CRICKET.

NZ Truth, Issue 72, 3 November 1906, Page 3

CRICKET.

<By Scflflit) tV ,

The weather was i(gain ; - superb for the. resumption of senior •.■bhampioiiship matches' at the Bastti Reserve oiv Saturday afternoon, and- the public rolled up m strong numbers m anticipation, of m fcereksii& finishes m the Midland-Wellington' and Ohi 'BoysPhoenix matches. The wicUe.ts, ( taken all round, were in i>; good ! playing order. '

The game/ between, n G-asworks and Newtowh /was a foregone^conclusion, as the former's rep re^entatiy^s 1 only wanted 49 runs to iwipe.-pff * the.'de'ficet; with nine wicket's ' in,' hand. Waugh and Lineard continued , their strike and added 20 runs to the ;scpro fcefoi'd Lingard returned one. to Rp the, whose effort was a splendid "one. Tlie outrbinn- beatsman had playeH ' soli^, defensive cricket. ,' -.;' vr - .',', ■ ; ■••':'. . Waugh added .. 17. t6 ' -'his, previous tally of 15, makins his cpntrihution 82 -whe-n he was thrb.^m oui \ b"y one of his own men fielding as substitute.. Waugh gave . his best \. display., iii Senior "matches, his strokes in-. eluding a clinking leg hit at; the ex^ pense of Smith, which produced 5. Topp: had only notched a single when he w.afi "iven, put by umpire WJirert .caught at, the, .wicket, off aii§rf ;,H«- did take kindly.Jio ;tibe <3fiCiSrip£. •'• ■?'■-■: ::7- 'Vv I/" f)K : . -■;■»■:• •Sc ■!: ■ The, , two Mjacs— Mapkay-., andr; ; McI)e&m^bcfth. oi wIKHn ;;r,en]py\ ;Jhe reputa/tipn, . of being -^harjd fitters; Quieklx- .brought tM game to -a tettninati'ori. "Mackay was,, very sound on .the leg side, one of his strokes notching 5i -.'.- \.i-<r.- : :;'.''^ : :. Both these teams require. a lot ol Btrengthen'mg if they expect- to. give a decent account of themselves . against more formidable. combinations. Are there no juniors m the respective clubs - of sufficient pr6mis|to get a ikR up ? Sorely with, We? ,l^,rge > membership which Newtown rejoipes m there must be " a few m the lower rank^ worthy of promotion, or at least ft trial to see what, mettle they a.re. made of

Shortly, af t;er the . N^t6wn-<Jas-T works! match" was m progress \.-.po : i the, isfewtown stumper,;, got ,< t a-. -, hasty, elout'.-yttder the eye, from ;& risina^all delfaefr&d by Smith- . The -ball 'was working iyr&y to leg. U'-« ■.-•' •••.;- The scores m $he aforesaid /match we're , >fe^town ". 163 -.■ aad : v ?^ ;,.. * CHs iiß2 anirt 74 for 'Jpur wigkets.' 'The 'irate bl tuii-gettm^.fiiiu!- the Phoehia; second innings ivas most, depressing, oy^r two hours %ing"pcQUr pied m 99.; on.,,the Vslate. Phoenix, which had two wipkets. down! for 1 126, resumed' battihg v Law, s ,.C6l) and Miller (4) . being ifoG not.; bujts. Laws ; steadily went ahead'; ArijU , ,7^ was opposite his name on, the "slate | when he was nicely held, ! h^ '. Ci»irie (substitute) off Monaghan. ':'„,,/ /. M Redgtave, Barton and < Brji6e i Uttle' trouble to either fieldsj^ejii ri (ir Bcorerii, artd when the seventh wicket Jfid'-lfetlWn tihe telegraph read^n?;/ 162;; '.Mcl^ennan' and TVri ; ght l )ssnp : ;,a stryioeftbl'fe Wt lifeless stand 'jto'r the lastw'icket and ; brought' the; score frqni 1.t5 to 225 before 'Mcmajghah kno J cked the former's wickets ( but of

plumb. ■;;'■'•' '■'■'' ' : '..-',■''"."", "-'*"''■'' " McLaiinah; played" more cautiously than wafi; -necessaf^ . and ihe'.sam^ rfemark applies : , with^ .'grealt^lc, -.'fofofe, ;to WTi^ht.;. There "Was plenty, of lboie stuff stent clown which ' should l^SVe. lwen despatched; to the bqund^ry,r . "•; Tjieii was ; little sting; in' t^e' Old Boys.' and -, a batsh^an; ;»f the steiim-iammer type woul4 haye giyen it '^gyp." Tucker's ■figures ;. (3; for 00) read best. The picking .u^;and returning of ,the fieldsmeri' y^s .''far !rom blemishless. -''..' : . ' '"'. : v' ! : Whto Old Boys* took their I ''(se^piid ' strike thejr wanted 145 rims ; 'W^win: At the drawine of, stumps, Jbhey , were Within 62 of tJbiis ' nuin,ber. ;;and ' Jour wicket|3 were down, incliidins' %c , Blacklock Brothers and Tucker. ;^ : ' i N C. P. Blacklock showed' soiled],; air tack and made several s#ftet strpkes iii compiling his 25. J. P. " has.'"not yet ' entirely recovered from his rheumatic bput and his batting was hot so conMeht as of yore. :

" ; Tucker put seven to his, credit when he softly patted one back ,to Billy Redgrave. "It was a .Weak stroke from* oneiof Ken's refutations

The Phoenicians were not' particularly alert or sure m Ithe field. Wright was not m top gbod form tyahinl the sticks. T ; h£ two locks an^d, Beechey having lives' fr6m himV^. |^Ws[ ,^rundled steadily. The gknew^^dVahoed another stage' on Monday, and the position now is that th> Qld Boys require 41 runs to win tMbd haw five wickets to accomplish ' the, needful/ ■ . ;The . game resuited m r-a meritorious and popular win for th£ older club's representatives, by five wickets. The Jjii-ilariders, who had, 9 wickets . down for 102 runs, continued their „ injujags, Quee ' and Stephensoh, the ■ ngt outs of the previous week; taking \ thtir, place at the wickets: 0% 7 \ runs i were added when Siephenson ■was caught by Luckie, the innings :i closing for ,109 runs, which left the ':• Welltogtbhi&ns 168 to win. | The task seemed a difficult one for / theto to accomplish, but they gladi dened the-yihearts of their supporters . by coming out of the ordeal • with flyffl" colors, tlianks : to the excellent Jjatting .of S. Hickson and Mahooey, • wbi were, in great form, the fonrier especially so. ; ; •.'•■

; .Both 'players batted freely. Stan Hickson.shapi'np' excellently all round ihe wicket. He was particularly severe on anything loose on the off, and his cutting and driving were oE the highest , order. He got several fine hits to leg, one for 6- being loudly applauded.

Mahoney's performance,, too, was capital, his hitting being clean and crisp. He let nothing escape him when a fun- was to be h^d^' - Hick^soii ?ln^"his; partn^r^ Showed'sound .defehce; and; sterling c'ricfeet; and r it' was. pleasing to see Mahoney get ibis useful contribution, as he is a better batsman than his figures usually show. The stand made by these players was responsible for 118 runs , being, placed^ on the score sheet. duringHheir partnership. 1 ■ ' ■ ,' ' '

Roth were heartily, , applauded' on their return to the pavillioiiV Hicfcvson's contribution was 80 and Mahoney's 54. The former's score included otih hit, for 6, four hits for : 4 each, and eitrlit for 3 each, and ' Mahonev's one for 5 and eight for 3 each. |

Hickson met his fate at the bands of {Stephenson, who bowled him with a bail which beat him all the way. .. Mahoney was magnificently " caught by wicketkeeper Williams ; a finer catch behind . the wickets has seldom, been seen m Wellington, m fact. Upham disposed of Richardson with a clever one-handed catch m the slips. ■■■.' I '■•■.■

1 The fielding of the Midlanders was not so accurate or clean as is usually the case with this team, some of the fieldsmen appearing to be overanxious, which led to a number Of runs being scored which otherwise would not have been registered.

Atkinson, Upham and' Murphy , were bright exceptions. Claude Hickson also performed Creditably. It was perhaps lucky for Wellington', that it had not another 30 or 40 runs to. make for victory. As things were- Koing at the finish * the Midlanders had tRe opposing batsmen m queer street, and with the disroissal of , the cracks, and Upham and Stephenson bowling up to their best form, 'the task of the Wellington men was not an enviable one.

The catch by which Upham disposed of Richardson electrified -the spectators and batsman. Upham has brought off many magnificent catches m the slins. but Saturday's performance crowned all his previous feats. A finer catch has never been seen on the Basin. It is no exaggeration to say that as - a slipsman Upham has no ecmal m ; the colony, and it is very;; questionable- whether lie ' has few superiors m; Australasia. "If that catch (meaning" the one" which sent Richardson'; oayilionwards) had been made at, Leads.; 'l said one enthusiasm tic.suppqrter .qf the rival team, '.'the whole cricket world, would have been ringing its V ■praises.; In all my cricketing , - experience L never saw anything to beat it : ' It Ayas a '•corker" and no mistake.

When Hickson and Mahoney were going so strongly, and l'3O were .on the board for the 'loss of oiily one wicket, it lookedrany odds that^Wellington would reach home safely with' a margin of ifine /wickets: As is often the case", howev^rj' when a lomt partnership k ; is broken, the- batsmen quickly followed each pother to > the : pavildonv ; ; . iVi ,- ; - '-■■? '' ? ■-.':■■ ' ■■ '■ '

.>Mahoney gave the spectators a glimpse ;6f the fine form which he, exhibited on, his. arrival: here.from Sydhey a, Sew^ years, ago, ; ; JThe '■:. lpng h^association of Mahoney and Hickson recalled, to my mind the splendid atand' iby; Chris. Cross and Harris for Phoenix against Midland. many years a^P- On that ,6ccasibh the Phoenix pair put . up 145 runs befdrie the left-hander was sent to the Vighs-abb\it. '. ; , In the New South Wales Association matches this season A. B. S. White has scored 75, \ 90, and 50. Last seasdn 'he : ran J\ Rr M. Mackay - blose for the' honors of club' cricket In 'style heVtas": no resemblance^, to any bf the International bat^m^n'of the "da^'in Syd ne y; Clem -'HiU made a century on iiis first "'appearance for Sturt' against North Adelaide. „ " .

■■ In firsfrielass ; cricket' J. R, M. Mackay has, played only 28: iniiings, his highest- sedres -beiii^' '203, 194. 136, 131; 105, 102, 90, 56^56, and 50;; In all he has made 1455 runs at ah average of 55;96 per innings. ::,'•:' ; Arrangements- are being made for a match to be played at Maste?tgri on November 9' between the representative team and the Welling-; ton Wednesday representatives; ;

Lord Hawke, writing to the EJdeh District C. C. , Auckland,' relative to the appointment of A.,E. Relf,' says: 'fYour club will reall^ benefit by having such' y, reliable man to deal with. He has coached for; me before, and has given every : satisfaction. I am only too glad,," he continues, "to help m choosing players to go but as coaches. He 'concludes by hoping that the club will have a good season and "will thoroughly enjoy the visit 6f the-"M:C.Ci team, and will be pleased wMh Relf. ;

; By taking four wickets for Thornbury against Croftbn on September 19, Dr. E. Mv Grace brought his aggregate number of wickets fbr the season up to 350, ; thus (according to the Lbndon "Sportsman") establishing' a world's 'record. Upon such a notable occasion, it is interesting to give the figures '■'> of the doctor's career. He commenced playing m 1851, and, allowing for one year he did not play, he has taken 11,700 wickets and scored 76,100 runs. He last played for Gloucester County m 1596, against. Warwickshire. He has twice topped 3000 runs m one season.

Fancy Victor Trumper batting over thirty minutes for nine runs. Yet that was his, record for Paddington against the Glebe bowlers recently.

Whilst T. A. Higson and A. H. Hornby were m together m the first innings of Lancashire against Delrbyshire, at Old Trafford, m August, some extraordinary cricket was see^ for, though the former was as steady as the Pyramids, the latter cut and drove m brilliant style. As soon as Hornby went m, Higson, who had been batting for half; an hour for a single, : remained inactive for another 40 minutes, during which time Hornby scored 54 off the reel. Thorndon, which is kicking up such a mighty fuss because it was refused senior status, gave a dismal account of itself against Wellington juniors, the latter being m possession of the wickets for the whole of the afternoon, with two wickets still to fall. The bowling was whanged unmercifully, Sullivan, m particular, pasting it with merciless severity, and notching 139 before he received his quietus. Wellington has 344 -to its credit and will probably elect to. close its innfiiKs when play is resumed this afternoon: The mediocre, bowling talent of the Thorndon men goes to prove that the Cricket Association was wise when it refused to. concede them senlpr rank. The peeyisti' attitude of the Thorndon representatives on the cxc ciitive. m resigning their positions because the club qoukl not see its own way, is not altogether a matter for reeret, as two energetic and capable followers of the game m S. Jacobs COM ,Boys) and W, Hood Midland have been given the opportunity" of showing their administrative worth.

• : Martin Luckie's steady and accurate trundling contributed m no small measure to the success- of Wellington owr Midland. Martin is showing form wilh ihe l<nH Iliis season, and 'ho only wants Ihe luiU-do^ tenacity of Upham to accomplish great

things for his team m its other engagements. Pluggers of Upham's stamp are .not picked up every day, however.

The Cricket Association, has effected some very desirable improvements to the pavilion press-box, but much more remains to be done before things can be said to be on a satisfactory footing m that cramped up enclosure. Now that ; the Council has given permission tq. the Association to extend the press-box for about six feet, it is to be hoped that Chairman Luckie and his colleagues will see to it that the work is quickly put m hand. God knows this matter wants immediate attention. >.

It might be interesting to state Lhat the defeat sustained by Midland on Saturday 1 is the fir«t suffered by the senior combination since the 1903-4 season. On tha,t occasion, Wellington .were also the victors by 70 runs. Midland h»n not hnd the ch;i.iin>ioii!rUii) Uuircla v?i'tsltd iroin its grasp for eleven of twelve ye^rs.