CRICKET.

NZ Truth, Issue 84, 26 January 1907, Page 3

CRICKET.

I "(By Scout) j '!'"•' ' No first-class team is thoroughly, equipped for the purpose of meeting another thoroughly fitst-class team unless it has at least three reliable batsmen of the solid rather than the brilliant order. It was the recognition of this fact that brought Warner's team successfully through the Australian campaign.

A Dunedin writer notes m his own town the unusual spectacle of father and son playing m the same team a fortnight ago. It has been a common occurrence m local cricket this season, as witness Burton pere and fils playine for the Phoenician seniors.

An almost unpardonable mutilation of names made a par m last week's notes read excessively ridiculous. As the names appeared m print they read Sheepy Dreyden and Frank Dredge, when as a matter of fact they should .have been Sheepy Dryden and Frank Ashbolt. This scribe casts the blame, for the mistake, on the intelligent comp., while the latter, for his part, has n o hesitation m swearing, by all that's holy, that toe mutilation -wsfe Mroui^t-'abotit" by ms spiderly and* Undecipherable scrawl of the said scribe.

Says a Sydney writer :— A. J. Hopkins stands out to-day as a better batsman than he ever was before. It may be that his form is improved generally, but one is inclined to think that his successes are due to his having practically given up the Trumperr like flicks and gone m for healthy straight driving.

M. A. Noble's successful bowling this aeason makes a problem, so it is said. He is certainly bounding -up to the wicket and swinging them m with more vim than marked his bowling during the last two seasons. But •sure!-" that is not wholly accountable for the ' change m his results, M.A.N., of course, is a marvel at screwing the best out of himself. He has often bowled with* bad luck, perhop's ho is just now having; a taste of the other sort- of luck. The- batsman snicks him and is caught ; one time the snick • meant four.

3)isappaintc<i with the attendance at the M.C.C.-Otago match, the Otago Association has set up a committee to suucest a scheme of advertising where'— ~ -'multitude may be attracted to the next match against the •English amateurs m February. 'Uraham appears to have fallen away from cricket grace this season and, according to a . Dunedin writer, had it not Le«n for the form he displayed m the fjscoud innings of Otago v. Canterbury, it is doubtful if 'the "little dasher" would have been selected m iho match asainst the Englishmen!' The ex-inkrnaiional cricketer did not bat up to expectations against M.C.C., m addition to which his fieldin"- was degrees below standard. In view of this, it is not m the least surprising that the "amateur" selectors are sup-^esting that he should not be considered for the .next Otago team to meet the Englishmen.

Our old fritnd, R. O. Miven, had a turn with the gloves m Dunedin recently. The ex-Phoenician and Wellington rep. stumper is reported to hayft : tho'.vn gobd form behind the .sticks*- V.hile- ljeepingj; guard at the .timber stack^a ball removed the bails and one of them struck the wicketkeeper on the eye, inflicting a nasty cut. Later m the . day, but at " the opposite end to that where the first "accident" took place, Niven : was again struck on the eye, the bail selecting the,, same spot to emphasise its presence ! The, Wellington man's luck was dead out I 'on 1 this occasion. Mr Philip Sheridan, who will leave m March on a trip to Europe, has been associated with the Sydney Cricket Ground since its dedication 30 Tears ago. In all' that time he has not visited England. What will be his feeling on visiting Lords and Kennington Oval, and he makes the inevitable comparison with the Sydney ground !

The Bat and Ball Cricket Ground at Gravesend is to be retained for the purposes of sport. As the ground 9 was 'about to fall into the hands of the builder, the purchase money] (£5000) was at once subscribed.

In sending a cheque for £3105 to J.. T. Tyldesley as a result of his benefit match, the Committee of the Lancashire County Club forwarded a .framed letter, m graceful terms, as follows :— "This is a striking tribute b" the cricketing public to the splendid services you have rendered to Lancashire cricket. They hope it will be regarded as an indication of the general desire that those services may be continued for many years to come. In forwarding the cheque to reach y ou nn this, the thirty-third anniversary of your birthday, the Committee desire to wish you 'Many happy returns of th-3 day.' " The match between the champion county arid England, played at Ken-nine-ton Oval last year, produced.' a profit of £825 11s Id. The Surrey County CO. has handed the amount over to the Cricket Fund and the Cricketers' Fund Friendly Society (£412 16s each).

Very few men who excel m any branch of athletics have suffered more from ill-heal t-fi* than Ranjitshmji. At nresent the famous batsman seems to be undergoing a particularly painfciV experience. "Thanks t n asthma and liver complaint, I have beea living on milk for over a month now," is' the wav he describes his condition .m a recent letter to an English friend. Siedeberg, the well-known Dunedin cricketer, scored 223 not out for Carlsbrook B against Opoho on Saturday He was batting just on 3J?rs 30 mm and never gave; a chance. Siedebero- eclipsed . Dickson's previous best record (210)' which had stood for 20 years. Carisbrook amassed 411 for the loss of three wickets, and then declared its innings closed. Austin was credited with 101

Dan Reese, who. compiled a odtiple of centuries araiast Warner's Combination returned to Christfhurch on Thursday week, after an absence of four years.