CRICKET NOTES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22259, 6 November 1935, Page 20

CRICKET NOTES

AUCKLAND CHAMPIONSHIP KEEN INTEREST REVEALED POSITIONS OF VARIOUS TEAMS / With two scries of matches completed and the third tinder way, the first, gratlo championship of the Auckland' Crrcket Association has had a very successful opening. Keen competition promises to be a feature of the championship judging by the performances of the teams to date. One or two teams are showing up; moro consistently than others, but every indication is that as the season progresses and the various sides settle down the competition will becomo increasingly interesting. At the moment t]fe .threo leading teams are Eden, Grafton and Npfth Shore, which have each had two fourpoint victories in the series played to date.''Three points further back follow Ponsonby, last year's champions, and Parnell with a win .and a loss 011 the first innings, while Y.M.C.A., King's Old Boys and University have each heen 'defeated twice on the first innings. When it is considered that University, Ponsonby, Parnell and Y.M.C.A. were among the leading teams,last season, it is obvious that these sides, which have undergone 110 radical alteration, have yet to strike form. BATSMEN IN FORM TWO CENTURIES TO MILLS The Auckland and Nqw Zealand representative, J. E. Mills, is showing splendid batting form for so early in the season and, with the matches against the M.C.C. team in prospect, liis performances will be viewed with considerable satisfaction. His last two innings have realised 134 and 169 not out. Another Eden player, Postles, has also started brilliantly. Postles, who has opened for Auckland with. Mills on many occasions, kept the latter company in a fine partnership on Saturday which realised 274 runs. Postles just missed his century on opening day with a score of 97, and on Saturday he collected 144 runs.

One of the most attractive batßmen In Auckland is 0. Walters, who opens for North Shore. Essentially an attacking player, Walters has given some splendid exhibitions this season, revealing a fine range of shots. He is particularly powerful on the off, his driving and square-cutting being delightful to watch. .In hiA first two innings this season he made 85 and 38, while he has scored 22 not out in the first innings commenced against IY.M.GkA.' on Saturday^'. Good form has been shown so far this season by H. T. Pearson, of King's Old Boys. Pearson secured a place in the representative team which toured the South in .1932-33, buo since then he has experienced fairly lean seasons. Howeveii he scored 55 against Grafton in the first match of this season, and last Saturday was most unfortunate in missing a century by four runs. He has' a pleasing style, and when set scores fairly quickly. The brilliant Canterbury colt, W. A. Hadlee, was the second highest in the matches played on Saturday. Hadlee headed the Plunket Shield averages for New Zealand last season, his figures being 93.66 for seven innings, four of which were net out. His highest score was 103 not Out. NEW LEG-BEFORE RULE t , [TWO DECISIONS ON SATURDAY Only ' two leg-before decisions were given the bowlers last Saturday under the new rule, although this may be attributed to thq fact that the wickets in general were of little assistance to spin bowlers. One was gained by the young Ponsonby bowler, Williamson, who secured five jvickets for 27 runs, while the other fell to Andrews, of King's Old Boys, who so far has secured four wickets for eight runs in seven overs. Andrews brings the ball back sharply from the off, and it is expected that the new rule will bring him many more victims. ' FAST SCORING SUBURBAN PLAYERS' EFFORTS The i splendid batting of F. Wood, Mount Roskill, and C. Kerr, Green Lane, was a feature of the Auckland City and Suburban Cricket Association's opening series on Saturday. The spectators were delighted with the exhibition of big hitting, Wood being particularly brilliant. He must have established a record for the association with regard to fast scoring, as he was at the wicket only 84 minutes in making his and went on to score 191 in two hours 10 minutes. Wood's running between the wickets was an object lesson. He, took many risks with pull shots, but the ball usually fell clear of the fieldsmen. C. Kerr must be considered unlucky to miss his century, for lie was not troubled by the bowling and had compiled 88 when the last over was called. Kerr scored with some nice shots in front of the wicket and was also effective on the leg side. Hie displays of many other batsmen revealed lack of practice; ' Improvement should be . noticed when L. F. Townsend takes ftyer tho coachihg of the players.