AUSTRALIA V MANAWATU.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9757, 24 March 1914, Page 2

AUSTRALIA V MANAWATU.

110ME TEAM AT THE WICKETS. LUX FORD AND HODDER IN FORM. INNINGS CLOSES FOR 177. In line v.-oather. but with a wind from th< cast bringing with it the chilly blasts ol kite autumn ami making matters somewhat unpleasant-., from the fieldsmen's point ol view, the'touring Australian cricketers com nionced their match 011 .the Sportsgi'ounc against a fifteen from the Manawatu Cricket Association's dis trict. For once, considering it was th afternoon of a working day, the publk ihrew off the lethargy which is usually as sociated with local sporting fixtures anc attended in large numbers at the ground, tht.' fame of the Australians having evidently gone before them. Amongst those prosent was a large number of ladies, and the} were keen enthusiasts of the side which wa; to do battle for the district. Not only was ihe "stand at the ground almost packed, bu; the oval outside was also lined with group of .spectators.

The afternoon was taken up with tin batting of Manawatu, and the result oi their innings must have proved a pleasant surprise. Though the start was a disastrous one. Greer losing his wicket without scoring during the lirst over a'nd Me Vicar run out when four, the batting improver when the fourth wicket was reached. Th; best stand of the day wis that put up b\ 1 leader and Luxford, present and past pupils respectively of the High School. Ilod dcr particularly played w ell, and his inning: compared with the batting of The side, wa; a brilliaut one. He nearly lost his wicket dm one or two occasions, several chances of dismissal being let pass. Nevertheless it must be freely admitted he played well.* and tin' sustained ovation which greeted tht hid, who is only si:x"en years of age, oi. his return to the pavilion showed that tht spectators recognised that the recipient was justly. entitled to (heir appreciation foi saving his side from disaster. Anothei creditable stand was put up bv Luxforc ami Bartlett. and it was only ended by the former being foolishly run out, albeit lu had had several narrow escapes. 1 lie fielding oi the Australians was probably not up to their best form, but at times they gave some glimpses of then rare skiil in the manipulation of the bail (hi the whole ii was clean and smart though once or twice a little more licens: was allowed than is customary in highet grade cricket.

_ Hie pitch itself was in very good condi lion. ()! the bowling the deadliest was that ol ( raw-ford. the Surrey champion. His fiiVl over showed his skill in this de parlmont. Armstrong, except for a few overs, bowled ar the lower oriel all tht afternoon, and came through with a good average. Laver kept a consistently fair length, i hough plainly not on his mettle. Dr. Dolling, at one stage, replaced Arm -t!T>ng for halt art hour, during which 3 r . runs were knocked off his bowling withou' the loss of a wicket. The other Ixiwler ol the day was Maiiey, the "googly" expo nenr. but he did not have a very big chariot of displaying his powers of making the ball the erratic sphere it becomes in the hand* of th«' googlie man. MANAWATU OPEN. McLean, the local skipper, won the toss and elected to bat. At 2.40 o'clock tht field was taken. Mc Vicar ami Greer opening to Crawford and Armstrong. The commencement wa> disastrous, tor Crawford'.second biill sent Greer to the pavilion. Om tor 0. Mc\ icar scored four off of Armstrong'; fifth ball, lvgisteniig the first runs of tin match. Ongfey, who {< IKII the vacancy, scored a couple of singles off Crawford'.toilov,nig over, but Mc\icar fell a victim to the sixth ball, being bowled oil lib pads. Iwo for i. McLean followed, ami l>oth olayed freeb till 22 was reached. when Onghv drove a .-mar: etitch to _\lai!e\ ar niiu-on. Thre: ■for 22. Brettnand followed, but was very tin ea.-y acatnst Arm. ;iv.ng, who bowled bin. with a ia-t hail, four for 23. Dodder played the last bowl of the over. La\er now replaced ( 'raw ford at the to; end and rut; came quicker. Mc I.can drovt his second hail tor a single. A run neatly .akea by Hod ler off the next bail caused no injl" amus'jmetit, and McLean drove tin next lor 2. Armstrong's second ball llod to the boundary, following it with a single. A high toss from Armstrong was -ki"d iu ihe boundary by McLean, bringing 36 upon the board. Paver's next over wa..mauhn. while Dodder got two past th* .-lips oil Armstrong.■ A single from Laver o\ McLean Wrought 40 up. McLean was now lb and Dodder 3 and 1 >oth were more at. home. A pret;\ drive to the on from Dodder was smartly iioldcd by Maiiey, drawing ;i burst <>f applause from the sp< c-

; ators. Alt v.- cua\ing McL can with two balls the bat-nam ta.-iied io deep iield arid \\ add\ took a good catch. Live for 48. I I us had in r:i the best stand to far arid Jh- ietiring batsman had scored 19. 'J lit* vacancy was iilL«i by Luxford, who played our th»> over. A nicelv placed three by 1 lotldi r through the sdps brought the .ialf rc'iiiu.y t;[i at lor 40 minutes' play. Luxtord broke he "duck" by stealing a •-mgle, and liodder relating the performance ;n \t ball evoked applause, liodder narrowly missed losing- his wicket next ball • »>' attempting a short run. but he brought •iU to his store by hitting I>aver for 2, also >' uiging up 60. Dolling replaced Ana<l at the lower end, Luxford securing l .ingle oil th.' over. Both batsmen wore •i'.i'eiul and s.eined more at home with Laver, though no chancer were taken, liodh r aroused enthusiasm by sending Dolling :<> tho boundary by a well placed stroke to ,he oil. Hie bowler sent down some loose stuff and a lour and a two came from liodder, making his score 31 and hoisting iC. Ar tins .stage light rain had been falling. making tho ball <rreasy. This interfered with the bowling, causing Dolling to .-end short pitches down, oft which tho :>at.->men scored ireely. liodder had now !>et-:i ai the wickets tor halt an hour and was giving- a very pleasing display; Lux!«,rd was also playing v.vll, though" he had ■lily scored four singles. Dolling pitched i short one lo Luxford. who piomptly sent it to tho it :i"e. bringing 80 up. A couple ot singles sneaked between the wickets, a three through the siips by Luxford, and i lour to the leg boundary by Hodder oil Dolling saw 90 appear. !he century was :.o;si.cd by a rive from Luxford. lie drove ; ht- ball to the oil and the fieldsman attempting to stop it with his foot sent it i>a>t. .Armstrong. I he latter smartly retimed n io the wickets and liodder seemed to have been run out, but just got there. 1 he four was increased to live by the overthrow amidst much enthusiasm. Dolling's next, ball was sent to the leg boundary by I louder, who brought up his score to 49. laixfurd drove Laver for 2 and played out -He rest ot the over. TEA ADJOURNMENT. The tea adjournment was then made, the score being >lO9 for live wickets. Resumiiio", liodder iac-od Armstrong, the over oeiiig a maiden, Laver continued at the :op end. a single going to Luxford's credit, •xming \wi!i slow, a single onlv coming t torn four overs. Armstrong now had his ueh close in. but Luxford got one past to leg tor fouj - , run risiht out. liodder brought up his half centttrv bv a single to the oil. A few balls later'Luxford had a ine puttnijr a catch just pa-t Armstrong ani I rawtord, and a few minutes later he Pj.-t put another out of Cody's reach. Singles from both batsmen produced 120. uid tie n cam - Dodders dismissal. Ar:mV'l 1 y N,iarl t'idch at fine slip. I he retiring batsman had been at the wick•is for (2 minutes for 51 runs. He gave a ap; at display, and his partnership with i.u\.ord had put on 72 runs. The latter ' " <n ,\ batting 55 minutes for 30 uu-. iNix for 120. Webster Idled the breach, and after Lux j«rd had played a maiden to Armstrong, aceit l,a\ er, another maiden over resulting. Yet another maiden over followed, lemtr the third successive one, but oil' Lavers next over Webster broke his •duck with a single. j| e then freed vrmstrong, but was not. at all at hon-e nid tipped an easy catch to Vi'addy within t few feet of his crease to the lesj "Seven for 123. Bartlett placed the last ball of the over. Scoring w»< now painfully slow. Bartlett >nly notching a single, and Luxford goting' it two through the slips. Laver again lowled ;i maiden, his third successive one. A couple from a leg-bye brought up 130. Hid Bartlett then broke the* monotony by •tilling Laver to the boundary. At this itage Mailey, the "googlie" bowler, replaced Laver. Bartlett snicked one past: Crawford at foic leg, and Luxford secured single to il" off. Qanlett drove Mailey "or 3. and Luxford snicked him for :> ingle, bringing 140 up after 2 hours and 0 minutes' play. Luxford was now 38. i Scoring was still slow, a single here and I here coining off Mailey, while Armstrong had now? bowled three successive maiden

>vers. A smart piece of work took place it this point. Bartlett drove Maiiey hard >ack, and the bowler, smartly picking, up he ball, sent it back to the wicket keeper, 3ai tlett nearly being j-un out in following ip his hit. So far the bowling had only ieen of a mild order, but Armstrong now iveiied his deliveries, putting more life nto them. The finest drive of the innings vas now made by Bartlett off of Maiiey, ie sending hint to the other end of the ground, and a few minutes later he also hove him to leg for 2, adding a single by he same stroke next ball. One hundred .ml fifty-three-was now hoisted. Crawford eplacecf Maiiey, arid Bartlett, driving his irst ball hard, ran. Luxford responded, >ut Trumper returned smartly to 'Mc ircgoiy and Luxford was run out. Eight or 154. Luxford had batted for 100 minites for his 39, and was roundly applauded m his return to the pavilion. Eliott, the next batsman, scored three off he rest of the over, tytd matters were liv•ned by Bartlett pulling Armstrong to he boundary, bringing up 160, and his nvn score to 23. A- single followed, and Cliott faced Armstrong, only to be bowled lext ball. Nine for 163. 'l4ie last ball of the over was played by 3enßett. Crawford's first ball of his next >ver saw Bartlett's dismissal, his wickets >eing shattered by a fast delivery. Ten or 163. The retiring batsman had made 24, and had been in 43 minutes. Tottman followed, and promptly put the Surrey man past point for two, following t with a single to leg. Armstrong's first iti.ll was, however, his undoing, for in atempting to pull the ball to leg he was lean bowled. Allingham signalised Ins appearance by hitting' Armstrong hard to the 'jr boundary, Collins saving the four. The :ext ball he hit wildly at, but was too prions, and in coming back the ball hit the >at, and a single was notched, lie step>ed out to the first ball of Armstrong s oxt .over, and McGregor promptly sent lim to the pavilion. Twelve for 170. The incoming batsman, ilarwood, opend his account with a beautiful leg drive > the boundary off Armstrong, but facing 'otter's next over was too much, and his .icket fell. Thirteen for 175 . Cornish vacancy, and drove the •ist ball of the over for one. The innings losed for 177 by Bennett poking Armtrong to Maiiey in the slips. Details of scoring -are : MANA\YATU—First Innings. .IcVicar, 4. b Crawford 4 Jreer, b Crawford 0 )nglev, 2113111. e Mailev. 1> Crawford 10 McLean, 3112411141, c Waddv, I) Armstrong ... ... ... ... ... 19 Srennand, b Armstrong . 0 lodder. 1412113121124124211114124111, c Armstrong, l> Laver 51 luxford, 11114111352114112212111,. run out , 39 vVebster, i, e Waddv, b Armstrong ... 1 bartlett, 114131142141, b Crawford ... 24 •iliott, 3, b Armstrong 3 iennett, c Maiiey. b Armstrong ... 0 rottman. 21, b Armstrong 3 Vllinghani, 111, st McGregor, b Armstrong 3 Tarwood. 4. b Crawford ... ••• ••■ 4 Jornish, 1, not out 1 Extras Total 177 Bowling analysis. —Crawford 5 for 19, \rnistrong 7 for 43, Laver 1 for 42, Doling 0 for' 37. Maiiey 0 for 16. HOW THE WICKETS'FELL. 1 for 0. 2 for 7, 3 for 22, 4 for 23, 5 for 'l, 6 for 120. 7 for 123, 8 for 154, 9 for 163, I 10 for 163, 11 for 166, 12 for 170, 13 for 75. 14 for 177. The umpires were Messrs Wells and ireena, and the scorers Messrs Ferguson visitors) and Kelly (Manawatu).