SPORTS OE ALL KINDS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19065, 10 January 1924, Page 4

SPORTS OE ALL KINDS

CRICKET.

Br Sup. REPRESENTATIVE FIXTURES, January 18, 19, and 21.—Otago v. Wellington, at Dunedin. February 15, 16, and 18, New South Whales v. Otago, at Dunedin. All club matches will be resumed on Saturday. Though it was expected generally that the return Grange-Caris-brook match would be played, it is mors satisfactory that this game will eventuate later. Grange will not be at full strength on Saturday, and it was expected that some of Carisbrook’s batsmen would also be absent. , The Otago team has returned from the north, and the members unanimously declare that the trip was a fine one and it should be beneficial to cricket in Otago. The present state of affairs leaves Otago with honours even —one win, one loss. Auckland certainly beat us comfortably, but our team fought every inch of the way, and although defeated it was not disgraced. , The winning of the toss meant much to Auckland and everything to Otago. As it happened. Shepherd lost the option of choice of innings, and this factor alone discounted Otago’s chances from the outest. Auckland made the best use of first strike on the good wicket provided, occupying the wickets practically the whole of the opening day for the tidy total of 330 runs. The Otago bowlers, of which only four were tried in the first innings, stuck to their task valiantly. It is no fault of theirs that victory did not rest with us. Our batting, particularly the first knock, was anything but consistent. _ Worker stood out alone with a brilliantly compiled 93, this display giving further proof of his exceptional abilities. He is certainly among the first flight of New Zealand batsmen this season. Shepherd got 43 smartly, but foolishly threw Ids wicket away by jumping out to a short one from the wily Smith, with the result that ho was stumped. This is all very well in club cricket, and one would imagine that a batsman of Shepherd’s calibre would have recognised the importance of the occasion and adopted much safer tactics. His wicket is too good to sacrifice in this manner in Plunket_ contests. Douglas justified his inclusion in the team, and is to be complimented on his signal success. By securing eight wickets for 169 runs, he did his share of the attack, and incidentally tops the bowling average for the tour. A bowler of Douglas’s tvpe requires all the assistance possible from his field, and in this respect he was not neglected, for the fielding of the Otago team reached a very high standard. Certainly on or two chances were missed, but. then, what team will not give away something? In the fielding department, H. C. Alloo 'deserves credit for his work in this match, the way in which he raced round the boundary cutting off fours being an eyeopener and a treat to witness. Worker and Shepherd are also singled out for their clean picking up and returning. During the tour 11 catches were accepted by the team, Galland, Worker H. C. Alloo. and A. W. Alloo ho’ding two each and Knight. Torrance, and Blamires one each. Chadwick accounted for one when he stumped Turton off Douglas in the Auckland game. Seventv-seven extras were recorded against Otago in the two matches, while 87 were added to their of these coming from Canterbury. Umpires’ decisions sent no fewer than 13 of our batsmen paviiionwards. as against four that disposed of our opponents. Shepherd suffered most severely in this respect, appeals to the umpires dismissing him on three occasions. Appended are the batting and bowling averages of the Otago representative team.

J. Burmin? (none for two) and J. -M. muilan ; (none for ,13) also bowled. The selection of the Otago team to play Wellington is practically certain to disclose at least two_ changes in the personnel. Dickinson will displace one man, and H. Duncan’s claims for inclusion can hardly be overlooked. Apart from his performance in the Oarisbrook Albion matches, Duncan’s nlay in the match against North Otago must have improved his chances, for, though the opposition was weak, his display must be regarded as creditable. A keen and accurate cover field and a sound batsman who can vary his tactics to suit th© bowling, Duncan bids fair to be selected. Wellington’s team includes “star” performers from Wanganui. Why should the Otago team not include Invercargill’s “star” performer? I understand that Driscoll is eligible for selection, and he certainly merits favourable consideration. Uttlcy, the North Otago batsman, is a player whose fielding supports his batting in recommending him, and Conrndi is_ another “allrounder” deserving of mention. It will be difficult to decide what players are to be “dropped” from the touring team, and it is very unlikely—and hardly advisable—that as many as five changes should be made. Dunning will nrobably make one change possible, and Torrance might make another. Douglas should bo able to retain his place and Knight’s performances entitle him to continued confidence. Though M’Mullan and Gailand were not seen at their best on tour, it wo"M not he reasonable to exclude either. Neither Blamires (Albion) nor M'Mullan (Grange) will bo available for Saturday’s matches. The North End v. South End match on Saturday last, if not possessing many features, served to show further the effect of Dickinson’s bowling. A good performance by Dickinson in the match against Wellington should leave him a likely candidate for a position in the New Zealand team. Wellington’s huge score against Auckland has led to a good deal of discussion about big scores in Plunket Shield matches, and the question has been raised whether the total of 569 is the largest on record for Shield matches. In the first match for the Shield, played between Auckland and Canterbury at Hagley Park in December, 1907, Auckland amassed the big score of 539, and that was bettered in the 1909-10 season, when the northerners piled up 579 against Otago, who, it will be remembered, sent up a powerful combination, including Macartney. The principal contributors to Auckland’s total were Hemus 109, Relf 118, and Sale 121.' After the war period, during which the competition was suspended, the record score was made by Auckland, who, in 1919-20, compiled 643 against Canterbury at Auckland. S. G. Smith in that game contributed 236 and Hemus 140. Last year s Auckland-Wellington contest accounted for •the greatest aggregate score in the history of the Plunket Shield competition, a grand total of 1554 runs being made up as follows: Wellington, 455 and 386; Auckland, 386 and 337. A rather unusual incident occurred in the match between Melbourne and Adelaide Universities. One of the Melbourne batsmen kept coming yards out of his crease when backing up at the bowler’s end, and ®n one occasion the Adelaide wicket’-eencr fTreloar) tried to ran him out by throwing 4he ball at the, wicket. The ball missed the ■tumps, and the batsmen ran a single. There vas quite a discussion as to how the run was to be scored, but the umpire settled ■II doubts by signalling a bye. Even then many were not satisfied, being of the opinion that the ball must pass the wicketkeeper ere a bye could be scored. But the umpire was right, as it could be nothing else but a bye. R. W. Orton, who scored a double century for Wanganui in the second innings of the Hawke Oup match against South Auckland a while back, is an ex-English player. Before coming to New Zealand, he was one of the most brilliant batsmen in the Buckinghamshire eleven in secondgrade cricket in the Old Land. No batsman in the dominion has more scoring strokes or can score faster than Orton, but. like all men who take the risks he freciuently has to pay for his impetuosity. He has a good record of solid scores to his credit for Wanganui in Hawke Cup and representative matches, and has frequently toured as a member of the Nomads Club. Ibo late A. G. Steel, the famous All-

England and Combridge University player, gives the following sound advice regarding bowling:—“No rule can be laid down with regard to the frequencv of bowling changes, except the> more the better. A bowler should never be kept on if ho is not getting wickets, and if the batsmen are playing him with ease. If a long stand is being made, every style of bowling should be quickly tried. 'Thirty runs should never be allowed without a change of some sort, unless the bowling is particularly puzzling to the batsmen and is being badly played.” In 1895 George Giffen made a record unique in the history of the game. The Australians were playing Essex, and Giffen was allowed by his skipper to bowl for an hour and a-half without getting a single wicket! The value of this advice was illustrated in a Plunket Shield match last year. An Otago player, who was really in the team for his bowling, was allowed to pass practically the whole afternoon without a turn with the ball, and the other tmndlers were being hit all over the place. The Canterbury Cricket Association has decided to allow married men 10s a day as out-of-pocket expenses when selected to travel. The membership of the Carisbrook Club is the largest of any club in New Zealand. JUNIOR MATCHES. It is difficult to ascertain, in many cases, the exact positions of junior teams. That state of affairs is due to the failure of certain junior clubs to forward either for publication in the Otago Daily Times or for record in the office of the secretary of the association—the latter surely an important duty—the results of their matches. The games of which no record can be made of the result are five in number, and in each of these cases a High School team was one of the two concerned. The opposing teams were from the Kaikorai Club in three cases, St. Hilda once, and Harris once. Kaikorai have the excuse, of course, that this is the first year of their existence. For the purpose of the following tables championship points have been awarded to neither of the clubs interested in such cases, for the obvious reason that the results are not ascertainable. Matches won by default are included as matches played: SECOND GRADE A.

BATTING. Not Total Hghst. lugs. , Out. Buns. Score. , Avge. b. de B. Worker ... 4 — 315 172 78.75 Eev. E. 0. Blamires 4 — 106 1.13 49.00 J. S. Shepherd „. 4 — *139 47 34.75 H. C. Alloo _ 4 — OS 30 24.00 J. 3L JI'Mullan _ 4 — 75 59 18.75 A. E. Knight — _ 4 — 73 45 18.25 A. Galland _ 4 — 68 44 17.00 A. W. Alloo ._ _ 4 — 48 18 12.09 C. P. Chadwick _ 4 1 33 16 11.00 I!. C. Torrance A 2 11 7* 5.50 %■. Douglas — ... 2 1 5 5* 5.00 9 Dunning — — 2 — 7 7 3-60 • Not cut. BOWLING. Average Wickets. Buns. per wkt. A. Galland _ — — 2 35 17.50 W. Douglas ... 8 169 21.12 Bev. E. 0. Blamires 6 139 23.16 B. C. Torrance ... „. ii 253 23.45 A W. Alloo „ ... 12 329 27.41 3. S. Shepherd — ... 1 6S 66.00

F. W. Ti. D. Champ. Pts, Grange _ ... 4 3 1 — 9 Carisbrook 4 2 2 — 6 Valley — — ... 4 2 2 — 6 Dunedin ... 4 — 4 — — SECOND F. GRADE W. B. Ti D. Champ. Pte. Albion 8* 4 It 2 10 St. Hilda _ 0 4 1 9 Carisbrook D 8 3 3 2 8 Grange ... 7 2 3 2 6 Kaikorai —. 7 2 2 2 6 Carisbrook C ... 8 2 4 2 6 High School ... S* 1 1 3 5 * The game between Albion and High School is unfinished- + Match awarded to Grange on account of Albion having . played a player against whom Objection was raised. Albion subsequently entered a protest. THIRD F. GRADE W. Ti. D. Champ. Pts. St. Hilda — ... 9 8 1 — 16 Albion ... 8 7 1 — 14 Talley ... 8 4 4 — 8 Grange ... 8 3 ft — 6 Kaikorai ... 8 3 5 — 6 Carisbrook ... 9 2 6 1 5 Harris ... 9 3 5 — 4 High. School ... 8 1 4 1 3 FOURTH GRADE. P. W. D. D. Champ. Pts. Albion ... 7 5 2 — 10 Christian Bros. ... 6 5 1 — 10 Grange _ 7 4 3 — 8 Kaikorai — ... 7 3 .3 — 6 Valley ... 7 2 5 4 M'Glashan College G 2 4 — 4 Carisbrook ... 7 2 5 — 4 High School ... 5 2 3 4