CRICKET NOTES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20760, 31 December 1930, Page 15

CRICKET NOTES

REPRESENTATIVE FORM.

! CANTERBURY'S FINE VICTORY

LESSON OF BAD FEILDING.

With tho first matches in the Plunket Shield series completed, resulting in victories for.Canterbury and Wellington over Auckland and Otago respectively, sonic impression can bo gained of tho form of inter-provincial cricketers this season. Before tho start of the games on Christmas Day, it appeared on paper that Auckland and Wellington would obtain wins, and that ,tho contest for tho shield would really lie between these two provinces Canterbury's fine win over Auckland rather destroyed these calculations, but it certainly adds interest to tho competition.

Wellington's decisive victory over Otago ■was only what was expected of tho Plunket ShielcJ holders. However, tho match geemed to indicate that Wellington's batting strength is somewhat uneven this season, jT. C. Lowry, of course, is as reliable as ever, but C. S. Dempster has yet to strike form. H. M. McCirr made a century in the second innings, but he is not a reliablo batsman. If tho Wellington batting improves—and it may easily be expected to do so—the team is going to be a hard proposition for both Canterbury and Auckland, as the inclusion of jpl. D. Blundell and J. Newman has evidently strengthened the bowling considerably.

Poor First Innings Score. Tho Auckland players have no one but ihemselves to blame for their defeat at the hands of Canterbury. In spite of the fact that C. F. W. Allcott gained tho moral advantage of winning the toss, the match was really lost on the first day. It all boils down to a question of cricket tactics. In a four days' match the side batting first cannot afford to bo dismissed cheaply./ There was nothing exceptionally difficult about tho Canterbury bowling on the first day, and yet Auckland was dismissed for the small total of 164. Judging by tho manner in which tho Auckland batsmen retrieved themselves in the second innings, the only reason that can be advanced for their failure on tho first day is that they took the Canterbury attack too lightly. This is always a bad fault in,cricket, more so in a four days' match, when it, is essential for tho batting eide to get an early grip on tho game. Auckland failed in this respect, and, although it gave Canterbury tho largo total of 473 to make for victory on the fourth use of the wicket, tho time element then assumed importance. The homo team had r. little over a day to bat, and tho wicket was still in excellent order. Accordingly, tho opening batsmen had only to wear down the bowling and leave it to tho remaining players cither to play lor safety, and bo content with the points for a victory on the first innings, or to accelerate tho scoring and force an outright win.

Page's Good Captaincy. Several factors contributed to Canterbury's sterling, victory—tho failure of Auckland in its first innings; Auckland's patchy fielding in both innings of Canterbury; the excellent start which J. L. Kerr and I. M. Hamilton gave the home team in'the final innings; and, last, but by no means least, the courageous captaincy of M. L. Page. At the luncheon adjournment Canterbury hstd scored 177 for the loss of one wicket and had to get an additional 300 in the afternoon to win outright. This necessitated the making of runs at a rate faster than one a minute, nnd in similar circumstances most captains would havo chosen to play for safety and tho first innings points. However, after the dismissal of Hamilton, aiyJ A. W. Roberts, Tage assisted R. O. Talbot in attacking tho bowling unmercifully, and this partnership, following on the sound displays of the opening batsmen, really won the match for Canterbury. It needed someone to force home

the advantage and, although Talbot was * the more aggressive, batsman, it was obyiously Page who directed the policy. With regard to chances given in tho field,* Canterbury batsmen were certainly favoured by luck, but luck in cricket, as in most other things, is the prerogative of men prepared to lake risks. However, this is no excuse for bad fielding on the part of Auckland. Dropped catches cost Auckland the match. If the chances given by Jacobs in the first innings had been accepted, Canterbury would probably have failed to gain a first-innings lead and Auckland would havo held the initiative. Then there was the dismal tale of nine dropped, catches in Canterbury s second innings. Hamilton, Roberts, lalbofc and Page all had early "lives." Fielding Practico Weeded.

The match certainly showed how faulty fielding can handicap » good batting side. The New Zealand Cricket Council has instructed its selection, committee to make good fielding a necessary qualification lor players selected in the team to tour England next year, and it seems that some of/the candidates for selection would do well to take this intimation lo heart. No nelfi or carefully-prepared pitches are necessary for fielding practice; an individual can improve bis work in this department by spending half an hour a day in tho back yard with a hard rubber ball. There is one other point about Auckland's failure at Christchurch. One is inclined to wonder if the result would have been the same had the selectors preferred the veteran, R. W. Rownt-ree, to H. Hunt. Rowntree is easily the best wicket-keeper in Auckland, and it is no reflection on IMnt to say that the Auckland bowlers would have been far more confident, and the Canterbury batsmen far less confident, with tho Grafton man behind the wickets. Hunt .is still too errat'c for representative cricket, and, although 1 i. realised that Rowntreo cannot go on iorever, there is not another player in Auckland qualified to take his place. Wellington Juniors.

Wellington has a promising colt in J. Duffv who was in Auckland with the Wellington junior representative team. Ho a brilliant 76 in the fust innings of the match with Auckland on • Boxing Day, and in so doing revealed a fine variety of strokes all round the wicket. His shots behind the wicket were particularly impressive, being executed with a flick of the wrist which sent the ball racing toward tho boundary. Another colt of extra merit in tho Wellington junior touring sido was L. Matin rd a slow bowler of great possibilities. Keening an unimpeachable length ho secured three valuable wickets at a low cost of seven runs apiece. In addition to breaking both ways, ho flights a ball considerably, and has a well-concealed ' un -