CRICKET NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume C, Issue 11752, 2 December 1898, Page 7

CRICKET NOTES.

I [By Scoring Board in “ Canterbury Times.”] ‘ Judging from the present state of the iscores, about the most Sydenham and [Addington can hope -for is to^ avert a one innings ■ defeat in their match, with the (.United. The first day’s play was wholly in [favour of United, who, with one wicket idown, almost equalled the total made by •‘the suburban team in its first innings, the 'figures being—Sydenham and Addington ill 3. United 103 for one wicket. A capital (innings for 42 by Fowke at a critical stage [of the game saved the Sydenham innings ■‘from a collapse. The veteran’s batting 'was reminiscent of some of his bast 'performances, his hitting being crisp and excellently timed, and his score contained eight fours. Phillips,.who took [part for the first time in local senior cricket, •'failed to score, as likewise did 11 alley and Gasson, and as T. W. Reese made but few .runSi it is not surprising that the innings [produced so small a total. Malone, who adopted stonewalling tactics, wa& about the only batsman who showed a correct ■'idea of how to negotiate the deliveries of [Prankish, who got a lot of work on from [the Off. Prankish sent down some really good balls, the one which bent Phillips being a “ hh miner,” The Sydenham second ■innings did not open very auspiciously, Powke and Malone being dismissed for ■ a moderate total. Halley and T. W. Reese, who both batted in good stylo, however, succeeded in playing out time, the score-sheet registering 64 runs. The United fielding was, with few excepclean and smart, most chances being accepted. The United score of 288 contains two contributions of 73 —by Sims and H. M. Reeves respectively. Sims, who .remained not out, played very correct cricket. He showed fine judgment in placing the ball, while his play_ on the off-side, especially* his square-cutting, was extremely good. Reeves, who made 55 runs of his score oh the previous Saturday, made some particularly fine drives, but shows a disposition to play too much in front of the wicket, and might with advantage vary his strokes more. He was missed in the field when he had nfade about 30, and also narrowly escaped being stumped on the first day, through lifting ’ his foot outside tlib crease when playing forward, and this habit led to his downfall on Saturday. Wigley batted in his usual fashion, and T. D. Harman was apparently well set when he was caught. Vincent made 33 vigorously, but the majority of, his] strokes were inclined to he uppish. Harper contributed 18 in a taking manner, and Collins also reached double figures. The Sydenham fielding was not up to its usual standard. Of the bowlers, Malone, who received great assistance from Powke behind the wickets, was the best. He was apt to be somewhat (Viatic, but by variation of length and pace, proved very ’deceptive on occasions, M'Murray seems by no means so difficult to negotiate as of [old. He does not get so much spin on the ball or keep such a good length. In the first day’s play of the MidlandLancaster Park game, several incidents occurred which served to show tip keen ’rivalry which exists between! these two teams. Owing to two of the Midland •players not being able .to arrive in time for the" commencement of play, their team had to field short , in the early stages of the .game, substitutes not being allowed. The Midland howling was strengthened by the reappearance of. Pearce, but generally speaking the bowlers did not: receive as much assistance from the field as they ought [to have been given. Certainly the ground fielding was on the whole clean and several catches were dropped. Although the Lancaster Part first innings totalled 192, some of the batting was by mo means worthy of the reputation of the ’men. ’ The redeeming features of the armings were the displays of H. C. and A. ■E. Ridley. It was pleasing to see the former show something like his true form fin match cricket. His performance was, 'perhaps, the best during the innings. A. S. Ridley gave a possible chance off the first ball he received. When, however, he settled down he batted in free and vigorous style, but towards the close of his innings he became rather reckless, and in trying to pull one from Pearce he was caught at short-leg—the only real chance during what was in many respects a fine performance. The two Ridleys, both reproduced their good form in the second innings, and at the conclusion of the , second day’s play were unbeaten, H. C.. with a cotrectly made 30 to his , credit, while the younger brother had put together 19, included in which were several nice leg hits. North, who made double figures in the first innings, was shaping capitally in the second when he had the misfortune to play a ball on to his wicket. Few words will suffice for the remaining features of the Lancaster Park first innings. Boxshall made his runs quickly. Wilding was very lucky, and Bennett, who also reached double figures, was extremely shaky, evidently not relishing the bowling, which beat him morally if not practically on several occasions. Midland commenced its innings late on the first day in a very bad light, and two wickets fell before time was called. D. Reese was batting remarkably well, and had made 33 when he was caught low down at point by Pavitt off what was a reallygood stroke. On resuming on the second day, matters fared very badly with the Midlanders, runs coming but slowly, while vrioketa continued to fall, and with the

telegraph board showing nine for 140, it appeared as if the Lancastrians ware going to commence their second innings with a substantial margin. Bat another exemplification of the glorious uncertainty of the game was in store. .Barry, who was la:t man, started his. innings very confidently, and evidently relishing the Park bowling, especially that of Wilding, he treated the spectators to a fine display of hitting, his strokes all round the wicket, and more particularly on the leg side, .being very effective. White, who at first appeared content to keep up liis wicket, afterwards livened up considerably, and the Park 'fieldsmen were kept very busy. Frequent changes in the bowling, were tried, but without effect till Barry was caught at third man after playing a grand innings, and making a plucky and determined stand when matters were going.. very badly with his side. White and Barry put on 88 runs for the last wicket, the innings closing for 228, or 36 ahead of their opponents. Cobcroft. was responsible for 24. He was at the wickets a long time, scoring very slowly,. but he was hindered greatly by an injured hand. Pearce seemed likely to make a good score when a rash stroke brought about his downfall. White’s innings, was characterised by his usual patience, and W. Bates made 12 in very quick time. The Park fielding was, on the whole, good, but. it slackened somewhat towards the Close of the innings. Bennett bowled very consistently, taking most wickets, and Bates was in better form than usual.

I hear that the funds of the Association will benefit considerably by the-performances of “The Magistrate” at the Theatre Royal last week.

So far in the United-Sydenham and Addington match, Phillips has bowled without any success. He has not been favoured with much luck, very often beating the batsmen with his leg breaks without bowling them. The receipts at the gate at Lancaster Park on Saturday amounted to £3 12s. Pearce and Cobcroft have notified the Selection Committee of their inability to obtain leave to play against Otago, if selected. I am told that Walmsley has resigned from the Sydenham and Addington Club. Complaints are again being made regarding the practice wickets at . Hagley Park. Surely the Ground Committee can take some steps to remedy this state of affairs, and see that the wickets are properly prepared. The fielding of the Sydenham and Addington players on Saturday was generally good, but, nevertheless, the work of T. W. Reese stood out in especially bold relief, being ever sure and smart,- and oftentimes really brilliant. , ■ A table showing the attendances at midday practices, which Phillips forwarded to the last meeting of the Cricket Association’s committee amply bore out his statement that his services between 12 and 2 were not being taken full advantage of. Several Senior Cup players are taking part in the Thursday Cup matches, in which the bowling talent of some of the teams is far from strong. Last Thursday I saw Boxshall and Wigley playing in these contests. Neither appeared greatly troubled by the, bowling,- and made 74 hot out and-90 respectively. -After the uninteresting nature of the play in the earlier stages of the Midland Eleven’s innings on Saturday,'••Barry’s display was refreshingly brisk. He was most effective on the leg-side, and dealt very severely with any loose bowling, as testified by the fact that his score of 61 included eleven' 4’s.

Fowke showed good form behind the wickets in United’s first innings, stumping three batsmen who had been tempted out of their creases to hit Malone’s “ slows.” He also stumped Collins, but the umpire’s decision was against him, although many of those in a position to judge considered that Collins was undoubtedly out.

According to the rules governing Cup competitions, on the conclusion of an innings the team to bat is allowed ten minutes in which to start its innings. On the first day of the Lancaster Park-Midland match a quarter of an hour elapsed before the first two Midland batsmen proceeded to the wickets, and it was stated at the time that the Lancaster Park captain intended to enter a protest in consequence. This year, instead of' having a day to .spare in Dunedin before the Otago match, the Canterbury team will not arrive until the night, of Dec. 15, the day before the match. 'The men will leave Christchurch ou Wednesday, Dec. 14, and on the way down will play a match at Timaru, and the loss of a day in Dunedin will be more than coripensated for by the breaking of the tedious railway journey. At . its last meeting the committee of the Canterbury Cricket Association received from the ■ Wellington agents of an English firm an offer of a bat for the player obtaining the highest average in Senior Cup matdies. A paragraph was enclosed for insertion in the local papers, but the committee did not feel itself called upon to give a cheap advertisement for the sake, of one bat, and the letter was simply received.

The United Eleven was noteworthy last season for the number of players who were run. out in matches, and last Saturday two of its members lost their wiqkets in this most unsatisfactory maimer. In Wig ley's case the run was a very sharp one, about which both batsmen would have needed to be unanimous to get to their respective creases, instad of, as was the case, any hesitation being shown. Boddingon’s run out was a piece of sheer hard luck. Bowlers often complain that their appeals for Ibw are wrongly .disallowed. In a Seilior Cup match on Saturday, a certain

bowler was much annoyed on this score. He was bowling with an off break, and he sent down a ball pitched on the middle stump, certainly, but ' which would, in the opinion of the umpire, have gone away to leg if it had net been- obstructed by the batsman. Bowlers should remember that an umpire must not only take notice of the line in which the ball in travelling, but mu;-:! also use his judgment as to what direction the ball takes after it has left the pitch. At the beginning of the season, I understand a meeting of the captains of the four senior teams. was held, when it was decided that if, in a match any embers of a team were absent, ho substitutes'-should be allowed to field unless reasonable excuses had been received from the absentees. This rule apparently does not provide for circumstances wliich might arise at- the last moment to prevent the attendance of a player. ’This was demonstrated oh tire first day of the Lancaster Park-Midland game, when, owing to unforeseen circumstances two of the Mid- ■ landers were unable to arrive in time for the commencement of play, and consequently the team had for some time to field shorthanded, the Lancaster Park captain having, quite within his rights according to the rule, refused to grant substitutes. G. Gregory, a younger brother of S. E. Gregory, compiled 205 in a Premiership club match in Sydney on Nov. 'l2. J. Darling, the South Australian batsman, did not represent Ids colony against Victoria owing to the death of his youngest child. A match between the Hawkesbum and Carlton, two Melbourne clubs, played recently. was remarkable for heavy scoring. The ' former made 393 in one innings, and the latter replied with 396 for one wicket (Hetherington 108 not out, Warne 140 not out and Books 141 not out).

A cricket match won in one.hit is a novelty in these days of colossal scores. The following account of a single innings match played at Norseman,: Western Australia, on April 24 last, is taken from the “Norseman Times” of April 27 ; —“The employees of the Mount Benson G.M. Company met those of the Lady Mary G.M. Company on the ground of the former, but their innings proved an ignominious failure, the whole of the eleven being disposed of for 4 runs. When the Lady Mary went to the wickets the first hit was a fiver, and the match was over.” This is one of the remote possibilities of the glorious gam© of bat and ball.

JUNIOR NOTES. (By SENIOR.)

By playing on till quarter-past'seven on Saturday the Lancaster Park Junior Cup team concluded their match against Sydenham, winning by six wickets. On the first day Sydenham had lost seven wickets for 57. Ashby 19 and West 14 were chiefly responsible for the increase of the score to 90. This, however, left Sydenham with a deficit of 102, and the suburbans followed, on. Their second innings was mere successful, as they more than doubled their first total. The slovenly fielding of the Lancaster Park team was responsible for a good many of the runs credited against them, as .during the early, part of the hot afternoon, the winners took matters very easily;' Mason was much the best of the Lancastrian bowlers. Grammar carried'fiis bat : for 47, a safe though not altogether stylish display; and Savage, who made 38,’also batted well. At ten miputes past six, Lancaster Park began their innings, and 114 runs were obtained in ' sixty-five minutes. This was chiefly due to the hard hittin'g of P. Mason, who was ably seconded by Stringer. The Sydenham bowling was not very difficult, as, though straight, it lacked length. The Midland Junior Cup team should not have much difficulty in defeating United, as they have only to make 127 inns in their second innings, and at -resent have put together 74 for the loss of only one wicket. Although he did not make top score, J. H. Smith’s 36 was the best display during United’s second innings, as Ei J. Cotterill’s batting was marred by some uppish strokes. K. Ollivier batted very steadily for 23, and, if anything, erred on the side of over-cau-tiousness, contenting himself with merely stopping loose bails that should have been scored off. The Prehble brothers, who did most of the bowling for Midland, kept a good length, J. Prehble being the'most successful.. , The fielding of some of the Midlanders was sharp and clean, but others were capable of a good deal of improvement. When Midland went to the wickets, it was just on sis o’clock, but the scoring was rapid, and 74 runs were obtained in half-an-hour. Pv. Barry, jun., who has up to the present not met with a great deal of success, was not out with 38, when time was called, while J. Prehble hit up 22, and Miller carried his bat for 10. Ollivier was the most useful of the United bowlers. The game was continued last evening. At the time of writing the Christ’s Col-le(/e-Lancaster Park game is still unfinished, but the Lancastrians have been set a severe task to make 250 runs on. week nights. Batting has been considered the strong point of the° Collegians, and their comparatively small score in the first innings .caused some surprise. With the exception of Fryer, none of the school team seemed at. home to Toomer’s bowling. Fryer gave a chance before he had made 20, but otherwise his 70 not out was a first-class- display. In their second innings the College boys made amends for their previous failure, and almost every batsman made runs. , Bhmdenhad a fair share of luck in. making his 142, but he batted very vigorously, his best stroke being his qffrdrive. Fryer and Wallace put.on.Bo for the. first wicket, and .haj- the bowling practically collared before the latter was

stumped. Lindsay's 35 was got very quickly, by extremely forcible hitting, the jtror.v wind was not without its effect on the Lancastrian’s fielding,, as two or three men showed very indifferent form.' Of the Paik players who batted on Saturday, D. Jack was most prominent with 44. The fielding of the Boys’ High School in their President's Cup. match with United was remarkably clean, and this helped them to dismiss their opponents for a comnaratively small total in each innings. The close of the first innings left United 63 runs to the bad. In the second innings, Tapper was the only batsman who seemed able to make much headway against the School bowling. His score of 39 was compiled in his usual careful aud painstaking style. With 50 runs to get to win, the School team made anything but a good start, as J. Mason was stumped in the first, over, but the other batsmen played very patiently, and the runs were obtained with six wickets to spare. In United’s first innings, G. H. Mason secured a good bowling average, but be was hardly so successful in the second.

The Lyttelton-Sydenham President’s Cup match does not call for much comment, as interest was destroyed by the fact that Sydenham batted three men short on the first, and four men short on the second day. The easy victory of Lyttelton was, under these circumstances, not unexpected, aud the game was finished very.early on Saturday afternoon. Surely Christchurcn clubs caii manage to get together full teams for matches in Lyttelton. In the Vice-President’s Cup match hetween.Midland and Sydenham and Addington B, the latter won by the narrow margin of nine runs. Midland won the toss on the first day and decided to field, and SydenhaiApnt together 77, the feature of the innings being the batting of Patrick, jun., and Robertson, two members of the Sydenham school team. Midland replied with 102, and as Sydenham’s second innings only produced 53, Midland were left with but 29 runs to make to win. However, they failed to accomplish even this easy task, and the ten men who batted were all dismissed for 19, not a single player reaching double figures. The Sydenham bowling rose rather fast from the pitch, but was not of a sufficiently deadly nature to account for such a collapse. The bowlers of both teams secured good averages during Saturday’s play. For Midland, Whitta took six wickets for 28, and Wyatt four for 12 ; and for Sydenham, R. Patrick secured six for 8, and Craig two for 9. The United Vice-President’s Cup team found the bowling of the Lancaster Park A team much too good for them on Saturday, and were defeated by eight wickets. No fewer than six of the United team . failed to score in the second innings, and of the CO runs registered, 45 were made by Louisson. This player batted in a style that should secure his early promotion. In the other departments of the game, fielding and batting, the Lancaster Park team were superior to their opponents, and the few runs necessary to win were soon obtained. United were somewhat at a disadvantage in the bowling department, as their best bowler had Just returned from a holiday, and was so much out of practice as to be almost useless. One member of the team earned

In the first timings of their Vice-Presi-derit’s Cup match against Sydenham and Addington A, Christ’s College Second Eleven put together only 69 runs. As Sydenham had in their first venture compiled the respectable score of 167 runs, the College boys had to follow on. This time they were more successful and made 139, the most noticeable feature of their innings being the stubborn batting of M’Rae, who made 47. With only 42 rims to make to win, Sydenham . accomplished their task tor the loss of three wickets, Lavery 21 not out, and Merriman 13 not out being responsible for most of the rains. Both teams fielded very well.

The batting of the Lancaster Park B team in the Vice-President’s Cup match against Boys’ High School was very' even, the first innings producing 78 and the second 79. The schoolooys were only 11 behind on the first innings, but in the second innings they went to pieces, and were quite unable to negotiate the bowling of Ridley and Venables. With the exception of Newton 10, not one made double figures. The fielding might have been improved, as several easy catches were dropped by both teams.

On Saturday several bowlers obtained wickets very cheaply, the best performance being that of Ridley, who, playing for Lancaster Park B against Boys’ High School, took five wickets for 6 runs.

The fixtures for next Saturday are : Junior Cup—Lancaster Park v. Midland, United v. Sydenham. President’s Cup— United v. Midland, Sydenham v. Lancaster Park, Boys’ High School v. Lyttelton, Christ’s College a bye. Vice-President’s Cup—Lancaster Park B v. Lancaster Paik A. Sydenham A v. Sydenham B, Midland v. Boys’ High School, United v. Christ’s College. Grounds have not yet been fixed, but a meeting of the Junior Cup Committee will be called this week to make arrangemsoits.