CRICKET.

NZ Truth, Issue 78, 15 December 1906, Page 3

CRICKET.

The New town-Phoenix match haviner been won by the latter Club a fortnight ago, and the Midland-Gas Co. heat being practically a foregone conclusion-lor the former, all interest on Saturday was centred m the iikht between Old Boys and Wellington. : , both teams are so far undefeated, and the struggle' between them has I been,a Well fought one, the game at present being anybody's., In response to the Old Boys tally of 22*5,' the Wellington men had notohad 313 for six wickets, when play'"-ywts resumed^ ;35ha-.' renwnjiiig batsmen, however, failed to make a stand and Monaghan and Tucker cfuickly disposed of them for an addition of 19 runs only. Charley Gore was not out With 10. Moriaffhan's average worked out at 5 wickets for 112 and Tucker bagged 3 for 108. The Wellington attack was much weakened by the absence of Tom Hales, who is doiner relieving duty m Auckland. To add to its troubles Luckie got a smack on the knee from a return from the field and could not .bowl/ This hannened' when the score was about 120. ■ Tucker and Beeohey started out well, the latter scoring , the fastest. He had gathered m a couple of dozen when Hill got one past him. The retiring batsman played a fine, free innings',' his off-driving being particularly clean, crisp and vigorous m its execution. ■ J. P. Blackldck's tenure of tb? batting crease was brief, Mahoney snapping him up at the wickets. The Tucker-bixon - partnership realised 40 runs wbtfn- the latter was smartly .taken m the slips by Tommy Taylor off StanvHickson. The Old Boys were still 26 runs m arrears at the Lime of Tucker and C. P. Blacklock cdm-ing together. The sequence was a long and invaluable partnership. Blacklock made some telling, artistic cuts, one producing '"• and a couple of others 5 a piece. Tucker \sas playing for keeps all Uc time and the spectators were treated to a really good display of vfttl-ina-. although the Wellington ; \ipper was at his wits end to ring .n the howling changes. Eventually Blacklock fpll. to a fine catoh by Weyourne ol> -klvjudsbn with the total !t.t 209. 'Phis by the way was the ;,rst wiefet to fall from the Northern ewl durin" the afternoon. '.Vills, the newcomer, indulged m omc tall hitting and making a ■ <.:oupl« of drives right over the screen. Ohariic- Gore was then given a hand with the ball. He can break a bit, but his pace and length were very much so so. ■ Gore, however, managed to get his :,ide out. of a hole by securing two Wickets, Will.> being admirably i au<*ht by HiJl. close to the leg boundary.. Birch tamely placed a ball into Richardson's hands at mid wicket. . .Jacobs- was shaping neatly when he was run out and shortly afterwards Ken Tucker's long and finely played innings of 104 came to an end. He was easil* caught by the bowler off a tame stroke. Tucker is m great form this year, .having now baf<*ed the uly tv/o centuries m senior cricket. .MoiiP.'fhan shaped neatly for 10 not out. iVi.H.R. .Fisher fell for the same score, and m precisely the same way as J. P- Blackldek. The total was 277 (Hay being absent through illhealth) and the Wellington team were left with 171 to win. Hill,:who came m a bit from the off, howled capitally and secured 4 for 49. The rest of the bowlers, barinir Oor<?, were freely pasted. The match was continued on Monday ni^ht when, m a tooA. lierht, the Wei lino-ton men lost two Wickets (Wevhonmi? and Hickson) for 51 runs. "-Tahony batted soundly anrt was und!>f»»ated +h«» drawing of stum nc In llu' Midland v. Gasworks match, won by the former t 0 th 3 tune of 154 runs, the cricket shown on either side

was not of a particularly attractive nature, and warrants little comment. On the Midland side Williams was a sp-eciaior, Miiri-hy did not put m an appearance,, and Upham, whilst the Gasworkers were batting, was ?Uuck on the ankle by ■? ball hit by one of the Old Boys' players on No. i pitch. The blow was a painful one and Upham had to qflit the field. Ashbolt was an absentee from the Gasworks ranks. Midland's first essay closed at 193, leaving its opponents to make up heavy leeway m the shape of 313 runs, a margin too big for the younger club's representatives to have any chance of bridging over. Dredge and Hawthorne started operations and the runs came pretty freely until the latter wa§ given lbw to Stephenson, a decision which was i o£en ... to much .quesHqri&S&^gji&f&ißQ batsrriiaff /Jrald-"theiwoo^tn to: any- ; thing loose. ft _ Dredge went along / steadily and soundly, his dismissal coming about by a catch credited to Davis off Stephenson. Waugh, Currie, Haxris and McKay (not out) notched double figures, the exrDunedjnite putting plenty of power into his strokes and scoring freely at times. The last wicket collapsed at 158, leaving the Gasworkers m a deficit of 154 on the two innings. Stephenson was the only Midland bowler to meet with success, getting 7 wickets at a cost of 47, which was a very decent nerformance m the lteht of the aggregate compiled by the Gasworkers. Billy Quee was entrusted with one over m which 11 runs were scored. Billy started on the off-swerve principle, but his first Hawthorne pulled to square leg for 5. The Midlander' reckons, however, that with a little practice he will deal havoc with his opponents' timber-stacks. His comrades have their "doots" about the good thing coming off. #Barney Weybourne's appearance at the bowling-crease m the WellingtonOld Boys' match gave rise to considerable amusement among the > spectators, especially when his first was pitched over the wicket-keeper's head. That set the crowd going and Barney was the recipient of much chaff for the remainder of the over.. The Wellington man, however, stuck up Tucker on a few occasions and almost vorked him one time. The ground fielding of the Wellington men lacked cleanness and dexterit"', the returning was slovcnlv executed and often inaccurate, whilst the catching was faulty There were one or two bright exceptions, it is true, but "one swallow, etc." The Wellington fieldsmen had certainly themselves to blame for the Old , Boys' larre score. The V. :)?inn;tqn-01d Boys game will puowi'e sou.ci/hinir like a local record for scoring m a sinele matrh before it is over 'Ah. -adv. close on 900 runs are divided between the respective teams.