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Southland Times, Issue 19482, 9 December 1904, Page 2 (Supplement)

m ■-- i (By " Stump.") The senior grade matches have already produced surprises. At the commencement Of the season, few though that the Bluff team would defeat the Invcrcargiu 1 and Apploby clubs, but such is Me case, 1 the Portites not yet having lost a matchAs senior teams go in Southland, Blufl 1 has a very good eleven-Crockett, Keenan, 1 Hamilton, Brooke and Wilson being fit lor any club combination. ! Another unexpected victory *vxs that of Waikiwi over Appleby. Considering that it is only the northern team s second match since being admitted to senTor grade, and .remembering that Apploby won the premiership last season, Waikiwi's win is all the more meritorious. Looking at the personnel of the North Road team, a number of whom are young fellows not long out of their teans, the club has the material for many Hist rate players. _..,■!. The contest for the Eastern District Association's cup is now well under way, and Mandeville has already beeu the scene of two games. On the 19th Nov. tho Gore team beat the home team by 9 wickets, and a week later Mandoville, after an exciting finish managed to get ahead Of thO -Wftikaia ttjoin toy four xTi ns only, so that it at present looks as U tho honours of the Eastern district will go this season to the Gore club. J. I'erry, who played with the Southland mterpro team last year aguiust Otago, is thfis year with the Gore club. The Mataura bowler's big breaks came ofl against Mandeville, and in the two innings he captured 9 wickets for 23 runs. The scoring was low all round, and Terry, in addition to bowling well, carried off the batting honours, his 10 being the highest individual score l-ut up (in tho game. A. C. Bell, who is playing for Mandeville, is another ex-representative of Southland. Although he did not perform well against Gore, he came to light against Waikaia, his scores being 30 and 23, while in the first innings he secured six of tho goldfields team's wickets at a cost of 15 runa. The honours in connection with the Bluff club's victory over the LO.C. fall mainly to Don. Hamilton, whose score of | 59 was the main cause of ,the town team's defeat. This young player's batting is very sound. He takes no 'liberties With, good bo-wjling, tout lays -fclie wood on to anything ofi the wicket, anJ lug straight, drives and square cuts take a lot of stopping. Hamilton's efforts to pull • the match off were ably seconded by the veteran G. R. George, who devoted his energies with good eflect to keeping up his wicket, while hjis habit of occasionally turning a nasty Dall to leg brought 'in a number of serviceable runs. " One- is apt in the excitement of the in- ' teresting finish to attach the honours of i the win to the .batsmen, but it should not be forgotten that Crockett's bowling in the early stages of the game, when he secured 5 wicket's for 10 runs, was a considerable factor in deciding the game in favour of the Bluff. It was a. imafcter for remark some week's^ ago that the fielding of the senior teams showed much improvement < n that of previous years.-. Since Wednesday, however, ilmt judgment has been considerably modified, for in both the I.C.C.Bluff, and- Appleby- Waikiwi games the fieldsmen, failed at the critical moment. It is not often that the Appleby players make ' mistakes in the field., but their lapse of last week shows that, like everything else hi cricket, fielding requires practice and any slacking-ofl in this respect is followed by the punishment of chances " lost that, token, would have turned defeat into a. glorious victory. It' is pleasing to record tho triumphs of young players, and the performances of Jos. McNeece and Richards with the bat and of (x. Fraser with the ball for Waikiwi deserve recognition. These three youths give promise of capabilities that will, with careful practice, prove very useful to the province before long.