NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

Otago Witness, Volume 06, Issue 2899, 6 October 1909, Page 60

NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

* The. "air of mystery" which is being sustained for reasons unknown to the general public con«&rnang tbe international cricketer who is coming out to-. Dunedin to take up his residence and become one of us appears rather childish on the face of it. The members of the Ofcago Cricket Association have been bound down to secrecy, and well have they maintained the . attitude. I do not pretend to know anything more about this mysterious "inter- ' national cricketer thaai my fellow-enthu-siasts, but the pbpulai belief s that the oricketer "in question" is .none' other than O. 6. Macartney, of the Australian.' 'team of 1909. About ■ four months ago Macartney's name was freely mentioned en connection -with Ota-go cricket, but little has been ' heard until Ihe - matter -was revived! ' at the meeting'of. the Otago- Cricket- Association. The veileci references to tJ.-e Mysterious One's .qualifications as* an "all-/ | round " man point to Macartney as being 1 1 the player. Well, Macartney is returningI to Australia, by the P.' and O. steamer : Moldavia,' which left Londton on Friday, September 24, and is expected in Ausi tralia. at the latter end of the present ! month. If Macartney is the. player Who is \ coming to us he will .have to settle up i affaire in Australia, and probably arrive :r: r • Dunedin in December. At this stage it i may b? of interest to know Macartney's averages with the Australian team in. England: — Batting: 40 innings, seven times not out, 124 highest score, 638 runs; average, 19 33. Bowling-: 71 wickets, 1240 . runs; average, 17.46. | By the reappointment of C Wordsworth, • j *,he Sydney bowler, to the - position of ! coach to the Otago Cricket Association that ' august body has brought upon .itself a heap of criticism and got itself vigorously I disliked. Though (he public's memory is j invariably short-lived pa to the virtues , of a governing bddy, I must confess .to a t feeling of astonishment on reading that . after due deliberation the re-appointment iof Wordsworth had been approved of. I \\ do not doubt for a moment, nor can the cricketing public doubt, that the Cricket Association deliberated long and> earnestly on the respective merits of the individual' applications forwarded from Australia; but I do take leave to doubt with the cricketing\ public that the association has done a 1 wise thing in reappointing WordswoYth. To call the Sydney ■ player a coach is a misnomer. A ground bowler, if you .will, * but not a coach The time has not arrived / when Otago can afford to pay a man £5 per week for ground bowling alone. YeS this is precisely what the- engagement ol - Wordsworth amounts to. If wo coalc'. \ afford to pay" for a fa^t ground bowler th_consumma'ion would be wished. But \r>- • cannot, and the sooier the Otago Cricke . Association realises that ' fact the bette A certain amount of money has been suscribed for the purpose of assisting an«.i improving Otago sricket. and the su^ ■ scribers, who are the cricketers and t ! io cricketing public, cannot ba blamed foi" 1 demanding chat this money should be exj p&ndcd in the direction for which it waa i intended. The Otago Cricket Association I may claim chat it is carrying out this j idea to the best of its judgment. Well, then, its -judgment is at fault, and the matter eboull be rectified before it is too late. The Otago Cricket Association has decided that the season will open on Satmr- | dtiy, October 16, with "First and Second 1 ■ Grade matches only, the Third 1 and Fourth I Grade commencing the following Sat<ur-_ i day. In view of the fact that the wickets i on two of the grounds — Oarisbrook and Caledonian — will not be ready for thte 16th it is regrettable that the committee has decided to open the season on that date. They would .have baen. better aofvised to have postponed the opening until the 23r8, when the season could have been opened with some uniformity and some reasonable chance of good wickets being prepared. It may be, of couse. that the North Ground and Opoho can furnish wickets on the 16th, but it would 'probably have been more considerate to senior and junior players alike to have delayed) the opening it* order tihat the best' conditions might be availed of. At this stage it is impossible to state with any degree of accuracy the prospeebs of the several clubs, but from inquiries made there will be little difference m thepersonnel to that of last year. There will be one or two changes, but these will scarcely be of consequence. The Carisbrook Club suffers the loss . of ,- J. R. Burt — " Jock "of that ilk — recently, transferred to Wellington j P. -S. Foster, now Dr Foster, of Wellington; and W. T. Foster, of the High School, Gore; also young Hanna, who kept wickets last' 6eason, will not be available. Several.-new--comers, mostly untried juniors, will helpto fill up the ftaps of the departed — not j.«oessarily in the grades which have been depleted*, but elsewhere in the club. "Jerry" Austin and Siedeberg will be found playing again, but whether in the same tean? is at present doubtful. There is a suggestion to even up the A and- B elevens thie season, which may cause a j separation of the two craeke. ' By the way, there was a suggestion last year that Siedeberg and Austin should coach the ji nior members of Carisbrook. I trust this has not been lost sight of, and that these two players will be founu at the junior nets during practice nights'. If more l interest is taken by the seniors in the i juniors, of the clubs to which they belong-, ; there will be little cause for complaint by I the authorities that the young blood do no^ | appreciate the efforts made on their behalf. The efforts made in the past co instruct the young idea bow to play cricket have been so half-hearted that it fs . little cause for wonder that there has baen no improvement in the standard of junior cricket.-* The -management of every senior club, should arrange for free instruction of its 1 juniors by the best of its- senior players two or three nights, per week, It is io. •use saying the scheme is impossible and unworkable. It can only be impossible and I unworkable in a club whose senior players

are too intent on their own pleasure and too wrapped up in their own game to bother about the juniors. It should be remembered that the future of Otago cricket does not res* with the present-day senior players, whose limitations are only too real and whose styles are already thoroughly moulded, but with the young players whose cricket is before tham, and who, with judicious coaching, wul turn out the Otago representatives of the coming years. I learn with regret that owing .o the difficulty of securing a suitable wicker, that promising' junior club, the Star, which has turned out more century-makers than any other junior club in town, threatens to go to the wall. I trust it will be unnecessary to take the extreme step. Talking of the Star, Ussher and Johnston, who pla3*ed for Carisbrook a couple of seasons ago, and for Star last season, will probably be found practising on Carisbrook again this season. Amongst old player? and enthusiasts it 13 certain that Alex. Roberts, Hairy Harraway, Geo/ge Thomson, and W. Butler wil' turn out again for Carisbrook this season. Hopkins and Godfrey, too, are expected to turn out. The latter is at p'rssont on a trip to Melbourne, but will return next week. . Arthur Fisher has decided not to turn out until November, and " I have heard of another who purposes -postponing 'his appearance until ■ later 'in 'the season. • A useful net practice was carried out by the mambors of the Opoh'o Club last Saturday,'when the majority of the old players were present. There is very little to report in connection with this club. The prospects of a good season are bright v Quite a number of now members have joined the club, and there is a possibility of placing three teams in the field during the coming season. In vic-w of thp possibility of Plunkefc Shield contests this season, it may be interesting to know that the Auckland team will be strengthened bj the inclusion of Anthony, of Canterbury, who has recently taken up his residence in the Queen City. The first annual meeting o? the Brighton Cricket Club was held in the Brighton Sohoolhouse on the 25th ulfc, Mi D. Miller presiding, when there was a fair muster of members. The secretary and treasurer (Messrs Cbutts and Wright), in their reports, showed the club to have had a ticcessful year. During the year the club played three matches with the Kuri team, winning one -and losing two. The balance sheet showed, after the initial expenses incurred in equipment, a. credit of 12s sd. For the currem* year a numerically strong club was formed, with Mr Alexander Mcc as, captain, Messrs Wright and Miller as <Jeputic6, wtith an addition of several otihers as a Management Committee. It was decided to improve the pitch on the Domain by laying down a board one in place of clay, as at present. It was agreed to open! the season or October 9. The entrance fee was fixed at 4s, and it was decided to hold a concert under the auspices of tho club on November 9 for the purpose of strengthening the funds. The following office-bearers were -elected fof the" ensuing year _: — President, Mr E. Aslin; vice-pre3idents^-Me?sns Allan, Stevenson, and Farrow ; secretary a*u' treasurer, Messrs Cbutrs and Wright. The Griledonian Ground gives promise »f being in splendid order this season. Ca.retaker Ross is hard at work preparing match wiok-ats, whioh should be ready bj tho 23rd. Praotrice wickets aTe already well advanced, and memboTs will be able to use them next Saturday. The Duneddn First Eleven will not undergo nraoh change. None of the >ld players have forsaken the club, while De la Mare, whe did not play at all last year, wild again be available. It is ,ioro than likely, tor that T. Young, ih^'Mornington batsman, wiH be seen in the ranks of ths 3ark • blues: • Both these youn^ players, besides being good bats, are smart in the field. _ A correspondent writes: It is a pity the O.C.A. did net Jekj the opening of the season another week. Then they would fcave had tho Caifedonian Ground available. As i* is the first set of Senior matches must be played on. the North and Opoho Grouads--even though Carisbrook and Dunedm ore drawn against each other, —while the Second-graders will have the doubtful pleasure of taloing their first knock on such wiokets as can be provided on the lower encts of the Opoho and North Grounds, at Montecillo and the Asylum. Apropos of coaches, the New South Wales Cricket Association has reconumend^d the appointment of A^ C. Bannerman from Octobei to March. There is said to be plenty of scope - "or a coach in Sydney cricket not on customary lines. An Australian writer says the association could hav-a done no better than appoint tJie famous little cricketer, who is a shrewd judge of a player, -has a fitting sense of the importance of fielding, and «k other .rays is thoroughly qualified for the position. Tho Australiar. cricket team ha: disbanded. Victor Trumper is on bca.xl the P. and 0. eteamer Macedonia, which loft England on September 10, and C. G. Macartney .returns by the P. and O. staamer Moldavia, vhic'h jeft on Friday, September 24. R. Hartigan is booked by the Orient steamer Otranto, leaving on October 1. M. A. Noble. A. Cotter. W. W. Armstrong, A. J Hopkins, aJid F. Layer are coming by rh.e P. and O. skia.rn.9r Mongolia, leaving London en October 8. V. Ran«ford, P. A. M'Alister, W. Bards-ley, W. Carkeek. H. Carter, and 1 W. J. Whitfcy will return hy the Orkn* Steamer Orsova, leaving England on October 15. Mr Henry Phillips, who froir 1869 to 1690 was wicketkeepar for Sus-ex, writes to the Daily Express that Rlackham, the AoKftraiiam wioketkeeper, was not tho first to disipensa with the ]oog-stcp in England. as he Jhiimsjif <l:d 60 "n the .second' irmingh of a match against Gloucester, at Hove, in 1873. Blackhaxn did the same thing in 1878. In the course of seme conin-.jn^ after the fiiftli test match, a writer in the London Sportsman paid the following compliment to Noble's ability as a captain: — 3efore leaving i.he fascinating subject of the ill-starred test matches — that is. from an English point of view — I should like to nay tribute to M. A Noble. I have known and scan many, .iany 'aptains during the past quarter of a century, but Noble is the greatest within my experience. His placing of the fLalu? is positively uncanny, and, but for his marvellous psre^ption, England would have scored fully 100 rune more than they did "on Tuesday. Koble is ft good sportsman with it all. He

fit was who enablec 1 a great j.umbar of ] ' people to sco the game who, had the officials ha<l tlieir way, would hays suffered , ' disappointment, and 1 it was a prttt.y scene when the Australian skipper shook han-ds | with Sharp upon the completion of the ' I Lancastrian's centuryKent have been using an appa.i-atus for protecting tlie wicket ir ho-ne matches this I season. It is said to he as admirable as ; ! it is simple, and abi\ protects the space round each wicket, whilst the covering lias now bean so raisod as to drain off the j water in the direction away f '. om the front • where the otumps arc when placed in position. , Noble has rtated that th» r«!ackpcol wicket, on which the fifth test .uatcn was. drawn. was one of the l:3St he has played on this season. Over £650 was token at tha gates during the three chje i ' If what ' hea.r is true, (says a writer in Cricket) two of Ihe first cla«s counties a; e , endeavouring to persuade Wanen Kardsley to settle in Enplane, with a view to qualifying for the s^e. If thi .eajly is so no worck would bo too strong in condemnation of such a policy on tte> part :f the clubs. Early in the s~easo i I expressed I'be hope that no county would be to unsportsmanlike as to attempt to rob Australia of any of h-er wonderful young players and I most -.incerely hope that >n , the" event of Bardsfe-y or any other member of the Australian team bsing induced j to hever his- cenn^tion with his native i land the counties will combine to deprive , the club responsible for &uch a deplorable state of things of Its fixtur.. list. • During a. recent match between Somerset anc) Kent Colin Blythe oowled with so many men stationed on the leg side that | the umpire, Bagf.haw, stood point. This, I believe (says Cricket), is unique so fai as first class cricket is co-ncea-ned, though m a minor matoh I ones taw an old gentleman who was umpiring insist upon standing on the off-side owing to the reputation an incoming pla-ycir possessed as a leghitter. The consequence was that a little later th-e veteran found himself unable to get out of the way of a routing cut made 6y th® other batsman, and hod to be assisted off tb? field, 1 . But even now (says an English writer, . reviewing the Australian tour) I must confess to doubt as to whethe. they a.re a really great side, though they possess the best* left-handed batsman ir the world in Warren Bardsley, who has, 3 renturf '.o think, improved ibis game since hie arrival. It is as a splendidly managed, brilliantly fielding team af triers that much of their success has bscn scored, and, of :ouise, there are some sterling exponents and ablo all-roundsrs. Yot there ie scarcely t.he col- i lection of stars who are now houScihcJd words and nothing more. Carter is very good, but not quite a B'.ackham, and wf can-not quite forget Spofforth, Palmeir, and Charlie Turner, Thej are fortuna* indeed ir having such left-handers as Ba.rd>s- , l:y and Ransford to step into the shoss of Darling and Clem Hili, but despite the ability of the tail to play an uphill game there ir unquestionably a longer fail than on the occasion of previous visits. The remark may seem rather Irish in flavour, but I think that -ts meaning is at any rate apparent. Less than 2GOO people were oc ha ground on the first daj of the Derbyshire match, and the Athletic- Newt nemarke t/iat it is to be feared that a good many of them had left before the J^ea>' feature oi ths afternoon's cricket began to Jevelop. j "This was a most brilliant and character- i istio piece of batting on the part of Victor , Trumpe.r, who had never previously | obtained such a complete mastery over the j Derbyshire bowling. He went in when two wickets had f ailein ar 2S run 6, but though he played with much freedom from the start tv; can hardly be said to have let himself go until the fall of the fourth wicket, just aftei the Australians hud taken the lead. Then, however, we had a full view of the great batsman at his best. Some- people may suggest that th« Der'jvshire bowling was not quite of the best, | but that view is nardh justified by tha | facts. Warren, for instance, bowled fast, ! and kept a /ocd length, whil&t Morton £?nt down many cxoellen' balls, as ctd Cad man. In fact, the bowling was of a t\pe t>hat s not readily scored "off, except, when batsmen like Victor Trumper a»e on the warpath. The farthei hs went the better he became, until he got into that moo when all sorts of bowling, good or bad, came alike, and the bowlers were at a loss to know how to deal with him. All through his driving and pulJing were perfection, but perhaps more to the t.-ist* of the spectators were his =quar^ cuts and delicate flicks to lew. whiah were timed to a hair's breadth. When be completed 'hi« hundred in the last over of the d<iv ai-cl Australia, with sax wickets to fall, htld? the lead of 101 runs, H looked as thojg'h. / they were in for a mammoth score.'' Albert E. Relf, the Sussex cricketer, had arrang-d to leave England for Now Zealand on September 16, for the third season in succession— as coach to the Eden District C.S., Auckland j A well-known Hull cricketer. G. H. Cockeroft, manager of the Union of London and Smith's Bank at Witham, died on i Saturday, August 5. after being hit over j the heart with a cricket ball. He con- I tinued his innings, but was shortly after- j wards caught out, and walked to a seat. I He suddenly swooned, and falling to the floor, died without regaining consciousness. Clem Hill has be^n asked to captain the Sturt Club at Adelaide L his Ho has accepted, and intends to play regularly unless he finds he is hampered by a weak wrist in consequence of the motor-car accident in Sydney last January. W. Bnrdsley and V. Ransford have been [ th* great batting successes of tha Aus- \ tralians' tour Both have done better ; than any othei Au«tialian on hi<s first visit to England — better than V. Trumper. C Hill, M. A. Noble, J. Darling, or any ot the earlier champions. Warren Bardsley's locords for one on his first v.sit to the Old Country aie:— Highest ag-gregatc (2179 runs), most centuries ('.even), highest ' average (46.368). Besid2s, ho is the only j batsman who has made two centuries in a (o-t match, and he has mads most centuries in the test matches of one tour. His aggregate of 2179 runs has been only once surpassed, V. Trumper in 19C2 having scored 2570 runs. It is extraordinary that the-e two remarkable feats with the bat were accomplished in abnormally wet seaeoiis. Vernor Ransford divides the batting honours of the campaign with the Sydney left-hander. In his firsi tour he has surpassed the achievements of Clem Hill iv any one of his tours, and in some directions e^en surpassed W. Bardfiley, '

' though on the whole the pair seem to have been equally Ihe mainstays of the team. , His average of 43.48 and his six centuries are better than those of any other player (save Bardsley) on a first visit to England.