Saturday, hut Hawke’s Bay’s oldest club’s team still turned out a man or two short. The advent of Bernau should he very helpful. On Saturday High School lifted the honours with eight wickets to spare, the second day of the watch being notable only for Beuth’s remarkable bowling feat of bagging six wickets at a cost of six each—a good performance for a school boy. • « « Scinde carried their first innings’ total to 301 for nine before declaring against High School Old Boys, for whom the chief first innings scorer, O’Connell, was sent back run out after raising one. Ft was an unfortunate example of bad judgment. Downes, who followed, went back with a duck, .and it was left to Johnston to alleviate a painful position. He got nearly to the half-century before lifting Bradburn to Grant. Armour put up another useful score for the seventh wicket, hut of the others only Kirk reached double figures. Boardman, by taking three for 12, put up one of the season’s best performances to date. Requiring 19 to triumph Scinde got the rims easily. It was noticeable that in the first innings extras helped the Scmdians to the extent of 24 runs.. ■ e . wea^er has helped attendances in iSapier to be reasonably good, but in Hastings public apathy to cricket is rather painful when one considers attendances at matches elsewhere. Still this paucity is easily explained by the popularity of bowls, tennis, and so on, and is only an instance of the diversified sporting interests of this community. There were three centuries in junior cricket on Saturday, two of them recorded by Technical College Old Boys. They put up 289 for four wickets against Soft Goods, both O’Brien (105) and Elliott (106 n. 0.) getting beyond the hundred mark. Against Scinde Alexander (High School) gallantly attempted to avert a two-point loss and contributed IQJ out of 169 that the School collected in an endeavour to get together 175 and a win. * * * Heretaunga Juniors won a meritorious victory over Whakatu, with List 52, Stubbs 69, and Blewett 42 not out responsible for a trio of useful scores. Whakatu staved off a three-point win, but were 116 short on the first inning’s scores. The men from down the line have put in pretty solid practice, and have been improving themselves with bat and ball since the close of the football season. Some of these juniors set a good example to seniors, among whom disinclination to practice is a failing far too common.

Although so far this season the ground fielding in Hastings matches has been quite good, yet there have been several examples of slackness in catching in the outfield. The Hastings. Heretaunga senior match saw a whole bundle of chances thrown away, and several bowlers much discouraged as a consequence. A bowler who can bear to see easy catches going begging must have a heart of stone. The Nelson Park outfield does not help. Football has left behind it a noticeable undulation that has surprising effects on the ball’s progress, but while rendering accurate judgment difficult the same unevenness gives the batsmen trouble when they are laying the wood on to reach the boundary. As a matter of fact the. present set of the wicket and boundaries at the park makes a boundary hard to score- In the past two Saturdays boundaries were rarities. Towards the corners the distance to he travelled before a well-smote ball could roach the border was quite prohibitively difficult. « » • Hastings High School go up to junior grade this season, bringing total entries in local junior to the neat halfdozen.. .Hastings High School is steadilv raising its sporting status. Its chief requirement so far as cricket goes is a gpod wicket. The new grounds in Karamu road should help the school snort materially when they are concluded, and then, judging by results to date, Hastings High School will be a power in the land.