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Free Lance, Volume XIV, Issue 692, 4 October 1913, Page 24

i ■■•_..'.:;,-..' Cricket*-,. " ■]-■'■■ < With the annual meeting of the Cric- \ ket As3oc.at.on over* and done with. $Ie r,.cricketers. and'jentkus.asts nave it thrust :*'• upon"theni that summer is drawing round ' ;i _ .again. ■\,. And it « well that they -' fdr -it seems to me" that - things; in the local cricket .world are going- to he i . brighter dnring the incoming season than ; •'. they hare been i. for r many .years past.: r'v Probabiy '-.the wish'.is father to the u,-\. thought, but I must- confess that there /;. is a smrit'of optimism.in the air,, and" j.-.if this spirit .can only permeate the f ••': players and lithe- enthusiasts there must ' J .be a good time ahead..' .• ,'.- • ':•_:• The Basin Reserve will-beready bright ; .V . and early this year,; and from a super"ficial glance-1 had at it ;last Saturday afternoon itilooked pleasing indeed to the eye. however, these 'first impressions are not borne out when the_play commences on the turf, but in j , -J. V. Saunders the Cricket' Association ; have-a. groundsman who can make good \<■ wickets"-'if the turf is- only in decent lorj der. "I agree-.with C. G.- Wilson that it j' would be suicidal in the interests of cricj ket in Wellington were the YAssootat'on, ! for -economy's sake, to dispense with j Saunders' services'-as lone as he. is willj ■•, ing to place them at-their disposal. We j can't'make decent cricketers '. if "the wicr . kets don't play true, and M. A. Noble '-. -vfcold vs some years ago that'-the poverty- -> of .the-cricket in New .Zealand generally was due without a doubt to the poor quality of the wickets provided for the ordinary matches. Therefore, with the . work done on >,the Basin Reserve a year ago.likely to be of benefit dnring the .incoming season, ; Saunders' re-appoint-ment was a positive necessity. ' * ■».-■»■'■»' The prevailing opinion at the annual '■: meeting of the Cricket Association onj*£.#Friday -night' last ..was that the corner ' had been turned, and that, owingto the effort now-being put forth to get rid of ' - the incubus of debt that was weighing •the efforts of the committee right down : to the ground, things financially Would be. Abetter in the days that are to come than they have been any time dnring the last five .years. ; " The ■" committee and officers appointed . to.carry on the- .work of the Association v,during the incoming twelve months are •able gentlemen, and well fitted for the 'duties they 'have undertaken. 'In vailing on Ernest Beechey to take up the.duties of honorary secretary,-1 consider, the Association have done honour ' to themselves, for undoubtedly the Old Boys cricketer is one of the ablest men . we have connected with the game in the city. : P. M. Martin is another old boy of Wellington College, and has had an accountancy training, so that he Should -be able to put the finances into good order, always provided that plenty of the root of all evil is given him to meet v the expenses of the Association with* , ■'•C. G. Wilson has not been-long with ub in Wellington, but,during his residence here he am done much good work for, cricket's sake. At the present time he is pushing the art union along with great enthusiaßm,' and -his optimism is spreading among his fellow-workers. He should be the ■Chairman of the Management Committee during the incominor season. - Jim Fanning, Mel' Crombie, Fred . Midlane, A. L. Goldfinch, and Claude Hickson are v all fine, headed fellows, and cricket in Welling- : ton should progress with men such as these holding the reins of government. My opinion is that this years executiveofficers are the ablest Bet that have been in office' for-some years, and in saying that-1 have no wish or desire to cast '. reflections. • . < •■* '» # • . This-reminds me that Martin Luckie, after,some twenty years of actiy© and ,- solid! services on the Cricket Association —fifteen years in which he acted as . Chairman of the Management Committee—declined nomination for a seat on the committee thin year. I have not on . many occasions seen eye to eye with hjm in his < methods, but I cannot deny the fact that right through his many years *of service to local cricket Martin Luckie has' been unsparing in his efforts, and - has put a lot of enthusiasm into his work.- He has ever been willing to spend and be spent Ln the service of •cricket, and the Association did the right thing in adding his name to the select list of life members. ' The other officers who have retired, on this occasion—Messrs EL B. .Vance (hon. secretary) and W. S. Hood (hon. treas- • urer>—have both given good service to the Association, and the votes of thanks tendered them for their Services were fully warranted. • »»-»'■ . .1 have a lot of time for M. J. Crombie as a cricket legislator and as a man, but, at the same time, I think the New Zealand Cricket Council have conferred a

doubtful honour; on.him in appointing him the. Wellington member of the SeV lection Committee to. put on paper the team to tour, Australia this, season. During the .many; years that I have been connected .with cricket in Wellington, tins is the first occasion I have noticed M. J. Crombie's name associated with the selection of-teams. For that reason I think. the appointment was unmerited, and.l.also am of the opinion that it was an undeserved-slap in the face to C. G. Wilson. This . gentleman was sole selector .of Wellington's teams and that fact alone, outs de of his wide expe-rience-of play and players in New Zealand, should have made, his appointment a certainty. The Cricket Council have ..done-some strange things during their - existence,.but this 'one caps them all. Again, ?n the constitution of the selection committee,-there are two Canterbury Reese and S. Orchard—L. G: 'Hemus (Auckland) and A. Dbwnes (Otago) being the others. Anyone with a' knowledge of ~ cricket in -the Dominion\of~recent years knows that the* majority of the players in the team, will come from Canterbury and Auckland, surely.it was. not the intent : on of the Cricket Council to make the chances of the Canterbury players easier by appointing an extra ; selector to •'.-' look after their interests? But that may be d fair concTusion : to arrive it. If ;'. D. ißeese had been appointed sole selector therib would have been very few. {Tumbler's at,the appointment, but in iny opinion the correct selectors should be L. G. Hemus, D.-Reese,'and C. G. Wilson, a committee that would have given, more confidence than the'one appointed. ■.'*■..■'• * • . - Who's-to be manager of this New Zealand team?, is a question that is worrying many of the enthusiasts. The name .of .Hugh Lusk,-the well-known lawyer cricketer of Napier, has been mentioned, but. he finds,himself so placed, just about the time the team leaves- for Australia that he has ,had to .decline the prooosal ..made to. him that he should allow himself to be, nominated as manager. There are others I know of that have been ask- . Ed to place themselves in the hands, of . the Council—not by the Council itself, :be it Baid. That body has been so reticent on the matter that many people hereabouts are of the opinion that the billet is being kept warm for some Canterbury gentleman, and,the appointment will be made at such a stage that it will { be too late to make # an effective protest -by the other Associations affiliated to the New Zealand Cricket Council. •■'-:" ■'•*•'. '*■'•* ."-■•».• .-■■ V- : The admission of the Old Boys into the Wellington. Cricket Association as a senior club is the ; best move - that has been made locallv since' the institution of the district scheme. The ex-students of Wellington College have always played good clean cricket x and the games in which tiiey have -taken part have ever been the better for the fact that these lads have been amongst the players. I wish them a good run in the various championships. •""