OUT DOOR SPORTS AND PASTIMES

Free Lance, Volume XV, Issue 817, 25 February 1916, Page 26

OUT DOOR SPORTS AND PASTIMES

By Touchlina.

CRICKET. An Object Lesson. WHILE watching the conclusion of the Old Boys-East match at the Basin Reserve last Saturday afternoon, the thought came to me, "Why can't our players put as much enthusiasm into their play generally as the East were doing in their impossible attempt to score a three-point win against Old Boys?" It seemed to me a fair object lesson to all the cricketers looking on as well as to the participants in. the game referred to. And to help point the moral, something similar happened in the Central-Petone match on the adjoining wicket. Let me detail the facts. In the latter game, Central had plenty of time to make 19 runs set them by Petone, and they sent in C. W. Robinson and E. Cardell to get them. At the same time A. Dind. H. E. Burton, and W. R. S. Hickson all padded up in readiness to fill the gaps when their turn came. Similarly in the Old Boys-East match. The batsmen were eager to take their places when, a wicket fell, and, although it was generally recognised that they had no ■chance of making the runs set them, the spectators were all sorry when the stumps were drawn, so interested had they been in the lively character of the play and the ultra-eagerness of the East men to get as many runs as they could in the time left to them. « * * * Why Is It Not Possible for all matches to be played with the same amount of enthusiasm? The time for commencing play, according to the rules of the Wellington Cricket Association, is a quarter past two, yet it is the rarest thing in the world to find the players ready by half-past. Again, it should be possible for the ingoing and ■the outcoming batsmen to pass one an-

other on the way to the pavilion and the wicket respectively, yet it is not done, excepting under circumstances similar to those I hav e detailed above. Rather the reverse happens, viz., the dismissed batsman generally manages to get safely back into his dressingroom before the following one emerges therefrom. And the latter has been padded up waiting for some time, in many cases, for his turn to come round. Verily, the play wants brightening up in Wellington and attention to the details I have mentioned would go a long way towards relieving a lot of the dullness. *■■**•»■ The Petone-Central Match resulted in the- complete routing of the lads from the village, as far as the first innings was concerned. Central set them 215 to get on the first day, Petone's response being five wickets for 35 runs. The remaining five wickets did not do as well as the preceding ones, and the innings was over and done with for 60 runs. Petone had to follow on, Rodgers (87) and E. Nicholls (30) were and did much better, although J. the only ones to make any tally worth while in the total of 173. The pair mentioned put 80 runs on the board for the first wicket. Central got the 19 runs necessary to win for the loss of two wickets. « * * * North=Trentham. The soldier men got all the worse of the deal on the first day's play in this match, and they never recovered. North continued their innings in response to the 67 set them by Trentham, and ran up the good total of 317, the additional double-figure scorers being: C. G. Wilson 55, R. Wilkinson 44, and A. Eaton 31. J. G. Kinvig (28) and G. Howe (42) gave the Trentham men a good start in the second innings, putting together 60 runs for the first wicket. But D. Sandman (31) was the only other one to help the tally along, and, three men being absent, the innings only reached 131. North scored a comfortable three-point win by an innings and 119 runs. * * * * East=old Boys. One of the pleasing features of this match was a century score by E. A. Midlane. He had 80* to his credit at the commencement of the afternoon's play, and just managed to reach the three figures when he was run out. A. Barry (28*) was the only other batsman to get a double-figure tally, and the innings closed for 226. For some unaccountable reason the Old Boys captain

was a long while in putting K. H. Tucker on to bowl on Saturday.! The end soon came, however, after the veteran's appearance at the bowling crease, the last five wickets only adding 22 runs, Tucker bagging the lot. Excepting for one lapse in their second innings, when W. R. Gibbes was successful in getting the hat trick— three wickets in successive balls—the Old Boys batted very consistently. The innings realised 193 (A. Ronaldson 41, B. Marris 34, E. M. Beechey 28, S. J. Wills 21, and Hi'slop" 13*), Marris and Hislop unexpectedly adding 34 runs for the tenth wicket. East lost three wickets (H. M. McGirr 14) in a futile attempt to make the 44 runs necessary to win, and had to be content with the two-point tally, as 22 runs were all they could manage in the time left them. * * * University-Hutt. The contest for the wooden spoon ended in a decisive win for the Hutt team, and University have the doubtful honour of having the right to hold that trophy. Hutt gathered together the tidy score of 317 on the first day, and University went in and out twice last Saturday for 122 (A. Birch 33. A. Fenton 24. J. Fanning 12, A. George 10) and 176 (Foster 30. Smith 24, A. George 27, E. Ward 31. A. Birch 15, A. Fenton 10!. * * » * Successful Bowlers. Central: A. Wilson, six wickets for 19 runs and three for 31; G. W. Robinson, four for 27 and three for 49; H. E. Burton, two for 16 ; ■E. McCardell, one for 15. Petone: W. S. Brice. two for 11. North: J. S. Hiddleston, two for 50; T. R. Southall, three for 31; L. Leydon, one for 21. Old Boys: E. M. Beechey, three for 12; K. H. Tucker, eight for 61. East: W. R. Gibbes, seven for 49; J. Hutchings, one for 34; Gould, one fox 14; J. Nash, one for 12. Trentham: D. M. Sandman, four for 150; J. G. Kinvig, three for 96; M. P. Naughton, two for 50. Hutt: Stiles, two for 33 and two for 45; Patton, four for 28, and one for 41; Mabey, two for 8 and three for 21; Aldersley, one for 11; Glennie, one for 19. * * # # How the Teams Stand. The whole of the teams in the senior championship contest have now met one another, and the table, herewith shows how they have fared : — m Three Point Two Point jjj'O Matches, Matches. »<» og, __ . .. . S-g SSfu Won. Lo°t. Won. Lost. o£ East ... 7 2 0 5 0 16 Central ... 7 2 0 3 2 8 North ... 7 4 1 0 2 " 5 Petone ... 7 4 2 0 1 4 Old Boys ... 7 2 2 1 2 —2 Trentham 7 13 2 1 —4 Hutt ... 7 2 4 0 I—B University 7 0 6 0 1 —20 * * * *■ The teams will now be divided into two classes, the four leading teams and the other four being drawn against one another, and some interesting games should result. The task of keeping East from winning the championship will be a heavy one, however, as the points already scored will count in the aggregate. Casual Comments. A junior enthusiast writes:—"As usual, your cricket notes in the Free Lance include an interesting review of last week's games and individual efforts of players. Why not encourage the younger players by making mention of some of their games, and included in last week's centuries could be mentioned O'Driscoll, of Marist Bros., who scored 105 (retired) against Trentham in the third-class championship? Marist Bros.' team got 227 for four wickets, and declared, getting the soldiers out for 49 and 55 runs." I am ever ready and willing to include in my notes any items of interest that may occur in connection with junior and third-class championship matches. But it stands to reason that unless these matches are brought under my notice I cannot refer to them. Therefore, I would esteem it a privilege if these performances of merit were sent on to me. I would like some of the attendant circumstances noted at the same time. Recently I Avent out of my way to gather the particulars of a record stand for a wicket by these same Marist Brothers' Old Boys. The scores were made all right, but the opposition side did not st any time have more than seven players in the field. This probably does not alter the fact that the record score was made, yet it discounts it a lot, in my opinion. I notice the scorers are adopting the term "thrown out" as a method of dismissing a batsman. This is not in accordance with the laws of the game, the designation in the rules being "run out."

Personal Pars. J. Rodgers, the Upper Hutt schoolmaster, was in fine form with the bat in Petone's second innings. Right from the start to the finish of the in-, nings he showed the full face of the bat to all the bowling sent him, and made some fine shots all round the wicket. E. Nicholls, a 17-year-old son of Sid Nicholls, the old-time Poneke and Wellington representative Rugby player, is a promising batsman. He went in late the first innings, and with J. Rodgers -made the best stand for a wicket on the Basin Reserve last Saturday. He bats .left-handed, and has sound defence. By the way, Sid has been laid by in the "Wellington Hospital, but has made_ a sufficiently good recovery from his illness as to be able to return to his home -at Petone, where he is custodian of the Working Men's Club. A Barry, of the East team, does not "make the majority of his runs in orthodox style, but he gets them all the same. He has been one of the consistent scorers among the Easterners this year. "How's that?" "Out—l.b.w." This was J. Hutchings 5 fate on last Satur--day, and —tell it not in Gath I—he1 —he did not relish the decision. C. Morgan, the Porirua fast bowler, had a turn at the bowling crease last Saturday. It will be remembered that last year the juniors dubbed him "a thrower." On Saturday, however, although he went perilously near the margin between a thrower and a bowler, he satisfied the umpire that he did not transgress the ride. In my opinion, liowever, Morgan would be wise in not bowling his suspicious one at all. A. Ronaldson, one of the junior Old Boys, headed the batting list on Saturday, and performed very ably, too, with his piece of wood. Others who pleased were: B. Marris, E. M. Beechey, S. J. Wills, and Hislop. By the way, his mates were very pleased with "Slop's" display, and, although I would like to print what some of them said, probably it would not be fair to one of the oldtime- ex-Collegians. "Mr. Extras" had a good time at the Basin Reserve last Saturday. His tallies were: 42, 28, 14, 24, 21, and 14. The re-introduction of a long-stop ■would help to keep the runs down.