NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 61

NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

It has been decided before the Australian I Eleven sails for England to play a match | against a team representing the Rc3t of ', Australia in Sydney early in February. I iso far as we in New Zealand aie cor.- I cerncd, the most important question is that of tli© Australian Eleven's \isit to New Zea.la.nd en route to England. The New j Zealand Council ajked that the Australians should play here on their way to England, but tho Board of Control, after discussing [ tho question, declined to entertain the proposal, and decided to send the next best Australian team to Maonland. So while ! ; the '"next best" will no doubt be more than J ' good enough for our best, it is not an ! i Australian eleven. Henoe these tears. I ; The action of Alex. Dowries in refusing- ! j to accompany the Oiago team to Auckland I j m quest of the Pluuket Shield was not, ' | ?nly a keen disappointment to the selectors \ ( aid members of the team, but to enthusiasts ; ( generally the veteran bowler's absence was I i regretted. It will not surprise me in the ' i least to know that Downes will not fgain ( be considered when tfoe team is being ' £ •el^otei! tor U:s next k-ur. X have not j teara the reason for Do\Wi<Qs declining to [ [ Lcconipany the team. It could not have befii j £ i financial on?, for all th-e expen*as of tho ' t 3range bowler were guaranteed; moreover, j i t is generally understood that Dowuea ' -iould not have been a loser by the trip, c rarioue rumours ha\e been afloat in con- i lection with the foregoing, and in justice r o Downes I would like to give him thig i >ppartunuy of makiiig an expknatioa. I! f

am, giving no secret away in stating that Dcwnes's latent action has rather disgusted local cricket legislators, who have openly expressed the opinion that the Grange bowler should not again be selected to represent Otago. Apropos of the foregoing-, ''The Breaker"' in the Dominion writes significantly : — "Just so! But 'The Breaker' smiles. *He knows enough about ' Alex.' to state that ) the crack Ot&go bowler fears the hard North Island wickets. The pity is that he perpetuate the farce of ' not" being able to accompany the team ' each time he is cho&en." Some amusement was caused at the crick-3t_ match in Wanganui between Otago and Wanganui bj the sudden appearance of a har-3 on the field of play. The startled animal made a bec-hne " for the pavilion, and players and spectators tried to corner tho fugitive, which was just missed by a lightning shot from "Wordsworth, who happened to bo in possession of the ball at the time. Swer\ing from a straight run, however, the hare made a "brcaic" for tho fence, and maintaining a fast pace soon reached the boundary, and was noithw caught nor bowled. It will inteie-* these who showed some perturbation over the Plunkst Shield match i between Or-apro and Auckland to know that 10 matches have been played between the tvo proMncee since 1862. Auckland has won six, Ocago three, and the last match was drawn. "The pi-e->ent combination is one that carries the hopes of all Otago cricket wellwishers, and it is to this band of true sport; — they arc paying their own expense*—that the Otago public look to bring The I'iirAvi Kh-.r!d, and with it the New Zealand <••/<><-* championship, back to Dunedin. ' T:>i* is .-ir, extract from the Auckland K-fsid pr • ■■ to the Plunket Shield iratch Lr'vrco-. O-.&go and Auckland. I These who tal-c an interest in the game i will know how :t resulted. Auckland mainj tain possession of the shield, not because ; they beat Otago, but because they were not j sports enough to play the gam© to a J finality. Put plainly, that is what the whole thing really means, and, to use the words of the Auckland Herald, it is a pity ! that "this band of true sports" should have ! run across a. band of a different calibre. Technically, the Aucklanders might have been right in the stand they took. From a bporting point of view they were not. I They geem to be getting more covetous the longer they hold the championship i trcphy of the Dominion, but their la-test I aclion his shown them up in a less favourable light than previously. There is some justification now for asking that in future all Plunket Shield matches be played out. The rules governing the contest distinctly 6tate that all matches must be played out. Ofcago first of all agreed to a three-da y game, but subsequently when they asked to lia\e the game played out they were j m^t with a refusal. Such is Auckland ! spoit ! It is many years since such unheval and | keen interest was taken in cricket as was ! evinced in the two Plunket Shield matches j at Auckland. They were the topic cf com ersa- j | tion everywhere (writes my Christchu'-ch , correspondent/, and when two friends met and discussed the latent, the finish generally was: "Oh, corns along to So-and-So ; he's getting wires every hour." This is true of Olago's match equally with Canterbury's. It was generally recognised that Otago. by winning the to=s and making a fine score, had the trophy at tho>r incrcy, but when it L.o<_.:>ne known that Auckland rij, r ciou^ly insi.it cd on the .urraijqvr.vent restricting play to three 'i.'ajs, it was seen, that only good generalship and better bowling could beat the stoneuallers. Otago got a "moral" win. though her name will not appear on the records as yet, and it is perfectly correct to say that more regrets were expressed in Chris tchurch o-\er the ending of the Otago-Aucklai d match than there were over the deft, at of (.'an tor bury. A win by Gtago would be extremely popular here, the more so owing to tha tporting manner in which Otago's skipper and rep?, undertook the tour. It was pleasing to not© that each of the "imported" men cam© off during the tour. When Canterbury "lost the toss many "bundles wore put down" in Chri<=tohuroh, and wl.en ihe early wires on tho secomt day told of heavy rain it was thought the j game was over. Yet how wonderfully the luck see-sawed and the fortune^ of the game changed. Auckland were expected to make more than they did in the first innings, and Canterbury's skipper i<, confident his men could easily have pj=vjd 300 o.i the irood wicket on the fh -t day Oi \he v. ot j but diying wicket Auckland la rod oven wor-3 than Canterbury. .and had rhe fortr-pr batted for another half-hour it is quite possible Canterbury would have won. The match was lost when Canterbury lo;i three good wickets for 18 runs at the end of tho i-econd day. With five down for 50 things i looked "blue."' but a valiant stand \>v ! Anthony and Roeso put on 100 run'-. Then j things appeared "with Canterbury." But ' the tail wagged feebly, and eieryone knoV) I the result. How \aluable those" three mt-n i who were got out overnight would have been ! Canterbury will be after the trophy again next year, but the arrangement of dates will be more systematic. Bennett's bowling- was the feature of tho game— s3 over-. 33 maidens. 47 nms. 3 wickets, — and Canterbury's fielding was said to bo e\eep- | tionally good. An examination of the various grounds and wickets on Saturday morning revealed the turf in a very sodden condition oinl the outfield in places under water. Under the circumstances the Giade Committee of the Otapro Cricket Association displayed much wisdom in postponing the matches. In the absence of local ci icket one must this week go farther afield for information. The most important topic exercising fl.e minds of cricketers and enthusiasts wenorally is the Australian team for England and the trouble with the Board of 'Jontrol. Few probably are aware of what ill the trouble is about. Briefly it is the >|uo-,tion of the terms upon which the Aus>tr.il ; .m cricketers are to go to England. At a recent meeting of the Board of Coir rot, it was finally decided thaf the board should take the whole of the profits of the tou--, md after deducting 6 per cent of tho fust R6OOO t»kaa, and lU per cant, of ie balance, divide the surplus equally imongst tho members of the team. ' ? c-r ;he purposes of remuneration tho inanoppr s to be considered as one of the ulavcr.;. In connection with 6ho foregoing it is 4 stunated that the board will receive about HI3OO, a3 the minimum receipts ate: expected to total between £17,000 and 618,000, and expenses about £6000. Theso inures were baaed upon a general aver- I

; 1 age of the results of tours in recent yia '3. [ and players will each receive between £700 ' ( and £800. Several of the leading Ausi tralian cricketers resent this interference i in the finance of the tour by the Board of Control, and state that as tl-ey (the leading- players) are the draw, they should be given every consideration. If the trouble has done nothing else it has revealed some interesting figures in connection with past tours of England by Australian Elevens. I have at vanuus times had several chats with Ha-ry Graham, the ex-international cricketer, en the financial side of these tour 3, and his views have rather astonished me. Every cricketing enthusiast has heaid of Harry Scott, the well-known international, and his words must carry some weight. He remarked recently: — ''My experience of cricket tours in England convinces me that the demands made by the board are pxtortionate. and a team going Home under those conditions will have to be vt."y successful in the field to male; the tt ur a success financially. The most- suec'^ful trip I had the pleasure of making vr.s in 1896. and each pkyer mado al>oi;r JLSOG over and above expense*. In IBGB I !.;.>: about, £80 clear, and in that trip most of tha players hod overdrawn. In 3f>9o a little over £100 was the amount claimed J by each player, and in 18S3 about £jSO 1 was netted, so that it can be easily sr-en, j with the persent.ijro claimed by the board, j unless the teo.m bar an exceptional season I very little ovr and abov<s pxpens^s \v?"Si be j the share of the players." If mem >ry I serves well Harry Graham once told me that his most successful triD was when he landed in Australia with £1000 as his share of the profits of the tour. It has been decided to invite a South African cricket team tn tour Australia during the season of 1809-10. Here's a chance for th? New Zealand Criiket Council, and I quite expert to see those who fit in high cricket rdaces avail themselves of it. A South African cricket team louring New Zealand should prove a good draw. In January, 1895. r.parly 14 ypars ago, a young cricketer who had scored a century i for a iunior team against StodJart's Eii?- --! lish Eleven was tried for New South Wales against Victoria at Sydney. He practically failed with totals of 5 and 7. and the following season saw him rt Jogated to oblivion. But Montague Alfred j Noble was too fine a cricketer to remain j in the background, and his consistently I good performances in club games ensured I for him another trial. He was brct-ht to Adelaide with the Sydney Elet'-n 12 years ago, and a score of 69 in the second innings put his foot on the ladder of fame. How he has- climbed every run*? to the topmost is a- matter of history, but his score of 213 in the recent match again South Australia gives the opportunity to refer to his battine work in the series known as Sheffield Shield matches, which are confinp'l to N^w South Wales, r Victoria, and Scvtlh Australia. In the' 1896-7 season i c playec! a Brand innintrs of 153 not out aira:n3t Victoria, and he has been a veritable thorn in the flesh to bowlers since. Ihreo limes he has made centuries in three cojjsecutive innings, and, curiously enough, one of the three-fisrure scores on each occasion has been 200 or over against South Australia. Beginning with the second innings of the South Australian match at Sydney in January, 1898-9, bo made 101; then 200 in his only try ngnm*;-, Victoria; and he opened the 1899-ISOO season w-ith 200 on the Adelaide Ova', following it with 122 in Melbourne. in the January, 1903. match with Victr. 'n he finished with 103 not out, and in December of the same year South Australia suffered at his hands to the extent of 230 in Sydney and 147 in Adelaide. Ihi 1 latest 215 completes the third series, tho two preceding hundreds being the douhl? of 176 and 123 against Victoria at Sydney in January last. In all Noble lias tr.a«lo 17 centuries in the Sheffield Shield matches, and has scored 4591 runs in 76 lonino-s ('8 not out) at an average of 67.51. One little act during the process of the cricket match between South Australia and New South Wales caught the attention nf the spectators. It brought into prwmi- | np'ico the true spirit cf the sportsman i which scorns to take advantage, howsvor slight, of an untowurd event. M. A. Noblo, the Xpw South Wales oaptain. an:\ the Rev. E. F. Waddv were runmntr retween the wickpt=. and the hall, on beiritr thrown in, struck the lafter's bat and sped away from fhe wicket. As he turned i Noble saw there was plenty of room for [ -mother run. and started back. His co.n- --| Damon, however, signalled that his bat I had turned Iho course of the ball away j from the fieldsman, and that he would nut. run. The captain, of course, stayed in hi 3 crease. That the action was approbated was shown by the applause from utt | quarters of the ground. j A telegram v,us published from Tas--1 mania a few days ago suggesting that H. | Carter, the Australian Eleven wicke'--i keeper, was not likely to go to England, and urging the claims of N. Dodds, cf the island State, for consideration. Carter recently stated that there was no truth in the rumour, and he was prepared to go to England if selected. Little need bo said concerning the m \ cent match between New South Wales and South Australia (says a South Australian writer). Rain turned the game into a fiasco, and the local men had no opportunity to make anything like a respectable reply to the immense total of 713 which was j.ut against them. The New South Wales total is the third highest score made in the j series between the two Ptutos. The two which exceed it are the world's reco-d cf 918 made in Sydney by Now South Wales in January. 1901. and 807 by the same side in Adelaide in December, 1839. In 48 complete innings New South Wales has scored every hundred in the notation against South Australia, although in inodt cases the side has been dis.nisseJ between 200 and 400. The records are:— Innings under 100, 1. Between 100 and 200, 6 Between 200 and 300, 15 Between 300 and 4-JO, 11. Between 400 and 500, 6. Between 500 and 600, 4. B&twcen 600 and 700, 2. Between 700 and 800, 1 Between 800 and 900, 1 Bet", een 900 and 1000 1. It was tou[fh luck to field for two days and then ha\e the weather work havoc with the wicket, and it 13 smnil wonder that the Adelaideans threw up the sponge. Hopkins, the highest scorer of ,he visitors, made his 218 in beautiful stjlc. He was

very fortunate in being let off the lirst ball ci the match. It was a simple cascb. Straight to Pellew at slip, but alter that, > mistake the batsman never looked like get* r tins out, and he went through the day without offering another opportunity of dismissal. In all probability this performance will silence any opposition against his inclusion in the Austialian ]".leven oi 1909. Everj penny that goes into the pocket of Australian Elever players in England ia thoroughly well earned. They aare legitimateh entitled to the fuli net proceeds (sajs "Felix"), and if the board wants money it would eb fai better to get it ir Australia than to follow our representative players to England, and there make a dip into the money they have got together by downright hard work. It is all very well for those who 101 l supine a-t home to say, "We shall have 5 per cent, up to £6000 and 12i per cent, on all above that sum." If these gentlemer played cricket five or six days each week for four or five months in all sorts of weather on English fields, you can take ,my words for it they would* no!, fee! disposed toilet any outside bodyiccmo in and take a big slic^ of their hardearned money. The board has a match in> viow on the Sydney ground in February between the Australian team and the Resfc of Australia. Probably £1000 will result from that match. This, in my opinion, is the source from which tho money should be got to recoup the board The. programme arranged. Jby.Pr Poidevin appears to be excellent. In addition to the five test matches there are two fixture* against combined Yorkshire and Lancashire. These should draw almost ac big a gate as a test match. It is. stated. tliat Dr , Poidevin has curtailed the .travelling considerably by improved traiu. arrangements, '• and that in some instances he has succeeded in getting better terms for- matches than 1 on former occasions. That he has done " well I have no doubt whatever, and the <v board will, of course, have to recompense' • him. Indeed, so satisfied are members of the board with the work done by Dr Poidovin that they reckon each member , of the Australian team will make as much!] ac on any preceding tour, notwithstanding; ( the percentage to be levied by the board. * There is, I am afraid, a general tendency, A to exaggerate the amounts made by mem- J bers of Australian teams, and the board 1 J 6cenis to follow the general tendency. I 1 think you will find at tha finish that £600 per man will be nearer the. .mark thanf £800 per man. I can recall a time when a te&m played 20 matches in England before they had 6d to their credit, and they were very glad to get back to Australia with ci . little more than £100 per man. .We* are"* not too strong in bowling ju6t-now, and a ■ run of bad luck in play, combined with & ' wet season, would considerably reduce the high aggregate sum mentioned by the ' board as likely to be the gross takings in« England. lam not in the least surprised! that M. A. Noble and Clem. Hill have expressed themselves very strongly again**! the action, of the board in making this high/ percan-tage charge. The surprise would be f, undor -the circumstances, they were to consent to go to Enarknd.