CRICKET.

Saturday Advertiser, Volume II, Issue 68, 28 October 1876, Page 7

CRICKET.

“ With hall and hat, upon the flat — Though some may think it wicket — I’d stop and play the live-long day. Hurrah, hurrah for Cricket!” —Old Song.

By Old Stumps

Yes, we are now fairly into the full swing of active operations and the great annual meetings, with all their attendant paraphernalia, liave given place to the more stirring doings of the “knights of the willow” themselves, and the merry throngs of players on the green sward, as well as the'many records of matches resounding through the land, demonstrate strikingly the fact that we are noyv right into the cricketing campaign of 1876-77. * Old Sol, from his heights, has been, for some time past, proclaiming the commencement of his summer’s reign, and the whole universe, from the ladies, whose fair forms in costumes bright float about our city, and the sterner sex, arrayed in white waistcoats, to Dame Nature itself in the hills, fields, meadows and gardens budding into green life, soon to show the richer hues of summer, have, one and all, woke up from the dullness of winter, in response to the summons of his shining majesty. Cricketers especially felt the benefit of his patronage on the turf on Saturday, and although the wind was rather strong, the game went merrily on. Before I notice the different matches, ri look into some of the leading players may be interesting. The first one occurs to my mind is a cricketer who ought to be at the top of the tree, but for his rarely ever now touching the bat or ball. Haunting the oval on match days, lie is a mute spectator of the game, “ So near, and yet so far away ;” and I should be glad to see him handling the willow instead of standing an idle spectator. Coming from the home country, he possesses brilliancy in batting, a good, hard defence, and rare ability in rungetting. He is not very capable, though, of mastering the local peculiarities of aground, hence his non-success as a batsman on the oval. The undoubted brilliance lie possesses was meant to shine on turf suitable to it; on the oval, save when the ground is very fast indeed, it is thrown away, but give him a true, fast turf, ever so smooth, and it will go hard with the; bowlers and fielders, be they never so nimble. Witness his fine stand in the Interprovincial match at Canterbur3 r , and the Canterburian enconiums. thereon. With the ball, he wants precision only to make him an .effective trundler. Of: ,a very different stamp to* Paramor is Clarke, inasmuch as no especial .characterizes his batting or fielding either, but he is the sort of player who does more good to the game than most people “ wot of. In the field he may be said to be “ all 1 there, fielding every ball he gets noafily and surely, returning with great precision, and all in the minimum of time, and woe to the sky-hitting leg-hitter when he is there. With the bat he is very strong, sure defence, hard hitting, especially on the off-side, and a thorough watchfulness, are liis chief points. As an all-round cricketer,.’he is ofie ,of riuv best, being one of the few who practice regularly, and one of the,fewer still who do not shrink from the toil of fielding at practice,, and does not stand hand iri pocket round the bowling or batting wickets, as is the fashion of some of our players. Another good all-round man is M. J. Godby. A sure defence, with some of that .finish that stamps . most home players, render his play tiring to the bowler, if he be straight, and his score mounts quickly up with loose bowling and fielding. He is one of our best bowlers, trundling very true and with solne judgment, and

though pSf* pjay, ( he wants watching, and sends in a “ ticklish one now and then when least expected.' He is also a safe fielders <•* close in to the wigketsis Godbf, captain of the is also a good all-round man7_batting ‘being his best point. He howls :41qWs,'& feHSbtfthMrtbla, with effect, and is smart in the field, but *by no means sure! . .His experience .and judgment of the game make him very useful, but he wants practice in the other departments to bring him into playing form. One of the smartest fieldsmen we have is Alien, rind) his fieldirig Sat) point'rieyer fails to elicit, admiration j, but .he, inigh| £ ,h©j-better still With' practice; / lip; the requisites of a good.batsman, but lack of practice against good .trundling is .very visible in his style of play.i * * He lias a liking,for/the “ cut,” andi is grfeat at back playing, i ; But. though a safe batsman > and a .hard i hitter, there is great room for improvement in his style of run-getting.! : ' Glen, who'Was hot very conspicuous last ; season; ’I hope ltd see in active play this time, as Hie' wilt be a strong man, if lie sticks to practice] against the Englishmen. As a tfuridler two seasons ago, one of the best in Otago; but his retirement from the field last Season has been a great drawback’, to his poinels in that direction. When iii form,' his bowling was very effective, having precision in pitch and pace, arid judgment in varying both. His bowling would be first class on a fast turf, where the “screw” and rise would have more effect than on a slow wicket like that on the Oval. Glen’s style of delivering is too Colonialish, too betaking, but that cannot be helped at present. Perhaps the advent of tlie All-England Eleven will have the effect of developing the latent talent of bowling which Glen undoubtedly possesses. The same may be said of his batting. Lathbury, one of the new arrivals last season, may be reckoned among our best all-round cricketers. At the batting crease he plays a hard, steady game —with plenty of hitting in it, especially to leg and long field —though he has not much finish in style. At the bowling crease, I cannot call him a difficult trundler to play ; but his quick style of delivery and ready judgment, with an eye to a weak point, make Iris bowling dangerous to most Otagan batsmen. Perhaps I may mention H. Rhodes here, as he is one of the few good fields we have, and deserves a place in any Otagan Eleven for his fielding alone. He is also a fair batsman, and with more practice would be a very good batsman. On Saturday, the Oval was the scene of some lively cricket. The ma ch being a scratch one does not call for more than a mention. The sixteen went in first, and put together only 97. Glen, who is improving every week, hit away merrily for 35, and Fuller played steadily for 10. This batsman Ought to be far more effective than he is, having the advantage of a good reach. Bouch bowled straight and well; and Kingsford’s slows made sad havoc among the sixteen. Clark’s fielding is worthy of mention ; he made two fine catches. The Eleven had five wickets down for 63 when time was called. The following are the scores: — The Sixteen. Morrison R, c Bouch, b Robinson ... 0* Brown, b Bouch ... ... ... ... 2 Glen, b Sutcliff ... ... 35 Russell, c Clarke, bßouch ... ... 3 M‘lntyre, c Clarke, b Kiugsford ... 2 Morrison W, b Kiugsford 1 Cargill, c M’Donnell, b Kingsford ... 3 Lambert, b Kingsford ... 5 Marsden, st Boucli ... ... ... 3 Fuller, b Robinson ... 10 Beal,*b Kingsford : ... ... 1 Buckingham, b Kingsford l 0 Taylor, c Robinson, b Kingsford ... 8 Johnson, not out ... ... ••• 7 Winks, c Kingsford, b Robinson ... 6 Calyerley, c M'Dohnell, b Robinson ... O Extras ... ... ••• ••• H 97 BOWLING ANALYSIS. Wides. runs. wits, overs, mdns. balls Robinson . 1 12 4j ;17 10 84 Bouch 0; 8 2,8 3 40 Tait 3j 11 0 5 0 25 Kingsford 0 40 8 18 3 115 Sutcliff 0 1 13 ; 1| ,• 5 1 25 ! • ••; The Eleven. Sutcliff, b Glen ...... ... ... 8 Tait, b Morrison ... ... ... ... 19 Rhodes H., b Morrison ... ... ... 0 Kingsford, b Morrison .... r 1 Bouch, not out ~.. , .... h ... ... .19 M'Donnell, c Johnson, b Morrison ... O Allen, not out.. (; •.[ A 6 Robinson ,) ‘ Godby > to bat Clarke : l . ! * ( ] r - „ p Wides , ••• " '' ; i; '. V/' ' 63 ' 1 ■' l ", „ ’wides: runs, wktp.'overe. mdns. balls Glen 2 3L 1 10 0 50 Morrison ;n 2..iv24 . .4 ,10 0, 'SO