CRICKET.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 15 April 1922, Page 2

CRICKET.

Dr. Maunseli paid a well deserved tribute to Mr. B. M. McCarthy the other night, when he said that he was the best bowler Taranaki ever produced, and that Warner had said that , when the wicket suited him he was the finest in New Zealand. He added that Mr. McCarthy had always worked hard to foster the game in Taranaki. , Manaia have had the double distinction last season of winning both A and B grade shields, the last on the former, the first on the latter. It was-the first time in 35 years, said Alec Mitchell, that Manaia had won the A grade shield. Speaking to the junior players last week at Manaia the president of the - association gave some good advice. He urged them all to play the game in a .< sportsmanlike way, and particularly to be careful in appeals for 1.b.w., to cultivate a .sense of fairness in seeking decisions. It was a weakness to appeal "when there was obviously no chance of getting a man out, as, for instance, when bowling round the wicket. He also advised young bowlers to cultivate a length, for length bowling will cominnnd success, whereas break bowling without length would be punished badly. A tribute was paid by several speaker at "the Kanaia presentation last ' week to the excellent wicket at Manaia.

Clubs were urged to do all in their, power to improve their wickets, for ( nothing is s» conducive to good play ; as-good, true wickets. j A record of names on the champion shield is fall of interest, taking the reader back in imagination to the days when the Hawera and Star clubs used to have some right royal battles on' Bayly park. Star C.C. is the first name to appear, winners for the season 1902----3. Hawera does not appear until 1911----12, and long before that the two local clubs had amalgamated. The complete list -will be read with interest: —Star j CC 1902-3, Eltham 1904-5, Eltham "1905-0, Toko 1907-S, Toko 1908-9, Toko '19-39-10, Eltham 1910-11, Hawera 1911----12 Hawera 1912-13, Eltham and Hawera (bracketed) 1913-14, Okaiawa 1914-15, Midlands 1919-20, Eltham 1920-21. Manaia 1921-22. . ! Replying to the toast of the Manaia junior team aj; last week's function, Mr " CosfTove said he was naturally - proud.of "the performances of the team, who played twelve matches, winning nine, losing one, and drawing two. Their name would be the first on tQe ishield. ■ ' " . , ! Some explanation was given by the -pEesident of the Association as to the •reason for the junior shield not being ■ready-for presentation. He said that

. all teams had been asked to contribute, and only Manaia replied agreeing to do so That was the reason for there being no shield, but he assured the juniors that a shield would_be_prpvided, for it -_-. winners^pr-ar^Biieid should be able to exhibit it to their t friends and should have their own inscription on it. He felt sure that there .would be keen 'rivalry for possession, and that Manaia would have their work cut .out to defend their position. The feeling of rivalry would be good for the club and good for "sport. A correspondent gives us a few comments on the final match between Manaia and Stratford. Stratford proved to be^a much better team than w ras anticipated, though they are hardly yet quite as good as most of the Saturday senior teams. Their bowling, escept for Cole, is decidedly weak, and they were fortunate to get Manaia, who have a strong batting side, out as cheaply -as they did. In the field they were excellent. They were unlucky in losing Gole, run out, but Stone-Wigg, though lie batted splendidly,^ was fortunate to stay so long. He gave three chances, two of which were easy. Manaia arrived with ten men, but managed to pick up a man on the ground. Their luck was not in with the bat, for the first two men were foolishly run out and a rot set in. Probably if Maunsell could have , gone in earlier this would not have occurred, but he had strained the muscles of his leg in running for a ca-tcli and could not."go in to bat till the leg was bandaged. Haynes was batting well and seemed to have collared the* bowling when he was caught ■■' off a bad ball, and it was left to Maunsell and Lynsky, played a splendid defensive game, to knock off the. jfuns. Their partnership added 69 runs. Maunsell was never in difficulties with the bowling. The teams were fortunate in having two such excellent umpires as Messrs, H. Whalen and Muir, for they were called upon to decide in quite a number of doubtful appeals, and in each case the batsman was given the benefit, of the doubt. An incident probably quite unique in the annals of cricket is puzzling local and other experts in the game. Out at Ti-tree Point, on the East Coast, two teams were playing a match. One team had already finished its innings, and the other side had lost nine wickets, and had still two runs to make to win. One ot the batsmen hit the ball a tremendous "skier," and lo and behold, the ball broke apart into two halves in the air. A fielder tried to catch one half in itsseparate descent, but dropped the hemisphere. Picking it up again as the batsmen commenced to run again, he threw in quickly and hit the wicket when one of the batsmen was out of his crease. Then he confidently appealed: "How's that?" The umpire was faced somewhat with the judgment of Solomon. There is nothing in the rules about broken balls, but, having no rule and no precedent, the cricket judge gave a verdict, "Not out" and added an "As you were!" The batsmen were ordered to return to their original positions ■ before the ball was howled, the ball and the score off it were not counted in the score book, and the game proceeded as if nothing had happened. But the controversy remains. "Ont," says some authorities; "not out" say others -. and others will not commit themsei-ves. It may well be left for a higher court of jurisdiction.