CRICKET.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 14 March 1914, Page 11

CRICKET.

Results in tiie xocai competition have been remarkably in and out this season. On several occasions surprises have been effected. The wickets prepared on the Hawera ground have, on the whole, been very good. It is to be regretted that other centres have not been able to pay more attention to their grounds and wickets. Teams visiting Normanby and Manaia, especially during the second round, have reported that the wicket was very treacherous. It behoves all clubs, for the good of cricket, to do all in their power to keep' at least the wicket in fair order. Until this is done the game cannot go ahead much. Nothing will disgust players more effectually and quickly and tend to make them consider giving up play, and this especially at this juncture is the last thing to be desired.

The second round match, Eltham v. Hawera B. is the subject unfortunately of a protest. The former club insist-j ed, against the advice of its opponents, j in playing Ongley of Dannevirke, whoj was in the district spending his annual leave. A general meeting of the association should. have been held long since to give a decision in the matter, though surely there could have been no doubt in. any one's mind as to the position. If ever there was a real cricket hero to Canterbury spectators (says "Scoring Board") it isTrumper. One innings will always be remembered—Trumper's 76 against Canterbury against time on a mild wicket eight years ago. He always stands as the beau ideal batsman to New Zealanders, and the one general wish was that Trumper should make a century, and no doubt the great concourse of spectators between 12 and 1 on Saturday was simply due to the fact that Trumper might be batting. But Trumper exceeded their expectations, and made 293. His innings was simply a revelation, besides which all other innings ever seen here pale as stars before the rising sun. It is hardly possible to describe bis play. His back cutting was a treat, inasmuch as that play is going out of fashion here, but he makes it simple, and when he really gets it th.9 ball goes like lightning along the carpet. That is the beauty of his cutting. He keeps the ball down, and therein lies the secret of his success as a batsman. He places his feet to perfection to suit the various strokes. Strange to say, Trumper doss not square cut or drive past point; he prefers either the late cut or straight drive. But those are orthodox strokes, but what about his daring strokes ? Without fuss be would step back a foot and lift a ball of Wilsons pitched on the leg stump and drive it over mid-oft's head. A full toss on the off stump would be pulled to square leg, and in one case he played a yorker from Carlton outside the off stump round to the square leg boundary. Right from the first ball Trumper made the pace, and, being a master of placing the ball, he not only scored freely, but gave the Canterbury captain the impossible chance of placing the field for him. One does not know •whether to admire' bis darins: pulls from the off stumn to square leg, his driving from the leg stump past mid off. his late cutting, his placing of the hall, or his freedom of action when a straight drive is required. His quietness of demeanotir at the wickets and absence of flourish do not betoken the latter, but Trumper snored his runs at exactly the rate of 100 runs per hour for just under three hours. Though Trumper—the nonpareil—was responsible for Australians Imge score, yet Tiis innings was appreciated by everyone, and no doubt memories of those -who were privileged to see it.

Slnrs made amends for, hit eontinnu<ms failures in the North Island, and was ungenerous to come alone: and "battle for in ore than a whole day against hi sold comrades, putting ur> -not ovlr the highest score in his life, and enabling fresh records to h« made, rot c^v aeainst Canterbury, but for ■N^ Zealand. •piirvsp who went to LsrioastT PaA on Saturday "ot the cricket' fwistof 3 lifetime. * There wew T"-ohs»hlv very few in that bitr crowd who had over s«en anything like it. and doxibtl*«s the irreat majori^ will never see its panal strain.' Th«»re is only o^« TruT^ner in the world, and after watchi»iff'Wril~f^ over three hours—e^ov+e his maaic-like s*rok*<s ?U round the vi-inVot one could subscribe entrysi-^----+5«»llv to +h? pATitimpnt convey** lr leiro' >v!*d the "ii-comnarable Yirto»" TVIW about the cli^tv^a of tricketl tt was all that, with an ele«-

trie sparkle running through it all the way. \)ne might enthuse over it to the extent or columns, and yet not be guilty of exaggeration.—Christehurca ±ress. .Naturally, with such a big score, some records go by the boara. jkven without any runs the last wicket may put on, the Australian total is easily the highest made in a first-class match in. Christchurch, and the TrumperSims partnership of 433 is also easily a record, the previous best being the <}06 I for the first wicket made by L. A. Cuff (176) and J. D. Lawrence (167) for Canterbury, against Auckland in January, 1894. Trumper's 293 is a record individual score in a first-class match in Christchurch, though not in New Zealand, for Armstrong made 335 for the Melbourne Cricket Club against Southland, in March, 1906. | A. bomb was dropped in the camp of the Otago Cricket Association the other evening when the financial statement in connection with the recent Australian tour of the New Zealand team was read to the astonished assemblage. writes Long Slip in the Witness. When the New Zealand Council asked the Otago Association for a guarantee of £75 towards the expenses of the tour there was neither hint nor suggestion that the council proposed paying the players 5s per day throughout the trip to Australia. One can easily imagine the consternation that was created when the item "£2lO for allowances to players" was read otit at the meeting. Surely no one who discussed the tour at the time was aware that there was any intention of paying the New Zealand cricketers out-of-pocket _ expenses. Certainly the Otago Cricket Association was entirely ignorant of the fact, otherwise it is certain that the guarantee would not so readily have been forthcoming, if at all. A complete search has been made of ajl the correspondence relative to the tour, and nothing has been discoverey that would lead the local association to believe that the council intended saddling it with the individual expenses of the team. If the council had such intention, it was of supreme importance that it should have been made known to the subscribing associations. The total receipts were £1192 4s 6d, and expenses £1157 12s 3d. A' refund will be made to each association of Is 9d in the £. | A big innings is reported from Tasmania, the South Launceston Club scoring 617 in a recent match, towards whi>h Gatenby contributed 367, including three sixes and 51 4's. A wonderful record in wicket-keeping is credited to Buckley, a member of the Eden A team, Auckland. He has played only four matches, but on four occasions he kept right through an innings without allowing a single extra. In the team's last match against Graf ton there was not one extra against him in the two innings, although 404 runs were scored. He has caught six men and stumped three this season, besides assisting to run. out half a dozen batsmen. The excellence' of his work might be more apparent if the fact is considered that out of 1736 balls delivered whilst he was behind the sticks only 10 were allowed to pass him. These 10 balls represented 27 extras, and the total runs scored Iby Eden's opponents whilst these ex- ; traa were accumulating were 1240. |C. G.- Macartney is still on the warpath with three-figure compilations. i For Gordon on Saturday he scored 106 | out of a total of 257, against Central Cumberland, and the next to him was R. Boyce with 27. Macartney hit six- ; teen fours and got his runs in 84 mint utes. The sunshine was glorious, but the ball wanted watching on the patch at Chatswood Oval. Coogan got 6ix wickets for 46, and Pye one for 40. I Central Cumberland lost two wickets ; for 39. j Apropos of the letter with reference jto the cricket jubilee and the Hon. T. . Mackenzie, a further interesting letter appears in the Otago Daily Times as follows : —With regard to the charge of inaccuracy brought against me by your I "Interested" correspondent, I have to [ reply that the information concerning i the Albion Club was supplied to me by a leading member of that club. From' your correspondent's remark, alas! my i informant must have been a misleading member. But even ''Interested" is not quite certain as to Genesis, though he appears to get on firmer f round somewhere about Joel—or, perapa, a little earlier. But as to the Hon. Thos. Mackenzie, he was (according to the Albion's' jubilee statistics)) an "original member" (having evidently raised from somewhere a half-crown to throw away on cricket), and, if a member, why not secretary? He was always a precocious youth, as befitted a future statesman and High Commissioner. The writer himself was secretary of a cricket club soon after he had reached double figures, and his name has never been mentioned even as a possible Mayor of Dunedin. The question of securing the services of a first-class coach for Otago has been agitating the minds of those interested for some time. At the last meeting of the Otago Cricket Association it was announced that a number of gentlemen outside the association who had the welfare of the game at heart had taken the matter np, and that funds would be forthcoming provided a first class man could be secured. Those coming to the assistance of the association feel, however, that present-day players should do their share by finding a certain sum, when the balance will be readily subscribed. The idea is to «ne;aq;e a coach for three years at least. Mr J. J. Clark, president of the Otago Cricket Association, is at present in Australia, and it is understood that he is looking out for a. rood man. Cricket tours are good, but they benefit only a small number. What a lot could "be done with the money expended by securing coaches. A scheme of combination between associations to get caches, as is do^e in the case of golf clubs, to divide th<*ir services amongst several of the smaller associations. Tn this way cricket mi^ht ho Tna-toriallr assisted throughout New Zealand, and the movpment lead to a general improvement. Rays the London Daily IStews: "Bist. ruddy-rh«ekpd. and bashful—-hut beam in or hapnily—Tom Hay ward, the ere^t Suh*°iv baton* an, married tcrpntly to Miss Matilda Emma Mi+rhell, f^e of th*s most famous women deteo-t-iVfts, and in h«r own way ,is rprn^rkfl.hie a personality *s her husb^d. Tom HavtrnrrPs nar^r is <^c of the most in the hi^torv of cricket. Twenty years ago ita berp^ning was ni!>r?a_-!a<st fwr^Tj the V-linnT was ' readied, when Hayward scored bis hun»

dredth century and equalled the record of Dr W. G. Grace. He is forty-two years old and not badly off so far as I the world's goods are concerned. His ; father left him a comfortable living, and Mr Mitchell, his father-in-law, has started the new menage with a present of £500. After nest season he will retire from cricket Mrs Hayward says so, and for this reason it is to be feared that the oft-defeir&d farewell will at last bs made to the regret of cricketing England. "Keen as was the interest in the late test match (says the Otago Times), probably keener is the interest in the Australians themselves. Ever since the first Australian team visited New Zealand in 1878, there has always been a desire to welcome these lords of cricket creation. The opportunity, thanks be, has come again, and we now bid welcome to the Australian team of 1914 —the strongest side which has ever touted these parts, outside of Australian teams for England. Apart from the actual treat in store, there is a matter of supreme moment in the educational benefits and lessons that will be imported by the Australian cricket-1 ers." A rather interesting point was left to the adjudication of an \impire in a mat"h on Kowhai Park (says the; Feilding Star). The batsman played well forward to a ball, which hit the j batsman's pad. The bowler appealed— j whilst the batsman was out of the crease—for leg-before-wicket. The batsman remained standing for a mo- j ment whilst the umpire replied, "Not! out." The wicketkeeper had meanwhile advanced from his allotted position, picked up the ball, which was about five yards in front of the wicJiets, and, as the batsman was returning to the crease, dislodged the bails by throwing the ball at the wickets. I He instantly appealed for "thrown j out"—and the umpire allowed the appeal. It took the batsman a moment to realise the position." The batsman was out of .his crease, that was not disputed; but in the ensuing discussion nmoTis: spectators and players some j held that the ball was "dead" directly the bowler appealed for lbw. and, that being so the batsman could not be thrown out till the ball was in play i agiain for the bowler's next delivery, j The ■ rules cannot provide for every possibility, but, in this case, the ur- j nire was apparently correct, for Law i 33a says: "A batsman heinpr out frora any cause the ball shall be 'dead.' As , the batsman survived the lbw nnpeal, he was not out; consequently, the ball was not 'dead' when the player who is usually behind the sticks essayed his successful shot at the wickets." Interviewed by the Christchurch Sun, Mr F. Layer, of the Australian team, bad some interesting things to *ay. Inter alia, he said: "The Australians could not fail to notice the great keenness of the players in the various centres, and more especially in the country towns. Gisborne was particularly enthusiastic This was a p:ood si en, pnd showed that the young players had the interests of the game at heart. It was essential to the welfare of the came that the youngsters should retnivi th°ir enthusiasm. One thing which militated against progress in the Dominion was the state of the wickets. Although from what he remembered of his previous visit, he was inclined to the idea that the wickets had generally improved; they were still far from perfect. The Auckland wicket was in m?ny ways a good one and showed that some care was bestowed on it, but it was about the "deadest" he had ever played on. When New Zealanders crossed to Australia and played on the fast wickets there they must be very much at sea. One striking instance of this was the performance of Hemus at Auckland. Hemus made a good score against them, but some of his strokes on the off-side would be absolutely fatal on a fast Australian wicket. Slow wickets got batsmen into habits which would tell strongly against them if ever they were called upon to play on first-class grounds. It was therefore essential that the wickets generally should be, vastly improved if ever New Zealand is to take its place in the forefront of big cricket. Continuing on this subject, Mr Layer said that the most crying need was for the better care of practice wickets. At present these Were very much neglected on most grounds, and most batsmen practised in "any old corner" of the ground. It was abso-. lutely necessary to the making of a good batsman that he should practice on as good a wicket as he would be called upon to play on in a match. If more care were expended on the practice wickets he was sure that the much-needed improvement on the playing wickets would ouickly follow. A more frequent interchange of visits between New Zealand and Australian teams, the manager continued, would be in the best interests of the game in the Dominion. New ideas were always creeping into the game, and in our isolated position we could not expect to have the benefit of them unless our players were pitted more often against the best men in the old cricketing countries. For instance, there was googly bowling, a new feature of the game, of which the New Zealanders seemed to know practically nothing. From what he bad Heard, there was only one exponent of the googly ball in the Dominion—Sandman, of Canterbury. Interchange of ideas must surely make for the progress of the game.