PLAY IN DETAIL

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11435, 3 February 1923, Page 7

PLAY IN DETAIL

SOME FAST SCORING SHEPHERD AND BERNAU DO WELL. There was quite a iarge crowd at the time set down for the commencement. The wicket Was - in good order, and gave rise to much, favourable comment. Collins’s luck with the coin held him in good stead, and having won the tos6 he elected to bat. ’fhe English eleven, under the captaincy of Colonel Hartley, took the field a few minutes after 11 o’clock, the playerß standing down being MaeLaren, Hill-Wood, and Tyldesley. New Zealand opened with Collins and Blunt, arid the commencement was disastrous. Collins faced Gibson, and got.'a single off the over. Then Calthorpe came on to bowl, and the New' Zealand skipper wa9 immediately caught in the siipis by Chapman.' I—l —l. Shepherd wns the next man, and he late cut Calthorpe beautifully for four. BLENT AND DACRE FAIL. Blunt did not look at all comfortable facing Gibson, and it was not long before he was caught behind the wickets off the bowler named. 52 —0. It was an extremely bad start on such a good wicket, and the crowd wa® obviously disappointed. Dacre joined Shepherd, and. the latter treated the spectators to some nice ■ strokes, the score soon reaching fifteen. Dacre, the popular hard-hitter, decided to play himself in, and declined to take any risks with the bowling. However, Dacre had a narrow escape from being run out, and a few minutes later the batsmen attempted to run a single. It waa an impossible task, however, and Dacre was run out. 19—3—4.

AN IMPROVEMENT LAMBERT AND SHEPHERD DO WELL. TRICKY BOWLING. Lambert filled the vacancy, but. was content to test the bowling before launching out. Meanwhile Shepherd was shaping promisingly, and got several good! ones away. However, the slow outfield made runs difficult to get. Off one of Gibson’e overs Lambert sent one up in the slips, but there was no one on the spot to hold it. A little later Lambert sent one up to square leg, but luckily for him there wns no one there to catch it. Then Shepherd got a nice leg boundary, and thirty appeared on the scoring board. A few minutes later Shepherd got three fours in quick succession and the crowd applauded with great vim. Forty-five minutes’ play saw 47_ runs hoisted, and 50 appeared a few minutes later. The ball was rising dangerously off the pitch, and the batsmen found it difficult to keep down. LAMBERT CAUGHT. Lambert was batting promisingly, but a little later he gave an easy chance off Calthorpe, and this was accepted by Freeman. 58—4—23. Garrard, the next roan in, started off by getting a 2, but both batsmen settled down to quiet play. With the exception of Shepherd, the batsmen up to now had showed the utmost respect for the bowling. When the second hour’s play had been entered upon the scoring became much faster, Garrard relishing Gibson’s deliveries, and registering two boundaries in quick succession. His free stylo was most attractive to watch. When Garrard appeared to be a ball from Calthorpe beat him badly, and Jie was clean bowled. 86 —5—19. SHEPHERD AND McGIRR. OUT. McGirr, the popular WelUngtonian, joined Shepherd, only to see the latter stumped off a tempting one from Gibson. Tlie outgoing batsman had played most attractive cricket, and was loudly applauded on walking to the pavilion. 88—6—41. Bernau was the next man in. Play now quietened down, as the batsmen preferred to take no risks with the apparently difficult bowling. It had taken seventy-five minutes to score 95 runs. The century went up 77 minutes after the commencement. Then Bernau got a boundary, but immediately afterwards McGirr, m trying to force Oolthorpe round to leg, put an easy one into Titchmarsh’s safe hands. 104— 7—l. A USEFUL PARTNERSHIP. Brice filled the vacancy, arid Bernau soon after got a boundary, followed by a 2. After a spell of slow play, Bernau drove beautifully to the far boundary. He was severely punishing anything of a loose nature. The fielding

all through had been exceptionally keen, Chapman and Calthorpe attracting particular attention. When the score stood at 121, Free.man replaced Calthorpe at the city end, and Bernau sent the new bowler’s first I delivery to the fence, following it up with » single. He repeated the dose off Gibson, and then cut a nice one, which realised 3. Bernau continued to hit out, and at 12.45 he reached 40, having been at the crease for 35 minutes. Simultaneously with Bernau reaching 40, a total 'of 130 ' appeared on the. board, blit by dint of vigorous batting Bernau soon caused the scorer to add ten more to the total.

Just before the luncheon adjournment Calthorpe replaced Freeman, and Brand went on in place of Gibson. At the adjournment the score was 160 for seven wickets (Bernau 48, Brice 8). The exhibition given by the opening New Zealand batsmen caused keen disappointment, but there was some consolation in the fact that Shepherd and Bernau had prevented an absolute debacle. The wicket was extremely fast, and this might have accounted in some measure for the failure of several batsmen, seeing that the. wickets on which they had practised were considerably slower than ■ the match wicket. AFTER LUNCH NEW ZEALAND ALL OUT. BERNAU TOP SCORER. The crowd had greatly increased when the (Wo not-out, batsmen resumed. The first score was a single by Brice off Calthorpe, who finished his over without further scoTe. Gibson took the. bowling from the Neivtown end, and Brice got a- single off his first over. The batsmen were kept quiet, and Bernau reached his half century after five minutes’ play. Bernau’s score had included eight fours. A minute after reaching fifty Bernau had drove Gibson for four. The same batsman next forced Calthorpe off when lie got a nice cut to the pavilion boundary for two. Then Brice, whose score was ten, tipped one from Gibson to Lowry at third man, and the chance was accepted. 161 —B—lo. Brice had been at the wickets 50 minutes for his ten runs. THE INNINGS END®.

Cate followed, but was never comfortable, and was clean bowled by Calthorpe. 161—9—0. Mcßeath was the last man to go in, and played the last ball of Calthorpe’s over without scoring. Bernau still appeared to relish Gibson’s bowling, and ,got another four and a single in the one over. Just on twenty past two New Zealand’s innings closed, Bernau being caught behind the wickets off Calthorpe. 166 10—61. Mcßeath carried his bat for none. New Zealand had been at the wickets 136 minutes, and the total number of fours scored was, twentytwo . Of these Bernau find contributed ten. Bernau received an ovation on returning to the pavilion. NEW ZEALAND. - First Innings. D. C. Collins, 1, c Chapman, b Calthorpe J It. C. Blunt, c McLean, b Gibson 0 J. Shepherd, 441413244212432, st McLean, b Gibson 41 C. Dacre, 112, run out 4 H. Lambert, 311144612, c Freeman, b Calthorpe 23 D. R. Garrard, 2113444, b Calthorpe ... 19 H. M. McGirr, 1, d Titchmarsh, h Calthorpe 1 E. L. Bernau, 3442411441243244114241, c McLean, b Calthorpe 61 W. S. Brice, 1214411, c Lowry, b Gib-, son 1® V. Moßeath, not out 0 Extras 6 Total 166 How the wickets fell. —One for 1. two for 5, three for 19, four for 58, five for 88, eix for 88, seven for 104, eight for 161, nine for 161, ten for 166. Bowling Analysis. Overs. Mdns. Buns. Wkts.

ENGLAND BATTING OPENING BATSMEN CAREFUL CHAPMAN IN FORM. At 2.35 o’clock the New Zealand eleven went on to the field, the opening English batsmen being Titchmarsh and Wilson. The latter took striko at the Newtown end to Brice, who bowled a maiden. Mcßeath bowled from the other end and Titohmaish opened his scoring account with single to square leg. Two overs had been bowled and the score was one. The fielding was very keen up to

this, and tl.e only addition to the score after twp overs had gone was one—-a live. Both Brice and McBeath were bowling good length balls and runs came very slowly indeed, six overs producing 5 runs. Then Titchmarsh square cut Brice to the boundary, bringing up nine after twenty minutes’ 'play. Ten was hoisted a moment later. TAKING NO RISKS.

Scoring continued unwarrantably slow, Wilson playing the rock effectively and scoring only two while Titchmarsh got ten. At 16 McGirr replaced Mcßeath at the southern end and the latter went on in place ot Brice. Mcßeath was turning effectively and varying hia pace, and neither of the batsmen could do much with his deliveries. Wilson’s slow methods brought forth ironical cheers troin the crowd. It was extremely cautious cricket, only twenty runs being scored in forty minutes. Only seven runs had been got off Mcßeath’s nine overs, NONE FOR SIXTY-ONE. Fifty minutes’ play saw thirty go up, and a few runs later Garrard went on to bowl in place of Mcßeath. The monotony was relieved by Wilson getMcGirr nicely away for three; tne crowd applauded sarcastically. At clock Bernau replaced McGirr and iltchmarsh got his first ball away to the boundary— a' nice leg shot. This brought fifty up for .105 minutes’ battmg. At the tea interval the score was 61 for no wickets. brighter batting CHAMPION AT HIS BEST. A DAZZLING DISPLAY. After the tea interval Brice and Bernau howled, and play had only been in progress a few minutes when Wilson wa6 olean bowled by Bernau. 62—1-

Wilkinson was the ftext man, and for a start attempted nothing of the sensational order. The partnership was short-lived. Titohmarsh, who appeared to be well set tipped one of Bernau s to Brice in the slips, and the Pet-one man held it. 67— 2 —40. The vacancy was filled by Chapman, who opened with a single. Scoring was by no means rapid. Chapman making several fruitless' attempts to get the ball away to the boundary. In contradistinction to the opening batsmen Chapman was hitting out at everything, and Wilkinson was also making every effort to dispatch the loose stuff. Eighty appeared a few minutes before 5 o’clock, mainly a® the result of singles, although some of Chapman’s strokes deserved a better fate. SCOBS MOUNTS UP. At 90 Moßeath went on in place of Brice, and Chapman got a four off the new bowler’s first ball, and followed this up with a beautiful drive to the northern boundary, making his .tally twenty. Off Bernau’s next over Wilkinson drove hard to the southern boundary, and 100 appeared after 123 minutes. McGirr went on in place of Bernau, whose tally wa® 2 for 33. Off JlcGirr’s fourth hall Chapman registered a boundary, bringing up 110. Tlie same batsman sent Moßeath to the boundary twice —splendidly placed shots I —and 120 appeared on tlie board. FULL OF VIM. . The batting was now full of vim, and the crowd showed it® appreciation af Chapman’s magnificent strokes all round the wicket. Chapman was scoring three to his colleague’s one. Tlie bowlers at this stage were Garrard and McGirr. Chapman had been at the wickets about fifty minutes for 46. He brought his tally up to 50 with a splendid out to the boundary off McGirr. Wilkinson was now twenty, and batting steadily. With about half an hour to go Brice went on at the southern end in place of McGirr. At this stage England's score was 150 for two wickets. WILKINSON CLEAN-BOWLED. When the score was nearing the sixtymark Lambert went on in place of Garrard, the over costing eight runs —two boundary shots. This brought up 170, and then Bernau, who relieved Brice at the southern end, clean-howled Wilkinson with a fast one. 170—3—27. The Chapman-Wilkiiiison partnership realised 103 runs. Lowry was the next in, and he did not appear to he comfortable when facing Bernau. Ten minutes before stumps Blunt went on in place of Lambert, but did not appear to unduly worry the batsmen. There wns little further scoring, and at 6 o’clock stumps were drawn with the score 180 for 3 wickets. Chapman was 69 not out, and Lowry 8 not out.

The umpires were Messrs J. Rodgers and ,T. Gardner, and the scorers Messrs W. Ferguson (M.C.C.) and H. D. Clementson (N.Z.). Details of scores follow: - M.C.C.—First Innings. G. Wilson, 111115112311, b Bernau ... 19 C. H. Titchmarsh, 1114111211111111 U 11414112121, c Brice, b Bernau ... 40 4. C. Wilkinson, 1112114132113131, b Bernau .1 27 Chapman, 1211141111441114144131134111 5214411, not out 69 Lowry, 111122, not out .. 8 Extras 17 Total for three wickets 180 How the wickets fell:—One for 62. tiro for 67, three for 170. BOWLING ANALYSIS.

SCORE IN QUICK TIME RECORD BY THE CLOCK. NE(W ZEALAND’S INNING®. 11.5 a.m.—Score, 0; batsmen in, Collins, Blunt; bowlers, Gibson, Calthorpe. 11.30 a.m.—Score, 19; batsmen in, Shepherd 14, Lambert 0; batsmen out, Collins 1, Blunt 0, Dacre 4; bowlers, Gibson one for 9, Calthorpe *ono for 12 (noon). —Score, 69; batsmen iu, Shepherd 36, Garrard 7; batsmen out, Lambert 23; bowlers, Calthorpe two for 35, Gibson one for 34. 12.30 p.m.—Score 104; batsmen in, Bernau 18, Brice 0 • batsmen out, Garrard 19, McGirr 1; bowlers, Gibson two for 63, Calthorpe four for 44. 1.0 p.m.—Score, 150; batsmen, Bernau 48, Brice 8; bowlers, Calthorpe four for 50, Brand none for 5. Luncheon Adjournment. 2.0 p.m.—Score 150 (resumption). 2.20 p.m.—lnnings closed, 166; batsmen, Bernau. 61, Moßeath not out 0, Cate_ 0, Brice 8; bowlers, Calthorpe six for 53, Gibson 3 for 91. M.C.C. INNINGS. 2.39 p.m.—Score, 0; batsmen in, Wilson, Titchmarsh; bonders, Brice, Mcßeath. 3.0 p.m.—-Score, 10; batsmen in, Titohmarsh 8. Wilson 1; bonders, Brice none for 7, Moßeath none for 2. 3.30 p.m.—Score, 34; batsmen in, Titchmanah; 2-L, Wilson 11 j bonders,

Mcßcatli none for 8, McGirr none for 12. 4.0 p.m.—Score, 61; batsmen in, Titchmarsh 36, Wilson 19; bowlers, Garrard none for 9, Bernau none for 8. Afternoon Tea Adjournment. -1.13 p.m. —Score, 61 (resumption). 4.30 p.m. —Score, 67; batsmen in, Wilkinson 1. Chapman 1; batsmen out. Titchmarsh 40, Wilson 19; bowlers, Brice none for 14, Bernau two for 12. 5.0 p.m.—Score, 109; batsmen in, Chapman 23, Wilkinson 10; bowlers, McGirr none for 20, Mcßeath none for 16. 5.30 p.m. —Score, 150; batsmen ;n, Chapman 53, Wilkinson 23; bowler®, Brice none for 17, Garrard none for 26. 6.0 p.m.—Score, 180 ; batsmen m, Chapman 69, Lowry 8: batsmen out, Wilkinson 27; bowlers, Blunt none for 4, Bernau three for 38. BATSMEN WITH DOUBLE FIGURES TIME TAKEN IN GETTING RUNS. Shepherd, 41 60mms Lambert, 23 24mins Bernau, 61 S9mins Brice, 10 58mins Wilson, 19 86mius Titohmarsh, 40 93mins Wilkinson, 27 75mins Chapman, 69 86mins Time for N.Z. innings—l44mins. Time for M.C-.C. innings—lß6mins. NOTES AND COMMENTS 1 THE PLAY AND THE PLAYERS. When New Zealand won the toss yesterday morning the spectators looked forward to a big score, but they were disappointed, and the last wicket fell for 166. The only excuse for such a moderate score is the fact that the wicket was faster than the batsmen were accustomed to, and it was noticeable 011 several occasions that the New Zealand men failed to get the pace of the ball after it had left tho wicket —Shepherd, Lambert and Bernau were the only ones who seemed to face the bowlers with confidence and they adapted themselves to the conditions. They went forward to the ball more than the others, and this was the correct thing to do. On a fast wicket it is no use playing hack unless it is to send a hall through the slips or pull a loose one round to leg. Half-hearted shots on such wickets are disastrous, and a batsman who lias enough confidence in himself to get to the ball will make the rune.

Bernau certainly silenced the critics. His 61 was the highest score oi the New Zealand innings, and was compiled by good cricket. He hit ten boundaries, two 3’s and four 2’s. With the ball he was the best of tho seven bowlers tried, and secured the only three wickets that fell at a cost of 38 runs. Shepherd was second top scorer, and played an attractive innings for 41 He has a partiality for the off drive and the square cut, and puts plenty of wood behind his strokes. In him one can see the influence of .T. N. Crawford, who was the Otago eon eh before the war. and will always bo remembered by New Zealanders ns one of the greatest all-rounders that visited this country. Shepherd, who received an injury to his knee during his stay at the wickets, had to leave the field during the afternoon, and his place was taken by Dempster. As lie is a good change bowler this was an unfortunate accident. Lambert is still the stylist batsman he was when lie played last season for Old Boys and Wellington, but he din ,plays an over-eagerness to make runs, and this will always get him into trouble unless it is rectified. He lifts many of his shots, but has » fine leg-glide which is one of the most profitable strokes in cricket. Garrard scored his runs quickly, and the hall that heat him was one “out of the box.” Brice’s innings was an unusual one for the Petone man, but he stuck to his guns well, and let Bernau do the run-ge.ttling. Though be just got, into double figures his innings was u valuable one, Collins and Blunt both failed as opening batsmen, and should give place to another pair, perhaps Shepherd and Dacre, in the second innings. Opening batsmen should he able to give the remainder confidence, and when two wickets fall for five runs the remainder are not exactly cheerful.

McGirr failed to get into his stride and went out playing a weak shot. Calthorpe was in great form with the ball, and his six hor 63 sneak lor themselves. He is one of Englishmen who have improved during tho tour, and should be an asset to hri country on his return. The opening pair for M.C.C., Ailson and Titohmarsh, were very slow in getting their runs, and batting 6Uch as this helps to kill the game. When the English team arrived here they brought a reputation for bright and enterprising cricket, but this pair certainly did not live up to their reputation. Willson took over 80 minutes to make 19 runs, and Titchmarsh was 93 minutes in scoring 40. Chapman at last gave the Wellington public a taste of the batting that has delighted the spectators in England and Australia. He has a bag of unorthordox strokes, but all are effective, and all are safe. Yesterday lie was the master of every hall and never looked like going out. He scores all round the compass, and his innings of 69 not out gives him 1062 runs for the tour. His fielding was little short of marvellous, and the young cricketers of New Zealand would do well to copy his example. _ Collins captqined tKo New Zealand side well and made good use of his bowlers.

Brice and Mcßeath, though they did not secure wickets, bowled well,' and their day will come soon. At one stage of the game the Otago man had bowled eleven overt, for eight runs. McGirr was the most expensive bowler of the side, and Garrard was persevered with a little too long. Lambert might have been given another over and Blunt, who had four runs knocked off his only over was a risky change. Collins might do well to have a turn with the ball himself, as he is a dangerous bowler when in form. Tlie fielding of both sides was good, and there was a keenness that seemed to ho lacking in the first test. Chapman was again tho star of tho ling lish side, while Dacre was the best of the New Zealanders. Maclean gave a good display behind the stumps and apart from accounting for three of tho New Zealand side, let only three Kean, byes past him. Cato also did well, and though 16 byes were registered against him 110 filled the position very satisfactorily. An unfortunate incident in the New Zealand innings was the running out of Dacre. It appears that Shepherd called and then told him to go hack. Such lack of decision threw awav a valuable wicltot. and it is not the kind of thing looked for in test cricket. The match will be resumed «t 11 o’clock this morning.

Gibson 2 91 S Caltliorpe ... ... 21.2 . 6 52 f> Freeman ... 2 0 11 0 Brand 1 0

O. M. E, W. McBeath Lambert Blunt ... ,