CRICKET THRILLS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22864, 20 October 1937, Page 26

CRICKET THRILLS

NEW ZEALAND PLAYERS TWO MATCHES IN IRELAND If . (By the Herald Correspondent with Team) LONDON, Oct. 2 Sensational cricket marked the conclusion of the New Zealand team's tour of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. A visit .to Dublin, hurriedly arranged to fill in three of the days the players had to occupy before their sailing, on the Orontes for Australia, resulted in a match ranked as first-class and scheduled to last three days, being finished in one day.

The game was played on a pretty but rather small ground. The wicket was the liveliest encountered on the tour and its condition was the main reason for the surprisingly low scoring. Ireland batted first and made only 79. The New Zealanders went in, with the hope that they would be able to make enough runs to win by an innings, but they were all out for 64. This was a record for the tour —the lowest score in any match. Only two batsmen reached double figures. W. M. Wallace hit three sixes in scoring 20 and G. L. Weir compiled 11. J. C. Boucher, a medium paced off-break bowler, took seven for 13.

When Ireland batted again New Zealand had realised that anything might happen on such a pitch. J. Cowie opened the bowling against the wind, the only time he did so on . the whole tour. In other matches it had been considered too risky to take such a chance, for fear that he would bowl himself "into the ground" early in the match and so be too tired to be at his best when called upon again. On this occasion, however, he bowled at his fastest. The result was the outstanding bowling performance of the tour, with the bails hardly back in Eosition after the retirement of one atsman before they were on the ground again to indicate the dismissal of the next. The fast bowler took six wickets for three runs—at one stage he had six wickefs for one run. Eight batsmen failed to score, ten of the runs were extras, and the total was only 30, the lowest score ever made by lrela! New Zealand scored the 46 required to win for the loss of two wickets and won easily. T. C. Lowry, using his famous /crouch stance to watch the ball right on to the bat, scored 30 not out. The New Zealanders left the ground with the distinction of being the only overseas team for many, many yeais to finish a first-class game in one day. As all arrangements had been macle for a' three-day match, including the selling of season tickets, the tourists readily agreed to a return match of two davs, to rank as second class. I his was played on the same ground but on another pitch, and was not nearly such a harvest for the bowlers. New Zealand won easily in the two days. Wallace celebrated his last appearance of the tour by hitting seven sixes and six fours in scoring 82. He made full use of the rather short boundary on the lect side, hooking the ball thero so often that a patrol of boys was established to assist in retrieving it. The Irishmen proved to be very sporting opponents and the hospitality left the tourists with very happy memories of their visit to Dublin.