NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20322, 2 February 1928, Page 4

NOTES.

Whenever a race meeting is held locally on a Saturday the ranks of some of the cricket teams are depleted. This is a state of affairs which should not be allowed to continue, and clubs should insist on their players choosing between the two sports. A man who will forsake his team in such a selfish manner deserves no consideration, and it would not be surprising if at least one player loses his place in his team as a result of his absence on Saturday last. I am told on good authority of an incident in a junior match on Saturday which exposes the team it concerns in a very bad light. The side was confident of winning, so confident, in fact, that some of its members thought the occasion fitting for indulging in wagers on the result. It was dismissed, however, for a moderate total, and the opposing team passed its total with wickets to spare. Some of the losing side immediately left the field.' It is to the credit of the captain, however, that he took the loss in a sporting spirit, and told the erring players very candidly what he thought of their action. Betting inevitably leads to bad feeling in cricket, and it would be well if the incident were investigated by the club concerned. Running between th© wickets is a department of the game in which many young Dunedin cricketers could show improvement. To be run out is eym more annoying than to be given out Ibw, but smartness between the wickets can prevent such unhappy dismissals. Young cricketers who have sufficient enthusiasm can improve their work between the sticks by watching such players as Blunt, Alloo, Galland, and M’Mullan, all of whom know how to run and when to run. Besides, when some of the older hands detect a weakness in a boy’s running they can do him a kindness by dropping a few hints. M‘Girr has now taken over 100 wickets in Plunket Shield games. Every run saved is a run gained, and counts to the credit of the fieldsman. R. E. Foster, the great English batsman, who made the test match record score of 287 against Australia, is reported to have said that his score would have been at least 50 more if any other but Syd Gregory had been at cover-point. That is a great tribute to th© value of a brilliant fieldsman’s work. One wonders what must have been the thoughts which coursed through Alex. Downes’s mind as he stood umpire in this match, and watched the Otago bowlers being clouted to all parts of the field (states the Dominion). In the ’nineties Downes was New Zealand’s best slow medium off-break bowler, and during his career he captured 33 wickets for 813 runs- in matches which New Zealand played against overseas’ teams. He helped New Zealand to beat New South Wales ai Christchurch in 1895 by taking tour wickets for 73 and one for 11. His record on the New Zealand team’s tour of Australia in 1899 was 14 wickets for 383 runs, an average of 27.35. He must have felt like doffing his umpire’s coat and serving a few of his nippy off-breaks up to Foley, James, Badcock, M‘Girr, and Lowry, as they continued to belt the leather to all parts of the Carisbrook field on Friday and Saturday last. Cricket, to Ponsford, is a business devoid of purple patches, because he has long since absorbed all the purple it can

have for him (says th© Sydney Bulletin). After returning to the pavilion on the completion of his four-century whack against Queensland, he broke through a forest of back-patting hands to ask a newspaper colleague if a ‘‘ good thing ” for the races had got home that day. Later, it was suggested that the bat which had made the record should be kept as a historical souvenir. “ What for ! ” he asked. “It is still good enough to play witii! ” There you hav© Ponsford. In a sense, he has become part of the implement which he wields so freely. As a cricketer he is without nerves and without imagination. According to the Sydney Bulletin, C. J. Eady has joined the ranks of the select few who have had a memorial erected to their honour while still this side of the Styx. At Hobart last week a bronze memorial commemorating his services to Tasmanian cricket was unveiled in the Tasmanian C.A.’s pavilion. One recalls him as a powerful, punishing batsman, and a fast bowler who would be nearly in the champion class to-day. He scored a pair of centuries in the match against Victoria in 1895, and his 566 in a club match at Hobart still stands as Australia.s record for any class of cricket. With Harry Troth's 1896 side in England, Eady averaged 13.18 with the bat and took 16 wickets at a cost of 25.5 each. One of the best features of the Victorian eleven that it embraces three very good bowlers of different types, not one of whom provides the batsmen with easy runs, viz., H. Ironmonger. D. M. Blackia, and A. Morton (says a Sydney writer). Ironmonger had been in firstclass cricket much longer than the other pair, and has had experience in many places. He first played for Queensland and then Victoria. Besides, he resided in Balmain for a time, and bowled very ably for the district club. Witii the Australian team in New Zealand a few years ago he and P. M. Hornibrook had a good time among the wickets. Hornibrook is much younger, though he, too, is advancing. He was married some little time back, and has settled dotfn to his profession as a dentist in Brisbane. In shield matches this summer Ironmonger has taken 25 wickets for 517 runs, Blackie 22 for 409, and Morton 21 for 480. Bowlers able to produce the success that has produced these figures in this class of cricket are almost as big an asset as W. M. Woodfull and W. H. Ponsford. the century makers. Ironmonger is a product of Queensland, and Morton of Tasmania, but Bla,ckie is truly Victorian, though his light did shine unseen for so many years in Melbourne. A scrutiny of the records shows that Dave Nourse has played in 45 test matches for South Africa, a number which has only been exceeded by S. E. Gregory (Australia), 58; W. Rhodes (England), 53;, \\. W. Armstrong (Australia), 49; and F. E. Woolley (England), 48 (says a South African writer). But even more impressive is the fact that the famous South African left-hander has made 45 appearances for the country without a break, and should he play’ in the five matches this season he will be the only player in test cricket to have played in 50 successive test matches, as all the players above, with the exception of Woolley, have had breaks in their appearances. Nourse did not play in the first test against England in South Africa this season. Nourse commenced his wonderful career in first-class cricket in 189697. He has now 12,535 runs to his credit and 297 wickets. It is curious that Nourse should have lost his own wicket 298 times in first-class matches and have secured 297.