HOLIDAY CRICKET

NZ Truth, Issue 1050, 7 January 1926, Page 12

HOLIDAY CRICKET

Canterbury's Collapse In Big Plunket Shield Battle

HIDDLLSTON IN^lfc lfOßM

(By Lr .T. Cbbcf,oft.) ;

> Fresh from, their great yictorj «$ that the Canterbury te^ny woul failed miserably. ' ;'. After the local side had piled up nearly 500, of which Hiddleston and McGirr made over 300 between them, the boys from^the City of the Plains gave one of the poorest exhibitions, of batting by a representative side; ever, witnessed on the Basin Reserve. V'V - What was the cause of Canter- , . bury's collapse? : .; Was it; the, bad wicket, was it or. was it superior bowling by Badcock and McGirr ? ' ' i iAn Easy Wicket. C ; • ,-• 'It certainly was not the; fault of the tvicket, as never once wa|: a batsman out through, a rising 1 or shooting ball. ■The wicket, on the contrary, was ieasy and one which a batsman should .h^ye appreciated. • . .. '.'.'■ Not once did a Canterbury play- i '■-..■ ,er in the first innings endeavor to .drive a ball, notwithstanding the .fact that a number of v balls ; were . ; pitched right' up to '.within a foot' 1 of '-■'■ ' " 'the bat. '' ; £fy ' /: - ■'>■ ; V ■ ' ' ' ; :V; „' '/■ All the baisnien persistently played right back op; their wicket ;~ ; inj fact several full iosses were': just-, blocked instead of being smacked to tlje boundary. .. > .\ VThy Canterbury Failed. ! •Admittedly McGirr andi Badcock' bowled well, but surely, batsmen should be able , to play good bowling. >:I wonder what Dan' fßeese would • fra/ve said if he had been able to wit-' n.esa the miserable^ display of batting Klyen by the Cahterbiury player's? : r ■.-•';• They are .capable .of: .making. 'plenty of runs against any, inter- ■„ provincial bovyling., ,• ; ..- ( v , ,V .'T.'Wiell, how doVyou account for theijj| collapse m both, innings?^. • : '■ ' '■...! Siinply" this:,, After,, the. light rain which had 'fallen v ; ah.d;,the: decision" of the umpires to. postpone play.. ,% 0r an • hour, the ' Canterbury ( batsmen fully expected the wicket to' play, all sorts, of pranks, and were . out before they, left the' pavilion. v.y- V This, together with being up . against Badcock and McGirr for - the first time, and losing a couple, of wickets early on, put the "wind •',' up" the rest of them. / . ' ' "Nerves" . was at the bottpm of this debacle. ; ''"• Nervous Batsmen. '-Most of- the Canterbury •• batsmen Btpod, with both feet behind the batting crease m taking strike, showing plainly) that they wer.e;.not;,going^,tp; be. en-, ticed into playing f oirward on : any : ac- / count, •' . ':;"■ , '.'■;'.;" , ■•/. , The wicket" vfas one on jwhich any captain winning the toss wbuld. have • decided to bat; the ball being: greasy and the turf just damp enough to prevent a bowler getting any break, on, .besides making it difficult for him to get- a proper foothold when delivering. If the Canterbury team had. to ■ bat again to-morrow under the.' ■ : , .same conditi6nsy--*and<«they vplayed „ • the game asrtheyACan^-play- 1 1 v-they ;•;••:• would doubtlessimake a good score.

7 over ! pt^o,;it was lully.expectd but they Smith i.at this' stage had reached 49 after- 2.y 2 -hours' blocking;, ; -and was cheered as he" reached r h|s half hundred with an" unusually 1 smaLrt 1 run.- ■ The' 'co'ngregation sighed " m sympathy I, when the umpire ' outed him. l.b.w.' to Cpririadi after occupying over threes-hours to p^le' up -63, Which in-cluded-a;'couple; of, chances. ■ ". /The Eden colt,' Copper, seemed sjmjl^riy? smitten with sleeping sickness, 11 and - was unbeaten with 26; onfwhen Auckland's innings ;« closed ', at' 3^3. v ->'' ' •, , : -.-' . ' : The r, veteran- 'Dick . Torrkhce had bow lted "43 overs.- for 90 runs, and had. seven Auckland^scalps at his belt. He was lordly cheered as he left the held; it was a; splendid piece of steady plodding with very few loose deliveries.'' ■.. .-. ,. v ' /' .... '.'•■' . ■"•'"' .■\''' i; VT'hV.\Ptego'-fiejd!iigv.was far more snappy' than Aupkland's; but : there, were ijnpresdsopped; catches . on both .sides i than one expects m a .Shield gani)e;; /\ ■ .:' 6verra v couple of hundred m arrears, 1 the southerners; were .taking no

more risks m their second knock after McMullan went for a blob m Simpson's ppening 1 over.'.'■■■:'-'-■ ' : ; ■* , Kirns were v about as frequent as 1 trams parsing the gates until the teatime ad jpiirnment. ' The tliir.d: day's pla^- started disastrously for-.,--the' southerners, Blamires (74) and; Zimmerman -(77) both being bagged behind the sticksi off! fast\ rising ' ones from ■ Simpson. The padre and the .colt had stopped /the rot with a useful partnership of 151. Conradi ,seeitied, set when a shooter :, from * Player* bowled him, for 11, and Knight joined. Galland for the best partnership,of the match. : •: The tail wagged for a while, and ' the innings closed for a .good recoveryat 470, giving Auckland 269 to get oh a wicket that was showing signs of wearing, with oocasional shooters and kickers. Auckland found this out when Blamires., blew, Horspool out with a low daisy-trimmer for a .duck, and Jack Mills was foolishly run out with only 30 on. ' , ; "■■;, :" .. ••■;••• 'Auckland won by five wicket's; Snedden scoring 131 nqt out. .',.'' The "only change m the Auckland team , for- the Canterbury : match is Gerrard't replacing: Secretary Saunders, which : improves > the batting strength but not the bowling.