CRICKET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13325, 3 November 1906, Page 8

CRICKET.

NOTES ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES. The first scries of matches in the district cup competitions were brought to a conSon on. Saturday. There is little doubt that the opening two days on which these Matches wero played were a great success On each day there was a large crowd on the Domain, while the Kingsland and North Shore grounds were also well attended, and the public showed an increased in crest in the games. The cricket was good for an opening day. The batsmen had, I think, less to growl at on cither day than the bowlers, for on the first day, with the exception of perhaps .at Kingsland, the wickets were easy, while last Saturday the bowler was handicapped for a time by a greasy ball. Saturday's play left Grafton, Eden, and North Shore winners from City, Parnell, and -S Ponsonby respectively. Grafton's performance was a particularly good one, although City's bowling was indifferent, for 223 was """a fairly big total to face in an opening match. However, their strength in batting was made manifest by the fact that the re- ™ quired runs were on the board for the loss of only two wickets. As I predicted North Shore were able to dispose of the Ponsonby batsmen under 233, which total the representatives of the marine suburb had put-up on the opening day. Ponsonby, however, made a good fight, and reached 192 before their last wicket fell. The Parnell trundlers were not equal to the task'of dismissing the Eden batsmen for 119. the total they had set them on the first dav. Five of the Eden batsmen were out on "tho. first day of the match 49, but without another. wicket falling Eden had registered the required runs. On going to tho wickets for tho second time Parnell did not make a particularly good showing, and lost eight wickets for 94. The position of the clubs to date is as follows:— , , - Matches Played, vWon. Lust. Points. Grafton -~ ... 1 1 — 2 Eden .... 1 1 — '■ North Shore ... 1 1 ■— <= Parnell ... "■> ' 1 . — 1 " Ponsonbv ... 1 — 1 — City -.. .* 1 .-. l - The draw lor to-day and the following Saturday is such that interesting cricket - should ensue. Only two grounds will be used for senioi matches, as North Shore - and Eden meet, and as it was part of the agreement made by the Eden Club that they* would visit the Shore ; once they will Jo so to-day. The match should be perhaps O the most, closely contested of the day. Eden will not have Relf until the second day of ,he match, as he docs not arrive until tomorrow,, but nevertheless they should put up a good tight againsl tire strong combination of the marine suburb, ' who '. know their ■ pitch and ground better than their opponents. . ' ' ..'.-"-.-, ...... , , ~, •-■ _i_- j ■„ it..

"Two senior matches will be played on the Domain. Parnell will meet City, and although they made by no moans a brilliant stand against Edon I think they will give City a harder row to hoe. Grafton will try conclusions with Ponsonby, and unless their bowlers have more '- devil" in their deliveries than they had against City Ponsonby will "very probably put up a good score. However, Grafton are capable of making big scores, for they arc certainly a strong bat- ; ting side. ', •The feature of Saturday's play was.a.fine innings' by R. Mason, who contributed 102 towards the Grafton total. This is the first Sgpturj scored this season. The highest individual score in the opening matches last """"'. season was 85.(n0t out) by,Elliott, and this k< has been passed by two batsmen this season. Mason batted as if he had had half a. reason's play, for his innings was almost ; .~ chancekss, and his exhibition was decidedly ■v attractive. All the City bowlers came alike to him, and he drove and placed the ball > to the -'''on""'in superb style. He opened very cautiously, but after the first 20 runs . were on the board lie opened out in' his ' characteristic style. His contribution of Iho first hundred runs to Grafton's credit was 61, and he- and his partner, D. Hay, put on 146 runs for the first wicket. Mason is this season conveniently situated near the Domain Cricket Ground, and consequently 'will get a good deal of practice, which lie was unable to do last season. In consequence a good number of runs should'come off his bat. He has played for Parnell, Ponsonby, and Grafton successively in the last three seasons. N. T. Williams and T. W. Dazeley, the two batsmen who were successful in pulling the match against Parnell out of the fire for Eden, made respectively 55 and 52. Their display was all the more commendt able, coming as it did at a critical period \ of the game. Williams gave a couple of chances, but nevertheless played good allround cricket. Dazeley's innings was chanceless, and he brought off some nice leg glances and drives. The selectors for the Auckland repre- j sentative- cricket teams . this season are . Messrs. C. Hay, R. Neill, and N. T. Williams. Hitherto we have had only one ' selector, Mr. F. J. Ohlson having filled the position for some few seasons. Mr. Ohlson this season resigned, and the Management , Committee of the Cricket Association decided to have a committee of three. ' A very hearty vote of thanks was passed 'by the cricket committee to Mr. F. J. Ohlson for his services = in , the past. It is a difficult' thing to pass an opinion on the men ...chosen . to fill such. an important position, and it is bettor to await results, as 1 shall, do in the case of the committee. The men; chosen arc cricketers still playing the game, and their, experience should go a long way in guiding them into doing the right thing. It is an utter impossibility for even three heads to please everybody, and the most they can do is to pick the teams strictly on merit, and thus have a clear - conscience, which I believe the committee chosen are broad-minded enough to do. I wish them success in their onerous and responsible duties, and hope that the,teams they pick will do them credit. Although lie only took one wicket for 68 R. Mageo was perhaps the steadiest of the City bowlers, while L. G. Hem us was the most successful, taking three wickets for 52. Barr Brown's average was spoiled by She knocking about he got in the earlv part of the.innings; but ho subsequently finished up with Mason:and 1). Hay to his credit, D. Hay, S. P. .Jones, and W. R. Forster, who, with R. Mason, beat the City eleven's total of 223, all resorted to cautious tactics. Hay started scoring freely, but slackened down when he saw Mason open out. His innings of 46 included some fine of? drives and some exccllenly-timed leg glances. .01103 was unconquered at the end of the day's play, with 49 runs to his credit, scored all round the wicket. He exhibited his characteristic defence, and also made some prettv cuts. Forster, who made 37, was :,. sound in defence, and he scored most of ...., his runs by drives. Olliff had a day off with the ball, and only captured one wicket. Fairburn, who took four wickets for 37, was undoubtedly ParHell's best bowler. Barry, who became tired ,■;,,- towards the! end, finished up with an aver- / ago of three for 8, and included in his victims were the two top-scorers for Eden. V The junior cricket resulted as follows on ■* Saturday:— Second;' grade: - Grafton beat Eden ;B (outright); Eden A beat Ponsonby " (outright); J Parnell beat North Shore (on the first innings). Third grade .-North Shore boat Parnell (on the first innings); City. beat North Shore B (outright); Graf ton beat Ponsonby (outright). Fourth I; grade: North Shore beat Eden (outright).' ' , ' Parnell 111. entered a ; protest against North Shore oil the ground ; of loss of time, but it was dismissed by the Management Committee cf the Cricket Association. Robinson was tho top scorer for. Ponsonby with 54. His innings was sound and chance- . less. ;- ■ -.;■ -■-.-•■ .. A pleasant feature of the North ShorePonsonby, match was the fielding of both sides, which was keen and clean. The genial Parnell skipper ' {¥.' Murray) has pair of " specs" to his credit for the ■■ first match. . •' , ■ : .

... Shorn but decidedly, merry "lives" did Ksllender and Sloman nave. The firstmentioned 4.wed 11 in four hits, and the latter .'ls in"five. Had Kallender's intention been carried into effect with the ball that bowled- him his figure would at least have been- equal to Sloman's. Both lifted a ball clean over the boundary. : A. ;E. Rolf, tho English professional, is duo to arrive in Auckland to-morrow. Relf is und?r .engagement to the Eden District Club. •' --. , X. T. Williams; for Eden at point, fielded ißxee-idingly well last Saturday, his stopping and picking up being clean and his returns accurate. 15. Barry wa3 also very scrviieiblc to Parnell in this respect. Cricketers should, without being repeatedly asked, -stop practice . when the bell rings , itfc two o'clock before matches. it often -happens that players are practising on the grounds when the bell sounds for the matches to start, consequently they are lata in starting. C. Hay, who has . gone South . holidaymaking-, will be an absentee from the Grafton tef.m to-day. D. Clayton has not. yet donned the flannels this season, but Grafton are hoping he will do so next match. The three Grafton teams were victorious on Saturday. The second and third eleven stored a win outright, and thus receive three points. > J. Hutching*, the ex-Wellington representative, made 24 for North Shore on Saturday. His; batting pleased the onlookers. He made, several pretty drives and late cuts. Jos. llollingrake, who made 31 in North Shore's firs: innings, followed it up with 37 in the second. By the way, I am told that when North Shore had dismissed Ponsonby the latter team suggested that as there was only an hour left for play they should close and come to town. This the North Shore representatives would not agree to, and rightly so. Ponsonby had to go into the field. However, the Ponsonby men smiled when Whit and Woods rattled through the defence of the local men, as several of the Shore trien, anticipating that at least oiu-y three or four of their • side would bo required, had changed their flannels. The Shore men then suggested that stumps be drawn, hut the Ponsonby skipper insisted on playing until six o'clock, and in consequence one Or two of the Shore men had to bat in while shirts, collars, and with spikeless boots on, and as a result more than one average suffered. Howderj, North Shore's new man, was the most successful bowler on Saturday. He captured five wickets for 79, while Woodward got three for 20. City were without the services of R. Neil on Saturday, ha being on the sick list. Tic will be an absentee- again to-day. T. Elliott, the ex-Eden skipper, who it was believed had retired from the game, is, I understand, donning the flannels again. Cricket is a. hard game to retire from, for the sight of a bat or a ball is very tempting to tho enthusiast. - Simms (21)) and Braithwaitc (22) played a serviceable innings for Ponsonby. Both Robinson and Gavin lost their wickets by trying to put Howden's slows out of ths ground. Tho public schools' competitions commence to-day. In ParneH's second innings E. V. Sale was the only batsman to show form, and he got 34 before Stemson broke through his defence. • Several members of the English cricket team for Now Zealand appear in the latest averages for tho season. Captain Wynyard stands 27th with a total of 614 runs, an -average, of 28.37, and a highest score of 137. Mr. P. R. Johnson comes 37th, with .an aggregate of 941. an average of 34.85, and a maximum single of 163. Mr. G. T. Brans stands 26th, with a total of 770, an average of 38.50, and a best of 86. Mr. P. R. May is No. 115 among the batsmen. rind has an average of 23.22, a total of 209, and a best of 40, not out. Mr. W. B. Burn is 15tik, with a total of 1296, an average of 43.07, and a best of 165. Mr. J. W. H. T. Douglas is No. 85 in the list, with a total of 1015, an average of 26.02, and a best of 98. : ~-.> All the Eden teams engaged in matches on, their own ground were successful, whereas the other three teams, engaged at the Domain, each met with defeat. W. Somervell (Eden) seems to have struck form, for besides making fair scores in each innings, he was very successful with the ball in the second innings, taking seven of Ponsonby's wickets for the small total of 20 runs. - - The; Eden Club purpose holding a special day on November 9. the intention being to play three or four all-day matches at Kingsland. The seniors will probably meet the Graft-on seniors, when a verv good game should.result. Eden will have the assistance of A. E. Relf, the All-England and Sussex player, this being his first public appearance in cricket in Auckland. The club will make a small charge for admission, and as the proceed:? will be devoted to their coach fund, no doubt the games will attract a good crowd. Matches have been arranged with the Grammar School teams, and others are in course of preparation, so given fine weather an enjoyable day's outing should result. v- .....< ',: The M.C.C. cricket team which is on route for New Zealand is as follows:—Do Traffcrd (Leicestershire), May and Page (Cambridge), Hayward and Burns (Worcestershire),: Johnson and Fox (Somersetshire). Brans con and Curweu (Oxford), Harrison and Tufnell (Kent), Tori-ens (Harrow). Wvnvard (Hampshire), ,and Douglas (Essex). ~ The learn will arrive by the Corinthic on December 4, and the opening match will be played at New Plymouth on the 7th. In the third grade- competition to-day the match Parnell v. Eden B will be played at Kingsland, not the Domain.