AUCKLAND CRICKET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19511, 15 December 1926, Page 18

AUCKLAND CRICKET.

SATURDAY'S UNEVEN PLAY. BATTING ON FAST WICKETS. PERFORMANCES REVIEWED. Saturday's play in the senior competition of tho Auckland Cricket Association was very much of a mixed grill. The wickets wero fast for the first time this season, but the batting on them was uneven and in most cases disappointing. Batsmen have become used to playing back a good deal this season, and it was the batsman who went forward that made the runs on Saturday. The best performances were as follow: BATTING. A. Anthony (Parnell) t . w ( .> : 139 .A E. Irving (Parnell) i.>. 132 Bowley (Y.M.C.A.) .. 63* C. R. Nettleton (North Shore) 59 J. H. Miller (Y.M.C.A.) ... ~>■ 59 T. McLeod (Ponsonby) .. w .j 57* A. M. Matheson (University) 55 P. G. Monk (North Shore B) 49* *Signifies not out. / BOWLING. S-. G. Smith (Ponsonby), eight wickets for 62. S. Townshend (North Shore), seven for 57 and three for 48. C. F. W. Allcott (Grafton), five for 38. L. Johnson (North Shore), five for 57. L. W- Cooper (Eden), four for 42. Anthony's Good Displays. The record partnership score of the season was put up by Irving and Anthony for the third wicket in Parnell's first innings against Ponsonby. Becoming associated tho previous Saturday when two wickets had fallen for six runs, the pair played great cricket and were undoubtedly at their best on Saturday. Anthony had given several chances the previous day, but when play was resumed he played that cricket, delightfully correct and stylish, which is so typical of the batsman who has represented two provinces and won the Redpath Cup, but has never been fortunate enough to secure a place in a New Zealand side. Anthony's days in representative cricket are now practically finished, but for all that, he showed that his eye has lost little of its keenness, and the way he brought his bat down straight in making his crisp off-drivos should serve as a model to young players. His play on Saturday was practically chanceless, and Smith was the only bowler who occasioned him any trouble. . Irving played, a solid innings with only rare flashes of brilliancy, but he showed that he has definitely regained the form i'that won for him a place in the repre- ; sentative side thfeo seasons ago. His defence was rock-like and, although his ■ style is not pretty, he seems to have ; more scoring shots this season than previously. He shows a perfect restraint in his batting, and it is a very - clover bowler . who can tempt him into rash hitting. This pair made a first innings victory ~ for their side certain, but the other bats- 1 * ; men could not play the bowling of [Smith, who sent down some beautiful : balls. Although the wicket was too fast for the ordinary slow bowler—Sneddon's f deliveries suffered badly at the hands of ; both Anthony and Irving—it suited the ; left-hander, for the ball, travelling slowly through tho air, made quite a lot of pace from the wicket and at all times kept the batsmen Watching. Smith showed that he can still command a deceiving : flight. ' - x The Bowling of Allcott. ! The Y.M.C.A. players realised they had a hard task set before them when they opened their first innings faced with Grafton's first innings' score of 426, and when Lewis, the stone-waller, and Bowley were dismissed the task appeared well nigh impossible. However, this could not dishearten Miller, who went for the bowling in exhilarating fashion to score 59,. chiefly through the medium of a lusty drive. At times he overdid this shot, but an excellent eye carried him through. He made most of his runs off Grafton's . change bowlers, for when Allcott and Wilson came back to tho crease after a long spell, he, and the remaining batsmen of his side, were dismissed in a procession. Allcott and Wilson both bowled well, snd Allcott gave the best display with the ball that he has given for some time in club cricket. The secret of his success lay in the fact that he varied his deliveries more 'than usual. Allcott sends down a very good fast ball, but he makes the mistake of using it overmuch. On Saturday his slower ball came nicely through the air and nipped up off the pitch, and the faster one, judiciously used, supplied the necessary variety. Bowley's Score. Snedden mad 9 the mistake of keeping Allcott on too long at the start, and then in keep- : ing him off too long. Bowley treated him with respect all along, and Miller, who had hit fourteen off one of his overs before proceeding to paste the change ! bowlers around, gave chances off the first two balls that were bowled when the lefthander came on again, Allcott sent them ■ down going away a trifle and Miller • tipped the first up behind the wicket. : Rowntree failed to hold a difficult catch. The second was a little further on the i off, the batsman "felt for it, and the ball up to Wilson in the slips, who made no mistake with the catch. It is to be 1 hoped that Allcott will persevere with his slower ball; it may bring him back to the position of one of the Dominion's premier bowlers, a position which it certainly won for him when the teams of ' McLaren and Macartney toured the country. Bowley, who was troubled by the somewhat fiery wicket in the first inn- ' ings, although he scored 42, brilliantly in the follow-on to score 63 not out, his highest Auckland score to date. Gillespie handled the Eden bowlers well on the fast wicket against University, with tho result that the students were dismissed for 127, a miserable score when compared with Eden's total of 452. In spite of an injured hand, Smeeton batted well, but faulty running between the wickets resulted in tho loss of his wicket as well as that of Matheson. In the follow-on Matheson took advantage of an easier wicket to score well, and he ran up 55 in very short time. His off.driving and square-cutting were crisp and powerful. Promising Young Batsman. North Shore A failed to wrest the fourth championship point from the club's second 'string, chiefly through the fine batting of Monk in the B team's second innings. Monk made 49 with good shots and was not out when stumps were drawn His forward play is very stylish and exceptionally good for a young player, and he should prove successful as a batsman on fast wickets. However, he has a habit l°\ n S out to a ball just short of a geod length and this may bring about ins downfall. A team's second innploitine i D ? ris P> eap ? fashion, «x----and soma powerful 1 . thron s? the ?1 'P S slow breaks ZZI Townshend's all tho B v i EOUrce of trouble to innings was wmtiiw! 60 ? their first bowled well but a - Johnson eecond inningnT in the j