Cricket. The Hawke's Bay Match.

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 79, 4 January 1902, Page 6

Cricket. The Hawke's Bay Match.

ALBKRT TROTT has come and gone Kver since tlie announcement wa& made that the president ot the Haw kes Ba> Cricket Association liad seemed the seiwce-s of the Anglo-Aust.ra.han as coach to the cricketers of the Baj , main ot us had been eagerly looking forwaid to his appeaiance on the cucket held amongst us. Whether we were disappointed in the all-round display given b\ Trott is a matter that is questionable Some of us had placed him on a high pedestal, foi his great performances against the best of English cricketers were always before us, and the fact that Maclaren would have chosen ham as one of the first players in his present team if he had not been an Australian bv birth also weighed mightily. In spite of hopes to the contrary the fear was uppermost that the two innings of the Wellington team in its match with Hawke's Bay would be nothing more nor less than a procession of batsmen in and out The first innings strengthened this fear, for Trott accounted for five Wellington players for 17 runs, and, with the assistance of D en t. — who, by the w av, is an Australian pi aver- -he sent the whole eleven back to their dressing-rooms foi the small aggregate of o4 runs. With the bat, Trott made 43 m the second innings in good style la\mg the wood on pietty freely. • * • The Hawke's Ba\ team on the first da- had made 109 runs m then first mnmsrs and 98 for seven wickets in the second, as against a total of o4 runs in the local team's first innings. The second day's play commenced with what appealed an impossible task in front of the Wellington team to win the match, let alone make a decent showing. However, cricket is a game of surprises. The remaining thiee Hawke's Bja wickets were disposed ot by Hales and Tucker for two runs, and LV3 was the total left the Wellington team to get to win. +- * *■ The first wicket was soon down, but giaduaJly thereafter hope revived, until it became exuberant among the supporters of the local team. Richardson and Midlane were together, and it was noticed that the former, as far as possible, monopolised Trott's bowling, and, with the steady persistency for which he is noted, began to wear the crack bowler down Midlane being more at home to Dent in the opening part of his innings. The tens mounted slowly at first, both batsmen preferring to pla\ themsedves in before taking liberties The weakness- of the Hawke's Bay attack outside of Trott and Dent was very apparent when a rest for the latter was required. Gore was the first change, but for his opening overs he could not get a length, and Midlane scored a dozen runs off the first one Off five overs- howled bv Gore' the score was increased bv 35 runs. Onglev was next tried, but nei\ousness- was his main trouble. How evei his first o\er was a success , for m it Midlane went out to a short-pitched one, and. mi=smg it, was stumped With onlj two wickets down the Wellington total had got within (50 of the visiting team's and a win seemed highly probable + *7 +- Midlane hadpla>ed an innings worth \ of himself, and, barring an apparent weakness on the leg side early in his innings to Trott, he never looked like getting out after he had settled down. All round the wicket he made his runs — leghitting, cutting, and driving beins all well done, with plenty of power behind the stroke*. That Tiddlev" received a great ovation from the snectators. and was escorted to his dressinor-room bv a great army of small boys, wa« only in the natural order of tilings. » • • Tucker joined Richardson when Midland left and was well m with his first ball. Bv the way, of the total— 94— when the partnership was dissolved Midlane had made o9 while Richardson was getting 17 The centum was soon hoisted and both batsmen playing with great conPdence. ten after ten were put on the <~1 fM*t with <i deal of evenne=s — Tucker

scoring 33, and Richaidson '28 while the\ weie togethei A gioat amount of enthusiasm was shown when the necessai\ inns weie obtained, and nghtl\ so, toi was, it not a handsome w in i We in Wellington aie ketnh patriotic, it nothing else, and mam enthusiasts piefenedto woik on Fi icl<n afternoon rather than witness the downfall ot the local team. When the telephone eot to work to can\ the news to town, the announcement was n ceived mcreduloush To give a,n instance. I went to the telephone to connect w ltli the office Ringing up the Cential, as I supposed, I was met with the querj "How did the match go p " I obliged, thinking it w .is one ot the people m the Kxchange I heard Richardson was carried ott the held shoulder high." Then I had to gue hill paiticulaio, and, beginning to 1 eeognise the voice, it daw ned on me that friend 'Goff" Wa.iren had been hanging on to the telephone waiting foi someone to come along to give him definite news of the game 'Wasn't it a glorious win, and I am sorry I did not make an effort to get up," were ' GofTs" sentiments, and they have been axpiessed bv mam otheis besides him To my mind, Richardson deserves the greatest ciedlt for the win. Playing the game in the* style that suits him .smothering anything extra good, playing back or forw arc! as it appeared to him the ball met demanded aaid banging the loose ones with no mischief in them, he gradually w ore the bowlers dow n Then again, knowing the quality of Midlane when lie got fairly going, he kept the youth away from Trott as much as possible m the early part of his innings — all show ing the tactics of the general as w ell as 1 the cricketer I offer mv congratulations to him. Tuck ear us worth v of a deal of piaise In his second lnnui 1 "! .scoiei of 35 (not out) there was an easy chance to midon off him. tha.t was allowed to diop. but this was the on h blemish in a good innings. His average of foiu wickets for 40 runs was also an assistance to the win. Midlane I ha^ c already dealt w ltli but not even excepting Richardson, Tom" Hale-s is the heio of the 1 houi His first mmngs averaee of six wickets for 22 rune — amongst the number of his victims being Trott — nas well hacked up in the second innings b\ three wickets foi 20 runs— or a total of nine for 42 And then it must not be forgotten that Hales made 12 runs off the bat — a might y sitroke for six being included therein Messrs E W. Mills and Co.'s trophy to the best all-round man on the Wellington side in the match .should be awarded Hales and T heartily con era tu late him on his sterling performance. Besides these mentioned above the only other double-figure scores on the Wellington side were Richardson (13) and Gore (11) in the first innings Holdsworth (three wickets for 54 runs, and one for 20) a,nd Connell (one for 15) weie tho remaining successful bowlers • • • Are there any reasons foi the pool .showing of the visitors in the second innings* of the home team ? Well, tho wicket was 111 splendid order, having been swept and rolled b the ground man m the morning. The visitors averred that the grass had been cut. but am assurance was given that this was not so However, a rule of the game 1 was broken bv the sweeping ot the. w icket, and it is as well that a similar mistake should not happen in the future This may not have affected the result of the game, but there is no question tihat the wicket on the second day had greatly impioved from thefiist day. The vi&itois had a bit of bad luck, too Dent, skylarking with =ome ot Ins mates, had the masf 0-1 tune to miure the w nst of his right hand, and naturall\ he could not got his usual amount of w ork on The losing of the seiAices of Halla1110111 behind the wickets 111 the second inmners was seriously felt bv the visitors as he had done good woik in the first innings A na.stv knock on a nngei that had been mjuied before caused a breakage. Richardson has battod four times against Hawke's Bay and the throe times he was out was at the hands of Hallamore — stumped Who kno"ns but that the absence of Hallamore was a. stroiig factor in the win of the local team ? And lasth Trott appeared tired, in his present fomi hi.s exertions with the bat and ball taking a lot out of him He threw them up all ways — fast, me-dium-pace slow off and leg breaks — but there was not as much devil 111 them as on the first day Another thing, he went on to bowl in nn opinion, fiom the wrong eaid, as the southern end would have suited him much better on the day [Coiitinvecl on Pane 11 1

One of the humouis ot cricket repoitmg m Wellington —"At this stage ot the proceedings five maidens weie bowl- « 1 in succession, four of them b,> Holdsworth." When it is stated that it is impossible foi one bowler to deluei more than thiee out of h\ c oveis tht> absurdity of the above sentience will be easily seen Another repoit had it that one of the Hawke's Bay batsmen was done to death aJI the way by Tucker " This must have made a marked impression for after the match was over Inspector Pender was noticed ca refill K examining the wicket, probably in case an inquest might be demanded. "Midlane ran out to make a mighty hit at a \ erv feeble-lookmg full pitcher." Another sample of cricket reporting Isn't it foolish, on the face of it 9 Ran out to a full pitcher. The veriest schoolboy would know that b running out t.o a full pitcher whatever chance there was of playing it would be gone. The balL in question was nearer a half tos* than a, full pitcher • • * Clem Hill is said toha\e developed wonderfully of late. From an angular youth he has thickened into a fine lump of a man about thirteen stone "Corrigenda" writes agaan re the noball, but as he only says ' yes" wheie I say "no," and has no new argument to offer, the missive is not w orth the space it w ould occupy Championship matches will be resumed on Saturday The MidlandPhoenix match is in an interesting condition, and promises to provide an exciting finish. The Wellington-Old Boys match will also be continued but the former should win easily All the members of tihe Canterbur\ team speak highly of their treatment b\ Mr. C. H. Manson, secretary of the Wellington Association, who was indefatigable in his efforts- to secure then comfort.— "Canterbury Times " Mr Geo Fishei was an interested spectator at the cricket match, so much so tiiat at the beginning of Wellington s> second innings he could not resist the temptation of giving a word of advice to Trot.t — probably, how not to do it. It was stated in Monday's "Post" that Midland was a master at the Mount Cook school This is a slight mistake Freddy is an old boy of Mount Cook and, generally speaking, an old boy is much dearer to the present boys than a master is I extend my sincerest sympathies to Mr. E. Upham in the sad bereavement he has sustained ' by the death of his daughter. A winsome child she was, and much esteemed by all who knew her, which makes the parents' loss all the harder to bear. Mr. Arnold Williams is back amongst us, and on Friday I had the pleasure of wishing him "Kaa ora " That his experiences as a, married man may be serene and blissful is the wish of all those who have played with and against him on the cricket fields of Wellington where he has been, and is still, deservedly popular