Out Door Sports and Pastimes

Free Lance, Volume XV, Issue 801, 5 November 1915, Page 19

Out Door Sports and Pastimes

By Touchline.

CRICKET.

A Day of Records. LAST Saturday morning it was a very problematical matter whether cricket would be played in the afternoon. But the man in charge of the weather managed it fairly well, for the threatening clouds dispersed by lunch time, and, although things were not as nice as they were the previous week, the spectators were treated to a decent afternoon's cricket. On the opening day of the TrenthamEast match, the soldiers had made 215 runs, the response to which had been the gathering of 108 runs by W. R. Gibbes and W. A. Baker without either of them being dismissed. The pair, aided by a bit of luck', ran to 220 without a separation being effected. Gibbes was the first to go, with 88 runs opposite his name, and, with his dismissal, a new record had been established in connection with the playing of cricket in Wellington, viz., a stand of 220 runs for a wicket.

The previous best tally—2l3 runs for the second wicket —was put up nearly twenty years ago, viz., in the 1896-97 season, by A. B. Williams and F. W. Lash, playing for the old Midland team against the Rivals. Herewith are the scores of over 200 for a wicket that have been made during the playing of championship matches in "Wellington: —

220— W. R. Gibbes and W. A. Baker (Ist wicket) - 213 —A. B. Williams and F. W. Lash (2nd wicket) 208 —A. Hodge and F. Spottiswoode (10th wicket) 211— W. T. Bray and J. S. Hiddleston (Ist wicket) 206— K. H. Tucker and A. B. Williams (2nd wicket) 206 —F. A. Midlane and W. A. Bakei (2nd -wicket) 206 —E. Smyrke and D. Donoghue (sth wicket) The Record Individual' Score.

"When stumps were drawn for the day W. A. Baker was stall unbeaten, and had succeeded in putting opposite his name the biggest score ever made by a Wellington cricketer, viz., 241*. It will be remembered that last year F. A. Midlane, in scoring 222* for Wellington against Otago, had beaten the hitherto best score in local cricket, viz., 221* by K. H. Tucker, made in the 1898-99 season, when the' present Old Boys'"■player was a member of the Midland Club. These three scores are the only ones over 200 that have been credited to Wellington batsmen during the history of the game, . the 'principal scores since championship matches were instituted . being as follows : — 241*— W. A. Baker (East), 1915-16. 221* —K. H Tucker (Midland), 189899. 199* —F. Joplin (University), 1914-15 180— F. W. Lash (Midland), 1896-97. 180 —K. H. Tucker (Midland), 189798. 177 —M. P. Naughton (Phoenix). 1898-99. 176— H. "E. : Burton (Central), 1914-15 174 —W. Quee (Midland) 1901-02 171— F. A. Midlane (East), 1914-15 167— W. R. Gibbes (East), 1914-15 165—C. G. Wilson- (North), 1914-15 158 —J. J Mahony (Wellington), 190203. 158— E. M. Beechey (Old Boys), 190708. 148— J. P. Blacklock (Old Boys), 1903-04 143*—M. J. Crombie (East B), 191011 144* —W. A. Baker (East), 1913-14 141*— E. McCardell (Central), 191415. 140* —F. A. Midlane (East), 1909-10 ■'***« Some More Records. Although a couple of records for local cricket were broken on Saturday, there are still some left, as follows: — Three century scores in a se?«on —C. A.Richardson (Wellington), 1901-02. A. B. Williams (Midland), with two centuries and two scores of over 90 dn the 1897-98 season is a very close second. _ Two centuries in a match —A. B.Williams, 114—105, v. Wellington. 1897-93. Highest aggregate for a season —F. A. Midlane (East), 707, 1913-14. Highest batting average for a season —K. H. Tucker (Midland), 67.28, 189798. Best bowling average for a season— E. F. Upham (Midland), 57 wickets at an average of 5.61, 1904-05.

Most wickets in sr season—T. R. South all (North), 69, 1912-13. * * * * Prolific Partnership. The record partnership of 220 for a wicket is the fifth occasion on which Gibbes and Baker have been associated in century-stands, all for the first wicket, the others aggregating 181, 140, 133, and 112. A. B. Williams and K. H. Tucker had four centurypartnerships for a wicket—2o6, 141, 130, 115 i F. A. Laws and L. T. Cobcx*oft three—l 79, 146, 120; and J. J. Mahony and W. R. S. Hickson three— 167, 118, and 118. * * * * The Trentham —East Match. There is very little that can be written about this match —it was such a lop-sided affair. I have no wish to belittle the fine performance of the East batsmen—W. R. Gibbes and W. A. Baker in particular—but the soldiers were a sorry side on Saturday. Owing to the changing of campd that had been going on last week Bernau, Crosse, and Senior were unable to tak.e the field on Saturday, and this weakened the side a little. J. H. Bennett had taken part in the. march and its accessories—sleeping out in the open and so on —from Tauherendkau to Trentham, and he was very tired. So tired, in fact, was he, that only occasionally did he bowl a ball with any devil in it. and not once during the afternoon did he try his luck with a "yorker." He could keep them on the wicket, it is true, but many ,of Bennett's deliveries were so easy that they invited hitting. This soldier's 'life is not all beer and skittles. I can tell you, and even seasoned and strong men like Bennett feel the effects of the hard training. I don't care how good a cricketer may be, if he doesn't get the opportunity to practise at the nets he soon becomes a very ordinary player. They have no practice wicket at Trentham 1 — at least they hadn't one up to last Saturday—and D. Sandman showed lamentable want of practice. The Canterbury man is a class bowler, in form, but he wasn't in form on Saturday, and his failure was mainly through not having a turn at the nets. Without practice a man may be able to find a length, but he cannot keep it, and this was Sandman's experience.

R. G. Hickmott had done, a,-twelve-mile route march on Saturday morning', - and he wasn't looking for much bowling. But lie got it all the same, and a tired man soon becomes a tire'dT bowler .•

Granted all these things, however. W.' A. Baker is deserving of much commendation for his fin© innings of 241*. Right through the piece he never took the slightest risk. Anything straight in he met with the full face of the bat, but the easy ones he punished hard. It was not a great innings in comparison with some others we have witnessed on the Basin Reserve, but it was sound and business-like all the way through. "Wiri" has not .'a varietv of strokes, but the drive and the cut help him to a lot of runs.

W. R. Gibbes was very much quieter than Baker last Saturday—scoring much slower—but that is§ accounted for by the fact that he was oftener at the bowler's end than Baker was. He should have been dismissed a shade earlier than he was, a substitute fieldsman obligingly dropping a catch. H. McGirr and F. A. Midlane didn't trouble the fieldsmen much, but J. Hutchings was in a very good humour with the bat, assisting Baker to put on over 100 runs for the fourth wicket, when something or other—a business engagement, probably—caused him to make way for the next mail. * * -» * The figures of this 'match were:; — Trentham, 215; East, 445 for six wickets (W. A. Baker 241*, W. R. Gibbes 88,. J. < Hutchings 42, A. Barry 12). A two-point win for East. * * * * Old Boys v. North. It is passing strange that the Old Boys can generally manage to beat North —they did it last season when they were a long way from being the strongest team in the competition, and they did it again on Saturday. The end of the first day's play saw the match in an interesting condition, but the later North batsman failed, and J. S. Hiddleston, who opened the innings, could not get anyone to stay with him. At the finish North scored 163 in response to Old Boys' 216, Hiddleston's contribution being 87*, not one of the others who batted on Saturday getting double figures. The ex-Dunedinite batted brilliantly, and it was unfortunate for him that he was not given the opportunity of putting a three-figure -score opposite his name. He was batting confidently, and the hundred was in sip'ht .when the last man on the side wa& dismissed. The Old Boys had a second strike, and made merry, scoring 180 runs in good time (E. M. Beechey 33. Marris 26, K. H. Tucker 24, Lambert 21, J. P. Blacklock 21, Ronaldson 10). A twopoint win for Old Boys.

The Country Games. At Petone the local team kept their grip of the game against University, and they were the only team on the day to secure the three-point win. Petone's , first innings realised 218, University's response being 135 (A. Birch 60 J. CondlifEe 19, JVC. Burns 16, Fletcher 12), With two wickets down for 34 (W. S. Brice 17*, J. Rodgers 14) Petone closed their second innings, and then outed University for 71 (Smith At the Jjower Hutf Recreation Uround, Central scored a good win at the expense of the local players. The latter had made 222, and Central's response was 310 (C. W. Robinson 73, E. McCardell 40, J. L. Blackmore 36**, A. vVilson 30, Paterson 30, H. E. Buriq? 20, W. R. S. Hickson lo). A two-point win for Central. * * * * Bowling Figures. Old Boys: E. M. Beechey, two wickets for 35 runs; K. H. Tucker, four for o5; S. J. Wills, one for 33: Marris, two for 10. North: T. R. Southall, five for 76; J. S. Hiddleston, two for 51; W. T. Bray, one for 31; Leydon, two for 10. Hutt: Balk, three for 57A. Aldersley, two for 31; Patton, four 81. Petone: W. S. Brice, two for 40 and four for 28; E. Smyrk, three for 46 and one for 18; J. Rodgers, four for 25; Powell, one for 5 and one for 7; Corner, two for -7. Trentham: D. Sandman, four for 131; S.. W. Dempsey, one for 10. * * * # How the Teams Stand. m . Three Point Two Point Matches. Matches. _g 1 . t g -g "g S3 ' <3.5 gS Won. Lost. Won. Lost, gg

A cable from Sydney announces the death of Gerald It. Hazlitt, a Victorian cricketer who had represented Australia. He was born in 1888, and gained inter-State honours when .he was only 17 years of age, being included in the Victorian team chiefly for his bowling.

He was a good slow medium bowler, of both leg-breaks and off-breaks, and was also a very ueful batsman. In the Aus- '■ tralian season of 1907-08 he clayed against A. 0. Jones's English team.

Gerald Hazlitt was a member of the Australian team which visited Eng l and in 1912, under the captaincy of "Warren Bardsley, for the triangular tournament. In that tour he impressed the English critics as the headiest bowler in the team, and he commanded, on the English wickets, a good swerve as well as an off-break. the tour he took 101 wickets at an. average cost of 18.96 runs, his best performance being the capture of seven English wickets for 25 Tuns in the final test, and his taking of five Yorkshire wickets for 17 runs. i

After his return from England he played but little cricket. He never appeared to be! of robust physique, but his death at the age of 27 was by no means anticipated. His father is chief of the property department of the theatrical firm of J.. C. Williamson, Ltd., and managed the Tecent tour of "The Man Who Stayed at Home"company through New Zealand. * * * * The representative cricketers of New South Wales who have enlisted or are in the armies of the British Empire include R. J. A. Massie, C. Kelleway, Dr. W. J. Stack, Dr. E. P. Barbour, Dr. N. M. Gregg, Dr. R. B. Minnett, Albert Cotter, H. L. Collins, Dr. C. J. Tozer, Dr. G. C. Willcocks, J. Randell, E. Bull, C. Lowe, J. B. Lane, J. S. Norton, Dr. C. V. Single, A. D. Fisher, Cyril Docker, P. W. Docker.

Charlie Lawrence, one of the two survivors of the first English eleven to visit Australia, is a patient in a_ private hospital in Camberwell. Victoria. The veteran will soon complete his eightyseventh year.

Petone ... 1 1 0 0 0 3 East ... 1 0 0 1 0 2 Central ... 1 0 0 1 0 2 Old Boys... 1 Q 0 1 0 2 Trentham 1. 0 0 0 1 —2 Hutt 1 0 0 0 1 —2 North. ... 1 0 0 0 1 2 University 10 1 0 0 —3