CRICKET.

Free Lance, Volume XV, Issue 818, 3 March 1916, Page 19

CRICKET.

Doubtful Weather. fT looked for a while as if there would be no cricket last Saturday afternoon, for, just as the players were ready to take the field, rain that had been- threatening commenced to fa 11... It was only a slight shower after all, and did not deter the men from going out, and a pleasing afternoon's play was indulged in. ■*' # # * A Decided Improvement. , It was only a few minutes after halfpast two that a start was made with the play—a decided improvement on our late experiences in this connection. Also, the vacancies at the batting crease —and they were frequent and free in at least two' of the matches during the afternoon—were promptly filled, the batsmen invariably crossing one another on their way to and from the pavilion. Now that the days are getting shorter —the closing-time for March is 6 o'clock —I hope that the improvements I have noted will be persisted with. _ They make for the more- pleasant playing of the games, and keep the interest of the .spectators better than when there are avoidable delays. : * - * «■ A Veritable Surprise happened in the North-Pet one match, played on the No. 1 wicket. C. G. Wilson won the toss, and elected to bat, as it was only natural that he should on the fast wicket that had been provided for the game. The Petone campain—W. S. Brice —found the turf and the keen

northerly breeze that was blowing right to his liking, and he gave one of his best exhibitions of bowling for the season. To tell the tale concisely, North were dismissed, for 37 runs (J. S. Hiddleston (20), W. S. Brice's figures reading—lo oversj 1 maiden, 17 runs, seven wickets. Again, when Petone went in to bat, Stan. Brice advanced his claim to be considered the all-round cricketer of the season by gathering together the fine tally of 70 out of a total of 164, the only other double-figure scorer being J. Rodgers 34. How North can prevent a three-point win being recorded against them seems to xne an impossibility, as they have lost four wickets for 30 runs in the second innings, Crombie (16*) being the only one to make any progress. ■» • * The Central Team kept East- in the field on the No. 2 wicket until close on 6 o'clock, the maof t'he batsmen showing decidedly good form. For a little over three hours' play a total of 243 runs were re : corded, the double-figure scores being: EL E. Burton 46, W. R. S. Hickson 35, A. Dind 30, J. L. Blackmore 35,* F. Demuth 23. A. Wilson 24, H. Schlaadt 13, and A. Lowe 13, "Mr. Extras" also assisting with a tally of 24. The East have lost two wickets for 25 runs (W. A. Baker 15* and J. A. Nash), so that, if conditions are favourable to-morrow (Saturday) afternoon' the continuation of play in this match should be well worth watching. "W. K. Gibbes, F. A. Midlane, H. M. McGirr, and J. Hutcliings are a quartette of fine batsmen, and if they should get fairly into their stride a decent fight will be made by the East for victory. But they have ever found it a hard job to win from Central, and this match is only in keeping with former ones. The University Fellows had a sorry time at the hands the Trentham team on the No. 3 wicket. The soldiers had D. M. Sandman and R. G. Hickmott as their howlers on this occasion, and so successful were the Canterbury and New Zealand representatives that the University eleven were all disposed of for 39 runs, not one batsman being able, to put a double-figure tally opposite his name. The bowling

performances of the pair read: SanEman, 6 overs, 15 runs, four wickets; Hickmott, 5.4 overs, 18 runs, five wickets. _ ' - R. G. Hickmott is a lieutenant in the Tenth. Reinforcements, and has just returned from his final leave, which he spent in Christchurch. There he had some cricket —and probably practice at the nets—for when Trenthain went in to bat he showed himself to be ixi his best form of the season. When, he was dismissed, at the fall of the ' second wicket, he had scored 78 runs out of a. total of 118, which proves that he was busy. When stumps were drawn, the Trentham score was 208 for nine wickets, the other double-figure tallies besides Hickmott's being, F. A. Smith (another who is leaving with the Tenths) 55, J. A. Smith 25, W. Gibson 15, D. M. Sandman 12, and M. P. Naughton 10). * * * ■» At Lower Hutt the Hutt and Old Boys teams were pitted against one another, and the exCollegians have the better of the deal as far as the match has gone. Scores: Old Boys, 148 (A. Thomas 34, A. Ronaldson 29, B. M. Beechey 23,, K. H. Tucker 16, J. P. Blacklock 15, B. A. Marris 13*), and 51 for no wickets (R. Christie 21*, A. Stace 16, A. Balks 14, (J. Stiles 16. Kitto 16, A. Balks 14, W. A. Aldersley 12). Bowling Figures. > The successful bowlers last Saturday were: —Petone : W. S. . Brice, seven wickets for 17 runs; E. Smyrk, . three for 20 and four for 14. North: T. R. Southall, four for 59; J. S. Hiddleston, six for 37. East: W. It. Gibbea, three for 75; H. M. McGirr, five for 66; J. Nash, one for 43. University : A. Penton, five for 77; A. George f our for 14. Old Boys: R. Marris, seven for 46; E. M. Beechey, one for 16; K. H. Tucker, two for 21. Hutt: J. Patton, three for 65; G. Mabey, one for 25; W. A. Aidersley, three for 9; A. Balks, two for 14. Personal Notes. , Frank Demuth, who has been showing fine form with the Marist Bros.' Old Boys team this season,- took strike for Gentral on Saturday. This youth promises well, and shaped like a batsman. He, however, has the failing I have no-

ticed many times before in. connection. " with the younger generation of cricketers in Wellington, viz., that el drawing away from the ball on the leg , stump, and playing it with a semiTcross bat. I have often tried to find the reason for this, and am satisfied that it as one of two things—either the boys are afraid of getting hit on the body, the ball performing erratically on the rough wickets they are accustomed to, or that the l.b.w. decision has gone against them more frequently than they like. Be that as it may, now that Demutls has got on to the better class of wickets it would pay a prominent member of the Central team to cure him of this habit, for he is without doubt the makings of a tip-top batsman. The catch that dismissed D. M. 1 Sandman was a brilliant one. The soldier cricketer got the full weight of the bat on to an off-drive, but Arthur George, fielding at mid-off, was in the way, and with a one-handed catch that gained a lot of applause, Sandman was dismissed. The Petone fellows also did- : some fine fielding, some of the catches being really worth while, the one by M. Oorner that disposed of C. Morgan being an especially good, one. Re the soldiers at Trentham. I no-' tice the name of Sneddon in the team that played against University. Somebody told me that the Auckland and 4New_ Zealand representative, N. C feneddon, was in camp, .but I have not been able v.o verify the statement so far. As the player m question had to be satisfied with a cypher and was eighth m the order of batting, I don ? t think it ~ was Sneddon, xhe' Auckland batsmanbowler. R. Bishop, the dashing Hawke's Bav representative batsman—and a younger ' brother of Harry Bishop, of Canterbury—is m camp at Trentham just now. M P. Naught on ought to find ™ for the next match: G. Howe and +? 71 f ere , n< ? t P la y™g on Saturday, _ the latter being at Tauherenikai just now. V J. Weybourne, the old-time Mid- " lander, took the field .for East' last Saturday. He was a slashing batsman in " his younger days, and maybe, there are a lot of runs m his bat yet. "We will see to-morrow (Saturday), afternoon. "■ C. W. Robinson No=BallecL The sensation of -the last half-hour's play in the .East-Central match . last Saturday was the no-balling • by the Tim, pire of New Zealand's representative fast He only bowled two and a-half qvers according to the book, but the . first one consisted of ten balls, four ot his deliveries being adjudged no-•i-'V -^ e Sot through his second over sarely, but the umpire again started calling him m the third over. . The second and third deliveries went on the score-sheet as "no-balls," and then Robinson went through all the actions of delivering the" ball without doing so. The umpire fell into the trap, and < promptly called 'him, as when in the act of delivering Robinson was well over the crease. "Rub it in," said an enthusiast to me ; "he deserves it." But I don't feel inclined that way. Robinson got the best of the joke at. the . umpire's expense in a trick we have read about before in connection with the playing of the game of and the umpire treated it_ as a- joke, although the laugh went against him. „ The laws of the game provide that "the bowler shall deliver the ball with one foot on the ground behind the bowling crease and within the return crease." If he doesn't, the umpire should call "no- ball," and, as long as ' he does his duty in this respect, no amount of "barracking" by the spectators should trouble him. If the game . . of cricket is worth playing at all no harm can be done by sticking hard and fast to the laws of the game, however unpalatable some of the umpire's decisions may be to the players. «■ ©.. © © Casual Comments. J. ~Lt. Blackmore and A. -Lowe made an unexpected stand for the last Central wicket, the pair adding 47 runs to the . total before being separated by means of a run-out. The Athletic five-eighth batted very ably, easily his best display of the season. H. E. Burton made some fine forward drives and square cuts in his innings. Stan. Hickson. A. Dind, and A. Wilson all shaped well, and H. Schlaadt batted in a style more in keeping with Ms - form than in his later displays. B. Marris' success with the ball, was one of the features of the Old BoysHutt, game. This ex-Collegian bowls a fine leg-break, but he rarely keeps them a good length. Against Hutt, however, he appears to have found the spot, and kept it. The Basin Reserve custodian tells me that a worm is playing havoc with the grass on our main cricket ground. Steps are being taken to cope with it, but he is afraid they have a big contract in hand.

. Mr. F. J. O'Driscoll, the secretary of "the Marist Brothers Schools Old Boys' Association, writes: —"My attention has been drawn to your comments in last week's Fb.ee Lance on the record score established by' two of our members in their match against the junior "team of the North Club on the Bth and 15th of January. Your informant lias scarcely given you a correct version when he states that at no time during -our team's innings Avere more than :seven - men'fielding. Though there-were perhaps only seven of our opponents, the team was made up by members of the" Marist Brothers' Old Boys' Club, and I think that in view of these circumstances, and in fairness to the players concerned, the somewhat derogatory statements published in your issue of last week should be corrected. It is well known amongst cricketers that I keep all records in connection with the playing of the game m Wellington, and I was approached as to whether this really was a record ot the Marist Brothers' Old Boys, considering -the attendant' circumstances. I stated that it was, and would put it down m my books. In the meantime I interviewed the captain of the North junior "team, who informed me that at no time did he have more than seven in rfche field, and on occasions only six. One of his players was the man at the Basin Reserve, and _ many times during the afternoon he had to knock off playing to attend to his duties. And, as he is a man for whom I have a lot of respect, I published Ins statements in good faith, and without .any desire of belittling the performance •of the two lads who put up the big -tally. „ „ -a- » : * « J. N. Crawford, Otago's .cricket ' <x>ach, did some hurricane scoring the •other day. Batting against time, for the Albion team in Dunedin, he made ■96 runs in half-an-hour. ""What's the matter with the North to-day?" was one of the prevailing questions at the Basin Reserve on Saturday, J. S. Hiddleston was the only one to make any headway at all, and •even he was quiet for him. The others were "skittled" by W. S. Brice, being apparently unable to time the ex.presses of the Petone man. Some fast scoring was put up on the College Ground in a third-class fixture — Marist Brothers v. College B. College got 86 in their first innings, and Marist 96 for two wickets (declared). College's second strike yielded .96 for nine, and they .declared, leaving Marist Bros. 87 to get in 25 minutes. L. Ryan and J. Hay den opened the innings, and in 10 minutes 40 showed on the board, and in 24 minutes 96 was up for the loss of five wickets (Hayden 51*).