CRICKET. NOTES BY SLIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 1916, 6 November 1890, Page 28

CRICKET. NOTES BY SLIP.

Bad weather again on Saturday ! Our oricketera certainly have a lot to discourage them, Here we are in the month of November, and owing to the length of the football season and tbe adverse atmospheric influences, the cricket season is not yet started.

A player named Sanderson had hard luck in Wellington in oarrying his bat out in a junior cup matoh when he was only one run short of the ooveted century. They manage these things better in some other plaoes. That eingle would have been deduoted from the score of some other batsman and added to the 99.

As tbe Cup matoh at Christohurch between the Lancaster Park Fifteen and Ashley County Eleven was not continued beyond the first two Saturdays, and was deolared won by the Park team by 237 runs on the first innings, there were only two Benior gameß in progress on Saturday, Both were played at Hagley Park, in favourable weather, and upon good wickets. The Midland finished off Addington very easily, winning by 159 runs. The former completed their second innings for 179 (Macdonald 23, Gordon 18), and tbe Addington with 225 to get only scored 65 (Kinsman 28, Turner 11). The Lancaster Park Eleven and United game is not yet concluded, but the present state of the figures point to a very easy win for the Lancastrians, who completed their first innings for 222 (Cuff 44), whioh gave them an advantage of 42. Tbe United got 131 (Mathias 54, Rolleston 84, W J Cotterill 22) in the second innings, leaving the Park with 90 to win, and of that number 50 bad been obtained at the call of time for the loss of one wicket, A. Labatt being not out with S3 iuqb to his credit.

In a oricket match commenced at Sydney on Ootober 25 between the Carlton and Warwiok teams the former made the large pcoro of 296 runs for the loss of one wicket. Donnan was run out for 117 runs, Alec Bannerman being not out for 131 runs ; Marr, not out, 33 runs.

Referring to tbe seventh Australian team, " Pendragon " in tbe London Referee says :— " This has been nearly, if not quite, tbe leaßt popular company ; their performances have been the poorest ; they were not wanted in the interests of cricket ; they have taken the wind out of the sails • of potential successors, and, what is worst of all, have by their repeated failures dealt a severe blow to the game in Australia, Very strange indeed it seems to me to be writing thus almost at the olosaof their engagements, and at the same time to have before me letters written by friends in Melbourne and Sydney so as to reach me before I met members of the combination with whom 1 oare to be on visiting terms with. No sounder or more painstaking judge of cricket in all its bearings could be wished than these good fellows, who wanted me to know all about it in advance. One of them took a lot of trouble to provide me with a sort of form at a glance, He said, and positively, that Murdoch would lend into the field the very best lot seen since and including the days of old Dave Gregory's contingent, whioh in the field was 'made up of about 10 captains, and Dave Gregory when any advice on procedure waß invited. From the performances in this country I should rate the shortly-to-be disbanded co. as about the worst of the Buaoesßion : but, owiDg as Ido great respeot to my good Melbourne fiiend's judgment, I must look about for excuse for the vanquished. I do not think it was wise making Murdoch captain. He had been on tbe shelf for a long while ; but apart 'from' such consideration the co. were dead out of luok in weather. They have bad very few of tbe sort of wickets they like, and Buffered ' accordingly. Besides, to my thinking, the specimen eleven sent to us in 1890 is nowhere compared with' predecessors in batting. , Tbe men have not so varied an assortment of .strokes, nor do tbey make the Btock bits so well; in fact Australian batting has deteriorated in Btyle, if we may gauge the bulk by the sample." The Rev. J. Pyoroft, who played nearly 60 years ago against Budd, contributes to the September number of Baily's Magazine some interesting particulars: of the ways of the old slow bowlers iwho .were often so effeotive. *' I have often," he writes, " beard the term ' slows ' used as a general 'one for all underhand bowling. This is a mistake, for the fastest of all bowling has been seen among thosa who bowled in this old fashion. Osbaldistone, the 'Squire,' would bowl the game away in byes, and could defy all England in the single wicket matches of tbe time until Mr Ward brought up from Brighton to beat him Browne, who, like Pilch and T. Hearne, was by trade a tailor. Browne's was an undetected 1 jerk,' for he would confess that after a match bis side was black. Next in paoe to Browne was Mr Kir wan, who, when a boy at Eton, bowled all 10 M.C. wickets. Hi a paoe was a great surprise, for be was slight and little, and hardly could have weighed 9st. Lord Besßborougb said that Kirwan wsb tbe fastest bowler be had evec Been — faster than Mr Harvey Follower, for be had stood long stop to both. Ac regards a certain Etonian, less known in great matches, here is the account of W.G.'b brother, Henry Grace. 'One day, when bis pace had frightened nearly all our eleven, a young farmer came boldly forward •ittdßaid, 'Nevermind, I'll have a go at him.' The first ball took the bat out of his bands right through bis stumps. Those were queer ' slows ' indeed. No round-arm bowlers could oompnre in paoe with these, Mr E. H. Hartopp, who was called Fellowes' long stop, said he could hear the ball bumming like a top, and it would take fourpnnuy bits of skin off his breastbone. When the ground was bad, as Lord's used then not unfrequently to be, no one could pl&y Followed' bowling. So, at leist, Box eaid, and it proved to be the case when Fellowes bowled against the Players " Mr Pycroft continues : " Before tbe 'roundarm bowling came in there wore nil degrees of pace ; but as to slows or lobs, fhesn you will find prevailed with Lord Frederick B°auclerk, Beidbam, Budd, and Lambert for the first 20 or 25 years of this century. In tbe old Bcore books these are the names spen ai bowling in all the great matcbos. These four men bowled Blows proper ; but, like those of Mr Goodrich, of the Free Foresters' Club, and Clarke's tbey were too f a «t safely to ran into, I call Mr W. W. Raad's ' lobs,' &Dd a man could go into every one of good lecgth if— yes, if— he knew the way Since tliii period ("lows beld their own for 20 years No oce of late years seems to have t»k°n up nlo^p, pxcept casually; and therefore when attempted it has bean with little success. Having played nearly 60 years ago against Burlrl, I can claim to have paid no little attention to slows ; ami having conferred with Clarke, and ako with Wells (who was second to no man against slows), I claim to know enough about it to be able to see plainly where tbe present generation is at ' fault. By Humphrey's bowling Sussex beat j Ih3 A~"*r-l : tns; and when I Baw them treat-

ing W. W, Read with so much respect I thought that they had not praotised with slows since. If bo they were wise to be cautious. Never was there a more deceiving bowler than Clarke. He had one great art of bowling — namely, to bowl two balls quite differently which Btill looked the Bame. This is done by more or less of Bpin— conflicting and , retarding the ball in tbe air. For, remember, a ball can be made to turn in tbe air. Now, what ia required with good slows is both ourve and a certain degree of pace — two things hard to reconcile, for without pace you have a mere lob ; and a man has time to go in and bit every one pitched far enough up for a good length ball. To combine sufficient pace with ourve you must learn to deliver by a kind of ohuok from tbe hip, and deliver while still running, without any stop at tbe crease. By so doing you add the momentum of the body to the said chuck of the hand. This was the style of delivery I saw in Budd and in Goodrich, as well as in Clarke. Goodrich told me that he was habitually practising a Bpin or twist of his band, so that the ball might leave it naturally without interfering with bis accuraoy of pitch. Observe that spin not only turns the ball from tbe bat, but give an abrupt and high rise to the ball. Budd onoe bowled me out with a ball which rose over my shoulder, and yet pitched on the wioket. I Tired bowlers lose this abrupt rise by Bpins, as also do old players." Thus "Mid-on" in the Leader :—" Before it is too late may I imDlore the oricket associations of tbe various colonies, the leading clubs, and all tbe leading players to unite in the ex- , pression of such a forcible denunciation of the threatened visit of female cricketers from England as will promptly save us from having the grand old game ridiculed and debased. I ask no pardon for saying without hesitation that such exhibitions as those proposed would reflect no oredit upon anybody concerned. Any man who is man enough to be a true lover of cricket must surely have too much respeot for women to take delight in seeing them making ridioalous shows of themselves, and too much respeot also for the noble game, to Bee it made the medium for displaying women in an undesirable and unbecoming idle. In her own sphere we recognise lovely woman as the greatest blessing oonferred upon man, often in the|highest sense his guide, philosopher, and friend indeed, and long may such a realisation remain undisturbed. But if there is anything less desirable than an effeminate man, it is a masouline woman, and it is surely hard to believe that females who desire to do a bit of globe-trotting to show themselves as exponents of such a game as cricket could be anything else. If those in authority have any desire to maintain the dignity of Australian cricket they will take prompt stepß to let the showman who purposes to run this congregation of flannelised Amazons know that he will not be allowed to inflict them upon the Australian publio, but that, on the contrary, every one of the leading grounds in the various colonies will be closed against hia undesirable display. It has been announced by cable that these people positively intend to leave England for Australia, and if the colonial associations and olubs do not promptly and Without' one day's unnecessary delay cable a resolution whioh will knock the thing on the head they ought to be a3bamed of themselves. Soon I imagine we shall hear from some lively damsels who are prepared to elevate Australian tastes by a display to be given by ' lndy ' footballers, or that Sail Draggletail, of Whiteohapel, is prepared to meet any lady in Australia in an eightround contest with 6oz gloves under Queensberry rules for a purse and side wager."