CRICKET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14934, 6 March 1912, Page 9

CRICKET.

THE DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS NOTES AND COMMENTS. As was anticipated, the eighth round of senior championship matches caused a decided' alteration in th© position of the tca/n». The present positions are shown by the following table:—Matches Matches won. lost. Chmp3pt. 2pt. 3pt. 2pt. Pts. Parnell .... 22 I*3 1 Ponsonby ..1 3 1 3 — North Shore .. — 4 — 4 — Grafton .. — 4 — 4 — University ..1 3 1 3 — Eden ~ .. — 4 1 3—l In the Parnell-Ponsonby match at Victoria Park on Saturday Parnell obtained a three point win on the call of time. The notout men, Wright and Warner, opened on a wicket which, although at first easy, became more difficult as th© afternoon progressedWarner was dismissed without any addition to the score* Kissling partnered Wright, and oil th© latter's dismissal Parnell were within 12 of Ponsonby's total. Lusk and Kis.ding, by steady batting, carried the total to .134, nine past their opponents' score. Wright, in obtaining 62, gave the 'brightest batting display of the match, a good offdrive being his best stroke. 'McMathj eight for 51, keeping a fine length throughout, and swinging in considerably from th© off, was Ponsonby's destroying ! element. Ponsonby in their second attempt J only obtained 50. Th© batsmen, with the exoeption of Robinson (30 not out) and C. A. Sneddon (10), gave no opposition to the Parnell bowlers (Ollitf and Jvcrr), who, keep- j ing a fino length, and assisted to a great j extent by th© wicket, played havoc with tho lest of the opposing batsmen. Robinson's 30 not out was. the redeeming feature of his side, and with Sneddon ho put on 40 before the partnership was broken up. Again, in Parnell's second innings, Wright was the mainstay of his side. The Ponsonby fielding on the whole was good, Gavin in particular doing some smart work at point. McMath, Kayanagh, and Woods each secured a wicket in Parnell's second innings. In the Eden-Grafton match at Eden Park, Smeeton and I. Mills were responsible for Eden securing a win. When ofay was resumed on Saturday, Eden had lost four wickots for 88 runs, Smeeton being 27 not out and Mills 32 not out. By some splendid cricket they carried tlie score to 161 before they were separated- I. Mills was very strong on tho off. He made some very "woody" off-drives, and some excellent lato cuts, and his innings was well-nigh faultless. Smeeton made most of his runs on th© leg side, his timing being particularly accurate. Ho also got away some very fine offdrives. Though he gave a chance to Mason at cover-point when ho had scored 64, his innings was a brilliant one. H© was unfortunate in getting run out. He started to run, and slipped before lie could return to the crease, and Harvie, with an accurate throw, broke the wickets. Player (18) showed far more confidence than usual. Ho got some very nice leg glances away before driving a full pitch from Neill into Harvie's hands at mid-off.

In Grafton's second innings Sloma-n (41) start-eel to hit directly ins innings opened. His strokes were placed all _ round . tho ■wicket, his driving being especially sound, while he also put in some nice " wristy" cuts. Willis was a bit slow at starting, but when once he got going he made some very good square and lato cuts, and his innings of 27 was a good one. _ University's two-point win over North Shore was easily secured, though, on the other hand, it was also fairly well earned. The winning eleven scored 1421 on the first day's play. North Shore lost four wickets for 15 runs on the first day, and on resuming on the following Saturday made a remarkably poor showing, nearly half tho batsmen failing to score. The last wicket went down with only 78 on the board. Jacobsen and Fenwick played havoc with the ball on a wicket, quito suited to their particular methods of attack. At one stage Jacobsen was prnticallv unplayable, but. then Sale came to light for a brief space of time, and knocked 12 runs off one over. '.Ihe spectators waited for more of this style of play, but soon the wickets were toppling over as merrily as ever. The fielding of the University team was generally crisp and clean, and several first-class catches were recorded. North Shore put on a better front in their second innings, and saved a" bigger defeat.