Senior Championship Competitions.

NZ Truth, Issue 177, 7 November 1908, Page 3

Senior Championship Competitions.

Saturday's Results.

Midland. 157 y. , V.M.C.A., 6 for 2 wickets; Clv Boys 192 for 6, v. Wellington ; Petone 157 ' for 5 v. Gas Company ; Waiwetu 51 for 7 v. Phoenix. Miserable weather was m evidence for the starting of the second round of the Senior, Chnnipignships last ■Saturday, and batsmen. werc> with a tad light soine~3o or 40 minutes lefore the time fixe- for the drawing of stumps. -The wickets, however, were none the worsft'for the rainfall . .-.■', Peton? appear to he m a sound position with the Gas Company, having mad? 157 Eor the loss oE 5 wickets, so it is on the cards that a second victory for the suburban team seems lfijely. " Stan Brice again displayed very fine form m compiling^ 78 (riot out) ,, his driving arid pulling being especially effective. No chance 'can he debited against him, and he never looked lil^e gei|liig out. . . Joyce, m making 29, gave the ball the full face of the bat, and gives ' promise ' of materially assisting his.; team during tbA-vseason. •■••■■■ „.■* Isiiorwood made 16 attractively, and jast when settling . down ■ to business-, hit across a straight one, well up from Miller. a nd paid the penalty.' Cobcroft made 55 very, quickly, and had the bad luck to be caught off a hard, low hit on the square leg boundary. Taylor, after making 5, was altogether too late for one of Miller's and had his • off ,stump knocked out of plumb. Smyxk was bowled by the left hander with the best ball of ' the day, which cany» fast from the off. Miller was by fair the best bowler for the Company, '"securing" four of the five wickets which have fallen. He should, however, have been given a short spell, as he appeared to -tire 'a, good lot to-. Awards the end. . ji Skipper Hodge, ; who replaces Les Ashi<jtoli (for a fortnight) did not use his pewlors judiciously, . seeing the light was. too good. Gourlay should have been put on earlier, and changes were not made soon enough. Hawthorn* and

Hall could advantageously have been giVf en a trial. The Gas Co.'s chance of premiership honors is handicapped by indifferent fielding. The ground fielding and returning on Saturday was only on a iar with previous efforts. Wellington lost the toss again and Old Boys stayed at the wickets till time was called. Play was delayed until tjhree o'clock, but tnere was ho reason for doing so. The usual go-as-you-please system was followed as a matter of course. Conditions were all against the fielding sides", the ball being very greasy, and the bowlers found it very hard to get a footing— a common fault amongst most focal bowlers through not having proper.; Spikes m their boots. It is most important that bowlers and batsmen also should see to this matter, as many a good game has been lost through neglect m this direction. Oid Boys , started with Birch and Beechy. The youngster shaped with heaps of confidence and should make runs freely when he has had a little more experience. He threw ;his wicket away m going at a ball wide on the off. Beechy was very wild, and wanted to 1 smash everything. Probably he will settle down ,to plVying his usual game after he gets' a few small scores. Ken Tucker was very solid, batting 1 about two hours for 62, and was then unbeaten. He does not put the full power into his strokes that he once did. Ken was missed by Jack Mahoney off. Luckie when 30 was to his credit on the slate. Had some of the Wellington fieldsmen go to the ball m a few instances, instead of standing with their hands m their pockets,^ it 'is likely Tucker would have retired to tie pavilion. : Jim Blacklock did not play as freely as^ usual, but - livened vp ■ • towards the •end. He was badly missed; at long-on, by Bob 'Miller; who was almost fr-ozen with the cold. • McGill did, not last long, being sent to the right-about per mediura of a really brilliant catch by Murphy at extra-cover. . Mark, Lomax and Monaghan were both run out through clever returns to the wicket-keeper by Charlie Richardson. Wellington bowling was very moderate. Miller bowler fairly, but could not obtain a footintr for the reason / pef ore mentioned. He should not be disheartened at his first display, and he will possibly do better anon. . . : Stan Hickspn, who bowled a trifle short, should have operated from the eastern end, as the wind would have, helped him to swerve, , Luckie has not yet struck formVr Jack l^ash bowled well late m the afternoon; the ball he floored Blacklbck's stumps with was a bosker. Quinn trundled er-: ratically. : ■ Vare and one or two others were like blocks of wood m the field, the hall bouncing off their hands with painful regularity. Wellington's fieldsmen let their side down every time, while the bowling, m the absence of "Snowy" Hales, was mediocre. Mids. batted first on an easy wicket, but; fail !> d make most of their chances. Disaster soon overtook Wynward, who attempted to hook. one of Herlihy's curly ones. Williams was missed at deep-leg by Tilyard (an almost impossible catch) but the next over was badly beaten by a yorker, which came back a lot •* (the best ball of the day) from Herlihy 1. Bruce and . Hickson were beaten every over by Herlihy, who could not find their timbers, . whilst both were decidedly vuncomfortable when facing the leg break bowler Grimmett. . , A slight rot set m after Owens got a fast one past Bruce,, but was stopped by Patrick getting some good "off." strokes. Patrick gave the best display on his side. - , . . Ryan was given, l.b.w. to Herlihy bowling round the wicket, but did hot relish the decision, and stopped a while to argue. '■'-•■ Hickson was missed by Brett (an easy catch at mid-on) when [h& was 2Q, and again by Herlihy m the slips, when he was 50; ■ Brett also missed Patrick before he " had got going._ Hickson shaped well, but had the devil's luols behind him. The V.M.'s fielding was very patchy, and its ground work land retufns to the wicket could be considerably improved upon. Tilyard was easily the best fielder. . : . Midlane made a great mistake m going on to bowl himself. He did not use Owens or Grimmett enough. Atkinson, behind the stumps^ missed a couple; of chances, off leg stuff, of stumpinsr Bruce and Mitc-helK' < In the failing light, Herlihy, and Greenwood essayed to play out time, but the former, m trying to hit Hickson over the. gallery, was out to a brilliant catch by Patrick at long-on. Brett and Greenwood tried . the "gag clause" every over on account of the bad light, but neither of the umpires would, agree to draw stumps. Brett "cocked 1 " one to poiut off Hickson, and went out for a "dolly" catch to Stephenson at point. Phoenix-Waiwetu game was commenced at the Lower Hutt .Recreation Ground. A great deal of time was wasted before a start was made, with the result that only about an hour's play took place, the light at five o'clock being, no bad as to compel stoppage of operations. The rain which fell did not materially affect the wicket. It was not until 3.30 that the wish of the majority of the players was acceded to and a startjnade. The suTnirbanites won the toss, and batted, T. H. Wilson and A. Staples opening." The latter was playing confidently when Gibbes got a good cne past him. Staples did not think lie was out, but it was so. Hilson was patchy and returned one to C. Hickey m the second over, which was not accepted. Waiwetu's "Ranji" had made 14 when he endeavored to bang one of Hickey's, which 'he mishit, the ball flew up, and the batsman received a nasty gash over the eye. AVilson retir.ed to seek medical assistance, and did not bat again, but the writer hopes to see him well enough to "have a go" today. Geo. Burton— who has again migrated to the Hut;^— shaped -very, indifferently, and got out to Hickey as the result of a very weak stroke.- Rojrers (18 not out) batted nicely, but did .not take any chances. Gibbes (4 for 21) bowled splendidly for the town team, repeatedly beating ' the bat, wicket, and wick«t-keeper. the tall which settled Judd was a "hummer," and quite satisfied the Waiwetu skipper. The wicket at the I-lutt is a good one. /- The ground is nicjly situated, and a very pleasant aftetaoun may Le spent with the Waiwetu boys.