CRICKET

Southland Times, Issue 21604, 16 January 1932, Page 16

CRICKET

(By

"Onlooker.”)

SATURDAY'S GAMES

For the resumption of local club competitions last Saturday the weather conditions could hardly have been bettered. Unfortunately in two of the senior games the playing conditions were not in harmony with the glorious sunshine and "standard” cricket was out of the question.

The day was unique because of Marist’s clear-cut and sudden victory over a fairly strong Union team. I cannot remember when a two-day senior game was completed on the first day. Saturday’s occurrence may have been the first. There have been cases of full wins in one-day games.

In the Marist-Union game 31 wickets fell in 210 minutes —an average of about seven minutes per wicket. The bowlers certainly had a day out. It is'difficult to account for this state of affairs. Although the wicket appeared to be heavy through over-watering it is reported that the pitch played reasonably well. Some of the players say the wicket was in a bad state—others say it was not bad. Whether or not, it is significant that practically all of 22 batsmen failed to ‘'handle the going.” It is hard to believe that the bowling was that good. Union's first innings was nothing short of a procession. Sixteen overs sufficed to account for the 10 wickets and not one batsman reached double figures. It was a deplorable exhibition of first grade batting. Ryan and McMillan bowled unchanged for Marist and both finished up with good figures. McMillan, the young left hander was particularly successful. His figures read: eight overs, one maiden, 17 runs, five wickets. In his eighth over he secured three wickets for two runs.

McMillan is the type of bowler who is going to be very useful to Southland. He should develop much quicker than either Nisbet or Johnson, who do not possess the easiness of delivery of the Marist boy. Old cricketers liken McMillan’s action to that of Dan Mcßeath, but while not subscribing to this opinion I can see some of Mcßeath’s characteristics in this youth’s trundling. If he does half as good as "D.J.” he will do Southland. On Saturday McMillan swung quite a lot and by keeping a good length had all of the batsmen scratching. Apart from getting a bit of spin on the ball he did not get the assistance from the wicket that a heavy wicket usually gives a bowler. McMillan’s success was the result of good trundling. With only 33 to overtake the Marist batsmen went to the wickets full of confidence but they also failed and four wickets were lost before Union’s total was headed. Marist- scored 80, Milne, Lock ami Ryan being the double-figure contributors.

Maxwell bowled steadily for Union and secured the good figures of five wickets for 31 runs. Maxwell's best ball was his out-swinger pitched on the off stick. He trapped Hallamore nicely with this ball. Batting a second time inside 21 hours Union fared little better and succumbed for 68. Of this total 23 were extras. Nisbet did most 'damage with the ball and after having a single and a six hit off his first over he surprised everyone by taking three wickets with conseuctive balls in his second over. It was a choice interlude in a real cricket comedy. Nisbet took another wicket in the following over and finished up with the splendid figures of four for 18.

Marist made short-work of the winning runs. They required only 22 to secure an outright win and aided by the efforts of the Union trundlers who made no apparent effort at resistance, secured the number for the loss of one wicket. Marist deserved their victory. Although more or less weakened by the absence of Beadle and Morrison they took tiie field confident of success and were rewarded for their keenness in the field. Apart from Marist’s out-cricket the standard of cricket was very low and leads one to believe that the game is slipping rather than progressing in Invercargill.

Marist’s win gives them 26 points in the championship, and should both Appleby and High School be defeated to-day, this total will leave the Greens out in front at the end of the first round. They more or less deserve this honour as it is likely that they will bo the only team in the senior competition to have suffered only one defeat. I fear, however, that the young High School team, although behind Bluff on the first innings, will win their match against the seasiders and thus take out another eight points. That will be sufficient to keep the School team four points ahead of Marist.

The spin of the coin meant much to the winner in the Invercargill-Appleby game. The wicket was fast, the outfield good and conditions all in favour of the batsmen. Invercargill made full use of their opportunities and the position disclosed at the end of the first day’s play leaves them with every chance to defeat the southenders for the first time for some years. This match always creates an extraordinary amount of interest. There is a keen rivalry between the two, probably by reason of the fact that they have generally fought out the championship between them for some seasons past. It is good to see such keenness and sis past games have shown the best is generally brought out of the players. Saturday saw the Invercargill batsmen run up a big score against Appleby and give last year’s champions something out of the ordinary to think over. The topping of the third century in club cricket in Invercargill is the exception rather than the rule, and when a side achieves the distinction it brings surprise with it. Very few thought that Invercargill would have topped 300 on Saturday. The opening batsmen went along steadily enough, but gave little cause for alarm and at three for 50, anything between 150 and 200 was regarded as a fair total. But the unexpected happened and fortified with, the evils of the dropped catch Southern and his men had a merry time at Appleby’s expense.

Taken all round the total of 319 was a good one, no matter how it was got. Southern and TUpley certainly played a big part in the compiling of the total, but their portion was not two-thirds of the Jot. The fact that the others and extras compiled 128 between them speaks volumes for the solidity of the Invercargill batting list. Appleby have dismissed Invercargill for less than 128 before to-day, so to the batsmen not recognized as batsmen in the accepted sense of the name goes as much of the credit as to Southern and Tapley. Tapley and Southern were numbers four and five respectively on the batting list and did not meet with the same strength of opposition as the opening men. Esquilant, who opened with Pollok, did not last long enough to cause any trouble to the Appleby bowlers, but Gilbertson, who followed, and Pollok played a very

important part in subduing the attack and making the way much easier for the “guns to follow. During their stay at the crease several bowling changes were effected, but these did not disturb the batsmen who batted solidly and quietly took the honours for what was to follow. Appleby did not bargain on this hold-up, but did well to dissolve the Pollok-Gilbertson partnership just when it was becoming embarrassing. Then as if this initial stubbornness was not sufficient, the Invercargill tail perked up and scored about 50 more than was allowed in the Appleby estimates. This was a double surprise and left the southerners rocked and tired. Invercargill deserved their big score, or to put it more bluntly Appleby deserved to have every one of the 319 runs scored against them. They were very weak in the field, and at times showed little interest in the game. Usually renowned for their fighting qualities, the Appleby men were too lackadaisical on this occasion and literally made gifts of runs to Invercargill. It,was awful to see some of the fieldsmen failing to stop medium shots right at the boundary fence. Appleby had a black Saturday and look like paying the price for their misdeeds to-day. OVERTHROWS The following districts and associations were represented in the recent country week tournament controlled by the Auckland Cricket Association: —Rodney, North Auckland, I’ukekohe, Kaipara, Morrinsville, I’iako, Waipa, South Auckland, Northern Wairoa, Bay of Islands, Whangarei, Mangonui, Auckland Suburban, Auckland Midweek and the Auckland Cricket Association. C. G. Macartney, former Australian cricket international and captain, is proving himself a golfer of no mean ability. In a recent competition at tho Roseville Club, Sydney, Macartney had a gross 74, which his handicap of 12 reduced to 62. This was good enough to win him the medal. F. Sides, the young Queensland batsman, is regarded in some quarters to be the outstanding left-handed bat in Australia at present. Sides, who is only IS years of age, had one match for his State last season, against South Australia, in Brisbane, and made only 3 and 18. This season he has advanced remarkably. His violent treatment of Grimmett in Adelaide recently, caused his innings to be compared with the best left-handed batting seen on that oval—rare praise from the home of Clem Hill. The wicket on which the Plunket Shield match between Canterbury and Wellington was played was one of Oaniaru soil, replacing the one of Napier soil that has been in use for several seasons. Tho wicket played very true and lasted well, but it was noticeable that very little rain was needed to provide enough moisture on the surface to make the ball rise a lot.

C. S. Dempster dropped four catches in the cricket match between Canterbury and Wellington—a surprising record for him, for he is usually very safe with his hands. Three of the catches he missed were in the outfield, and the other was in the slips. Two of them —those from A. W. Roberts and M. L. Page in the second innings—proved to be very expensive for the side.

There was an unusual happening during the Wellington-Canterbury Plunket Shield match, play being held up for about 10 minutes. There are Hood lights round the Basin Reserve, so that the ground can be used for evening functions, and about the middle of the second afternoon the sun was reflecting off the glass of one into the eyes of W. Dustin, who was batting at the Southern end. A ladder had to be obtained and the glass covered with a sack before the game could go on. During an interval in the Wellington—• Canterbury Plunket Shield match a ball mounted with an inscribed silver plate was presented to H. M. McGirr, the Wellington fast-medium bowler and hard-hitting batsman, in recognition of his feat of taking a greater aggregate of wickets than any other bowler in shield cricket. McGirr’s bowling success this season is remarkable, for friends say he gets hardly any net practice, because of the calls made on his time by his sports-outfitting business. He has conceived a theory that any bowler can do reasonably well so long as he takes plenty of exercise to keep himself fit and gets match practice in club games. In accordance with his idea, he skips industriously every morning. This exercise, he claims, improves the wind and keeps the leg and arm muscles in trim. W. Dunstin, the young batsman, who has clone so well as Wellington’s opening partner with C. S. Dempster in Plunket Shield games this year, is a product of Wellington College, where he was coached by F. T. Badcock, who regarded him as one of his most promising pupils. Curiously, like many schoolboy cricketers, Dunstin took a little while to get going in better company, says the Christchurch Sun, and was once relegated to a lower grade. On his form against Canterbury, however, he has the confidence and defence wanted in an opening batsman, and most of the scoring strokes. He has a twin brother, and when they were in their school team together it is said that the captain of it did not know which was which.

The South Canterbury cricket team which played a Christchurch side, organized by E. E. Luttrell, in the New Year holidays, would have been sadly off for bowlers

wthout D. J. Mcßeath, the former Sydenham Chib, Canterbury and New Zealand representative left-hander comments the Christchurch Sun. Of the nine wickets which fell to bowlers —one man . was run out —in the Christchurch eleven’s innings for 382, Mcßeath took seven for 126, in 32.3 overs, eight of which were maidens. Mcßeath still bowls a very good ball, but the sign of the years —11 have passed since he first represented the Dominion —is a greater percentage of loose balls. Stewart Dempster, during his first innings against Canterbury in the Plunket Shield cricket match, almost laid out an umpire. With all his force he hooked a short one from J. T. Burrows square, and the ball struck the umpire on the ankle before hitting the ground. The umpire was unable to stand for some minutes. This umpire—C. Webb, of Wellington—assumes a distinctive stance at the bowling end, having his feet as wide apart as he can spread them. It must be an uncomfortable position by the end of the day. Webb bends low over the wicket, like so many English and Australian umpires, to watch the flight of the ball and its behaviour after it strikes the pitch. He is most deliberate when answering appeals for lbw, often taking a few seconds to decide the point. It was he who negatived five of W. E. Merritt’s appeals on the third day. There is a keen admirer of A. W. Roberts in Wellington. He was present at the Plunket Shield match. Everyone knew he was there, because his voice could be heard all round the ground. Hits for four by the Canterbury batsman usually produced a roar of “Atta boy, Robbie!” Later the enthusiast turned to football parlance. One four produced a loud remark of “Good on the full-back 1” When Roberts hit out at one and almost landed a six the same voice said, ‘You nearly converted that one, Robbie !”

The Basin Reserve cricket ground in Wellington is situated in a valley, with rising hillsides quite close to the fence. On one side of the ground the footpath on the adjoining street is so high that it is possible to stand there and get a clear view of everything anyone inside the ground can see. The configuration of the locality was taken advantage of by hundreds of people who wanted to see Canterbury play Wellington. These people simply stopped outside and looked in. Scores of others it is asserted, scaled the fence, despite the watchfulness of officials. Despite this, the sum of £205 was taken at the gate on the second day, when Wellington was making its big score, and this at reduced charges—l/- at the gate and 1/- for the stands. One of the reasons why Wellington beat Canterbury in the Plunket Shield cricket match was that Tom Lowry’s pigeons returned to the Basin Reserve. These birds, whose ownership and domicile are unknown are reputed to have appeared on the ground first when the big fellow first joined up with Wellington after returning from England in 1927, and because of this and the fact that they usually played about where he was fielding they came to be called his. There is a pretty legend that Lowry has not lost a match whenever he has had his pigeons to attend him on the ground. At any rate, it was noticeable in this match that when the pigeons were present, Canterbury was dismissed for 276 and Wellington made 553, but in the later half of the game, when the pigeons were absent, Canterbury thrashed the Wellington bowling for 526 runs for eight wickets. Good judges of cricket in Australia and England have frequently stated that in Blunt the dominion possesses a batsman good enough to hold a place in the representative eleven of any’ country’ (says a writer in the Dominion). By running up the great score of 338 not out for Otago against Canterbury this week he gave another proof of his outstanding ability as a batsman. When it is remembered that he amassed this mammoth score against bowlers of the calibre of I. Cromb and Merritt, it. will be realized what a peerless batsman Blunt is.

The Hon. Joe Darling M.L.C., of Hobart, a former Australian XI. captain sends the Referee his view of Bradman, as a result of Lord Tennyson's criticism. He says, “Bradman is the world’s marvel, but has yet to prove himself equal to the late Victor Trumper on fiery and sticky wickets, which are the wickets of the past.” I.ord Tennyson is to take an English cricket team on tour to the West Indies, leaving London on February 1 next year. Twelve players are to compose the party, and others in the West Indies will be available to play. It will be the fifth occasion on which Lord Tennyson has taken a team to the West Indies. Invitations have been accepted by G. T. S. Stevens (Middlesex), A. E. G. Baring (Hampshire), G. Brown (Hampshire), E. H. Bowley (Sussex), and G. Geary (Leicester). G. Brown is the left-hand batsman who scored well for England in the tests against W. W. Armstrong’s 1921 team.