CRICKET

Southland Times, Issue 19172, 16 February 1924, Page 12

CRICKET

(By “Twelfth-Man.”) With four down for 24, Union continued their second innings against Appleby on Saturday with little chance of saving the match on a tricky wicket. The innings closed for 53, after scarcely an hour’s play. Only Wish and Raines looked like getting runs, both driving well. The bowling was not formidable of itself, but the state of the pitch was greatly in favour of the bowlers. Shireffs took two fine catches. In a Melbourne cricket match recently, while a batsman was making a stroke, his hat fell in front of the wicket, and was struck by the ball. The bowler appealed, and the umpire’s ruling was “Out, leg before wicket.” This umpire evidently knew the rules inside out. Like Appleby, Invercargill also secured an inning's victory against Bluff. The Portites collapsed in both innings against the bowling of Goodsir and Doig, Crozier being the only man who looked like staying. Crozier, however, was very cramped in his forward play, reaching out his front leg much too far to enable to drive the ball with any freedom. He made the bowling look much more difficult than it realty was. Crozier has an excellent defence and picks his shots well, but he should open out a bit more. Doig and Goodsir got nine wickets apiece for the match. Both bowled well, getting plenty of assistance from the wicket. The fielding was good. Should time be allowed for a loss of a ball in cricket ? That is a question which excited a controversy in Dunedin, when a ball was lost for 15 minutes. Kaikorai was playing St. Kilda on the ’latter’s ground. Kaikorai had first strike, and hit up 172. St. Kilda replied with 126 for nine wickets, but apparently during the latter’s efforts at the wickets the one and only ball had been “lost” for 15 minutes, and Kaikorai therefore contended that it was only fair that the game should be extended for the same period, as, the match being played on St. Hilda’s ground, the onus rested with the home side to see that either the ball wasn’t lost or that a substitute should have been ready to replace the missing leather. Kaikorai, of course, expected to get its last opponent out well within the extra 15 minutes asked for; but St. Kilda was naturally not anxious to oblige them. The rules are silent about “time off” for a lost ball, but it should be insisted upon that a home side should make provision for emergencies like the present one. In any other town but Dunedin there would, of course, have been more than one ball on the ground,’remarks a humorist in the Christchurch Sun. Will the claims of B. J. Kortlang for a place in the New Zealand team to meet the New South Wales cricket side be considered by the selector? Kortlang was born in Melbourne, and it will be remembered that he was not given a place in the Dominion team against the M.C.C. because he was an Australian. Kortlang hopes that this objection will not rule on the present occasion, so he told a Christchurch Sun writer. He has resided in New Zealand, he said, for eight years, with occasional absences, and he considers that he is now a full fledged N. Zedder. Kortlang, by the way, is not one of those who gives the Dominion side no chance against the visitors. He points to the fine batting in some of the Plunket Shield matches, and says that it will take the New South Welshmen some time to get used to the wickets in the Dominion. The wickets, distinct from the hard, true pitches across the Tasman, are bound to cramp their style for several weeks. Fiji Cricket Association has guaranteed .£3OO towards the expenses of a New Zealand team to tour Fiji in April and May. On his day —and this match against Victoria provided one of his days—Maccartney is still one of the finest left-hand bowlers m the world,” remarks Sydney Bulletin. The great little all-rounders figures read 30, 12, 3, 36. Not wanting to bat first on the tricky wicket, Appleby sent Marist in to bat at the show grounds on Wednesday. In the circumstances, a total of 187 was quite a good effort. Driscoll and Kavanagh wielded the bat to some effect. In partnership they saw the score shift along from 3—41 to 4 128 and undoubtedly this was the feature of the innings. Driscoll (64) played a solid, patient innings, his only chance being one to third man, and hard at that. He scored chiefly on the leg side, and got the ball to the boundary on eight occasions. Kavanagh (33) gave just the right kind of support, the left-hander showing sound defence and picking his shots carefully. It was a nice innings. Six Appleby trundlers tossed down 56 overs, ten of which were maidens. Varied, fairly accurately, but lacking real sting, the bowling found a welcome response from Appleby’s good fielding side, Connell and Eunson reaching brilliant heights with their catching. Three catches apiece came their way, Connell gathered in his share like

a champion, while Eunson leapt out of the obscurity which seems to have surrounded him in the eyes of many, although his neat workmanlike style behind the sticks has been there from the start of the season. His batting has been improving, too, and he should prove a capable understudy to veteran Jim Gilbertson.

Poole has seldom bowled better this season. The veteran was undoubtedly the mainstay of the attack and sent down 136 balls, six overs of which were maidens. Geddes (three for 14) bowls a fastish ball which kicks a lot, consequently on some of the wretched turf wickets that have been played on, he is likely to get results he would not get on the true matting pitch. Still, he has a nice style and should keep on pegging away, with particular attention to length. Veteran A. Washer had nine overs and bowled very soundly. Australians topped thexLancashire League last season, Frank O’Keefe hitting 525 at 37.5, while McDonald accounted for 112 wickets at 6.67. Curously enough, when the two Aussies met for the first time in England each topscored for his side, McDonald 57 for Nelson and O’Keefe 85 for Church.

There have been many strange happenings in connection with cricket matches in various parts of the world. An Australian writer vouches for the accuracy of the following: During a match at Hampden Park between Sydney and Paddington 11. Chapman bowling for the former, hit a swallow flying across the pitch. The bird was knocked against J. W. Fletcher, who was batting, and was killed. In 1885, during the game between Caius and Trinity Hall Long Vacation Clubs, a ball from Mr Cordeaux, who was bowling for the former, hit a swallow flying across the wicket and killed it. In the same year at club practice at Loretto a ball hit hard by a batsman at one end of the nets struck and killed a rat which was coming out of a hole on the edge of the turf at the boundary. The recent visit of the New-South Wales team to Toowoomba (Queensland) recalls the late Victor Trumper’s experience while playing in a “friendly” match against the locals there (says a Sydney paper). Trumper had gone in to bat, and the local barber had been ordered by his captain to field at point, a rather dangerous spot for an amateur to stand against the lightning shots of the great Victor. After a couple of “hot” ones had whizzed past the fieldsman’s outstretched hands, another went perilously close to knocking his head off. As the ball thundered up against the side of the pavilion, the fieldsman started to walk off the ground. “Hi, you!’ sang out his captain, “why the devil are yer going off?” “Oh, it’s this way,” roared the departing fieldsman, “I understood this was to be a ‘friendly’ game, not a blanky war!”

Marist second graders defeated Tisbury in a low scoring match on the latter’s native heath on Saturday last. Tisbury had first strike, being all out for 27, of which Styles made 12. A dozen overs was enough to finish off the innings, Cahill and Broad getting five wickets a piece, the former having 17 runs scored off him and latter 10. Marist could manage only 23 in reply) no one reaching double figures. Once again’ the wickets were spread between two bowlers in equal divisions, Styles 5 for 13 and Tayles 5 for 10. Tisbury improved on their first effort to the extent of 18 runs, Styles getting 26 of the 45. A couple of sixers assisted his tally materially—evidently visiting batsmen would be well advised to meet the ball on the full and transfer it to the nearest manuka bush, having previously come to an understanding with the umpire that lost ball is barred. Otherwise I don’t see how they are going to win. Things must have been short and sweet in this innings—Cahill and Hallamore bowled only seven overs, so one thing to be thankful for is that there is little chance of catching “bowler’s arm,” or whatever it is called, down in the dairy suburb. Cahill collected six scalps this time, and Hallamore operating at the other end took four wickets for 16. There were no extras. Marist gave a very energetic display in the second innings. Hallamore twice smote the ball into the backblocks, and on refusing to stop disturbing the cows, was sent off with 18 to his credit. Broad also reached the dizzy heights of double figures, getting 14 before he was dismissed, but he was careful not to disturb the serenity of the landscape, only once daring to push the ball to the fence. Marist lost seven wickets in getting the required half century to win. Styles, industrious as ever, garnered in five for 19. There is a bowler in the Wednesday afternoon cricket competition who trundles successfully with either hand (says a Sydney paper). Just when the batsmen are becoming used to his right-hand deliveries he disconcerts them by changing round and bowling an over left-hand. There is nothing, of course, to prevent this. Rose is the name of this versatile player. He performed sensationally for the Waverley team against Tramway Power Stations during the week, doing the hat-trick, and taking five wickets for one run in the first innings, and five for three in the second. The recorded totals of seven and eight. Morris, another Waverley man, took ten wickets for 5, being just beaten by Rose’s ten for 4.