Cricket

Southern Cross, Volume 15, Issue 41, 1 February 1908, Page 10

Cricket

! A RETROSPECT^

SOUTHLAND V. OTAGO.

The annual match between the above provinces is to take P I *?' Dunedin on 22nd and 24th * eb '’ in view of Otago’s comparative fail ure on tour, the match should be an exceedingly interesting one, tort is, of if Southland get then ' strongest team in the field, and a retrospect of the performers of the Southland players who have a right to be' considered by the selectors should not be out of place. In my opinion they should, an selecting the team, take into consideration the fielding capabilities ,of those they select. A! player may have a batting average of 25 and be weak on the field ; another may have an average .of about 10 and be a brilliant fielder. I should give the benefit to the latter, as more matches are won by good fielding than by fairly good batting. Taking the teams in order in this season’s competition BLUFF TEAM. Don. Hamilton has been fairly consistent with the bat, and is showing better form than he has ever shown, and has been bowling well. He will be a tower of strength to the rep. Keenan has bowled splendidly right through the season, and has been the mainstay in that department. He is a fine short slip. T. Crockett has not shown the form of the past couple of seasons, but has not played quite so much. He is a first-class slip, and is a bowler that should be used considerably more in rep. cricket than ho has t)6GH. A. Crockett has batted very well, and shows some splendid cricket at times', but is altogether too reckless. He is a good fielder and is worth consideration. T. Stewart always bats well aiid keeps wdckets in tip-top form. His drawback is that lie does not stand up to the wicket against the faster bowlers, and gives the batsman an opportunity of getting ovt to them. Of the APPLEBY TEAM there are very few worth consideration. C. Kane seems only half-hearted at the game, and does not play much on Wednesday. He is not nearly as good a bat as he was. A. Poole has scored a lot of runs in Saturday matches, but is a comparative failure in Wednesday cricket. The last three innings he has not scored at all. He is a good fielder and a good charge bowler. N. Keane has been batting very well, but is a bit reckless at times. Is showing better form than the last few seasons. He has kept wicket very little this year, and is a weak out' field. In the INVERCARGILL C. C. of course F. Glasgow takes pride of place. His batting has been splendid —sound as a bell, and plenty of run in it. He is a good fielder on any part of the ground, and I fully expect him to make a name for himself in the interpro. cricket. F. Leggins has only shown good form with the bat on one occasion, but he is a man likely to get runs, and should certainly deserve consideration for his splendid fielding and fine slip. Many a match has been won by a good man in this position, and I "think he is the best man seen in Southland in that position for some years. J. Huntley is batting well, and is good in any part of the field. He seems short of practice in bowling, but has always been one of our best rep. men.

Doig has not howled as well as previous seasons, but still does well. He is a fine fielder and a very handy man in a team, for he is a really hard hitter —takes the risk, and with a bit of luck generally gets a good score.

Tap ley has kept wickets spiendi by this season, and if he only <kept } \ head should do better. He has ad the attributes that go to make a good wicket-keeper, takes ■ bail well, is quick at getting the v ids off

but does not seem to be there when he is really wanted. He has don. nothing with the bat.

Gilbertson and Burke have both bowled well, the former bowling much better than his performances show, but he is very slow on ’ve field. Burke bowls well at times, a. ■

if he were to put more vim into 1-■ bowling he would be a man that would be of great assistance to the province. Of the

WATKIWI TEAM

- J. McNeece has batted very soundly, and has given over that reckless style when he hit Armstrong all over the field. He has steadied down considerably, and I think for the better. He is" a splendid out field man —really one of our best men. J. Hamilton has been a tower, of strength to the suburban team, and has batted splendidly. A long way ahead of his previous displays. He is a good field, and manages his team splendidly. A. Fraser and G. Fraser have both bowled well, and have stood the brunt of the attack for their team, and have fine bowling averages. The latter has been picked in previous rep. teams, but has not been put in. If he is not used as a bowler he is virtually wasted, as he is showing no form with the bat. A. McNeece has batted very steadily and well throughout, and as he ia absolutely the best out field in Southland he should have every cosideration from the selectors. The only other player who s'cema to have consideration is A. Walker. He has batted well, but is too reckless 1 .

Geddes, the old Otago skipper, is in Winton playing with the local club. He is a good left hand bowler and batsman, and in form, would be an acquisition to the rep. team.

In conclusion X hope the best team can get away, and if they do I think our boys will give a good account of themselves. A good performance by them will bo the best thing to uplift local cricket. So I wish them good luck-