CRICKET.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20606, 3 January 1929, Page 4

CRICKET.

By Slip.

THE ENGLISH TEAM. At the time of writing news has come through from Melbourne that Hammond has scored , his second double century in a test match and created o’ new -record. For so -young a-batsman the performance is a remarkable one, especially in view of the fact that it is the first series of tests in which he has played. Prior to this season only eight Englishmen had scored more than 150 in a test match, but now two more have been added to the .list. . They are Hammond and Hendren. Hobbs has passed that score three times, Moreover, only one Englishman had scored over 200 in a test. That honour belonged to, R. E, Foster, who made a record test match score of 287. Three Australians—W. L. Murdoch, S. E. Gregory, and J.' S. Ryder—have passed the double century, their scores being 211, 201, apd 201 not out respectively. The following were the averages of the English team prior to’ the ' third test match:— BATTING.

' THE OTAGO* TEAM. Although it’ was expected that Otago ■would make quite a good showing against Wellington in the match at the Basin .Reserve, concluded on Friday, the southerners must, have surprised their supporters by leading Wellington on the first innings (says the Evening Post). ; The brightest feature ,of Otago’s first innings was the, batting .display by L. C. Eastman;,the English professional.' It was delightful. l In- the second innings the same, batsman broke the monotony with another, bright effort; He was also Otago’s best bowler, although it was not until-the third day’s play that he secured ®oy Wickets. There were rarely two balls alike in any of Eastman’s overs. Elmes was . used well by Alloo as a change bowler, and it was mainly through the way in which the Otago captain worked the changes that Elmes got his wickets. Ncxtvto Eastman, the best bowler was A. vy..Alloo. Bluht'was not as impressive ; With bat or ball as in the past. Another interesting point about Otago’s first ; innings , was the manner in which theyearly wickets fell. Through nibbling at fast deliveries on the off, five of the batsmen were caught either by '.he wicket- ■ ' keeper or first slip. Four of these wickets Went -to Henderson, who received something like the support that has been due to .him in the past. Later, however, some catches were missed off his bowling. Hoar, the j Wairarapa player, holed very -steadily throughout, and did not get all the success due to him. This slow boWler put a fair amount of variety into„ his deliveries./ .Lambert- bowled- successfully,there Were times when the other Wellington bowlers , had the batsmen thinking hard.' . The full- strength of /Wellington’s .'batting was not revealed in the reply to Otago s first innings score of 398, though the local players ran Up A tidy score of Sol. Dempster Was restrained, and kept ms end .up for a long time. Once again, however,'he failed to score his first centUnr- m/Plunket . Shield cricket. . .There was acceptable relief from the over-cautiousplay of Thursday when Otago went for runs on Friday, the final day. Galland gave a fine display of hitting, but Blunt was still quiet until ho had made his century, whereupon he , something like the form: expected ntao!f 1 ‘1,,,? I fI. C?P - tUry Y. a - 8 a bi s heI P to Otago, but the run-getting- rate of the southerners had not been fast enough to improve their prospects of getting a win. Moreoyer,-ptag o developed a “tail.” . The .Otago side has not made such an ■impressive showing in its match with Auckland. Its batting, except at the tail, was disappointing. Its bowling, too, had no terrors for the visitors, and the best that can be hoped for is a draw. notes. P^ r 1 sbrook Club is to have a new is IC riark ee f e -K- m- th - 0 en , d o£ January. He in Ibirme player, who is said ;.U ? ( d n, nl ( to James in Wellington cricket. If Clark impresses the selectors r he i ma £, be elected for the Otago side to play Canterbury. Otago is need of someone to relieve Galland behind the sticks. appearance of P. G. Monk in the g Si te , an l P la y ,n S Wellington in die Plunkct Shield series will doubtless trv° me ? ur PF J ?e to Auckland cricketers who remember him only as a member of the. North Shore B eleven two ag °rr (says th ' B New Zealand 2 d t, However, even in Auckland the r etamp o£ a cricketer, 3“ his performances were somewhat erratic, apd it is pleasing to notice his success in Dunedin. Monk is an old boy of the Mount Albert Grammar- School, and put up some excellent performances when playing for the school eleven. When he left school-he had the .finest action tL bowl l r “ 4®^Hand,-whipping the ball down from his full height a? an ea ® y W? up. to the wicket. On _ sev era! occasions he bowled well in wnior_ cricket, and he frequently assisted •V s ® ld^i7 lth , so . me f ree hatting. . Perhaps tLT hpUl le M P i. y u g ~ n I T ediocre company bw. * IoD f '’a?!'- At any cate, since W^l P f ar i Ur v f 2? ? unedin h « nmst have brought to light his latent talent, al»s°a 8 hnwi 18 +I S i a .M 3 ™ 8 " rat her than fa the otgo tiara.^ e iaS been included In case there should be any doubt among cricketers as to J the method adopted s n MpW Cl fi Dg - the Plunket i fc might.be helpful to explain that ? bo “ ld tW °- team s I’ 6 ef l ual wins and I* aßd drawn games, the issue u.,mW d d f ° n avcra S es - . The average number of runs per wicket which is fmm*li, asain8 * each team is subtracted from the average number of runs it has scored per wicket. The team with the best average per wicket in its favour holds the shield. .. There was a curiosity of,cncket statistics associated with 0. F. W. Allcott’s c e anterii e w fr fi m f tbe - bDwlin ß crease in i j ii, first innings against Aucfcland. Allcott howled 21 overs before he took himself off. Twcnty-one runs Lad neen hit off him. And the score was 121 J. A. Dunning, who relieved him, -tails two_ wickets in the over which he proceeded to send down. And that was Dunning g thirteenth over. There was a general idea among New Zealanders that there was no hope of our cricketers attaining an international standard (said Newman, the English professional, in an address to. Canterbury cricketers). It was true that players were handicapped by lack of interprovincial and international matches; but New Zealand already had produced a few who could hold thenown in the best company—men such as Grimmett. Merritt, Dempster, Blunt, and James. There was much latent talent, and it only needed perseverence to bring it out. Grimmett ought to be included in. the next New Zealand international team, and the selectors would be justified in calling on him to represent New Zealand ftgainst Australia. The speaker said he'wished New Zealand cricketers had to play more on wet wickets, as this would give more encouragement to bowlers. The googlie howler *!d not Eko wet wtc&ofei. oat bo would

benefit from the experience also. No ’batsman could be sure of himself when meeting a alow, spinning ball; and all famous bowlers had depended on this sort of ball, except the very fast bowlers, who relied on speed and body movement. - RUNNING BETWEEN THE WICKETS HINTS TO YOUNG PLAYERS. By L. C. - The writer has seen so many junior players run out this season that he has .come to the. conclusion that they understand very little about the art of rungetting. Team work is most essential. Batsmen should make a point of studying each other's methods of calling and running. The following are some of the points which should-be helpful to young players;— If a player has been fortunate to stay in gome time, and a new batsmen appears, he should not attempt a short run until ho has settled down. He should always bo in a position’ to back up by following the bowler, say, a yard or so after he has bowled the ball. He should never stand .flat-footed, but should be on the move. He should always make sure that the other man, after having made a stroke, is left in a position to make the run. The first run should always be run smartly. One never knows until the ball is actually dead whether another run is possible. • Many a run is thrown away because a batsman has made up his mind that there was only one run or two, as thb case may be, when, through a bad throw in, or a mulled return, more runs could have been scored. ■ When a ball hit in front of the batsman’s wicket, either bn the off or the leg, the call is the striker’s, and it is the duty of his partner to ; glue his eyes on him, ‘so as to be ready for the call, and not to follow the direction of the,ball when it is not his . call. The player should always be on, the alert for another run. It is the short run stolen that helps to brighten the game. If the ball is going hard to a fielder who is fairly close in. to the wicket there is no run, but if it is going slowly there should be a run. A batsman should always study the throw in from the long fielders. Some fielders cannot throw a fast return, and very often an easy run can.be taken during the flightof the ball when it is being thrown in. The habit of watching the ball after it has been hit’ is to be deprecated. It is ’time .enough for the batsman to watch for the’- ball again, when he"-, has turned after having scored the first run,. and is on the look out for a second. By : stealing runs batsmen very often get the fieldsmen bustled, and render them liable to return the ball loosely. A thorough understanding between the batsmen is necessary if they are bent on stealing runs, and the first essential is to know whose call it is. After a batsman has bit the ball to leg it is his duty to watch closely for a call from his partner. I believe in calling out "Yes” for a run and "No ” when there is no run. Even if the ball goes a short way, and there is no possibility of a run, "No" should be called, for this tends to give the caller confidence at the wickets, and also gives the player at the other end an opportunity of getting used tb his call. There are times when it is undesirable to indicate to the fieldsmen that a run is intended. In that event a nod of the head is > sufficient. It is a great mistake to run past the crease unless for a sharp run, and when a short run is being made the bat be slid along the ground' as the opposite- wicket is being approached. Unless an umpire is watching very _ closely it is practically imposisble at times for him to tell whether the sliding bat reached the crease before the wickets are disturbed. It must be remembered that an umpire is not always in a position to judge a close call. He may be still standing behind the wickets, and the batsman is always supposed to get the benefit of the doubt. I have seen batsmen finish the run with their hat well over; the crease, hut as , they have failed to have it grounded they are run out., A batsman should always‘he sure that he knows the boundaries before he goes in. ■ There is no excuse for the man who calls for a run and then, changing his mind, sends his partner back though the latter may have got halfway down the pitcln thus giving him no chance of saving his wicket. It would be more sports.manlike : for the caller in such a case to go on, since it was he that gave the call, and himself be run out. When a player is stealing a run from a .? a3 L ky his partner to mid-on or mid-off he should always try . to get in a line from., the wicket to the fieldsman who is throwing the ball in. He thus obscures the fieldsman’s sight of the wicket. Moreover the fielder is always afraid of hitting him with his return. The caller should be sure that the passage is clear for himself and his partner. A batsman should never spoil the wicket by running on it: he should run outside it.

Hammond Ins. N.O. H.S. Runs. Aver. 8 -0 251 817 102.12 Hendren .. 8 0 169 651 81.37 Leyland ., S 3 114 368 73.60 Jar dine . . 9 1 140 524 65.50 Hobbs 10 1 67* 511 56.77 Chapman 9 0 145 509 56.55 Larwood .. 7 0 92 377 53.85 Sutcliffe .. 11 0 77 516 46.90 Mead 11 3 72 305 38.12 Tyldesley 8 0 115 301 37.62 Duckworth 8 5 40 112 37.33 Geary . .• 8 2 66 . 185 30.83 Tate 9 r; ■ 59 207 ■ 25.87 Ames 5 0 36 127 25.40 White 10 3 29 79 11.28 Freeman ■; 5 1 M7 34 8.50 ' * Indicates, npt out. BOWLING. Freeman Runs, Wkts. Aver. 744 36 20.26 Hendren .. 46 2 23.00 Geary 430 18 23.88 25.68 Larwood- .. 642 25 White .. 64S 23 28.04 Tate ■ ... .. 598 21 28.47 Jafdine .. ■ 50 1 50.00 Leyland .. 252 4 63.00 Hammond .. 476 6 79-33 Duckworth .. 10 0 Sutcliffe .. 11 0 ' ■—L Mead .. ..12 0 - —