CRICKET SEASON

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22579, 18 November 1936, Page 19

CRICKET SEASON

KOKTH SHORE LEADS STRONG ALL-ROUND ELEVEN BOWLERS HOLD ASCENDANCY With tluoc series of matches decided jn the senior championship of the Auckland Cricket Association. North Shore. Ingear's champion team, is leading by throe points from I nivorsity and Grafton, which are e<|iial in second posit inn. North Shore has a strong all-round side and as most of the players are young and experienced the team should prove very dittieult to dislodge from Us present position. The eleven has stitiered a severe loss through tho illness of D. H. Kdtnoiids, the representative u leketkeeper, who underwent an opeiation lor appendicitis last week.' Conditions tor play last Saturday wer e unpleasant, a strong southerly wind bringing occasional showers which necessitated short adjournments. With the wet hall howlers were handicapped at various stages, hut generally they held the ascendancy throughout the afternoon. In view of the approach of Plunket Shield matches, it is to he regretted that to date many leading batsmen have failed to reveal their best form. However, if fast conditions are experienced until the representative team to tour south is chosen a better all-round hattinc standard can be expected. The principal match at Kden I'ark last Saturday, between King's Old Boys and Grafton, proved a very tame affair, King's after a very weak batting exhibition being dismissed twice during the afternoon to give its opponents a six-point win. King's will need to show a vast improvement if it hopes .to have prospects of success acainst. the other teams. It was considerably weakened for the series by the absence of S. G. Smith and R. W. Rowntree, 'but many of the batsmen Trent out to exceedingly poor strokes. When King's made such a poor showing the interest of spectators at Kden Park centred in Pa moll's effort to overtake Y.M.C'.A.'s total of .'163. Parnell appeared to have a chance when Whitelaw and Vivian were- associated in a second-wicket partnership which added 81 runs. Practically from this stage, with the exception of Buckley, the Parnell batsmen were mostly on the defensive and in the end had to fight hard to avoid defeat. RETURN TO FORM BATSMEN REVEAL WEAKNESS The Auckland captain, H. G. Vivian, showed a pleasing return to form in compiling 40. before falling leg-before to a ball which kept low. Vivian played some nice shots all round. While Vivian was in form neither W hitelaw, 53, nor Wallace, 27, impressed nearly so much as usual. W'hitelaw frequently "felt" for the otf ball and snicked some deliveries luckily through the slips. His chief fault was his failure to get his foot to the ball and get right over it. Whitelaw's weakness was a strong feature of Vivian's batting. W. 31. Wallace, the outstanding colt, has deve!o|>ed a had fault, which he will need to rectify before the representative matches are played. He is hitting right across good length balls at times and had three narrow escapes on Saturday off this shot before it finally brought about his downfall. A little more patience against good bowling should soon see him remedy this weakness. An outstanding performance for his first match in the senior grade was put up by E. G. Buckley, an old boy of the Auckland Grammar School, who compiled 75. Buckley hits his shots hard and has a free style, enabling him to score well all round the wicket. He has a particularly strong hook shot, which he used to advantage. He made a few uppish strokes near the slips, but his batting was generally sound and he should do well in the higher grade. North Shore had little difficulty in accounting for Ponsonby on the first innings at North Shore. Ponsonby was dismissed for 172 against North Shore s total of 329. W. J. Scholium, formerly of Parnell, was top-scorer with a subdued 40, but he played some nice shots. The match at Victoria Park between Kden and University was won by the former otT the first innings. The batting of Eden was for the most part subdued, A. F. Wei:r being top-scorer with 59. SPLENDID BOWLING EIGHT WICKETS TO SIMPSON Some splendid bowling performances were registered last Saturday, pride of plaw going to J. B. Simpson, North fyhore, with the excellent figures of -?'ght for 57. .Making considerable pace off the wicket, with the ability to make the ball lift awkwardly on occasions, Simpson had the batsmen clearly worried and but for dropped catches his figures would have heen even better. Another good effort was that of P. Bright, Y.M.C.A., who accounted for five Parn&ll batsmen at a cost of 50 runs, an average which would have been lower with better support from the fieldsmen. Bright flights the_ ball well and chances his pace effectively. He also turns the ball and makes pace off the wicket, and if lie maintains this form he will no doubt come under the eye? of the selectors. The Grafton bowlers came out with good averages against King's Old Boys, but owing to the weakness of the batting their figures were flattering. SUBURBAN MATCHES INTERESTING CHAMP! ONSHiP Judging from the form shown so far this season there is no outstanding team in the Auckland City and Suburban Cricket Association's senior prade championship, and the competition promises to he interesting. Low scoring all round has been a feature of both series plaved. and it is evident batsmen are suffering from lack of practice In the principal game commenced last Saturday R.V. made 131 against, Manuknu. which is generally considered the strongest eleven in the competition. Manuk.ni has made 0 bad start, and lost two good wickets for 27 runs. With Kinlayson in good bowling form, supported by keen fielding, R.V. may be in a good position to register, a win on the first innings. However, some good batsmen remain and a lot of interest will he taken in the Manukau innings next Saturday. Green Lane is the only team to hold an assured position in the series. Its bowlers, Kerr and Barnes, were responsible for a good effort to dismiss .lioskill for 7(5. The same pair gave Green Lane a splendid start and at stumps the score was 135 for two wickets Keen fielding by Green Lane was a feature of the game. Ponsonby, which made a fine opening in the first series, failed badly against Brixton; and lost three wickets for 16 runs. The following batsmen will need to show better batting form to beat Brixton,