NOTES ON THE PLAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19856, 28 January 1928, Page 13

NOTES ON THE PLAY.

LOWRY'S STERLING INNINGS* y " !' ■ *'■> ■' A CHANGELESS EXHIBITION, NEW FOURTH-WICKET RECORD. [BY TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER. ] ■WELLINGTON, Friday. Wellington was fortunate in winning th«* toss to-day as the conditions were all in favour of the batsmen. The wicket played true and the outfield so fast that the ball gathered speed on its journey to tha boundary. Incidentally it may be mentioned that Auckland has not won tha toss against Wellington for 20 years. Dempster and Worker gave the horn a side a good start by putting on 85 for the first wicket. Worker was very slow, taking an hour and a-half to make 23The Aucklanders were keenly interested in the appearance of Foley, most of them not having seen the tall left-hander bat. Foley, however, failed to score. Hie visitors were very pleased to see the last of Dempster, who gave a sound exhibition, scoring with crisp shots all round tha wicket. Dempster had scored 71 out of the total of 101 when ho was dismissed. A Brilliant Partnership. With three good men out of the way for just over 100 runs Auckland's prospects looked a good deal brighter, but tha worst was to come from Auckland's point of view as a partnership of brilliant bating by Badcock and Lowry added 207 runs. This constituted a new record for a fourth wicket partnership in Plunket Shield matches, the previous one of 180 being established by N. C. Sneddon and C. C. Dacre in the match between Auek* land and Wellington at Wellington in 192 Q. Badcock was beaten by a good length ball from Mills. Badcock made a few uppish shots and on one occasion snicked Player between Bowleg and Anthony in the slips. There was not a good understanding between Badcock and Lowry in the judgment of a run and tine professional might easily have been run out once when Lowry refused his call liad not A. F. Weir returned the ball erratically to Rowntree. After lunch Auckland's bowling was not nearly so steady and short or ovcrpitched balls were severely dealt with by Badcock and Lowry, The latter was particularly enterprising, being chiefly responsible for the addition of 100 runs in SO minutes. Badcock quietened down on approaching his century but Lowry continued to force tha pace. Badcock scored ibis runs, mostly by powerful off drives. When James joined him Lowry's rate of scoring did nob slacken and at the tea adjournment 212 runs had been added in an hour and 50 minutes since the resumption after lunch. Lowry's Great Display. Lowry's sterling innings carrie to » close when he chopped a ball on to his wicket. While he made runs with powerful drives to square leg, long on, long off and past cover, his favourite shot was a square cut past point. He obtained fully a third of his runs with this stroke, the ball travelling to the boundary at lightning speed. In fact Lowry'3 squara cutting was the 'finest seen in New Zealand for years. The New Zealand captain never gave the semblance of a chauca although he nearly lost his wicket in going tor his hundred! runs after playing a ball to short leg. Dacre fielded the bail and threw the wicket, down but Lowry; had just got there, f McGirr nearly chopped Matheson on and then a few balls later touched a fast off one and was well taken in 'the slips by G. L. Weir. James went in at a stage when tha edga "was off the bowling, but all the saina he played a very good innings. The manner in which iie shaped suggested that he would have made runs when the bowling was at its; strongest. His score of 108 was the same as that he made against Ota^o. Taylor's First Appearance. J. S. Taylor, Australian, coach to tha Nelson Cricket Association, made his first appearance in - a Plunket Shield match. He did not play against Otago owing to an attack of influenza. Taylor has a peculiar style. He appears to make his strokes late, but he gets there with wonderful timing and wristwork. His shots are made with the ease' that ia characteristic of the best Australian players. Lambert started with the utmost confidence, but a few of his shots were very nppish, fortunately falling clear of the fieldsmen. . Auckland's fielding was very good considering it was such a trying day in the field. Dacre: >in various positions, Mills at cover and Matheson in the deepfield frequently earned applause for smart work. Cooper was handicapped by a strained muscle in his leg. Dacre did not place his field well. A man deep out on the boundary wouM have saved numerous fours from Lowry's square cuts, while many of Badcock's off drives would not ! have reached the boundary with the field correctly placed. The Auckland captain had a difficult task in deciding what bowling changes to make to keep down the runs, but it is hard to understand why Bowley was used so little, especially as the batsmen found it hard to score off him each time he was put on. At no time was th# bowling loose, although it lacked sting. Wicketkeeping a Feature. Player bowled 34 overs, Anthony 32 and Matheson 25. These were great performances in view of the fact that a very high wind blew throughout the day. A feature of tha game was the wicketkeeping of Rowntree. The manner in which lie took awkward balls on tho leg side was the subject of comment all round tho ground There were only four byes in singles in Wellington's huge total, and it was not Rowntree's fault that there were any. He missed a couple of possible stumping chances given him by Badcock and James, but in each case tha ball rose high ancl he lost control of it. His catching of James was a brilliant effort. The batsman chopped a ball low with the inside of his bat, and Rowntree took it near the ground. Wellington's total is the highest ever made against an Auckland side, and although the chixnce of winning the shield is gone, tho Auckland team is very hopeful of making a great response to tha home team's total. Messrs. W. S. Brice (Wellington), F. Williams (Otago), and N. C. ■ Snedden (Auckland), all New Zealand selectors, were watching the play to-day, and Mr. W. R. Patrick (Canterbury), the fourth selector, is expected here in the morning.