CRICKET.-PERIPATETICS v. 2-18TH REGIMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume VI, Issue 1628, 9 February 1869, Page 4

CRICKET.-PERIPATETICS v. 2-18 TH REGIMENT.

It has been truly said that, in the long catalogue of Knglish sp rts, theie is no gnmo which requires so much skill in the attaiiment of_ perfection, and, nevertheless, is so liable to subversion by the fickle Goddess " Chance." as that of cricket. The issuos of snoh diversions as billiards, croquet, skittles, rackets, bowls, dies?, draughts, quo t», shooting, rawing, &n., are calculated upon by thoir respective partisans with 0 r least a tolerahle degiee of certainty; but, with cricket, e'est fait de lui. Not many vears ago the All Englai d Eleven, when playing against the Surrey County Club, were all dii-poaed of for thirteen runs; yet in contending the following week with the United t* nglaud Eleven —a superior team to that which Surrey possessed—they accumulated the tremendous scoro of 534 runs ; and beat their oppononts in a siuglo innings with upwards of 200 tuna to spare. And only so recently as tho last cricketing season, the chances of the game Wf re again demonstrated bi the fact that Kent beat Yorkshire, Yorksliiie beat Nottingham, and Nottingham beat Kent; and we might quote many other similar proofs of the glorioUß uncertainty of the game: We do not, howevor, pretend to say that victory will not generally Test with the best teim ; but rather to point out that it may, as it not unfrequently has done, fall to tho lot of an inferior eleven. Nor do we submit theee remarks with a view to lessen the merits of tho tictors in the match wliioh was played hy the Peripatetics and the Military on Saturday last. Tho match was a remarkably even one, was closely contested, and, as we predicted, was unusually interesting. It will be seen that tlie former were beaten by their opponents in the first innings by IX runs, and in the second by 12 (in both by 23), and that as tho game progressed the scoring decreased,— th» Military making in their first innings 83, and the Peripatetics, who followed, 72; the former in their second innings, 44, and the latter, 32. Who can say that the order of things will not be reversed in the return match which lias been fixed for Saturday next. It is very probable that the scoring may increase as the game progresses, and that the victory may be acquired by tie tean that was defeated on tho last occasion.

The wetther in tlio curly morning whs fine, but nhortly before the time for pitching the wickets the sky becnuie o'ercast, and lain foil in light shnwers. At'l o'clock, however, itclearrd up, and at. that hour play commenced. The Military—we only include the four companies of tie 2nd bat. 18th regiment— were the first 10 appear at tho wickets, and commenced with Corporal Kel her and Private Ward, Bowen and Taylor inaugurating the bowling. Keleher opened with a cut for 2 off Bowen, and sent the last b*ll of the same o*er to " long leg" for 3. Murphy, who was batting steadily, put, 'J aylor's first ball to " mid-on" for a single, and Keleher, who was bent on scoring, treated the second bill to a trun-ile to the off, between "ooverpoint" and "long off," for 3; but he was had nicely at " long slip" by Taylor in Bowen's second over ; and his vacant wicket became supplied by Corporal McTntosh, who only saved hiß " ducks'Jegg," and then took his departure "to the place from whence he came." Lieut. Haines followed, but soon lost the company of Murphy, who having added a brace or two' to his previous score, was bowled by n shooter from Taylor. Drum-major Hales joined Mr. Haines, and rotired without scoring, having fallen a victim to Bowen, whose bowling was excellent throughout the match. Lieut. Pearson was tho next in order, and Mr. Haines, when run out after miking a two and three was 6upplantod by Lieut. Dawson, tho captain of the team. The batting at this poiut cf the game became vry steady. The former was eventually run out, h» ankle giving way and causing him to fall between the wickets ; and the latter with a scoro of 9, comprising one three, one two, and four singles, was caught off Bowi-n. Captain Toppin and Sergeant Hooley then represented the firm, but the former dissolved partnership by " skying" a ball into tbe hands of the bow'.er, and introduced -erg<>ant Hai;esby. The latter with i to his name, was hold at long slip by Taylor, who succeeded, with the assistance of Bowen, in disposing of three of the best wickets, at that cost in the fi«ld. Corporal Ward, the " spes ultima Teucrum" of his team, added only 1, when Bowen prostrated his timbers ; the total of the Military, with 21 byea, 2 leg byes, and 5 wides, culminating at S3. The task of long stopping to Bowen and Taylor, who are perhaps the fastest bowlers here, was by no means an enviable one ; but 21 byes were ton many to give, and but for such a disagreeable allowance the contrast between the scores of the teams wouli have heen very trifling The wickets in this innings fell as follows :—lst for 19, 2nd for 27, 3rd for 27. 4 for '28, 5 for 4, 6 for 49, 7 for 58, 8 for 62, 9 for 71, and the 10th for 71. Twenty-seven overs were bowled in all.

A fter the lapse of a few minutes, Coates and Gleebod opened tho butting on behalf of the Poripatetinc, opposed to tho bowling of Kelehor and Hooley. Pontes sent K»ehor's third ball to long leg, and was the mcms of affording some mirth, inasmuch as the fielder, in throwing in the hall, very cleverly hit the sergeant's mees-room, causing it to rebound, and necessitating an extra journey after it. fjix runs in all were obtained for the hit, but it was the batsman's last, he having been bowled by Hooley in the next over. Bradahaw took his place, but, with bin usual good luck, was run out after scoring 2. Oleeson was also run out, through the bad judgment, we must adm t of Moss, who appears singularly unfortunate in victimising his companions. fioran was bowled by FTooley, and Cotton, his successor, shared the fate of G-leeaon and Bradshaw. His score of nine was well put together, and comprised one four, two twos, and a single. Taylor followed, and having run up 10, departed. Bowen supplied the vacancy, but lost Mess, who was caught at point by Hooley, the fielde s, like a swarm of bees, crowding around him. We are aware that fielders have a perfeot right to come in as n«ar as they like to a batsman ; but wo question whether they are entitled to incommode him by indulging in a practical joke of a particular fniuro in his batting. They certainly afforded to h' meelvfs and the spectators considerable amusement, which the batsman, with his customary gond uiture permitted, although he most likely wished them anywhere else. Bowen's scoro comprised one a fine h*t to leg, one three, thren twos, and a similar Dumber of singles. He was bowled by Kelehor, whose sldw round-arm bowling, though very good, and much better than in any previous match, wns considerably aided by a strong N.W. breeze which prevailed, and which had the effeot of causing his balls to " work " very much from the leg. The remaining three batsmen manigod to get 1 between them; the innings terminating at 72, of which 60 were off the bat. The score by hits of the Military was 55. 8o much for " Mr. Extras."

The lecond innings of the Military requires little comment. The batting of Captain Toppin was very caipful. Sergeant Hawkesby was placed hers da combat by one umpire "giving him out" after the other had cried " over." We cannotunderstnni how mioh a deciti m was allowed to be fatHl, aa the ball was to all ii tents and purposes as dead as a hatter, the keeper (who did not hear the cry of 1 over ) bt iu r in the act of hamling the ball to the bow er, win n he put down the wicfret, observing the a'emaa oi<t of Us ground, as he had a perfect right to be, the ball being de .d. Many of our English prof'S lonal umpires would refuse to give a batsman out n were out of his ground, when the wioket

keeper was in tho act of handing the ball to tho bowler, a' though the c: y of " over" had not been made, j The ball would hare been deemed sufficiently long in j he wicket keeper's hand to constitute it dead. A good ( catch was made by Moss, who had to run near.y twenty yards to secure the bull. The second innings of the Peripatetics was even less interesting than that of their an'ogonists. Bowen again batted w«tl ant?, obtained double figures, lie certainly did rhe lion's share of his party—taking 12 wickets, and muliir.g the hcHd Fcore of tho match. Tho batting, save Bowen's, wis not, by any means brilliant, though it may be accounted for by the excellent bowling on both sides. Iho fielding was excellent, aud no chance of a catch was refusei. Tho following table shows the scores mado duting the match: — MILITARY. Ist Ls'iuyas. 2>'d Inxings. Kelehcr c Taylor b Bowen 0 c Cotton b Koran 5 Murphy b Taylor ...5b Boweu ... 0 Mclntosk b Boweu ...5c Moss b Bowen . 1 Haines run out .... 5 run out. ... . 0 Hales b Bowen ....0b Bowen ... 5 Dawson o Taylor b Bowen 9 b Bowen . . . 0 Pearson run out . . . G not out .... 1 Toppin e and b Bowen . 2 b Horan . . .10 Hooley not out . . . . 9' b Bowen ... 1 HawkcsbvcTaylorbßowon '1 stumped Leggct. . 0 Ward b Bowcia .... 1 c Moss b Bowen . 6 Byes, 21; Ib, 2 ; wide?, 528 byes, 5 ; wides, 4 9 Total 83 W PERIPATETICS. IST iNJfIKGS. 2ND IXKINGS. Gdeeson run out . . . . 4- b Hooley ... 2 Coates b Ifoolcy (> clTawkesbybllooley 1 Bradshaw run out ...2b Hooley ... 5 Moss e Hooley b Keleher. 8 st-Haincsb Kelehcr 0 Taylor c Hooley b Keleber 10 o Kelehcr b Hooley 0 Horan b Hooley .... 3 run 0ut.... 1 Cotton run out .... 9 not. out. . . . Bowen b Keleher . . • 17 cToppinblvclelier 12 Leggett b Keleher ... 1 eDawsonbKeleher 0 Rayner b Hooley ...Ob Hooley ... 0 AVhitakcv not out ... 0 run 0ut.... 1 Byes, 8; wides, 1 . . . 4 byes, 5 ; wides, 2 7 Total 72 32