NOTES BY SLIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2292, 3 February 1898, Page 34

NOTES BY SLIP.

•. • A cable from Adelaide states that, playing for Wait Adfkuda ag%ins& Torrens, Gacrge Gift>n made 161 (not out) • • . • JWiji'siabji regards Darling as thy besfc batsman in Australia, " Hosvellj" says the ll J rtaec, *' 18 a fine bowler —a bowler of w-un-der-ful length", and it I bad to p'<«k a fcea-ia for England be would be the first man whom I should invite." •. * With A. Downes a likely absentee from their t^ara cezfc Sifcurday, -the Grange Club's ehjvaee of defo?.ting the Duasclin is not too rosy. ". ' After the shockingly b\d s!-&efc they made the CH-\go team reay fairiy be c unplinieufced upen fche good effort fch-sy made which nearly secured for them fcfea victory against Southlaud last week. The re-snlt of the match makes oat Southland to ba weakj for the Ota>;o Eleven wab not even equal to a second eleven of the province. •. ■ A match was played Is-sb between the Milton and Wsitiola Cmb,«, fcha former scori&g 90 (M G«tl 28, Ve-nou nut out 18, Itroiv 13) bo their opponents' £9 and 59 (KromY.g 20, W. R^b&rtoon 12), and thus winning by an intiings and 2 rass. •. • The A'esaudra Gliib visited Nswtby with a team b&l-jw their usu^l strength, »?id suffered fl^f-eaS from the hoind team on the 22nd ulfc. by D 2 runs on the fi.-tt innings, the scores being : xn'«. <-by, 156 (Dr Oharch 41, Fleming 23, Rev. W. G. Chrifetiao 20, M»lc^m 18, H-jrs«vU 16, Gossage 15, H»re 12) ; Alexandra 91 (MUligan 28, KiEg 15, L',idU~/ 14-, Mnreliu 13) and 35 tor Btsven wick-^s. Ote o€ the Al- xaudra team was gives out for ob'-fc-«cihig the field. • . * A i>iist at t-b>. O-j-aga kam to j;l&y Canterbury :—(■}, Austin, Broad, Ftihe>-, rXarkne=s, Hope (CaHsiirook), Baker, A. D'jwups, Johnston, Haydon (tJrai.ge), aud Clarke and X; «rg (Duuedin). Johnston, it geems, is saffn-ing only from a bru*s-d c^larbone and not from a dislocation, and he will be able to play. It is ss id also that Spraggou may be able to pay, but I fancy Uuat is doubtful. The above t%m would be faiflj okong in batting, gw^d in iiylding, and exceptionally strong in bjs»liag. *.* Says the Baliehin : "G^te, gate, and nothing b«t gat-e. Tae re?,»on of fche test matches boii-u crawdeJ on top of the infcerpfovirioialß sticks out prominently. By pKying whilst the men are on the gsx-und the s^r.-li-CACe is f&ve'i hflavy travolliug fxp^nsss. Wr-afc mit^icrs it if iut&rest in an iatevpr jv.tirial match is mined by c 'tahig ivarn^diifely in front of a te&t match, aud the rasn are stale and battered about, So long as the div. comes out all right P " ' . ' Tha batiiug of the Grange Eleven lasb Saturday sgit.is'o the Dunediu wai (iisfciuc'ly slow, Ihfj principal oar«» of th'i b-ing the steady bovJing of Pd'K^rsoy and Ki-:vig, with neither of whom wr>s it possible to taV:e libertie 1!. Even Ak-x. Djwhci .sc Tei slowly, a«d the rate ot rua-grftuing of sjrae of the other* was ssb<solutoly fun--real. On the Dunedin pide Kinvig played one of ths useful innings that are generally looked for f^ora hioi. T. Davjrnrfi is building up a fino bowling analysis for Cap ms.<-ch*.3. It is a pity thai his di-livery ip no doubtful fc'ial Otago could never dare to pick luta for an inierprovincial noaich. • . " Harkness aceomp'ixbed a fine bowling lierforinanee against the Bses on the Carisb:«ok ground, and shoulJ ho be selected for the rna*--ch against Canterbury, as I anticipate he will b«, he vsiil supply a iong-felt wxnb in the t«ana—that of a fafct bowler. The Carisbrook A team fijlded well, and Listing brought off file r« markjvble oafch. For the A te'.in G. Austin plajed d;sti-«ctly th*) best innings. His leg hitting was capitally timed, and his defence w&fl good. He is too fond of hihting at 100-sg balls on the off. He should realise that it is dangerous to try and score off balls that are almo-t widr-s to the efl. H^pe is changing his tac'Hcs as a batsman. His principal scoring hit in the pa*t used to b-> a little pr>fc, usually well placed, to the on. Now he is nothing if he is uot a hither, and hirj 31 on Saturday y/ag largely ruado off big hits. The bowling of G. Harraway, who h^s not hitherto dons liimijcSi ju-tice this season, demAnded the closest atbention from the batsmen, and he came out with a fine analysis. •. • A acors of 500 in each of three successive games following upon tha winning of the toss in the first three tesb matches has again raised in Australia the question brought up by me in these columns as to vvaab can be done to equalise the luck of the game on fche IVer&ge

Australian wicket and minimise the influence of a spinning coin. Ths popular theory in Adelaide, it is said, is to let the teams share each day equally, thus making the struggle a real and visible one from day to day. It would certainly suit amcs;ggfc the followers who, having only one day to spare, would like to see both teams bat and bowl, and would ensure strict punctuality.

• . * After seeing him play several good innings, " Observer" of the Argus has come to the conclusion that even on the brst wickets RißJifcsiahji is not a good beginner, and that his weakness, contrary lo that of most batotnen, is hitting at thctn bef/re ha has his eye in. This was luotably the case in his big innings afc Sydney, and again at Adelaide, so that, in the words of a music-hall soug, " That's the time to catch 'irn, that's the tima." He and Maclaren are a resourceful pair, for with Ho« - eH breaking right across the wicket at Adelaide they scored off miny balls other befcmeu would have been content te stop by following them up to the iir.o of the psd^, &nd placing them to square or long leg. Ib was partly with the iclsa of checking this, and compelling them to go oub to the bre^k-backs, that Hawaii, on Kelly's Eu^gestion, strengthened his on field.

• . • Oil Ilowell's last 50 balls in the test match at Adelaide only one run was got, and the, otily patch one could see on the wicket when stumps were drawn for the nigbt v>as a mark of ftboufc a fo'-fc in diameter, where Hf'well had pitched ball afttr ball, showing how admirr-ble wac I'is length. He had a big break on for a grod wickfifc, and E> gUshmen and Au-itrs-lUns alike say that if he can bowl like that in England he may be expected to rival the deedn of some of the great length bowlera, such as Heacue and Afctew«ll. Although he sot to wickota in the second inuinge, 13 of hi'i 27 ov^rs W'ro rxsaideos, and had he blocked the ok play ecoaer his record would hfl.vc b;e.i rtill better.

• . • Although Richardson, ac usual, came at the end of the Australians' innings at Adel-vide, and manufactured a fair average, "Ob-erver" is inclined to thisk that, as in Sydtvay, bi^ earlier average represents far better than the figures ohow. Coramflncmg on tne secoud day of the third fcesb match, he bowled 78 b^lla for 5 runs. All day he kept a fine length, and pegged away perMssetitly, jait outside the off stump, the batsmen fre4iy cdrtsitting that they cruld do little with him nntess by taking the risks. Then te had fcbe further bad luck of having had a coupla of eb&nces rai c s'd fff him. Richardson's best feat daring the match w«a that of clean bowling Noble, for it T?ftS the triumph of judgment. Richardson guessed fcbs\fc Noble would be oa the. look out for the fast ont>s, md, p.B a matter of fact, he was so. The Surrey man dropped him si very slow one, with a good break back, and iv got the Sydney bttetnan fairly off his balance.

• . • While the Englishman had seme btd lack with bbeir batting in t-hair first innings ia th- 1 Adelaide test ra-tteh, " Osßtrvcr " thinks it did net ao.^ouot foe the f-Ul ef their earlier batetn^n, who were all t^Jkea legitkantftly. Ranjiinrinhji probably lost Ws f>elf-pos3es«ion to fiotne exteui; tfarough the way Eoaie of the onlockefs were jeering him, a etmpte of fctae AuatraJians fisldin^ on ■ 0 H8& farther side of iha ground, and who heard all that was saui, slating that ?ome of the remarks passed the limit of rcvs-jiiabl-3 sabire i-nd wr-re decidedly offenvive. M-Any of. tho Australians w-ere rauch naoit>fi«i thejaselveß over this* scandaJous coaduofc, and bber i, can be no *s©wbfc bui that. Rnnjifcinbji felt it too. The crowd at Ad^'.-.idc s : raply make an idol of Jones, Mid toe Indian Prince's published c>Mimfnts on his bowling, honest nnd outspoken as they were, le-l to this d^mon^trafcion ftgaiiwt him.

" . • In tbe te3fc match Rfc Adelaidft Noble reached lh*f; pismaeie of f&aae gahied by ;.ll gra'it c ickete-E — the acqnisitiou of a uioJmatne. In future (says M»lb:>urne Punch) he will be "Rata" to his fawil-'ara, and the fact bna<; ho d'ji-su't like it makes it certain to sfj^k. AH great cickaters have nicknames. Tnimblij is varioasly " Ges-tie " or " Evn. " — fcho li^tlo Eva of "Uncle Tom's Ovbin." Trtfcf; is "Joe," though why "Jco" no one cau tell. Grpgory is Li"lb Tich, afrer the Japunnse t.nittbier and eontort'onii-fc. Hill rejaicaa in the farstorical name of Krn^ur, because on (he lxst trip Home someone sff-scl-ed to di«onvt'.r a resemblance b't^epn him and a youthful pictnre of our frieod O^w Piul. Iredale tfj-tices in and writes under the n»ms of " No-is " — derived f wn a noie of H^.btaic type. J' k u<i3 is known a-i Jonah, and K'KJ'obin, by reason of his ■waddling walk when coding up to bowl, has been called "Jacko." Charlie M'Laod, who may have been s°.en chasing a ball and as a rule not catching it, answers to '.'Lighfct.ing," while KXly'« a'cady-gotne, thoug'a^ful etyie li-as l^d fco hit- bring ch'-.'aten-d. " Mother " Darling ia sociefciiais called " Pa<Wy." but tbe natn-3 han not stuck. Amongst the B«^lishna«<n fc'aera are few nifknames, thongh the captain is a' ways called 'JSboddy" by fri&ad and foe alike, whi'e Dm'ce is referred to as " Chubbie." The profossio'ials always adilresa fcha Indian Prince ;vi '• Mr Riuji."

' . '"At Ohristehuvch The Senior Cup rnatehea wer« eo^fciaued in fi-'tj ■weather on Saturday. Tho L--.n>"isier P»nk B'f-ven defeated the fame clnb'B Thirteen by 247 rntis to 100 fend 122 (Weir 27) ; the Elided Eleven to'.alled 306 a;,asnsfc the Sydenh^m Thirtron'T 6S and 133 for seven wickers (vValmsl-y 42 P.« Person 30) ; and the United Eleven fcof^H.-d 304 (Beddington 35, Fra. kieh nob out 30) »gaiust the s-ime club's 158 (Hair 37) and 117 tor fi>o wiofc»ti (Gvrdrner not ouS 38, W. Herman 52, T. D. Ha -man 25)

•.• The S? lre' ion Comraifetee of the Ota«o Cricket Association met on Saturday evening and selected the following players to practise in view of thp match with Ciuilprbn y :— G. G. Austin, Br-'-ad, Harknesq, Fi--h'>r, Hope, Liggms, a<w3 Spraggon (Oavrisbrcok), Clark?, Croxford, Kinvig, and H'Faflaae (Duuedin), Baker, Downas, 'Haydoa, and Johnston (Grange), Ludbrook (T<iieri), and Guuthoi-po (Opoho)v

• . • Atameetirtgoftb.eCornmUfceeort.hp Otago Cricket Association on the26>;h ulfc. t-he suggestion of the Canterbury Association that the annual nisitch between Canterbury a.nd Ofcv 0 should be played on February 11, 12, and 14- was considered, and the secretary w*s instructed to reply fcbafc as the Ofcago Association would experience considerable difficulty in getting its players awfiy on ihose dates it would prefer to adhere to ths original dates decided on by it (February 25, 26, and 28), provided that they were not &bs^lufcoly inconvenient to the Canterbury Association.

• . A very interesting raateu was played on the North ground on the 26'.n ulfe. between the Albion pnd Grocers, vit;io>-y repting with the Albion by tlu> nirrow margin of 2 runs. Scores : Albion, 91 (Manloy 34, White 21, Spends 16 not ont) ; Gr< cers, 89 (Gollar 32, Dickal 15, Hfrrisou 10) Mauley (five for 20), Spance (two for 20), mid Bennett (two for 28), far the AlMon, and Roseoe and O^g for the Grocers divided the bowling honours.

•.• Mr VV. T.Tai-lpan, hon. secretary of iheOtago Crickeb Association, has written to tha secretary of the Wellington Association inviting a Wellington team to visit Ota^o during tha Jubilee festivities in the mouth of March, and pointing oub the favourable opportunities that

will then ba offered for such a visit. The Otago Association promises, unless anything unforeseen happens, to send a team to Wellington nest season. '. • A protest which was entered by tha Roslyn Ciub against a match being awarded lo the Occvna CO., on tha grounds of wrongful decision l.y the latcer's umpire, baa been dismissed by the S&nior Championship Committee ot the O C.A. as frivolous, as it had no reference to the rules of the association and was distiuctly opposed to laws 2\ and 52 of the game. The Roslyn Club's deposit xras on that account forfeited. ■. • The Third Class Cup Committee of ihe O.C.A. have awarded the match won by tha Riislyn No 2 on the 22nd ulfc. to the Norbhiu-n Club on account of the former p'ayiog Quin and Fisher, two junior players, without applying for psrmi.-sion.