CRICKET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13722, 11 April 1908, Page 10

CRICKET.

THE ninth round of the district championship matches was finished last Saturday in ideal weather. The wickets were not of much assistance to the batsmen, and low scores were again the order of; the day. There was a good deal of comment about the light, which was very bad in the closing stages of some games. ■ •'':.;.'• ■-■..■;'■ ■ v* "•-.-' Eden further increased their championship points by securing a three-point win 'i •■■' ."-'' from City. It -was the only three-point win in senior cricket on Saturday last. Grafton secured a two-point win from •■■- (Parnell, and are now in the position of run-Eers-up for the championship. Ponsonby defeated North Shore by the narrow margin of 13 runs on the first innings, and secured a two-point win over last - year's champions. v There was nothing very exciting about the . play in the Eden City match on the concluding day. In disposing of. City Stcmsou ; again performed well with the bail, taking, ;■>' five wickets for 27 runs. Stembon's aver- j ;. ago for recent matches must read well. Eden, requiring 34 to win, had to send seven men to the wickets to get them, four of the ; seven ■ having " blobs'' registered against ! - ' them.. Harvic performed remarkably well . with the ball, securing four Eden wicket* at {''• a cost of 9 runs. r * At the Domain last Saturday Parnell were ' - disposed of by Grafton in their first innings ■very cheaply,- the whole side only putting K:; ■ ■■ on S3 runs. Cliff (20) and Barry (27) were j.:.; the only men to get into double figures, although not a single "duck" was registered. Mason was the destructive element, coming

out with a fine average. He. "bagged" eigh Parnell. wickets for a cost of 34 runs. .Par .■■nell did no better in the second innings having lost eight wickets for 61 runs whe: time was called. Murray hit hard and oitet for a contribution of 27. Mason was agair destructive, securing four wickets for a tot a !, - of. 27 runs. His work with the ball in receni matches has been most effective. ;'• North Shore, playing against Ponsonby I: '■':■..'.' failed badly at. the outset last Saturday the "tail" "(six wickets) only realising tin modest score of 39. The innings closed foi , 8-3. Ralfe, a Grammar School colt, mad* 10, bv nice, clean cricket, and was still unbeaten at the ' close' of the. innings. Ponsonby went to the wickets, and played out time," the last wicket falling then. White again howled well, securing six North Shore wickets for 54- runs. Madden "bagged" three SPonsottby wickets for 13 runs. His average must be fairly good, his recent- performances with the ball being very destruc- - five.. -,■'■..■: With one more round to be played the '• - position of the various clubs in the competition is as follows': — Matches. Cham'ship Played. Won. Lost. Points. Eden ... ... *9 9 0 21 Grafton "■.'. ... 9 ■ 5 4 - 12 v City ... ... 9 4 5 .-,:-■'■ 10 North Shore ... 9 4 5 9 Parnell ... 9 3 .6 8 '- Ponsonby ' ... 9 .2 7; 5 Two good bowl performances were put up in the Thames v. Waibi match, played at the Thames last Saturday. Bowling for Waihi. tier bowled seven maiden overs, and took' three wickets for no runs. For Thames Brown took seven' wickets for 16 - runs. . ■ -.--■<■ .The effort, to raise a fund for the payment . of an efficient cricket coach in Christchurch ■ -. has been very successful. .Over £200 per year, foi three years has been promised already, and there is no doubt that the necessary" amount will be easily raised. It has ' been; suggested that cricketers should come forward with at least a guinea a year to . show their interest in the matter. tAt a meeting of the Cricket. Association, Mr. Reese recommended that _ the services of Lees, the- Surrey cricketer, be secured. It «-,-,. decided that the committee immediately communicate with Lord Hawke asking him ' to select a coach for Canterbury cricket, and that the secretary write to him the details jf *l'o proposal. ' ..-/-■■.■;:.'; -:'.;■:•-. .-,'■;'•■-.■? • The * Otago Association are , reported to have secured the services of the professional Australian and English ..player, Tarrant, for - next season. As Otago ~re coming North in an attempt to secure the Plunket shield, no effort must- be spared to, secure the servica* ■■■',■■ of Relf again for the coming season. The -' • playing of professional against professional i.i intcrprovincial cricket is not the highest ■ - ideal of sport,- but apparently it is now a matter of self-preservation with the provinces. -The influence of Relf on local cricket has resulted in so much improvement that, if only for his educative influence, he should bv brought to Auckland again. Eden have called for tenders for the lease of -their grounds for the winter, the closing date for receiving same being the" 18th inst. TheArawas have this season an exceeding- . ly good record, having played and won nine matches, scoring the possible number of points in the senior Associate*! League competition, in which 10 teams competed. The team's success is partly- due to the splendid fielding and bowling, which is proved by the \- • fact that no tesm has no any occasion scored 100 runs in opposing individual innings. The following are- the batting and bowling averages: . " : BATTING. h-. -■'-■■■■■■: ■ ■. No. Averi':;:;v:i.v/'c , Ins. Runs." N.O. H.S. age. : F. runcl. ... V. 273 1 87 27.3 A. Speed ... 11 229 1 113 22.9 ,1. Baker ... ... 10 178 1 76« 13.8 A Haresnapp. ... 10 118 3 27* 16.9 T. Mikkeken ... 10 125 1 77* 13.9 B. Coleman ... 5, 19 3 10" 9.a P. Thomas ... 10 *82 0 24 8.2 V. Haresnape ... 11 78 1 24 ..-7.8, O. Speed .- 8 50 8 25 6.52 P. rapine ... 8 36 1 11 5.1 B. Brambley . ... 8 34 1 14 ,-4.8 * Signifies not out. Also Batted :' E. Copping and W. Horspool. BOWLING. Siimf. Over*.'-■ Run*. Wkis. Average. J. Baker ... 132 ■ 266 46 5.6 y 'f. Mikkelsen .'.. 104 223 -58 ...-.'• 0.02 (i. Speed ... 29 57 8 , 7.1 F. Punch"--•'■■: -- : ■::■;■ '"■: 33 : ' 35 "' 11 ; 8.8 15. Brambler ... 31 S9 10 8.9 Also Bowled: D. Haresnape, A. Speed, and P. '-■. Thomas. .■ ■■.[■■ '.'■'•■ Mr. S. Orchard, the well-known Canterbury, representative, is at present on a visit to Auckland. ' , ■■ i "Auckland cricketers will regret to ; learn i of the. death of Arthur K. Wilson, who died j at Napier last week. He was well known to. all Auckland juniors, having played for the St. Aiban's Club for several seasons. H-9 • • «as a punishing bat, and generally came out with a double figure average. 'As"V- bowler ho was also very successful. Deceased was ...-"" ' a prominent American Oddfellow, being a Past Grand of the Wynyard Lodge. He was . respected by all who knew him, and his demise .is mourned by a large circle of friends. T. W. McLolland. the fast bowler of the EPorisoTiby team, has started a physical culture class. McLeliand is an adept in this direction, and was for years the champion pupil of Professor Hornibrook's class in ■ Christchurch: He has also gained consider- ; able success as a cyclist (winning several t - road races from scratch), and was captain ■ of the Papanui Club, Christchurch, for some time. , "■'■'.' . j Arrangements have now been completed for the tour to Hamilton and Cambridge v by an Auckland eleven at Easter. The itinerary is as follows:—Leave Auckland by 4.15 p.m. train on Thursday, 16th inst., arriving at Cambridge about 11 p.m. Play Cambridge on Friday. Leave there by the 8.15 a.m. train for Hamilton on Easter Saturday, ! playing there that day against a combined eleven of the district. On Monday the last j match will be played against Hamilton. The majority of the team. will leave Hamilton by j the 10.45 p.m. express, arriving in Auckland \ at three a.m. on Tuesday. The promoter ot j : the tour-desires all the team to be at the | station not later than four p.m., in order to j ' fix up details. The team is as follows: j D. Caro (City), R- Dingle, W. J. Dinnison, C Resteaux, E. V. Sale, J. Hutchings, and W. Marcroft (Parnell). T. Elliott (Eden), Frank McNeill and W. Philson (North Shore) ; %nd another. ■•'■'■'..