CRICKET.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7027, 15 January 1910, Page 12

CRICKET.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. [By " I/eo-Bbeae."J Though the cricket season 'is. rapidly, advancing there are indications of a. busy time ahead for local players, and it is beginning to look doubtful'. whether the "senior.championship competition;will: be brought .' to: finality. ' The"sixth rotund matches commenced last Saturday will he concluded to-day, but "it is hardly likely thait they '.will attract more than ordinary interest.'. Bastf A-have *so far demonstrated their superiority over their sister club that an ' easy, > win for.' them is a' foregone conclusion. /Wellington North 'and. 'Victoria College appear to be fighting' out a pretty, stuhborn cointest, and there' is not-much to choose between them in the present positions of the teams.. Central hare a decided advantage" in the : matter of runs over ', Petone, while 'the South '"eleven, .have placed themselves in such a position that the Hutt 'team . will- have to-, surprise ' themselves and everyone else.if they are ( to succeed in registering a win.-

Anniversary Day falls on a Saturday - this year, January 22nd," but 'it is ..not proposed to disorganise the senior; competition on account. A .proposal has been made to the: various clubs by the assooiafcion that the seventh, round should bo commenced on' that day—play lasting from 9.30 a.m. until 6.45 p.m., with an hour for- lunch—and completed. The, result probably will be,that the suggestion will be endorsed by the clubs.; In any case, even if it is not, play will • take '. place" as ' usual in : the, afternoon, which .will necessitate players remaining in the city, so that little will be "gained by, a refusal to pTay in, the morning."

There' will be, no cricket: on ! the Basin on the 29th, that date having been allotted for 'an athletic sports "gathering. Hawbe's Bay are anxious for a visit of a Wellington representative; team this season—the visit. is: owed —and the suggestion has'.'.been made"that the eleven should proceed to - Napier to play there pn the 29th. The difficulty in the way is one of finance and leave. The associa-

taon cannot'finance the trip, and players able to go are to be asked if they are ,willing to bear the expense themselves. Are there eleven sufficiently patriotic to "dip" in the -.interest of sport? v

There is now every possibility of Wellington • receiving a visit from the proposed Australia.!! touring team. There seems to have been some misunderstanding somewhere as to what was the true positeom regarding Wellington and the pooling system., it. appears that whichever way, the tour is financed the Cricket Council cannot afford to leave the Empire City out of consideration, so that the thi-ea/t to pass "her by will hardly be put into execution. Wellington will,, if her offer.submitted,this week is.accepted, have a match played against the local association and,, in addition, one of tho two test matches will, it is stated, also be played here. , '■•:.■

Some exception, privately, has been taken to-the attitude of the association in holding aloof from the pooling scheme. The objectors consider that it showed -a lack.of sportsmanlike principles;, that the strong unions should aid the weak; . that the helping hand. of ■ financial assistance should be. extended to the small unions to enable them, in;the interests of the game and'."sport,": to ' have: a match. The persons - who , have talked like thas are.possibly-sporting philanthropists—in theory,;and- at the expense of someone else., Wellington/s nrevious, pooi- ' jng; venture, when, she was, in a/ sound financial position, was. a dismal failure. It : resulted ,: in,her,..gradually receding from a position.' of affluence to one of penury. And yet there,: are those who expect her to take . another dose of this nauseous nostrum! Cricket: cosfe money toiceep going.' The. players know that better than the . criticising looker-on,, and if they ignore the financial side of their operations, _ then, there would soon be' no association in existence. When everyone 'is 1 out for keeps it is foolish, to talk of, "sport/' !/ It's a mere meaningless word -then. Nobody' with a knowledge'of the position will blame the Wellington Association rfor the attitude it has taken up;

I, There was comparatively, little ,in the cricket on Saturday which was particuf lar.ly interesting. Jtfi'dlane's 111 not out i was the bright spot of the afternoon's play.. His 'form of late has been «con-{iistent-jmd on the improve, bo that ; the century, did, hot come altogether as a surprise. It is not the first ho has made, tout it is his first this year, and tue.nrst' or the season locally in the senior competition if my memory serves too right. - His runs were,'obtained 'n "W ' characteristic, all round,' vigorous style; two-sixes and: three fives being credited to him. Provided he progresses favourably in the meantime MidlaDe should be found representing New Zealand against the Australian team . His present form undoubtedly warrants his consideration. \ .

Mahoney had bad luck on Saturday in Setting nearer the century than he did. Ho was batting well when a ball' bumped up- from his wrist - and was smaTL'r?-taken in the slips by P. Hiekey who waa playing for the first time this season. Ho will not be in the field today, as he is>bsent in the South on business. ■-, .

Dr. Foster, of the Victoria College team, once again demonstrated his baiting ability by compiling a capital half century. He was going well when he was snapped up by Waters, off Upham. There was nothing in the nature of fireworks about the display, 22 of the runs being: singles, but it was a valuable-

mniap Without him the College team; would be something like a moor™ without a motor. Berendsen ah£: 1? od iTO 11 *!.*"- tie 20 not oufcj onW .• d ,« l ? of making thoi only ewht hit ot the afternoun. Ihre* of the runs being the result of an over-

„.Zw* £ } >est for Centra were those of Birch MG not ouO, and Beechey (32). Birch's inu-' m.je was a. vigorous one. while Beechev'sfar in A .■'Ko^rt ß ..'who'per?! <wtvjnf ■ recently a K ain.«fc< to Ret Koin*. He w«,' bowled >by.Bennett,-.with a break which; £mT m ? stroke.played by the batsman bust b!UI Bennett has ever bowled. If] he could guarantee a few of them each: match-he would soon make a name for!

Patrick, who failed when tried in the OantorTmry. match, Rave a tast* of hi«< quality asrajnst Hutt by knocking up 45 in chanoeless style, Dind came out of his shell and bad the honour of beina top scorer with 57, while McKay, who, made 15 not out. did so without (r'ivinir a chance The South batsmen did Sot! lUwe-to- contend with the bowlinjt of 1 ltogers, as ho was absent . . '

The only ono on the Hutt side who' was able to offer any resistance worth speakinjr of to the South bowlintr was Wilson, who played carefulJ> ana soundly until he was run out, when 30 were, standing to hia-credit

I •;: Resurrections 1 .are; ; : not -'always i j buc oessful,; but one .which took, place last Saturday proved the contrary. "Colonel" ■Kyan, than whom there is no,better all-round sport' in Wellington, ■ donned the flannels for the North juniors after an absence of three years from the green sward for pastures -more allurinff. and ■surprised everyone, even himself, by scorinß,44 runs not out (so lam credibly informed).; The jovial ;'1 appears to have taken a fresh lease! of life.

.An - absorbing topio of , conversation .during the week, was the ; rumours in .circulation: concerning- the alleged mis.conduct _of; members of the Wellington, .representative team while in* Auckland recently. If there is only a shadow of truth m the statements, the conduct was reprehensible., .while if the • allegations .can,be substanfcated to the full then tho .carryings on of the two or three soid .to be concerned, was as gross as might havei been expected from the most: uncouth and ignorant savage.,;, For the sako Of the players themselves it is to bo hoped it not so. The surprising feature of the affair, however,'is the ap.paront attempt being .made by •': tho Management Committee! of: the Crick«t to hush tho whole matter up. Ihe .utmost secrecy is being olwerv-. cd in official, miarters, but: I understand the mattery will not be; allowed- to rest .there. If, players have offended, - injured tho reputation of the district from which they hail, and incidentally that of their confreres tfcy should be made; to .pay .the penalty. High position or low position should-not weigh with: the comj H.P, "forously carrying-; out their undoubted, ,ut.v-providing, of -«rars£ that the allpgntions. are correct Slitters must hare, been in a T»ry bad- state when thepecreftu-y of-the-, Association: was so radxmon.t at the brenrth of frith shown by th» offenders thnt he hna tendered his rrsirnation fwhieih. bv the way, y.-vt> T«.mi «oeej>ted). The' com.mrttee- mnfit be fully ocouninted with what went on. as two of its members were Tt will be a lewxm never to send a +"-m nway Again without a manager. The attempt to cono'al the

position from the public generally is docidodly unsatisfactory. Why should .cricketers receive more consideration in ,th<» matter of inquiries into their conduct thiiri auy ether class of athletes? They are- popularly supposed to bo t'cutlemcn, but if they disprove that they are such then they should pay tho .penalty. Star Charnbvr investigations .never were und never will be satisfactory.

"Arnold Williams is not the wicket.koepor of old, but is now a stopper .rather than a holder of the tall after it baa passed the batsman." —An Aucklauder's comment on the \\ oilmigton. wicke-tkeupor.

This is tho story of a, village umpire on the occasion ot a match played on a field with a rather tall hedge on one aide. Numerous appeals against a •certain batsman were answered hi his favour, although soma of them were lor flagrant eases of Ibw or caught at the wicket. Tho answer "Not out" had been repeated with monotonous succession till the players were suddenly surprised to hear "Now you're out!" after tho batsman had made a good hit out of the ground over tho.hedge. "Out?" tamo tho suryrisod query. 'Yes/ was tho rejoinder; "and don't you forget it. I've got cucumber and tomato frames t'other sido of you hedge!"

The Marylebone committee has approved of the alteration or law 51, to ••illow a side in a three days' match to declare the innings closed at auy time on the second day. The alteration vail be submitted to a general meeting in May.

An interesting little story has been told of the lato John Conway, promoter of the first Australian team to England (1878). The Australians were, quartered in a big raarriueo in a provincial town in England, and with the characteristic want of knowledge in colonial matters an imprudent spectator tried his idea of "blackfellow" upon the team. Sauntering into the enclosure he began: "You talkee EnglissaUeesame?" '«Certainly," replied Conway., "and act it too." Ho thereupon seized the astonished Britisher and tossed him over the pickets.

A D. Nouirse, whj made 129 and 54 unfinished against the M.C.C. team for tho representative Natal eleven this, week, has previously shown good form against English players. In the 1907 tour of tho South Africans in England ho aggregated 1203 runs in first-class .matches, averaging. S'9 per innings. He scored two centuries—l4B against Derbyshire and 127 against Warwickshire. Nourse is also a bowler, as he took fifteen wickets on tho tour at an average cost of 18 runs. In the 1907-8 season La, made 907 runs for Durban, averaging 87 his best contribution being 200. He, is'a hard-hitting, left-hand batsman,, keeping the ball always well'on the car-, pet, and can stonewall to perfection.. A smart field, and as a change bowleri sends down a fast medium left-hand. Ha is dangerous on a crumbling pitch., Nourse has definitely decided to settlel in England in. the hope of obtaining a, place in tho Surrey eleven tinder the, birth qualification. '

J. B. Hobbs. who made 163 for the, M.C.C. team in the same match, first ■played for Cambridgeshire in 1903,' his 1 'highest innings being 195. .He subsequently threw in his lot until Surrey,, and at once established himself in the] toam. Ho has made numerous centuries, and secured a place in, A. 0. Jones's 1907-8 team which toured Australia. Playing, in four of the test games he| averaged 43 runs per innings. During the past four seasons he. was associated, ■with Hayward in a number of big first-, wicket partnerships. In June. 1907, these two Cambridgeshire-born ,men accomplished tho unparalleled performance of making over 100 while together for Surrey's first wicket on four occasions in ono week. Hobbs has a sound defence,, can hook cleverly to leg. drives with great power on both sides, has a, late* and square cut, and brings off some daring pulls. 'MASTER-TON ASSOCIATION. The Mosterton Cricket Association's senior matches were continued on Thursday after the holidays, all tho matches taking place at Masterton. Most in-' torest centred in the game between Carlton and Rivals. The former batted first and scored 125 (Waugh 32. P. Welch 19. L. Boyd 15. Mascello 13). Berry took four wickets for 49. Hooper three for 15, Barr two for 7, and Waters one for 39. Rivals replied with. .86 (Barr 44. IbbetRon 12). Mascello took four wickets for 18, Skellev two for 14, Waugh one for 9, Styles one for 27. In their second innings Carlton have lost two wickets for 46 (Waugh not out .21, N. Boyd not out "in the match' between W.F.C.A and Carterton there was some good scoring. Carterton ran up 294 (Prow 80. F. Fairbrother not out 39. V. Fairbrother 33, Hart 36. • Smart 31. Thompson 19, Beard 15, MoKenzie 11). Welch was the most successful bowlei, taking four wickets' for 59. Kingdon secured three wickets for 68. W.F.C.A. have lost three wickets for 60 (R. Welch not out 28, Ogier 18. Phillips 11).