CRICKET

Southland Times, Issue 19464, 31 January 1925, Page 14

CRICKET

(By

Twelfth Man.)

Driscoll played one of his best innings at Winton on Wednesday. The veteran fairly cut loose, and drove with terrific power all over the ground, hitting one ball clean out of the field. The Junior Advisory Committee is now getting into its stride, and it is evident that it is going to make a tremendous difference to junior cricket, which up till now has been allowed to slide along in any old style. One of the keenest of the junior cricketers, M. Mayze, has been appointed secretary. T. Bogue kept wickets for Eastern-North-ern, and although the Town innings was too short to get a line on his real form, it was evident that he still retains much of his old brilliance behind the sticks. If he is available, he would strengthen the next Southland team. The Union Saturday eleven seems to be getting fairly into its stride—man for man it is the strongest club side in Southland—and on Saturday last it topped the double century against I.C.C. The bulk of the scoring was done by Dixon and Smith, two batsmen who will always entertain the spectators. Dixon has been right out of form this season, and has had a good bit of bad luck in his batting, but on Saturday he was batting in a manner reminiscent of his best form. He was dropped when about five, and was finally out to a brilliant : catch by Romans in long field off Bell. The I.C.C. veteran was giving Dixon some- : thing to think about in the later stages of . his innings, and he fully deserved the hon- ; our of capturing a wicket which was prov- ! ing so costly to his side. Dixon scored pretty rapidly until he reached the sixties , when he slowed down, and it was while eni deavouring to force the pace with the last • man at the wickets that he went out. He ! made full use of his favourite pull shot during his innings, and his driving was : clean and hard.

Smith compiled his half century in his characteristically volcanic style. Dixon is not a slow scorer at any time, yet while he was putting on 18 in the middle stages of his innings, Smith had reached 50. He drove all the bowlers with the greatest freedom, getting some first-class shots in front of the wicket.

Cook (seven for 75) was the most successful I.C.C. bowler, his bowling improved as the afternoon wore on; he was swinging a bit, and keeping a nice length.

I.C.C. had lost six wickets for 57 runs when stumps were drawn, Cook and Goodsir being the only players to reach double figures. Shaw bowled very soundly, getting three for 14, while Lilley, who went on late, took two for 2 with his left hand slows. The fielding all round was pretty fair, I.C.C. being the better of the two teams in this department. Although the opening batsmen gave the side an excellent start, Appleby had to be content with one less than the double century against Marist. Shirreffs and Lilley, possibly the best opening club combination in town cricket, gave the side a good start. Both possess solid defence, and choose their scoring shots rather well. Both got 34 before Duthie, who has been out of action for some time past, got both of them, and followed this up by having Poole caught in long field—a magnificent catch by Jackson. The rest of the side practically collapsed. Edwards signalled his return from a trip to Australia by getting 29 by good cricket, but nobody else managed to get going. Duthie and Walsh were the most successful bowlers. The former sends down a good length ball with plenty of pace on it, and by making it kick sharply at times, he requires a lot of watching. Walsh was steady and accurate. Marist were much below form in the field.

Eastern-Northern carried too many guns for the Invercargill eleven which journeyed to Gore on Wednesday. Batting first on a fast asphalt wicket, the Invercargill players consistently made the mistake of allowing themselves to be forced back on *to their wicket by McKay’s steady bowling. If they had stepped out, there would probably have been a different tale to tell. The whole side was out for 89, Duthie and Poole being the only double figure scorers. McKay, who took six for 43, had five for 12 at one stage. He has always been ’ a good reliable bowler, but the batsmen flattered him on Wednesday. S. Lynch and Hammond got the other two wickets. Marist had lost four for 28 when stumps were drawn. Shirley, whov used to be a good man in Northern District cricket, wrought havoc amongst the earlier batsmen, and by keeping a steady length and leaving the wicket to do the rest he took the four wickets that fell very cheaply. Eastern-Northern were set an easy task to beat Invercargill’s first innings total, and they were nearly a hundred in the lead and had five wickets still in hand when stumps were drawn. Two excellent partnerships, the first between McKay and J. Lynch, and the second between the two Lynches, were the feature of the innings, the running between the wickets being exceptionally good at times. McKay played a solid innings, and Jim Lynch played that beautifully timed cricket for which he is noted. Stan Lynch was more forceful in his methods, and his 47 not out included seven fours and a sixer. Poole w r as the most successful Invercargill bowler, Goodsir and Duthie also getting a wicket apiece. The fielding was very’ good, much better than the bowling. COMPETITION RESULTS. The following table indicates the positions of the different teams in the Saturday competition:— Played. Won. Lost. Dm. Pts.

If a Queenslander gets a place in the Australian XI. in the near future it is likely to be all-rounder Ron. K. Oxenham (says a Sydney paper). He is a stylist who has little respect for bowlers, and in the recent big matches scored 54 and 0 for an Australian XI. and 26 and 45 not out for Queensland v. England, and 1 and 34 v. N.S.W. This was followed by a great 181 for Toombul v. South Brisbane. He also took five for 27 v. N.S.W., and four for 25 v. England. The Northerners’ last Test match player was Roger Hartigan, who made 48, il6, 1 and 5 in 1908 v. A. 0. Jones’s XI. Hartigan and Clem Hill put up 243 for the eighth wicket in the match at Adelaide, which is still a record in Tests. The following table gives the present state of the teams in the Plunket Shield contest. Auckland’s defeat of Wellington puts the present shield holders out of the running and the issue now rests between Otago and Canterbury. The latter province has won two matches and Otago has won one and lost one. Otago will have to defeat Canterbury by a big margin to have a chance of annexing the shield:—

HENDREN FOR NEW ZEALAND. It is reported that there is a possibility of E. Hendren, the well-known Middlesex and English cricketer, who is now in Australia with the English team, coming to New Zealand to settle (says a northern paper). In the course of an interview recently with Bishop Cleary’s paper, The Month, Hendren stated that he may yet be a resident of the Dominion. A certain proposition had been put to him, he said, that may attract him to New Zealand. Residents of the Darling Downs country in offered him a farm if he will only settle in Queensland are trying to get him, and have ! offered him a farm if he will only settle in i Queensland. “I left Hendren,” writes The Month’s representative, “wondering where Hendren will be next year—in New Zealand, in Queensland, or back in charge of his winter cricket school in London.” Hendren, a graduate of St. Mary’s Catholic School in London, is 34 years of age. He is one of the select company of six, who have had the honour of having scored 3000 runs in one season in English first-clas cricket. He headed the batting average in j the 1923 season. When a member of Doug- ! las’s English team, on the last Australian • tour, he headed the batting averages with ; an aggregate of 1000 runs in 27 innings, j This included 271 against Victoria, and 211 I against the New South Wales colts. The former score was made at the rate of a run a minute. THE STORY OF THE ASHES. A FAMOUS TEST MATCH. The inference is not unreasonable that the expression “The Ashes may be traced back to Macaulay’s poem, “Horatius”:— “And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds For the ashes of his fathers And the temples of his gods?” At Kennington Oval in August, 1882, the Australian team, captained by W. L. Murdoch, met and defeated by seven runs one of the strongest teams ever put into the field by the Old Country. This was captained by W. G. Grace; the other members were: Hornby, Studd, Steel, Lucas, Alfred Lyttelton, Barlow, Barnes, Ulyett, Maurice Read and Peate. Australia was represented by Murdoch, Blackham, Spofforth, Alick Bannerman, Massie, Horan, Bonner, Boyle, Garrett, Percy McDonnell and Jones. Batting first, the Australians were all out for 63. The English responded with 101. In their second innings the Australians made 123, leaving the Englishmen 86 to win. They could, however, only make 78. The bowling figures of Spofforth and Boyle in the final innings were remarkable: Spofforth, 28 overs, 15 maidens, 7 wickets, 44 runs. Boyle, 30 overs, 11 maidens, 3 wickets, 19 runs. In an article contributed to the Windsor Magazine, March, 1898, Mr George Giffen described the Englishmen as “a magnificent team of cricketing giants,” and referring to the bowling of “The Demon,” Spofforth, relates: “Irresistible as an avalanche, he had bowled his last 11 overa for 2 runs and 4 wickets, the finest piece of bowling I have ever seen.” The last man to bat for the English was Peate. When he went in nine runs were wanted to avert defeat. He swiped at the first ball bowled to him, which went

to leg for two; he missed the second, and with the third he was clean bowled. In one English paper' appeared an “In Memoriam” notice : “Sacred to the Memory of English Cricket. “Its End was Peate.” It was, however, the London Sporting Times which first published an “In Memorian” notice, the expression “The Ashes.” The notice seads: In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, Which Died at the Oval on August 29, 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. —R.I.P.— N.B.—The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. London Punch congratulated the Australians in the following lines: “Well done Cornstalks! Whipt us Fair and square. Was it luck that tript us? Was it scare? Kangaroo Land’s ‘Demon,’ or our own Want of ‘devil,’ coolness, nerve, backbone?” Anxious to recover the ashes, England to Australia for the following cricket season a strong team, under the captaincy of the Hon. Ivo Blyth, who afterwards became Lord Darnley. Mr Giffen refers to this trip as “The pilgrimage of St.. Ivo after the ashes.” Provision had been made for three Test matches. The first of these was won by the Australians by nine wickets, the second and third by the Englishmen, one by an innings and 27 runs, and the other by 69 runs. On one occasion during this tour, the English captain had received an injury to his hand whilst batting on the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Some bandages were brought out to him on the field, and with them a lady’s handkerchief to bind them. It is related that “St. Ivo” afterwards sought out the owner of the handkerchief, and the introduction led to an acquaintance which resulted in the lady becoming his wife, and later on Lady Darnley. This incident also had some bearing on the question of an urn to hold the ashes. On the engagement being announced, some Australian ladies subscribed for, and presented to “St. Ivo” an urn, on which was inscribed: “The Ashes of English Cricket.” The three Test matches originally arranged had been played in weather unfavourable to either side. In the first the Australians, and in the other two the Englishmen, had received capricious advantages from the weather. In a truly sportsmanlike spirit, an extra match was arranged, and played at Sydney. The match is memorable for faulty fielding and missing of catches on both sides. The Australians won by four wickets. As the honours were easy, the Englishmen were not entitled to take the ashes back with them to England, although “St. Ivo” did take the urn, which, it had been anticipated, would enshrine them, STORY OF A BIG HIT. (By H. O. Allan, in Melbourne Herald.) What is the greatest hit ? I saw Bill Howell hit one out of the Melbourne enclosure to the railway. I remember W. G. Grace saying that a hit over the chains should score as 10 “to induce batsmen to be enterprising.” A man named Scobell in the Old Country, once hit a ball to leg. The match was played on a ridge with a good fall in the ground each way. It took all the players, bowler included to throw the ball back in relays. The last man threw it to the wicket keeper a few yards too short. The wicket keeper ran to get it; tht batsmen were running between the wickets. He threw it at the wickets, missed, and to his horror the ball disappeared down the hill. The wicketkeeper started in pursuit the other players followed in his trail as, one by one, they came breathlessly up the hill. When they found the state of things their language was worthy of suppression. Suffice it to say that when the ball was at last received safely at the wickets the large number of 37 runs had been scored off Scobell’s leg hit! Yes, Bonnor stood about 6ft Bin in height. He was a big man who was as active as a small man. He threw a ball 126 yards, but he couldn’t bowl. He had heaps of pace but no direction. In a match on the M.C.C. ground two Englishmen had completely collared the Australian bowling. In desperation the captain tossed the ball to Bonnor. In those days the rule was I think, four balls, to the over. It took Bonnar about 10! First he bowled two wides, then a noball. Then one of the batsmen, in trying to hit a wide one, over-reached, tipping it, and was caught. Then came another wide or two, another wicket in exactly the same circumstances as the first, and then a nof ball. Imagine the joy of the spectators after a long weary watching of a stonewall play. It was just on 6 o’clock. Then Bonnor rushed two yards over his crease. The umpire umpire yelled out “No ball,” but Bonnor hadn’t let it go. He returned with the ball in his hand and held it near the umpire’s nose, whilst the I crowd yelled with delight. I played in a match (my first in MelI bourne) with the Public Service against the 1 j M.C.C. We had Harry Trott bowling for I us, but G. L. Wilson —a great batsman i who once partnered W r . G. Grace in England for a then record first-wicket score—was hitting Harry all over the field. I was called upon to bowl. I had little brads in my boots, good for matting wickets, but alas, on the shining slippery shirtfront wicket before me, quite hopeless. I I slipped like a novice on a skating rink and as I tried to deliver the ball both feet shot from under me. I fell on my face and looking up, saw the ball trickling slowly towards the opposite wicket. Wilson braced himself for & tremendous hit, missed, and the ball had just strength enough to shake a bail off! Harry Trott came on again, and quietly went through the remainder of the team. The moral of this story is that it is not always the best ball that gets the wicket. OoO

Appleby 6 5 1 0 14 Union — — — 6 4 2 0 11 Marist — — — 6 3 3 0 8 LC.C. 6 0 6 0 0 The following table indicates the positions of the various teams in the Wednesday competition:— Played. Won Lost. Drn. Pts. Union — — 5 5 0 0 14 Appleby — — 5 3 2 0 8 LC.C. 5 1 4 0 3 Marist — — 5 1 4 0 3

Runs Runs MarTeam. for Aver. Agst. Aver. gin. Canterbury 1108 (27.7) 709 (17.7) 10 Otaijo — 985 (24.6) 842 (21.0) 3.6 Wellington 1541 (26.1) 1596 (28.0) 1.9 Auckland 1047 (18.3) 1534 (25.5) 7.2