CRICKET

Northern Advocate, 20 February 1926, Page 11

CRICKET

WHANGAREI COMPETITIONS LAST WEEK'S RESULTS. Maungakaramea (70 and 4 wickets for 82) defeated Whangarei (38) by 32 runs on the first innings—a 2-point win. Onerahi (53 and 5 wickets for 46) defeated Y.M.C.A. (56 and 38) by 5 wickets —a 3-point win. • The competition was advanced a further stage on Saturday last, when the above matches were decided, Marsden having the bye. • » • • Beautiful weather prevailed and all the conditions were favourable for batsmen, but for sopio unaccountable reason the scoring was disappointingly small, not one respectable total being knocked up during the afternoon. It was a day upon which the ball easily triumphed over the bat, the result being that some flattering bowling averages were secured, and it must be said . that in several instances the bowlers' * work did not merit the success achieved, the batsmen simply getting themselves out in their feeble efforts to play the bowling, which was not so deadly as the figures indicate. The totals registered for the day were in marked contrast to those recorded the previous Saturday, when the number of runs scored was very good indeed. Admittedly the pitches on the whole are not conducive to high scoring, yet the efforts of the various teams have been disappointing on many occasions during the season. MAUNGAKARAMEA DEFEATS WHANGAREI. TWO POINTS FOR THE COUNTRY TEAM. On the Maungakaramea ground Whangarei gave an inglorious display against the local team, being defeated by 32 runs on the first innings in a low-scoring contest. Maungakaramea's first innings reached the not very formidable total of 70, and had it not been for E. O'Carroll , who went in seventh wicket down, and laid the wood on in good style for his innings of 30, the total would have been very meagre. He was last man out. The visitors were lucky in getting rid of Metge cheaply, for he was ] dismissed after scoring nine. Child j gathered seven and Attwood six, the | ■ remaining batsmen doing little. As *■■. usual McLean and Hpllis carried on the attack, the former securing a trifle the better average, viz., 5 wickets" for 29 runs off 80 balls as against Hollis' 4 wickets for 28 runs off 72 balls. Stevenson was given a trial at the end of the innings, and he succeeded in dismissing E. O'Carroll with his sixth ball for 4 runs. Woolhouse evidently struck terror into the- hearts of the Whangarei batsmen, promptly bowling skipper Lees for a "duck," and thereafter proving almost unplayable. Metge proved an able ally at the other end, keeping the Tuns down. No batsman reached double figures, Lett's seven being the highest recorded off the bat. Stevenson accounted for half-a-dozen, W. Lees four Baigent four (not out), R. McLean three, Hollis and McDonald one each, whilst Wilson, Waterman and McKinnon failed to trouble the scorers. "Extras" added a dozen to the total, so that only 26 runs were obtained off the bat. Woolhouse secured the excellent figures of 6 wickets for 11 runs off 9 overs, 3 of which were maidens; Metge also delivered 9 overs for 5 maidens, 11 runs, and 1 wicket; S. Crawford came on and finished off the innings, getting 2" wickets for 4 runs off 4 overs, 2 of them being maidens. Maungakaramea's second innings was commenced most inauspieiously, Kelk, Attwood, Hudson and L. O'Carroll all being sent to the right-about for a total of 14 runs. However, E. -r- O'Carroll and Metge found - no terrors in the bowling and after a spirited partnership they raised the total to 82 for 4 wickets when stumps were drawn. O'Carroll playing a good innings - for 32 not out —or 62 for once out during the afternoon, a good performance. "Metge--was left with 27 not out, put together in his usual style. This time "McLean and Stevenson divided the -w'iekets, the former's figures being •fhe more conclusive —2 for 15 off, 48 Trails, 'Stevenson's 2 victims costing 30 runs -off 48 balls; Hollis' .16 balls eost ',7 -runs, Waterman's 32 balls 16 runs, and "Wilson's 8 balls 6 runs. QNERAHT'S THREE-POINT WIN. AT EXPENSE OF Y.M.C.A. Y.M.C.A. commenced with a modest contribution of 55, yet it was sufficient to give them a lead of 3 runs on the first innings over Onerahi. The advantage could not be -maintained, however, for the second innings only realised 38, and Onerahi knocked off the 42 required for a 3-point win for the loss «»f 5 wicket?. In their first effort none of the Y.M.C.A. batsmen succeeded in making douVle figure?, Ooode getting nearest with nine. A. K. McLeod, making bis .reappearance in the team after n jhrngthy fhsenee, ran up siv, Collins . "five, Bsltes five, Dunn ' five Wcntwoitb four, Attcrbury and £aul two each, Hollows one while Morey and Grove failed to score. "Extras" were re°p.uisible for no lens -thnii 17, the fast balls pf Mason being

too good for the wicket-keeper. Chitty and Mason bowled unchanged, and both obtained good results, Mason getting the fine average of 6 wickets for 12 runs off 59 balls; Chitty's record was 4 for 2S off 64 balls. Onerahi were surprised in their first knock, and what was generally expected to prove a soft snap for them eventually proved beyond them, the whole side being out for 53. Veteran E. L. Whimp was the highest scorer with 17, while able support was |orthcoming from his son, who picked up 11, and A. Fyfe smacked up 10 in two hits at the end of the innings (a six and a four) and remained not out.-''Peter" Mason only made five, Drake four, S. Mackenzie two, C. Hewlett and C. Mackenzie one each, H. Hewlett, Chitty and Beasley all failing to break the "duck." "Extras" did not assist much, only two being recorded. Morey and Hollows proved a good combination, the fast bowler obtaining the splendid figures of 7 for 22 off 72 balls (2 maidens), and Hollows 3 for 26 off 70 balls (4 maidens). Hollows has been a consistent scorer for Y.M.C.A. and in the second innings he was responsible for 16 of the total of 3S, he being the only one to reach double figures, though Wentworth (8 not out) may have done so had anyone remained with him, for he was shaping well when the end came. Morey made six, Collins two, Goode and Attcrbury one each, all the others (McLeod, Grove, Dunn, Bates and Snul) failing. This time "extras" only accounted for four runs. Chitty and Mason again secured all the wickets, Chitty getting the remarkable result of G wickets for 8 runs off 40 balls; Mason sent down 22 balls for 15 runs and 3 wickets; C. Hewlett had a couple of overs but without success, 11 runs being scored off him. Requiring only 42 runs for an outright win Onerahi's effort was not con vincing until C. Hewlett and Mason became associated for the fifth wieket. Fyfe, C. Whimp, Chitty, and E. L. Whimp had only made ten between them, but Mason and C. Hewlett took the total to within a couple, of the requisite number when Mason fell to a good ball from Hollows for 17. S. Mackenzie came in and ho and C. Hewlett knocked off the runs without further loss, Hewlett being not out 11 and Mackenzie not out 1. Morey took 3 wickets for 27, Hollows 1 for 7, and McLeod 0 for 8. i j TODAY'S MATCHES. The following is the draw for today, both matches being played on the Reclamation ground, Whangarei:Maungakaramea v. Marsdcn. Whangarei v. Onerahi. Y.M.C.A., a bye. THE PLTTNXET SHIELD. THIS SEASON'S CHAMPIONSHIP. WHO WILL WIN? The deciding match for the New Zealand cricket championship, now being played at Wellington between Auckland and Wellington, is causing much speculation as to which team is to be the ultimate holders of tho coveted shiold for this seasonBoth provinces are very strongly represented, and on paper one is forced to tho belief that the Wellington side is slightly the superior one, and with equal conditions, should carry off the honours. In order to gain possession of the shield, Auckland requires to 'dedefeat Wellington, whilst a win to Wellington will enable the Empire City team to have tho right to hold the trophy. Matches between the two provinces date back as far as 1860, and in all 30 games have been playOd, though, of course, all these have not been for the Plunket Shield, which only came into being in 1906-7. Of the whole thirty matches, Auckland has considerably the better record, having won 18 as against 9 by their opponents, the remaining three having been drawn. The last occasion upon winch the Aucklanders were successful in Wellington was in 1919, when they won by 5S runs. On their last three visits to tho south they have, however, been defeated by th'e Wellingtbnians. ALAN KIPPAX. HIS WONDERFUL PERFORMANCES Alan Kippax, although not selectecl in the Australian team to visit England, has a marvellous record in th'e Sheffield Shield matches in Australia over tho four seasons in which he h'as played for New South Wales in the series, and "far outstrips any other player in his own State or in the other competing States. In the four seasons among those of tho younger players, and who have proved the most prolific run-getters in Shield matches, the following figures speak for themselves: — In. N.O. IT.S. Runs. Avge. Kippax 22 2 271 1927 96.35 Ponsr'ord ... 21 2 l'ifi 13<j0 71.57 , Woodfull 29 -4 236 1722 68.88 'Y. Richardson 28 0 135 1420 50.71 A. Richardson 30 1 155 1135 31.13 It wil-l thus be seen that Kippax has played one more innings than Ponsford, has scored s<>7 vims more and averages 25 per innings more than the Victorian champion. In 1922-3 Kippax scored 49.1 runs, highest score 107, averao;e 95.20; in .1.023-4 he" made 455 runs highest score 218, average 65; in 1924-5 he scored 53,3 runs, highest score 212, average. 133.25; and in the season just

completed ho made 448 runs, highest score 271, average 112. These figures give him a grand total over the whole four years of 1927 runs, at an average of 96.35. In three of the four seasons Kippax has headed the batting averages, the only player to surpass him in any ono season boing H. O. Eoek, who averaged 146 per innings in 1924-5 against Kippax's 133. In the 1924-5 season in all first-class matches Kippax took first place in the Australian overages, surpassing even H. Sutcliffe in the latters' wonderful Test match year. GEORGE LOHMANN. A GREAT BOWLER. It is interesting to study the careers of great cricketers of.the past, and the following brief sketch of one of England's most famous bowlers, in the person of the lato George Lohmann, is full of interest:— A Middlesex man by birth, Lohmann came into the Surrey eleven in 1885, just as iSurrey was beginning to turn tho corner after a number of lean years. With him came Beaumont, a, Yorkshireman, and for the first time since the days of Caffyn, Griffith and Sewell, Surrey found themselves with two bowlers who could get ci strong side out. From 1885 to 1892 there was hardly a victory gained by Surrey for which Lohmann was not largely responsible. He was generally bowling with variety, break and good length. He did not bowl for maidens, so the other side did not play a, slow game. He was a perfect model of a slow to medium bowler, with a: fine control of length, and a mastery of flight. Indeed, his deceptive flight was his great asset. Making the most of his six feet, he kept his arm very high, and the ball being so high in the ajr at first always looked to the spectators to be right up, even a half-volley, yet it dropped so suddenly that in attempting to hit i tho batsman found it feet shorter than he anticipated, and so got under it instead of over it. With this deceptive flight he combined a quick off-break, and occasionally a faster ball which wen£ with his arm, and which he was fond of bowling on sticky wickets. In his eleven, years of first-class cricket he bowled 15,762 overs and took 1695 wickets, while in three successive seasons, ISBB, ISB9 and IS9O, he took 272, 202 and 220 wickets respectively. In his fifteen Ttest matches he took 77 wickets for 1002 runs, and on actual figures he was the most successful bowler who has ever visited Australia. Probably his best performance was at Sydney in February, 1887, when in Australia's first innings he got Walter Giffen, Lyons, Allen, Percy McDonnell, Midwinter, Cottam, Garrett and Ferris for 35 runs. A year later, on the same ground, he took five for 17 and four for 35. In Sydney again in February, 1892, he had another bag of eight in Australia's first innings, Alick .Bannerman, Lyons, Moses, George Giffen, Harry Trott, R. W. McLeod, Turner, and Walter Giffen falling to him at a cost of 58 runs. By the way, Australia had a good win in this game. They were all out for 145, to which the Englishmen replied with 307, Abel carrying his bat through the innings for 132 not out. In their second venture Bannerman and Lyons sent up 175 for the first wicket in two hours and threequarters beforo W.G. snapped up Lyons at point. The South Australian hitter claimed 134 out of the 175. Bannerman got to 91, made in seven hours and a half; George Giffen made 49, and Bruce a brilliant 72; and the total was 391.' With 230 required, the Englishmen were all out for 157, George Giffen taking 6 for 72, and Turner 4 for 46. A. E. Stoddart was the only man to play .Giffen with any -confidence, -and his 69 was made in his best form. While delving into Lohmann's figures the writer came upon this curious analysis in a match against Lancashire in 1892: 16 overs, 12 maidens, 7 runs, 1 wicket. When his side was in the field Lohmann, if not bowling, was fielding at short slip with wonderful agility and skill, and it is pivaably safe to say that there has never been a greater slip field. As a batsman he was a dasher, always at his best, when runs were wanted, and on one occasion his j team had lost five wickets for 25 when Lohmann joined Maurice Read and despite the bad wieket and I the good bowling of Mold, Barlow and Briggs, Mold getting up awkwardly at I times and peppering the batsmen, I made a brilliant 66. He fell a victim to consumption and spent the last few years of his life in South Africa, where he died in Decern- j ber, 1901, at the early age of 36. J JOTTINGS. ' I The Auckland authorities are on the look-out for a firstclass professional con eh, and interest lias centred upon who is to be the successful applicant. The name of Maurice Tate, England's greatest bowler of the present day, has been mentioned several times of late, but the Sussex man denies that lie has accepted the position. Tate would be a great acquisition to Auckland cricket in particular, and New Zealand cricket in general, if he could Vie persuaded to undertake tho job. Possibly it is rathe]- too much to hope that a player of Tate's outstanding ability should accept such a position so far removed from the" Homeland.