CRICKET

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 1 October 1927, Page 8

CRICKET

(By

"Mid-Off”)

NOTES AND COMMENTS. PARS FROM HERE AND THERE. To help to minimise the losses on the New Zealand cricket team’s tour of England, an application has been made to the Government for a grant of £lOOO.

In a recent cricket match in England, a fieldsman was struck by a ball, which ignited a box of matches in his trouser-pocket. The official version of the incident is that the batsman gave a hot chance to leg I

The Canterbury Cricket Association is keeping steadily in view the celebration of the province’s 50th cricket anniversary, at the time of the match against Otago in the coming season, states the “Christchurch Sun.” Something extra special will be arranged, and there should be a great gathering of the clans.

The New Zealand tourists will arrive at Colombo on October 8, aud will play a one-day match there against Ceylon. It is interesting to followers of the game to learn that, not only is there a likelihood of the Australia;! Board of Control sending a first-class team to New Zealand during the coming season, but there is now a prospect of the English team, which visits Australia in. the season 1928-29, playing at least two matches in the Dominion in March of the latter year.

H. Sutcliffe is perhaps the finest English example of a cricketer who plays better in representative cricket than in ordinary county matches. In all first-class cricket to the start of the present season Sutcliffe had aver aged just over 40 runs an innings. In representative matches—Gentlemen v. Players, North v. South, Test average was 65.35. In Test matche Trials, and v. Rest of England—his average was 65.35. In Test matches (says a London paper). Firstly, his average was 79-42.

Tom Lowry, the skipper of the New Zealand cricketers, was quite “bucked” when he made a few against Somerset, for more than one reason Somerset is the county which gave the young Hawke’s Bay sheep farmer a chance to make good in English cricket: and, secondly, for about a fortnight Tom had been within sight of his thousand runs in first-class matches, and got them in the pre sence of many of his Bristol friends.

New Zealand cricketers’ opinions of English umpiring: “With so many county games to provide umpires for. it surprises me that the standard of the umpires is so uniformly high. It isn’t as if any experienced player makes a good umpire. The job rc quires special qualifications and some of the best players prove bad umpires. Officials in most games are only heard of when they make a mistake, which seems hardly fair. The umpires we have had So far have been as near perfect as it is possible to get.”

The Poverty Bay Cricket Association drew the attention of the New Zealand Cricket Council to two unusual feats of bowling in second grade cricket, in a letter to the las’* meeting of the Management Commit tee of the council, Poverty Bay asked if diplomas were awarded for meritorious feats, and, if so, would the council forward diplomas £p two of its players ? The players were J. Jennings and R. Pope, of the Gisborne United Club’s second-grade side. Last season, Jennings bowled 211 overs. 31 maidens, for 528 runs, 124 wickets, at an average of 4.2 runs a wicket. Pope’s figures were 196, 17, 649, 144, 4.5- The performances included bowling out the Gisborne High School team for a “duck.” The committee decided to congratulate the players, but to notify Poverty Bay that diplomas were not issued. The following table show’s how the bowlers of the New Zealand team secured their wickets:—

Blunt and Merritt each secured one wicket through the batsmen hitting the wicket. The following table shows the number of times each member of the New Zealand cricket team was bowled, caught out or otherwise dismissed during the tour of the Old Country: B- C. lbw. St.R.O.

In one innings Dempster was dismissed through hitting his wicket. Under the summer-time scheme it is likely that the tendency will be to slow down the play in grade cricket, states the “Christchurch Sun.” It is often slow qnough as it is. but with two or three hours

extra, according to the period of the season, added to the playing time for a match, there will be an added temptation for the batsmen to dawdle by the way. At various times, there have been proposals that matches should be one-day affairs, in order to speed up the game. It is not sug. gested that such a course should be followed, but the authorities might very well consider the question of adopting some means that will induce batsmen to move smartly; otherwise the stonewallers in a team will*have an added value.

B. C. lbw. C. and St. B. Alcott .... 15 16 2 2 2 Blunt .... 32 42 11 5 3 Cunningham 6 8 4 1 2 Merritt ... 50 64 15 41 2 M’Girr .... 33 30 7 8 — Bernau ... 28 10 — —- — Henderson 12 34 1 — — Page 4 26 3 2 4 Lowry .... 9 12 2 — — Dacre 5 11 1 — — Oliver — 1 — — — Dempster .. 1 8 1 — 1 Mills 2 1 — — 1 Totals ... 197 263 47 54 17

Dacre 18 21 4 1 — Mills 20 17 4 1 —. Dempster . 9 26 3 — 2 Lowry .... 13 iJO — 2 1 Alcott ..... 8 17 1 1 Blunt 10 27 4 — Page 9 24 7 3 — Cunningham 6 4 3 1 1 Merritt ... 8 14 3 2 — Oliver .... 9 9 6 — 2 .James .... 11 1.3 6 1 3 M’Girr .... 10 16 5 3 3 Bernau ... 6 15 o 1 1 Henderson □ 6 3 1 —— — ■■ Totals 142 234 54 16 14