THE PLUNKET SHIELD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19221, 9 January 1926, Page 12

THE PLUNKET SHIELD.

AUCKLAND AT THE WICKETS. FINE BATTING RECOVERY. TWO BRILLIANT PARTNERSHIPS. GERRARD MAKES 71 NOT OUT. There was a great recovery in Auckland's first innings in the Plunket ShioU match with Canterbury, which was commenced at Eden Park yesterday. wickets foil for 133. but when stumps ■were drawn the score had been taken to 406 for nine wickets. Auckland batted first on a wicket which had been well watered. It phnvd rather trickily during the morning, and was all in favour of the Canterbury bowleis. llha i made good use of it, and at the hi..ehion adjournment four of Auckland s b' ' wickets had fallen for 110 runs. After lunch only 23 runs were added before , Anthony lost his wicket. Then a fine sixth wicket partnership >e- | tween Cooper and Fra'ter effectively I:<M Auckland over the most critical part of thn innings, and added 92 runs to t.u j score. Cooper, who has been showint, in proved form this season, jumped right into his own as a batsman and ga\e a fault I display. He made his runs with shots all round the wicket. I'rater gave a very sound display, and showed greatly im proved judgment in running between the •wickets. \no.ther brilliant partnership followed. Gerrard and Player putting on 111 for the eighth wicket. Gerrard fully justified his inclusion, 'and although he gaNi one oi two chances, his innings was a fine ono. Player laid the wood on to anything loose in scoring 58. Good Bowling by Read. Simpson shaped well at the start of his innings, and another good partnership was in prospect. However, he was too impetuous, and was bowled at the closo ol play for 29. Mills lived up to his reputation as a fine opening batsman by scoring 43 with pretty shots. Sneddon ■was the only other of Auckland's stock batsmen to make an appreciable score, obtaining 31 in typical style. The Canterbury bowling was good, although it fell off a lot during the afternoon when the heat was beginning to have an effect. The batsmen had the bowlers well collared then, and Read was the only ono that troubled them at all. Ho bowded a fine ball, swinging well from the off and breaking back occasionally. During the morning he made pace off the wicket and nipped up very dangerously at timesTho fielding of the visitors was very good, and they contested every run. The field, moreover, was exceedingly well placed, and it was a difficult matter to find a gap in it. The game will be continued at. 11 o'clock this morning. Scott is Ihc last Auckland batsman, and it is io be hoped he can stay with Gerrard, who should have every chance of reaching his century. The Play in Detail. Auckland made an auspicious start, Mills swinging the'first ball of the match from Findlay to the leg boundary and scoring another four with an on drive before the end of tho over. Horspool faced Read. The bowlers soon struck a length and kept the Auckland pair quiot, although Mills was quick to show his appreciation of anything loose. Read was making pace oil the wicket, and with the score at 44, Horspool was clean-bowled i with a ball that came up sharply. Sneddon I was next, and runs continuod to come in even time. ' At 63 McEwen, a slow right-hand leg- ' break bowler, relieved Findlay, and was i soon successful, for Mills failed to get properly on to a short ball in his third over and gave Gasson an easy catch. Mills ■ had played attractively for 43. Talbot I took over from Read whan Smith joined ■ Snedden, and had the Auckland captain puzzled with his first few deliveries. The scoring had now quietened down considerably, the bowlers maintaining a very steady length and a well-placed field doing excellent work. Smith was never at home to Talbot and, after batting rather scratchjly for 11, he mishit one into the slips, Read accepting tho catch, Anthony, the next man, raised the century with a single off the first ball ha received. Shortly afterwards Sneddon tried t.o force away an over-pitched one from Talbot and was clean bowled for 3L Anthony and Cooper carriod tho scoro to 110 -when tho luncheon adjournment was taken. Stand by Cooper and Frater. On resumption the batsmen faced Read and McEwin. Anthony skied ono in the latter's first over, but fortunately it landed between two fieldsmen. The pair then played confidently, if a little slowly, but with the score at 133 Anthony played forward to Read and gave Gasson in the Blips his second catch. , Frater joined Cooper and the pair ran several short singles. Cooper was batting very soundly, but ho experienced difficulty in getting his shots through tho field. Findlay came on in place of McEwin, and shortly afterwards Talbot took the ball at tho other end. A separation could not be effected and another rapid change was tried, Read relieving Findlay, who had proved tho easiest of the Canterbury bowlers. Both Cooper and Frater appeared well Bet and their occasional stolen singles earned applause. Findlay was given another try but the over yielded 11, including two fours to Cooper. This brought McEs'in on again, but Cooper, with a fine cover-drive to the boundary, brought 200 up. Assisted by an overthrow he took his own score to 50 off tho next ball. Tho bowling appeared to be tiring and presented few difficulties to the batsmen, although Frater, with his score at 43, had a narrow escapo from being stumped. In the noxt over he tipped ono from Read to Brunton behind tho wicket. His runs had been made by sound cricket and at a time when they were most needed. With Cooper ho had put on 92 runs. The Dismissal of Cooper. Gerrard, tho noxt man, opened well, although when ho was only 5 ho put one up dangerously. Findlay made a great attempt to get to it but just failed. Talbot came on again, but Cooper continued to bat faultlessly. Read -bowled tho off theory but, Gorrard took advantage of the fact that thero were no leg fieldsmen to score several runs with good shots. In tho next over, however, Cooper, who had noyer looked like going out, was dismissed by a beautiful ball from Read. It gathered a lot of pace from the wicket and clean bowled him for a well-coniuiled 70. Player was associated with Gorrard for only a short period before the tea adjournment, but afterwards both commenced to t.dore well. With the tota,l riearing 300 Uasson bowled his first over. The third

century was raised soon afterwards, Player getting Read through the slips to Jho boundary. Runs now came freely, and a double change was again tried, McEwin and Findlay coining on. Th McEwin's second ever Gerrard jumped out, for a hit and missed, but Brunton failed to take the ball and Gerrard got back just in time. Shortly afterwards, with a nice off-drive for four, he passed his half century. Player opened his shoulders to McEwin and reached 50 i( few minutes after Gerrard. With his score at 58 he played forward to Findlay and missing a ball which sprung a little, was clean-bowled. The North Shore pair had added 111 runs in good time. .After a quiet opening, Simpson, the next man. livened up when facing Findlay. lie brought off several fine off-drives, but owing to good fielding, only reached the boundary. He reached 20 in quick time and then, in attempting a short run nearly ran Gerrard out, a bad return from Cox goint; to the boundary. lalbot was given an over shortly beiore time and in it, the fourth century was raised. 1 The last ball of the day proved fatal to ; Simpson, who attempted a big hit, but missed and was clean-bowled. Stumps were drawn with score at 406 for nine wickets. Following are the scores: — AUCKLANI). —First Tunings. .T. E. Mills, c Ga-sson, b McEwin . . 43 E Horspool. 1) Read . . . . . . 18 ! C. Sneddon, b Talbot • • . . ol iS. (J. Smith, c Head, b Talbot . . 11 |A, Anthony, c Gasson, b Read . . 11 |t. \Y. Cooper, b Head . . . . . . 70 I K. E. Erater, c Brunton, b Read . . 43 I .). I'. Gerrard, not out 71 i A. S. I'layer. b Findlay 58 I J 11. Simpson, h Read . . . . . . 29 Extras 21 Total for nine wickets . . . . 406