Rodney Start Poorly In Dargaville Shield Match

Northern Advocate, 7 January 1938, Page 6

Rodney Start Poorly In Dargaville Shield Match

Cricket

WHll THE TEMPERATURE RANGING ABOIJI THE WO MARK A f ” THE LOW-LYING * RECLAMATION GROUND; THE ANNUAL CRICKET MATCH BETWEEN THE OLD RIVALS, WHANG ARM AND RODNEY COMMENCED THIS MORNING. The Dargavilie Shield, which Whangarei captured at Leigh last Januarv and which has been retained here since, is at stake, and great interest is' being taken in the fixture, which will conclude tomorrow. Rodney are fielding their strongest eleven, including several men who have not been seen in action here previously. On the other hand l Whangarei. hard hit by the holiday period and accident, have several substitute., the field.

Visitors at Wickets. At the last minute W. H. Wilson (Old Boys) brought In as one of. the j fsrst emergencies, withdrew, and bis place was taken by F. 11. Cowan, of the Whangarei Club. W. Dunning won the toss and opened with himself and Vipond, the combination of right and left handers who have caused bowlers and fieldsmen many hours of toiling. Masters, operating from the town end, made the ball fly and come up at times, and seemed to puzzle Vipond with a couple in the first over. The batsman steered one past Fyfc at point to open the score. Drake, bowling at the other end. appealed early for 1.b.w., but next ball Vipond Look a nice single to leg. A particularly fast ball from Masters rapped Dunning on the leg, taut the Rodney skipper moved off with a harddriven single oil the same bowlei. The succession of singles was broken when Vipond lifted Masters uppishly in the direction of third man. two mining off the stroke. Misunderstanding. Against a well-sustained attack, the scoring was painfully slow, seven appearing after 15 minutes. Rodney received a severe setback when W. Dunning drove the ball to Collins, at mid-on, and called Vipond, who had not backed up for a short single. The return beat Vipond to the crease by a yard. 11-1-8. Having collected several useful: scores in Country Week, Hooper was the next batsman, and took singles off j both bowlers with sweetly-executed strokes, one a leg glance and the other a late cut. Wilson replaced Masters, who had sent down six overs for nine runs, and nearly yorked Hooper, who, it. the next over, got his legs in front of a ball from Drake, which turned slightly from the off. 15 —2-2. F. Anderson, who followed, has collected 443 runs in club cricket this season for once out. Wickets Fall Quickly. Qnly five had been added to the score when W. Dunning, whose be-tv/een-wicket work had been uncertain, was run out. A hit appeared to have passed Cowan, at mid-off, but the tall fieldsman stretched out his hand, ! gathered it in, and his return found both batsmen at the same end. 21-3-7. Anderson and Pat Dunning were batting confidently. Anderson gained the only boundary of the morning, but in the same over was completely deceived, by a change of pace by Drake, who had him l.b.w. . The new rule is not played in Rodney club games, and its interpretation had the batsmen rather at sea. 32-4-8. After sending down five overs for eight runs, ■ Wilson was spelled by Hewlett. P. Dunning made the Rodney collapse a debacle when he skied the new bowler into the safe hands of Burch, 35-5-8. The challengers were adopting ultracautious tactics, and Gubb might also have been out before lunch, having given a very hot chance to Fyfe, at point. Drake bowled unchanged for the hour and a-half before lunch, keeping a perfect length and sending down 13 overs for 18 runs and two wickets,

Lucky Stumping. Drake continued bowling when L, Gubb (5) and R. Dunning (1) _ resumed, sending down his. sixth maiden. Masters also opened with a maiden. In Drake’s next over Dunning lunged forward, dragged his hind foot and the ball rebounded from the keeper s pads and he was stumped. Hitherto treated to dull batting, the crowd was delighted when Laurie landed a full-blooded drive to the boundary, but Drake had him ball, brilliantly caught by Fyfe. at point. The fieldsman jumped and used his left hand.— 44—7—l. The best stand of the match ensued between Gubb and Andrewes, A pretty placement on the leg side by Gubb brought the half century up after more than two hours’ batting. The game was halted for several minutes while Andrewes recovered from a painful blow which he received on the back of the head when he stopped one of Master’s bumpers. Smart Throw-In. The batsmen showed good understanding between the wickets, picking up many smart singles. They must have had a shock when Collins, running from leg, picked the ball up and threw down the wickets from a sidelong angle. Runs were coming more freely, and off one over from Drake, eight were hoisted, including a four to Gubb. Masters came on from the Onerahi end for the first time, replacing Drake, who had bowled unchanged, while Hewlett operated from the other.

j A fast ball from Masters beat every- | one, including the "keeper and flashed ! through for four byes. Gubb’s long i stay was terminated when a ball ! brushed against his thumb and was gathered in by Hilton, standing well back. —83—8 —25. Hewlett sent down j a wide, but had Came l.b.w. next ball. Law scooped an easy catch and the j side was all out at 3 p.rn, for 85. Details:-

j RODNEY, j First Innings. j Vipond. run out 8 j \V. .punning, run out 7 l F. Anderson, Ibw.. b Drake 8 1 Hooper, Ibw., b Drake 2 iP. Dunning, c Burch, b Hewlett .. 8 1 Gubb, c Hilton, b Masters 25 R. Dunning, st. Hilton, b Drake . 1 Laurie, c Fyfe. b Drake 4 Andrews, not out H L. Came, Ibw, b Hewlett 1 . Law. c Drake, b Hewlett 0 Extras V Total 85 Bowling.—Masters. 13 overs 3 maidens. 18 runs, one wicket; G. Drake, 19 overs. (3 maidens, 37 runs, four wickets; Wilson, seven overs, 13 runs; Hewlett. 7i overs, two maidens, 10 runs, three wickets.