SPORTS OF ALL KINDS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20584, 6 December 1928, Page 4

SPORTS OF ALL KINDS.

CRICKET.

' i. By Slip.PLUNKET SHIELD FIXTURES. Otago, v.vWellington, at Wellington, De- , cember 24. - Auckland vl Canterbury,"at Christchurch, December 25. " ‘ Otago ‘v, Auckland, at Dunedin, Decem- ; Bor. 31, Wellington 'v. * Canterbury, at Christ-, - 1 - church, December 31. ‘ Otago v. .Canterbury, at Dunedin, Febru- • ary Wellington'-v. Auckland, at Auckland, LOCAL 'MATCHES. -As far da the.;.weather was concerned hist Saturday,' the'Juck of the cricketers' ivas. right- out.'.“Heavy/rain fell duringFriday ■ night and riiphtihued on Saturday morning .with such.; persistence that all hope of playing IwaSt.SutVof the' question. Shortly-after'2 o’clock the.sun. niade its appearance,‘but even .if .tKe matches had; not. been postponed the/ condition of the grounds' Would have made,- play imprac-. ticable. h - •/ So far the clubs- engaged '.in the senior , competition- have -completed two matches.The points scored ,by the . various teams are as, follow:—Grange 4; • Old• Boys 4; Carisbrodt 2, Dunedin 2, Albion 0, Colts 0. j , ■ * THE. FIRST JEST. , The 'result, of .the ffirst test, indicates, «.decided superiority';of the English team over/, the.i Australians,' who made a very poor showing, eyen; ‘after/ allowance is made .for; the fact>that the; home side ■ was unfortunate' in losing the services of Gre*gpry .and Kefleway. On only seven occasions‘inythe _ history/of - test cricket' have the -Australians been dismissed ‘ for a. smaller 'total than ithey compiled -in their BeGondnaninKS.thiß week. Their .smallest have been: on the Oval in 1882, 42 ■ at“'Sydney/in 1887r88» 80 at Ldrds in 1888, 44 bn; the. Oval in 1896, 53 at Lords, in 1806, 36 at Birmingham in 1902, and' 65 ton the ; Oval; in 1912; The result can only'be. .described-as a..-triumph for! the' Englishmen,, and' the Australian' selectors. will‘doubtless do some-hard thinking in an; effort to improve on their selection for the. remaining matches.. The small scores recorded aboVe were probably made under adverse conditions,-but there was no such excuse-dor the poor shewing at ‘Brisbane. However, the Australians 'may yet 1 put up a good, fight for the'. ashes; for it cannot be-believed that; the form displayed in tin? match w.as' anything' -like - their true; form. U . ~ BOYS; MATCHES. ' The Canterbury "Boys’ Cricket Assoeia- . tfon has- received.a letter from the Otago" Boys’ _. Cricket- Association challengingfor the New Zealand Boys’ (under 16) Challenge .Shield. ' It -was decided to; accept ;the 'Challenge, and ; to suggest that the games should be played .in, Christ--church on-December 19 and 20. ; A challenge'Was also received from the Wellington Boys'-Cricket League. : Messrs .C. S. . Johnston, A. H. Wilder, and R/ R.' Gibson were appointed a subcommittee to; arrange the billeting of the ’ Otago; tedms, ; and an. entertainment coipof Messrs C, T. Ris, Gibson; and C.-S.-Johnston was ap-/ pointed ~ tp> control' the entertainment ; of " the■ visitors. • f ' -• ) CUPS FQR BOYS’ MATCHES. At a mectinj? of the" executive of the Canterbury Boys’ Cricket Association last week. Mr C. T. Rix reported that Mr E.i Bonlt6nl,.;of;, Christchurch'; had . offered to' present a sjlyter eup for annual . competition junior (under 15) repre--'seritativos' of the Otago.-and Canterbury Boys’. Cricket. Associations. “ • , '; Mr-. ,. honorary (Secretary, that it.'.waa his’-intention.to present a, similar ciip for competition between the. senior (under IB) , teams-of the two asso.with thanks, '• PON6FOrB’S' big* sg6res. 1 ' Although. heßas.-bcen. playing interstate cricket only a few seasons, w.' H. Ronsford; has. m-ade' eight ■ scores of over 200 run* eacß, two ; (452 and.2o2) against New South Wales, three (336, 275 and 214) against /South Australia, two (437 and 248) against and one (429) against. '.Tasmania “ (says ah Australian exchange).' Ponsford has figured in ten matches- .against South: Australia, and in them made -eight centuries, and scored 1945; runs at-'an average of 108 runs per innings.' He has also-made 1317 runs at an ~ average of 101 against New South Wales, 997 at .166 per innings against Queensland, and 'sßl' at an-average of 290 against Tasmania. Mprebver, • in ■ five consecutive matches against South Australia Ponsford has reached the 'century, -the -scores in- these being 214 and SI, 108 and 84, 133, 336, 7, and 275.n0t out.,- , ■* : - BIG SCORES. 1 On.flrm^‘wickets, and 'fast outbids, some; sensational/scoring was witnessed ‘ in., senior : on’ Saturday week-,j(aaya the DqminionV. H; Foley and C. '.S : ;^empster,;,jiyh'o/Aad t; on 185 for- the’-bfburth w-icket against Petqne; on Saturday,' opened the Institute ' mhiilga against Old A Boys, and 260 runß Were pil the'BLite.befpre; the-, first' wicket Dempster. - who had' Scored 123, waa' ,Foley, who iiiis'caplain'througHbutthe afterhoonj.-went ph tovseore 162 hefdr'e being caught jn/the'glipß; / / - f This constituted avrecord for local club, m atefies, the.v.'.prcvious best', being -the 252 which was hit' -up ,by-, Ci G. Wilson and' B. J.'; Tnckwell ’for'the'.North Cliib against the Trentba.m ?.Camp . team, at the Basin .Reserve iin“ the.: 1916. season. / This performahee was all. the more meritorious as J//Js •' Gr the fatftojis -Surrey -and All,- England player;,was 'amongst the military. V-; ;; - ' Other , ndtable: performances ■ .in . local club games, inqludtd; scored by M. J. Bind-and W* A,:Baker; 220 by W. Ri Gibbes and Wi Ai Bakor ;- knd' 211 by W. T. Bray and J/ S.' Hiddlestbn. V /• . 1 The record -stand -for .the. first wicket recorded by Wisden; is the 654 put on' by J. T. Brown and: Jor York-, shire against Derbyshire "at' in. 1898. ' - ~- ■ ■ ( E. R. Mayne and-Wl'H; Ponsford*.hit up _456 for' Victoria' Against Queensland a,t Melbourne in ' the, 1923-24 'Ecasdn. : . , ' P- Lash 'and A. 'B/Williams 'put- on 213 for Midland against Rivals at Wellington in 1897. ,

the beet, first wicket stand recorded! in New Zealand was the 441 hit up "hr J E. Mills (236) and H. D. Gillespie (234) for ’Eden, against University at Auckland;in the 1924-25 season. : ;

‘ Another notable opening stand was the 300 recorded, by L. A. Cuff and J. I) Lawrence for Canterbury against Auckland at Christchurch in the 1893-94 season. - * ,

-j the record stand for a second wicket Mrtnership ’ in New Zealand stands td the credit of . A.‘ Young (75) an'd L M'Maboh (226).; who bit up SIS for Wanderers against Taruhcru at Gisborne in the 1910-11 seasbn. ' '

The cousins. Reg; and M- R. Eden put on 437 for’ the; second wicket for Wanderers against Wakefield at Spring Grove,. Nelson, in the T 922-23 season. - V , : G. Marshall' (252) and C. Wilson (200) made a < great-stand for the fifth wicket for United A. against United B at Napier in the 1808-99 season, J- S. Gruges and W. J. Wagstaffe scored 249 for the fourth wicket for Wellington ■ against YAI.C.A. in thc 1923-24 se'asoft. ' J. S, Hiddleston and W. J. Wagstaffe put on 307 for the fifth wicket'for North Club in a local match a few seasons back. ■■ • . CRICKETER AND WRITER. ■' Thc row that took place in' tennis over players writing articles for the press, leading to thc disqualification in 30 odd countries of the great W. T. Tilden, is recalled by rumours that a storm is brewing overW.H; PonsfordV comments on the: English cricketer's 'in a' Melbourne paper. Ponsford is attached to a Melbourne paper, and recently has been rather outspoken in his comments on the English team’s play. A similar brand of comment by Fender, the English player in 1920,: caused no end of fuss in Australia. A Sydney Guardian writer, J' Mathers, •ays that " judging by the energetic manaar in which Larwood threw himaelf into

his . task against Ponsford in Victorians second'innings, there is little, doubt that the .Englishman did . not take ■ kindly ,tb Ponaford’s comment that he cbuld not-be regarded as a fast bowler,” . It has been soundly argued' that no player,, can give proper - attention - to; the game.in which ■> he is playing,'if he is allowed to comment on it duryng its progress; Similarly, adverse comment docs m)t help to establish a-feeling of goodfellowship among the. players; The {same writer quoted here says:—/ It- was really ‘over the; fence ’ to see him...in the game against ..England -Walk straight from the dressing,'room and sit m the . press seats during the time Victoriw was batting. Again, when’he was in the field,, somebody was- on hand to snatch _a , hurried interview with . him at every interval.” ■ V : V Will the Board of Control.-allow.' thisduring, the currency of the' test matches’ Surelynot. * . ; ■ - .. ROWNTREE RETIRING.; . we Have a champion to follow; "’to--;. this was a remark widely made about -20 years ago in Yorkshire. David Hunter; the great Yorkshire* wicketkeeper, was ; getting towards the- sere and yellow stage,,'but there were no misgivings.'.as a young keeper of wonderful promise had come on the scene. This was Richard W; Rowntree; who "years later .was, to earn fame; in New Zealand; a- land that- had kuovm.some great wicket-keepers*in Rains, Wright Fqwke.! and Boxshall. * • y.i ? time he could' toddle Rowntree took to "cricket as naturally as a duck does to water. When 14 he was. asked to seep.-wicket in ; a matchwbf. someiinportance, and a good critic—an ex-English . saw him, declared that tne'bPy would one day keep for England in test, matches. When Yorkshire was seeking a .successor to Hunter, he joined the ground staff at Headingley, the' headquarter^of Yorkshire cricket. The death Jr .to .father spelt the.-end of his/ambitions ,ar a county player, as “ Dick,” with the family home to help, had to seek another, vocatipn. . Rowntree came to. New Zealand- 20 years ago,- and after spending. one season as an omopker lie took up cricket. In one sense he won his way to the’ Auckland representative team, and before another season was iput he was .acclaimed by. universal leprin °° o ieketkeepera in the

.And., now Rowntree is ■ retiring (says the Auckland' Star).,, It is: not that he wants to leave cricket, but is not as young as he used to be, and of late he has'been' troubled with water on the knee. He in fliiite.-an open ' secret that a big effort will be Wade to get mm to Wave just one more' season • in Auckland club and representative cricket. . 4. c °up l c of seasons ago a visiting AusJ™ 1 *? team was here. There was one great batsman on the side-Who. had earnedundying in, test matches. He felt J e S ®^ e » and moraentfirily i£^ t i' e back LeeL , In that flash of a e T a ? 5 01 >9: At.,a- later stage the Australian said quite candidly that Rowntree_would rank with any .of the great wicket-keepers he had seen. ~ r A CRICKET INCIDENT. +w J h ° ,a '- s °[, picket it is provided for i h k Ul ? P l res ■ shal! all»«:'two minutes for each striker to come in. ’ On Saturthe w e i r r°f at 4 he J aßin i hnß u n -asharp reminder of the penalty likely to be incurred by non-observance of this rule wag ' given tWm 1r € the,.lnstitute senior team (C. S. Dempster) called upon one ■?L h'L Um ? lre - S ( ¥ r , P - Beva «) -to take the time elapsing between, the. fall bf .Old Boys eighth, wicket,and the arrival of the next batsman at the crease. The umpire flvsl,l e i^a t li5 t ' i. nc ?*V a * batsman' had exceeded the limit by 15 seconds, and toe upshot was that sturrius were drawn. Ibis unusual incident was followed almost immediately by another, the Institute captain withdrawing his appeal, and the .stumps-being put back again for the Same to continue. Play was resumed, and the/batsmen successfully resisted all atto take their wickets, with the result/that /th& fcamie -was *drawn. Natnrally there. has. been a good. deal, of discussion over the incidents, .and in this the questions have arisen:— (1)’ “Was’ the umpire right in penalising the batting side for the slight delay of the man in going to the crease? ” and (2) “ Was the action, of, the umpires in reinserting the; stumps correct ?”' In a note to the' law. relating .to the .time occupied by a batsmam ini going./to .the wickets it is stated that tfie ■ jtiffipire • shall decide whether the delay, of the individual amounts w .» refusal' of‘the batting' side to play,” and that a specific penalty is provided in such a case, hut uohe-. for- the individual. So far as the 'altered; decision is' concerned, , thcre is an - instruction to umpires that’/Zan umpire/may alter hie de-' eision,-if in the/hurry of- the moment or by- a-'Blip of '.the tongue - he- has given a wrong one, provided that such, alteration is made"promptly.” NOTES. “ ; ’ ' '■" : - The Dunedin Club is likely to lose the services of - Matheson. who will . probably -return to Auckland shortly as a result of the-- vacation /at -the' University, . The Otago team will ■be under the capable managetrient 'df ; Mr W. Rowland pn .its .visit,to Wellington .at Christmas, 1 ; ■ ;.;The. annual/match, between the doctors, clergy will -be played -.on; Carisbrook .next Wednesday. ' Several players on both .sides .are, or, “have- bden, good cricketers; but the game is-always’ one of the sporting' order',:; from which the ..participants derive a -great deal of entertainment. -, d -F^ e South Canterbury and North Otago -Cricket Associations'have extended invitations to the; Canterbury team to play at their , respective; . centres during the southern tour.' Consideration of the matter has been deferred. ' . .

The Grange; Club will attain its jubilee early next year; and it is. intended to. take steps to celebrate the occasion in a fitting manner. At a meeting/last week: a‘committee was set iip to furnish a report bn -the matter.- Old players who are able 1 to furnish/'informatioh regarding, the early* history of the club-, or assist in connection With- -the- celebrations are invited to get in-touch with the cotqmittee, a meeting Of which will be held to-night: ■ . ■ ;?• ■ .Cherry .had !his trigger, finger in working .order on Saturday week (says the Southland Times), /and "at. last .the gun went off. It exploded to good purpose; too,/for Cherry' hit four after four and ran to'his total- of 43 in quick time. He should hot . look back 'now. ha has made a start.. .. ■ '-

Gn Saturday a fine innings for St. Albans ..was- played ■; by C. G.» Crawford, who went in first, and,, when.stnmpa were' drawn, was unbeaten with 147 to his credit. This is the. highest individual score' that has been made in’ the senior A.cbmpetition in Christchurch this season. Crawford batted in great style. 7 .• The. GreVtnouth correspondent of the Christchurch Press states that ill-feeling which has been, in evidence since the Opening of the. cricket season in Greymouth has culminated in the-resignation of the Management Committee of the West Coast Cricket Association, which consists of ■Messrs A.‘ Greenwood (chairman)/ L. P. Casey (treasurer), and T. Clarke (secretary). A. meeting of the association this week' promises to be of, interest; Playing' for Technical- A against Eircarton in the Canterbury Boys’ Associations Sixth Grade competition (says'the Christchurch Sun), a boy named Hooper scored 181 runs out of 272 for seven wickets.

.the match between Y.M.C.A. and North Snore was a veritable triumph for Bowley, the English professional coach (says the New Zealand Herald). After dismissing seven North Shore batsmen for 44 runs Bowley knocked up 79 not out, in his best style.- This striking of his best fornr so early is highly satisfactory in view of the southern , tour of the Auckland team.'

The injuiry to J. M. Gregory’s right hand which handicapped the fast bowler in th c New South Wales match with the M.C.C. team, was a dislocation of the top joint. It is remarkable, say Australian papers, tht he could bowl at all. He had to field only with his left hand, except when he caught out A. P. F. Chapman. Then he had to use both hands. There was a sensational finish to the match between Old Boys and St. Albans in the Senior A Grade on Saturday week (says the Christchurch Star). In their second innings Old Boys required only 91 runs to secure a three-point win. However, they collapsed badly, and were all out for C 6, leaving JSt. Albans with a three-point win by . 24 ..runs. Judging by the results of the matches to date, it would appear that the standard of cricket in thc Senior A competition in Christchurch this season* is not so hich-as usual (says-.the Christchurch

Star),. . This, jhowever, may/be-more ap-: P® re nt than real. /Perhaps it ,is due to ■the fact that the . teams'are'tnora evenly matched. In any . case there, arc quite a number of good players distributed among the various teams, and Canterbury should be able to field a good fepresentative eleven; • 1 : ./ Although . the Ljnwood Grade cricket team-was playing four-men short °B A- Wceht Saturday /(says -the < Ohristchurch Sun), it was a meritorious performance . for-, the St. .Bede’s./bo.wlcrs to dismiss the seven men for four runs. 'D. took..tvro ; _wicketa-in the first over, am* E. Scully two more in the second, at which stage there were four wickets down for i np runs; Scully took the . last two Wickets in two more owre, and these two bowlers with the good analysis of: D. Shea, three overs, two wickets, fhree_ runs; and E. Scully, three overs, four wickets, one run, The success achieved by O. E. Nothling .5I I.** 1 .** V l6 “ a ß*for Queensland -against the Englishmen may lead to his inclusion in Me-of’the remaining four test matches. Re took three wickets for 61 in the match at ./Sydney for the Australian eleven against England, and hie five for 78 for Queensland (an average that would have been/considerably better but for bad .ratch ing). must further bring him into the limelight as. a test possibility. Nothlint,- can also make runs, and he is a good neld. : • ,

Wellington cricket selector (M. K. H. .Tucker) has chosen the following players for practice in view of the Plunket Shield ; matches:—W S. Brice (Petonc), B^' Ba, ? rt jC Petone ) > C. Ross (Butt) H ;|j. M'Girr (Hutt), J . G. James (Uld.Boyg), F. T. Badoocfc (Old Boys), JL Lambert (Old Boys), C. S. Dempster (Institute^, H. Foley (Institute), M. Hendefson. (Institute), H. B. M“sey ,;( In stitute) . . J. , S. • Hiddleston (Wellington) ~R A v-Morgan (Wellington), K - Robert«T- .(Mffiland), R. H. C. Mackenzie vSsityy lt?r ' and (Uni- : The Melbourne Herald of November 12 u : ri u' B Earned to-day that Regina.d J. B.ettington, the ,New' Smith Wales to,,Australia with nw-i “j ,s u cr '^ ketere after nine years in England, has Become engaged to Miss Manon Lowry, youngest daughter of' Mr T. H. Lowry, .the .New Zealand sportsman and racehorse owner. Miss Lowry m a sister, of Mrs Chapman, wife of the English captain, Bettington was in the Jleyen .four/years; He afterwards played for Middlesex, and gained r&w' 3 - b ftra>an. anfl.-gojogly. bowler. BettingtoD* t cannot, play, for New South Wales .untiLafkr-,Christmas. N 6 plana to- the wedding-have-yet been rn-de. The fatr ?il y become famous in tbe cricket world with, two international captainsjm ,°ni Lowry, and Chapman, and it i? th®."bounds of possibility 'Souk®Wale? n “ ay yet Captain New

X w‘ A, Rotherham, t he ex . Cambridge University _ and Warwickshire County player, made' an auspicious first appearance ,in Wellington cricket on Saturday. BowJmg .for Petone, .he. captured sis wickets for 62 runs.. , The Englishman, who. urbuilt, on similar lines to Stan Brice, though not so tall, sends along a right-hand fast-medium ball, and can not only flight them in the air, but can break back sharply from the off. The merit of his bowling is the pace at which his dehyenes come off-the pitch. He left Hiddleston and Robertson standing with particularly good ones. Both these batsmen had apparently become well sit, Hiddleston^ being 43 and Robertson 28 the Englishman skittled them. As Rotherham .is also a first-class batsman, .he.should he : a distinct asset to the Wellington representative team. ■How did. J. S. Ryder come to be chosen as captain, of the Australian test team? A Melbourne paper throws light on the procedure;—The selectors of, the AustratcsiTn me Messrs E. E» Bsqu (Victona), J. S. Hutcheon (Queensland), and W Bardsley (New South Wales), and Dr C, E Dolling (South Australia). But these men have nothing to do with the appointment of the captain. When they have chosen the Australian team their duties, as far as the first test is concerned? arc completed. The captain will be chosen from the selected eleven by a special committee, .consisting of Messrs E A E :. B | an , (Victoria) H. W. Hodgette (South Australia), and J. Howard (New South Wales). It is the business of these three to appoint' the captain of the first and second tests. It is a remarkable - arrangement- on the part of the board, for, if the selectors are not to do the important job, why not the players? If the choice is not left to the men themselves, why not the selectors?