NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 58

NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

Among the passengers who arrived in New Zealand from London by the lonio ins other clay were A. E. Relf, the English professional, who has been re-engaged to coach oy the Auckland Criofcet Associa> tion, and J H. Broad, of Gloucester, engaged by \he Hawie-'s Bay Association. This is Broad's first visit to New Zealand. The Gloucester professional will return to .England in March. Broad was a member of Stoddart's team in Australia a few years ago, and last year scored over a thousand runs in first-class cricket. j It is almost certain (remarks that oldj timer Harry Trott) that C. G. Macartney, 1 the Australian Eleven player, will take up his rcsidenca i;i Dvnedin. Be is goin? > over in December to have a look round, and if satisfactory arrangements can be made 113 intends starting in business for himself. Of course it does not follow, continues Harry Trott, that Macartney will be a success as a coach, as it takes a- man with far more experience to be successful {at the business. But he will certainly bo the means of improving cricket in the I Dominion, as he is a fin© type of cricketer for tho young idea; to copy. Apropos of Macartney, I notice Invercargill enthusiasts, moving in the matter of securing a visit from an Otago team about February, in the hope that the Australian international will be included in the side. There is no doubt that an Otago team which included Macartney and Wordsworth would create mere than ordinary interest in the game in the south. Southland authorities may depend on it that unless a better wicket i 3 provided than that which did duty on the occasion of the last OtagoSouthland match at Invercargill no Otago team will visit Southland. One quite expected to hear this sooner or later in -respect to the decision, of Macartney to settle in Dunedin: —"lt is a great pity that as soon as Australia discovers a left-handed bowler who shows promise of developing into a topnotcher, and would be of great service in the forthcoming triangular test games, he is allowed to leave without a special effort being made to retain him. Another instance, this, perhaps, of the Australian Board of Control's lack of intercut in its cricketers. And it is just what the Australian cricket public can expect co long as that body is not re-pre^ent-ed by a few practical oricketere of th~ oVI school." —Harry Trott. W. Carlton, of Victoria, who is the new coach to the Canterbury Cricket Association, was selected for the position by Hugh Trumble. "L.8.W." cays: "Being a spfc>n<li-d all-round exponsnt of the game, intelligent, steady, and active, with his patience and good temper, there is no one in Victoria at least that is more fitted for the position. William Carlton has played baseball for Australia, and is about the best all-round 'ball-player in this State. He was a fine footballer, has run the 100 yards a yard or two over evens, and has thrown the oricket ball well over 120 yards. He carries with him the good wishes of everybody, for he has not an enemy in the world."-

It is anticipated that the Australian team to tour New Zealand this season wall leave Sydnej immediately after the New South Wales v. "Victoria match. To show that Board (the English professional engaged by the Hawke's Bay Cricket Association) will have a fairly heavy round at duties to perform, it may be mentioned that he will coach the Napier High School boys twice a week, the Manut Brothers and Main School teams one day each, in adldition to devoting a portion of his time to the local clubs. At Hastings he will take the Herefcaunga School twice a week, and the Hastings and Manor*, schools combined once weekly, in addition to the Hastings clubs once a wdfek. It is also proposed to select a number of the most promising- young players and place them specially under the coach's direction) once a week, with the view to giving- them an extra opportunity to improve their knowledge of the game. Board will likewise be available a portion of has time to give private tuition, and it is understood that already a number of prominent men have decided to give their boys the benefit of Board's teaching. Concerning tlbe personal expenses of the Australian team over and above general "exes.," which Vie.. Trutopenr sets "down as £190 for tbe trip, one old cricketer who wi?»fc to England used to boast that his total personal expenses for one tour amounted to only £17 10s. He ' kept * record of every penny, and bis hardest "deal" was <£8 10s for a dree*- suit. Qua anyone place him?

Apropos of this our old friend Harry Graham has often told me tihat from one English tour he landed in Australia with £1000. It c&me easily, axud -weut -tlbe same way. ' " "

I bad the pleasure of meeting- Charile Frith, the old Phoenix and Grange bowler, *t St. Clair last weelc. The veteran was in hopes that, he would be able to get down to tbe North Ground last Saturday to see the finish, of the Cafishroak-Grange match. The veteran was not looking r the best of health, but showed great improvement on when I hist sa,w him. One's memory goes back to the days when "Charlie" was at the top of his form wifn the ball. It is questionable whether Dut edin, or even New Zealand, ever produced suah a splendid bowser as "Charlie." Foaccuraoy and judgment he stood alone, and there is oertainly oo bowler here at t?" present time, nor has chere been sim- ■ Lawton's departure, who could comnsr • with "Charlie" in these respects. T ' bowler of to-day sacrifices length for bre.~ .- or .pace, and the stuff that mana.g'es - ■ secure wickets nowadays wouldi have '*• unmercifully banged Jmd it been pir^---- 1 up to the- hatemen of 12 or 15 years egA little- group of enthusiasts were ■<>..-- cussing style in batsmen the other warn, evening,! when the names of several prominent cricketers were referred to with some appreciation. One enthusiast who had) not taken much part in the disoussum struck the note: "We have seen many fine batsman in New Zealand at various times — top-notchers, too, — bat for style and 1 grace none who could approach Alf Clarke of vivid memory." And' who is to say thai he is not nglvt? Clarke could cut- a ball like lew- batsmen in -the .would, and his style was the personification ofc ease and grace-.

A fair crowd attended the North Ground last Saturday to witness the finishes of. tin Albion-Dunedin and- Gtange-Carisbrook I\. matches. Their were rewarded by witnessing a most interesting and exciting finish it. the first-mentioned scotch. .

■ On the first Saturday Albion had succeeded in obtaining a good deal in ,the first innings, and had disposed of threeDunedin wickets for a trifle. It appeared as if the match was all over bar shouting, but good batting by Wilson and Wilkie in Duuedin's second inn-ings produced a fair score, and it seemed not beyond a possibility that ' Albion might fail to get the necessary runs-r&nd fail they very nearly did- Aggressive batting' by Williams, MaofarlaUe, and Wordsworth in the initial stage of the innings placed Albion in a winning position, but with the departure of these three a "rot" set in, and it was only owing to the determined batting by Brinsley, Cummings, and Corbetfc — the tail end of the team — that won Albio: the match five minutes before time.

To Brinsley muob of the credit of the win must be given. Coming in when wickets were falling like autumn leaves it was no small feat for this colt to "buck up" to the bowling the way be did. Ho contented himself with playing the balls on the wicket, but slammed anything that was loose. Ciunmings alsojbatted steadily, and it was a good performance on his .and Brinsley'e part to make the runs necessary to win.

Towards the finish a unanimous appea l for a catch behind' the wicket was made by the Dunedin players, and so confident did they appear to be that the umpire's "•decision would be, in their fa-vow' thai some of them were rushing off the ground congratulating themselves on a, hard-earned victory, when they were called By an, emphatic "not out" from the umpire. However, the umpire was in the best poaitior to see, an_d> although there was a distinct click, it does not follow that the batsman touched the ball.

In the Grange-Carisbrook match the former secured a four-wicket victory. The all-round cricket displayed was of a Terjr poor class, Grange's "fielding being— io\ them — very ordinary indeed, no fewer thaif five comparatively easy catches being .missed. Downes again distinguished himself wifhi the ball on a wicket from which he oh*^ tamed very little, if any. help. It wouK.' have gone hard with Grange had it not been for Downes, as the Carisbrook men appeared to have the other bowlers completely tied up. Bannerman and Rutherford played gooß cricket for their runs, although the formiar gave a couple of chances. Hopkins, who was far from well, chopped the first ball he received from Downes on to his wicket, and Bannerman succumbed in a Bimilar manner.

Johnston in the second innings of Grange showed good cricket, and was unfortunate in bcincr run out wheh well eet, though he should have waited for his partner's call before attempting a run. C. and W. Beal and C. Ohadwiok mad/ their runs quickly, and «> enabled Grange to secure a complete win. A pleasing little incident happened in Johnston's innings. The Grange m*n, snicked a • Ball into the slips, which -was caught low down by BaJinerman, and as there appeared to be a doubt as to whether

the catch was a fair one. or taken offl the ground, the umpire was appealed to, who unhesitatingly gave the batsman out. Fortunately for the batsman, Bannerman, without being asked, informed the umpire that the ball had touched the ground just as it was caught. The umpire reversed' his decision, and: Johnston continued his innings. It was a graceful act on Bannerman's part, and his action, showed the true sportsman's spirit. With the exception of Downes ,the bowling on both sides was not tnueh above junior form. Where our future interprovincial bowlers will come from when. Downes and Fisher retire from the game is a hard thing to conjecture. Rutherford bowled fairly wejl, but he should use more judgment in the matter ot side can be complimented on its ground fielding. Some ?%*%£&% would certainly improve both teams in this department of the game. There was nothing of tne sensational oroer in the cricket at Opoho. Uaeher and CoSmb. the not-oute of the first day'e pla>. %dded 45 before they were separated. They are both batsmen of the promising order £nd with strict and constant attention to practice they are likely to be forger "heard of before the season is ended. Both eeem ?o be possess^ of one of the essentials to tae makings of a auccessful cncketerT-confi-a?n«. Add to this an intelligent interest n the game, a keen eye and **£*-&"* xice, and there is nothing to hinder ther advancement.- * !„„„_ Siedeberg. as Is usual with this player, jtarted flukily. The first ball he received ehould have sent him back to the pavilion, as Eokhoff missed, him badly in the Blips, w»s no excuse for this blunder, as jb/» ball" came sharp and straight into his hands. Th iS let off proved rather expensive :o the hillites, as Siedeberg piled on 50 luns for them to wipe off the elate. There is no knowing how th?se run 6 affected the result of the match, but it does not require a big draw on one's imagination to conceive that if they had not been there the xeault of the match might' have been aifferent. Hcwever, we have to take reeults—Carisbrook won by 4 points. In passing, it is not inopportune to again remind cricketers that fielding is a part of the game. This seems to be entirely overlooked by players when practising, and many a matoh has been lost by this neglect —not only club matches, but interprovincial ones. It is to be trusted that the Selection Committee will note* this. But to get back to the particular match under criticism. It io a pity Siedeberg does not possess the natural confidence displayed by many a younger cricketer. He never gives one the impression that he has a thorough mastery of his feelings and , actions, and appears to be repeatedly . aught between two opinions. He is unoubtedly a good batsman, but until he eeis and adopts a more devil-may-care atti.ude one is afraid that he will not do himLOif justice. He requires to forget "self .- nd lose it in his interest in the game, wer-anxiousness for a score warps his udgmenfc. .This is -.noticeable even in his "udgment of a run, and is perplexing to his " >artner at the .wickets. Siedeberg made , 3veral sweet strokes, and notwithstanding i.ie faults which are mentioned, he is a valuable help to his side, which was once again. proved by his compilation of 60 on .Saturday. ' . • . . Barron. is a batsman of the serviceable oraer, as his 39 goes to demonstrate, and as ho can take a turn with the ball and is an active field he is of considerable value to the "B's." The fielding of Opoho— in fact of both teams — was a.nj Jiing but brilliant, even after making due allowance for the rough nature of the outfield. The Opoho team appears to be woefully deficient in change bowlers, and*" one or two players of this calibre should find a safe resting place in this senior eleven. George M'Gavin was absent, and his abK3nce was undoubtedly a drawback to his tirls in tho trundling department. 'Gansbrook took good care not to close their innings until they had set an almost impossible task for their opponents t" ocoomphsh in the limited time. With defeat thus facing them — they were 7 rune behind in the first innings — the Opoho men commenced to attempt to wipe off some 215 in. less than two and a-half hours. (Jon>;:dering this uphill fight, they did very well in getting 159 in about two hours — at the rate of 80 runs per hour. Not bad scoring, this. Higg : ns's contribution was 50, Graham's 36, and M'Kay's 21; but beyond thi6 there was nothing worth recording. . 'Jhis team contains' one or two good old stagers who have done good service to Their club and cricket in time past, but these days are gone, and they must coon ' Mubmit to the inevitable and make room * for younger and more vigorous players. | It is with a tinge of regret this sentence j is penne*i ; but duty demands it, and it is ' not only applicable to this senior eleven, but ' to others also. Young players must be given to feel that, if their capabilities merit it, they shall be promoted, and that ( no sentimental or personal friendship rea- ' sons shall stand in the way of this promo- j tion. Only by this means will the game j progress and young men be encouraged to [ take it up and strive to qualify for this j advancement. After all, it is no disgrace , to admit — however unpalatable it may be — ; that one has to make room for a better ' man. The best man in all walks of life • have had to do this. There is no necessity or wish to drive anyone out of participation j in the grand old game of cricket. It is ' only a question of taking a lower grade, j C. R. Smith bore the brunt of the Caris- | brook bowling-, and came out with a fair average — five wickets for 75. He. had hard luck at the start, as at least three distinct catches were misseo. off him before he got a wickrt; One of these was a miss by himself. This bowler should remember that at the angle he bowls id is almos' an impossibility to get a l.b.w decision in his favour. He bowls round the wicket, and takes the full crease limit allowed. Urnpirea are not looking for giving decisions to make themselves notorious, and therefore careful'y avoid the very critical one of deciding :n the bowler' 6 favour in a case like this. j A correspondtnt writes : — " Can you ex- J plain to me why some batsmen — and batsmen in First Grade cricket, too — persist in asking the umpire to give them centre with the bat broadside on? In this case, the umpire has to act as a sort of guesser. and gues3 the distance from each edge of *fc!ie bat to. the outer wickets, or in some

way, to a certaiu extent, guess the centre, more espet'ally when the batsman's hands cover the handle of the bat, as is frequently the case. Now, umpires of all men in cricket, should not be encouraged to guess — else *hey might guess that one of these broadsiders was out when he was in, and this would De disastrous. Theire should be as near an exact science as it is possible to make it, and it is a my6tery to me how umpires r-ar be expected to give the exact centre unless the bat is turned side on .so as to see whether the centre stump is covered or not. But perhaps theie is a reason for these broadsiders' action, and, if so, you may enlighten me and others on the point. If there is no valid reason to be advanced, I hope thi? 'bioadsider' will be the means of puttinga stop to what is to me an absurd practice indulged in by some of our men." Jack Biackham, the finest wicket-keeper the world ever saw, was wrongly named' the "prince of wicket-keepers," as he was undoubtedly the kirg. His great success was due to his keenness foi the game. I remember him telling me (remarks Harry Trott) that when quite a lad he would, with a chum, be up at daylight, winter and summer, practising He, with his pads and giloves on, would allow his pal to shy tho ball at him at a distance of 22 yards, so that he could become an adept at taking the bell at all sorts of paces and all sorts of lengths. Blackham had a wonderfully quick" eye, and he got the ball to the wicket when stumping a man quicker than any other wicket-keeper. This was due to a method quite his own. UVike niosi wicket-keepers, insteaJ of waiting until the ball had settled in his hands before taking the bails off for a stump, he would, with his hands, meet the ball, and thus "with thesame action remove the bails. On the leg eid9 he was superb, and few batemen who lifted their foot when he was behind ever got a chance of getting it down again before Jaok had the bails off. Blackham rever stood back to the fastest bowler when in his prime, but in latter years, as his eyesight began to fail, he was compelled to do so, but lie never appeared comfortable in that position. A3 a batsman, when hia eide was in a tight corner he had few equals, and won many a match when defeat seemed almost certain Jack was ver> superstitious, and if a cross-eyed man or woman happened to cross his path during a maitch he always considered that was enough to bring us the worst of luck. In the dressing rcom when things were going well with the jeam, and someone was making a good stand, he would never allow anyone to leave, as he was sure it woula bring trouble. Even now, at the interstate matches. Jack has his lucky seat In the members' pavilion, and he can never c prevailed upon to leave it, even for a drink, if the, Victorians are batting well and makmg a stand. No finer judge of tho game ever lived. Seme peipje I ha£ heard say hs was a "faddist." Whether he was or not, during the time I had the pleasure of playing on his eide rnoai of his fads came oS. successfully. When he lil o^* I "^* Viet ° ri an Eleven in Ide Ja de, they had no left-hand bowler. Geo Giffen was about 200 not out. Every &v£ bowlers had been shown to be deficient fn skill he was chosen to play the criticism m Australia was very severe. From tne ?h?'w W £' Ci ;' P~ved to be much the best bowler m the team, perhaps the as a bowler should have b«en ignored in Australia. As a leg break bowler Armstrong, discarding his former methods of keeping off the wicket, could not onfy bowl straight but almost invariably kept a .ength, and was consequently bound to 5?» t „* f°L d «*\ving the batsman in the iiigbt of the ball he would doubtless l |? V V\'rT d the "» ht to *» cla *sed with j * laJf - dozea nro=>fc famous bowlers produced by Australia As it was, he took nearly twice as many wicketa as any other regular member of the team. The only other bowlec who was above ordinarycounty fcrm was Macartney, whose ability to fc £ w l a faster boll much 'further up than the batsman anticipated was of very great seivice to him, for although this ball did not often meet with direct success it I frightened many batsmen into playing haltfvolleys with an absurd caution which sometunes brought about thoir downfall. No [ one can quite understand why Cotter ! should be lower in the bowling averages than all tlw. other bowler? exespt Noble, who has lost much of h=s fire and life. Cotter was yards faster than uny English 1 bowler but, except on rare occasions in the middle of the season, v. hen ho found ■ a length and bowled straight, he was ; almost harmless. He would be a wis-e man [ if he were to make experiments v. ith a 1 view to remodelling his present run, which , is net the same as it was at the end of : 1905, and te'i'ls to throw him off his balance at the moment -when he is delivering *he ball The other bowlers were ail more or less erratic, and the theory that ; O'Connor would be irre-sibtible on hard wickets because his irg-breaJc did its work j '.0 quickly was found ro be untenable. He ! was fairly successful .against batsmen of 1 moderate skill. It was in their batting that the Australians were the most disappointing, dsspite the long 6cores made by Bardsley, Armstrong, and Ra.ncfo*rd. In the earlier Australian teams mos<t of the batsmen had no pretence to style, but in their own ungraceful wav managed to scoro off the best bowling, and most of the men in the present team went back to the early /methods din^cr'.y the rain came, and could never afterwards vet out of them. It is no exaggeration to say that the only regular memboi of the team whose ttyle was ahv:iy6 pleasing, whether h*e ivas m.akinsr runs quickly or slowly, was Trunipcr. The most exasperating thing about ' the batting was that nearly every -nerr.ber of the si<i3 phowed once or twice that ho had a good style, and could even be graceful. Thus Noble /laved t-vro or three inning* which were wholly delightful to watch because of the ease and grace with which every stroke was made _; in the ordinary way his batting was stiff and unintereet-

kwr to a degree. Agam, Macartney once or twice showed that he not only has a graceful style when he is playing his natural game, but can hit as hard and clean as most men ; generally he seemed to ,have no style at all. The same thing may to a iessei extent be said of Bardsley, Ransford, Gregory, M'Alisier, and Hartigan. It was sad to sc© Armstrong, the giant cf the side, with more than the strength of a Banner and the ability to make magnificent drives, confining his attention to the methods of a diminutive Ban.ncrman, even when, he had been at the v.ickets for hours and the last man was in with him. The strength of will which enabled him to resist temptations of th« oiliest bowlers was often of very groat service to his side, but one cannot help thinking that Armstrong might have been another W. G. Grace if he had always played his natural gam©. Even as it is he shares with Rhodes the distinction of b<un.g classed as the best all-round cricketer of the year. It was unfortunate that the side didi not take Cotter serio'isly as a batsman, and that Hopkins was nevtr really in form, and plavod bus seldom in the important matches, for these two players wore the most attractive batsmen on the side, with the exception of Tnunrer." A team from the Opoho Club visited Milton on Monday, and after an enjoyable game succeeded in defeating the local club by six wickets and 16 runs. Milton, batting first, made 45, several of the batsmen snowing good form. Opoho, on going to the wickets, made 61 for four wickets, Eckhoff hitting hard and often for 31 (retired). At 2.30 rain set in. nreventing further play. Milton proved themselves good sports, and treated the visitors in a very hospitable manner.