CRICKET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13146, 7 April 1906, Page 8

CRICKET.

■ CLUB MATCH NOTES. ,- . Owing to Hie wet weather experienced dur- ' ing the last two or three weeks the match wickets are beginning to get very patch}', and the batsman last Saturday had to cou--tend with exceedingly tricky ground. As ■ a, consequence the scoring in all the senior •fixtures was very low, tho largest total for the day being the 119 compiled by Grafton. The light i-volso vary bad on the Domain after half-past five o'clock, and on Saturday play was indulged in until shortly , ' before six o'clock. I think stumps should be drawn at the latest at a-quarter? to six , during March. This month stumps arc drawn at half-past five." Grafton and City met on No. 2 wicket on tho Domain. Grafton had first Use of the wicket, and put together 119 runs. City lostlour wickets, including those of Heai.ua and MacCormick, for 32 runs. Onlj two of the . Grafton batsmen (A. F. Sloinan.and W. R. Forster) got past the twenties. There, was a strong contrast between; these batsmen's innings. Sloinan adopted forcing tactics and - - compiled his 37 in quick lime, while Forster played strictly on the defensive, and was at tho wickets upwards of.an hour for his 26. The only other double-figure, scorers for Grafton were Lynch.(ls) and U. Hill (13). V. C. Kavanagh, who' made 11 not out for City, deserves credit for'tho service ho did his' club in holding up his end in the bad light. K. Neill (three for 40), R. Magee (three for 27), and Cossey (two for 22) divided the wickets for City. ■■•■These-bowlers all sent down good length."stuff," and Neill - and Cossey, aided by the trickincss of the wicket, were particularly dangerous. Cossey -- came back a great deal from , the off, and Neil! was breaking a lot from leg. Magcc, although he obtained"';the average, did not have so much devil in his bowling, but used t his [jjead.well and kept up a, steady attack to advantage. Barr-Brown, as is generally the case with him, was not at home on the soft ground. The four City wickets foil to £>. Hay, who reproduced the fine form hehas been showing with 'the ball of late. - Tho Edenites had every reason to feci pleased at dismissing the Parnell.eleven for 96. They hardly anticipated that. Fairburn > ' and OHitf would account for the Eden team for 61 runs, but such was the case. R. B. liUsk (20) and E. Barry (26) were the only Panicll batsmen to get into the twenties. and, with/ the exception of Plnlsori (10) and Olliff ' (13). > there ' wore .no double-figure scorers. Stemson captured three of the Parnell wickets for 12, Fewster was credited with two for 45. and Williams four for 37. C. Robinson (21 not .out), who wont in first wicket down, was the only Eden batsman to make a stand. He held up his end till the last wicket fell. Fairburn and Olliff were the' cause of Eden's downfall. Fairburn bowled exceedingly "well,: but Olliff's length was at times short. The first-mentioned took . six wickets for 29, and Olliff secured four for 28. -■ ■■■:' -' ■■ ■ l-•■':..;'-*:r.-? ''' The North Shore team made a very poor showing against Ponsouby, and hut for Haddon the result. might. been disastrous. Their total reached 93, of which Haddon claimed 50, leaving 43 to be divided amongst the other batsmen. Haddon's contribution was'-the highest individual score in senior cricket for the day. P. White was Ponsonby's successful'bowler, with six wickers for 27. The wicket must have suited White, for I notice that amongst his victims were •■ most of Shore's . crack batsmen. Ponsonby lost- seven wickets for 63 runs, the only double-figure scorers being Woods (12) and "Mr. Extras" (12). Hussey and McNeil divided the wickets, the first-mentioned obtaining three and McNeill four. V There will bo no cricket played on the Domain to-day, owing to the ground being otherwise engaged. The opportunity wHI- be taken to play off the senior fixture between North Shore and Parnell, which was postponed from Saturday, March 24, owing to bad weather. North Shore have lost nine of their wickets for 205 runs. The finish of the., game should prove interesting, and there will no doubt be a large gathering at the Devonport ground to, witness the match. A match will be played to-day on the Devonport Cricket Ground between teams representing the Customs Department and the shipping? offices'. - ; With a view to closing the KingslandCricket Ground as soon as possible for improvements tho match Eden A v. Eden C, commenced last- Saturday, will be concluded .";/ to-day. ' ■■ .

THE MELBOURNE CRICKETERS. . I have been furnished with some notes ; an the New Zealand-Melbourne match by an enthusiast who witnessed the game, and, as they appear to be most impartial and in most- respects coincide with my own views on the mated, I give them in full. : It will '-; bo seen from them that the match was byno means as one-sided as,it might, have appeared to the majority of persons at a first , glance at the scores. It must, be remembered that Armstrong and McLeod have secured the wickets of the best batsmen the work' has produced ■ and often at a very small cost, while Armstrong, by heading the ;. batting averages of the Australian eleven ' last: year, justified his being considered among the best batsmen in the world. In the test match Armstrong and McLeod divided the- wickets and also made 150 runs out of the 228 scored by Melbourne. The following are the notes I received on the match:-- : '■ The test match between the New Zealand eleven and the M.C.C. team, which has just concluded its triumphant tour of New 'Zealand, came to "m unsatisfatcory conclusion last 'week.' The match, Which might have Ir.fi) an interesting one, was completely . spoiled by the weather. On , the first, day__ rain stopped play at live o'clock, on the' Saturday.- play was impossible, on Monday rain stopped play at half-past two. and on the Tuesday a gale of wind spoilt the play. The march was .played on a Bulli soil wicket, which on the first clay was exceedingly fast. ' This in no small measure account.-, for the poor score of New Zealand in the. first innings, and also for the poor show-. - ing of almost all the Victorians, because, after: all, the two Australian eleven men made nearly ail the runs. It was un- • doubtedly bad policy to play the match on Bulli, in view of the fact that our men had never practised on similarly fast wickets. Quito half the New Zealand team were • ' < aught ori the off through mis-timing the ball, and the Australians were just as ■much at sea. always, excepting Armstrong and McLeod. . It has been said that tho New Zealand team was weak in batting, and it Would probably have been strengthened by tho inclusion of the men who dropped out, but it must be remembered that Tucker, who came in as substitute,*' showed better form than any other New Zealand batsman. In the first innings of New Zealand very few batsmen got started. Hickson made his share, , but was streaky, and perhaps the best form was shown, by Brook-Smith in compiling 11. His graceful and stylish hatting was appreciated by .the critics, and he looked safe for a score when he touched one from McLeod on the Off. Graham jumped in and missed Armstrong, paying the usual penalty. Besides Brook-Smith, Hickson, Ollivier, and Redgrave were all victims to off theory. Lusk drove one hard to McLeod, who made no mistake, and the last three or four men hit wildly and merrily. ... The second innings, on a. slower wicket, ■was; much better, several batsmen- showing improved form. Tucker was the best, . mak- . ing an excellent 43 not: out. Graham, who got 36, Mas rather rash and gave several - chances. Lusk made 29 by driving and pulling, while Mpnaghan's 17 was the product of well-timed steady play. Batting was very difficult against the gale that was blowing, : and McLeod occasionally made the ball ; swerve in the most: curious manner. Alto- ' gether, .considering the extreme slowness of ■ the. ground and the gale cf wind, the total was a very creditable one. The Victorian batting consisted chiefly of Armstrong and McLeod. The former was - '■': magnificent. './ He gave no chance and got great ptiwer behind the ; ball. McLeod was ...•' much less vigorous, and was never at home to ■ Monarchan. . Ileaty hit out well, and Irwin -contributed a lucky 31. : - The New Zealand ;howling was good and :'■'■ . always required watching', Malono bowled | exceedingly,: well, as his analysis shows. He turned the ball both ways and frequently had the batsmen wondering which break was on the? ball. Monachal), however, in my opinion' deserves most credit. 'He was brought on- when Armstrong and McLeod were welt set, and bowled 23 overs for 50 -«. , . oiii-aining Armstrong's wicket. ,:: He '.•:;',v bowled at anyone else, so that the T-'ril of the' performance is very great-iv:ii'.;\..;.|V;\;.■:;';'<■:-':<i,.-','■■;: ;■.■■•:."■.. <:' ■',:■:-;;.■■ ■:'..-;:-. : ■ -',■■ ■'■• '. ■■:-.■ ■'■■„■;■'. .'■, v ■■■:■'■■ ''■...■ '■ ; ,:',,- '"■ - , "-. . " '^•^■■■'■ku'i'i: ■,:';':,:.<'■■;.■;;>.. .';.': ■..;.-. :-.•.•'■■.'-. ■;/> ■.'■'.'.;.,-. ■ '. .-■•••,■' ■.■

Downes found the wicket. too hard for him, but, >• nevertheless, ' bowled ■ well, it should be remarked that the ball was wet. for a considerable part of the M.C.C. innings on the Friday. - ,;- •■• :,. .-*■■•■ ~- , ■j< McLeod and Armstrong did practically all the Victorian bowling, and of the two McLeod appeared the - more difficult. ■;.;■:; His length, direction, . change; of pace, and dangerous little'swerve were splendid; and "especially against the wind on the Tuesday his performance ; was highly . meritorious. The peculiar antics gone through by the ball in the air on that day, were extremely curious and entertaining to the spectator. Armstrong was as difficult .'to score from as ever, and' h'is length was consistently good. I wonder how long Henty would remain ■■alive if he stood at close silly mid-on to any, other bowler' ...• '■•'•„ '.';•*. In one- point New Zealand excelled— that' is,': in fielding ; not- a chance lost, hardly a run thrown away,; as delightful as unusual. Tucker and Graham stood pre-eminent at cover and niid-off. Their work was; simply grand. The catches" which dismissed Armstrong.and McLeod. were, both severe ones, and perhaps the batsmen had bad luck in being out off.; the strokes. ! . Boxshalli was,, as always, good, but perhaps not quite up to Jus highest, standard. ■:•' • ■ The Victorian catching, was not good, though some good, ones, notably by Mailer and McLeod", were- taken. The ground fielding was all right. Hansford being absolutely first-class. Wilkinson oehind the wickets reached a very high standard.