CRICKET

Southland Times, Issue 22490, 26 January 1935, Page 13

CRICKET

news and Notes

(By

“Onlooker.”)

Small scoring and good bowling were the features of last Saturday’s local senior cricket. Of eight innings, 138 was the top total for the afternoon. There were three scores under the hundred. Three of the four senior games were played on turf wickets, and the aggregate runs for six innings (not all completed) was 525 runs, an average of 87 runs per innings. Is this the result of poor batsmanship or poor wickets? Knowing the Showgrounds turf as I do, I am convinced that the wickets were responsible for the poor showings by most of the teams. We will never develop good young cricketers while such conditions obtain, and now that we have a first class coach here, it is time we did something for the youth of the district. It is . almost a waste of time persevering with the Showgrounds as a cricket playing area, unless of course the Association is prepared to spend a hundred or two pounds on laying real turf. Until then it will be so much wasted effort and good opportunity lost to develop some very promising talent. On to concrete is the only remedy at present. Ask the coach what he thinks of the wickets on the Showgrounds. “The world’s worst” has been credited to him. Good wickets or bad, the games,at the Showgrounds, where the two senior “A” games were played, provided an interesting afternoon’s entertainment for the fair crowd in attendance. Marist plus Patrick and McGowan, and minus Duthie, played havoc with the disappointing Union side and put them out for the smallest senior total, recorded for some time. Similarly Old Boys accounted for Appleby for the small total of 54. , There was some very fine bowling by both Old Boys and Marist trundlers, but it is hard to believe that their deadliness was wholly responsible for the disaster. Some of the Union and Appleby batsmen were out before they went in. Some of them realized that the wickets would play tricks and shaped accordingly instead of playing the bowling as it came to them. Others took fright at the failures of those who had gone before and literally hurled their wickets away. It was a deplorable exhibition of batting and anything but a good advertisement for the standard of cricket in Invercargill. As far as the games have gone, it does not require a great deal oi thought to forecast wins for Marist and Old Boys over Union and Appleby respectively. In the Marist-Union game Marist have u 63 lead, and in the other game Old Boys already have 84 runs to the good and four wickets in hand. The result of these games should put Old Boys well out in front in the championship. They have proved themselves to be a good little side, and for the next few seasons, provided they stick together, they should be the hardest team to lt*was pleasing to note McKelvey’s form, both with bat and ball. This player is one of the best all rounders in the game in the south to-day, but has been unfortunate to strike a bad patch. In form he cannot be left out oi the first Southland eleven and although he has not been included in the select few for special training for the Hawke Cup game, it would occasion no surprise to see the selectors pick him in the Southland team for Palmerston N Old Boys appear to be easily the best attacking team in the con S,^ There is not a side which can field two good stock bowlers as strong as Pickard and McKelvey, and there certainly is none to compare with them m the fi Pickard again got among the wickets on Saturday. He is more steady than ever and is making better use of his h< EJP. Hawke, Old Boys’ wicketkeeper, was not out with his team on Saturday. He was not included in the side for Palmerston North, and as no rente was made of his unavailabhty, it would appear that he had been passed over by the selectors. This cannot have been the case for Hawke has proved himself to be the best keeper about tSsyear. Report hath it that he was not available if selected, hence omission of his name from those chosen. N. Mitchell came to light again on Saturday with another of his good forcing knocks. With McKelvey he paved the way for prospec ive victory for Old Boys, and incidentally made the wicket look better than most of the batsmen would have it. Appleby sadly missed McGowan and Spence to open the innings for them. This pair had been ideal openers m practically every game. On Saturday Milne took in J. Lilley with him, but while Milne has had the experience, it seemed to be a mistake to send ! in Lilley. The latter has got most oi ms runs from down the list. . Spence was late m putting in an appearance and Appleby lost his; semces as a batsman. He will be available next to sum up the strength of the Union team. It would perhaps be more easy to sum up its weakness. There is no accounting for recent Union failures, unless one could say that they might perform better on good wickets. Had Archie Hamilton not come to hgh on Saturday it is possible that the team might not have scored ten runs. Marist did not do ™ uch .J e £ e J the bat, but it could be said tnat tney did their work in the field and byj;et ting Union out for a small total, helped themselves to a good position in. the game The bowling successes of Brit tonden and Campbell were extraordinary. Brittenden sends down a good ball but he is not the deadly type an should have been handled easily enough by the Union men. Campbell was too much for half the side He bowled splendidly and in.the end had the latter . batsmen l°o kl £S “sillv.” This youth is fulfilling all his early' promise and on wickets as that played on on Saturday, he will be one of the deadliest bowlers about. He was not afraid to throw them up and tempt the batsmen. More will heard of him before the season is ended. The two senior “B” games are at interesting stages and at present it is not easy to forecast the results. Railway did very well.against Invercargill and might yet get them out for less than their total.

A. W. Carr, the former Nottinghamshire cricket captain, told a Daily Telegraph representative that he was in entire agreement with the findings of the M.C.C. so far as they concerned the elimination of persistent and systematic bowling of fast-pitched balls at a batsman standing clear of his wicket. N captain in England would tolerate such procedure,” he said, but the findings do not carry us any further m regard to the controversy which arose in Australia. In a way the present decision is a vindication of Larwood, for no one could accuse him of bowling the type of ball Which the M.C.C. have now set themselves to abolish. Fast leg theory is a far different thing. The only danger about it is when it is operated by second-rate fast bowlers who have not the control of the ball that Larwood possesses.” _____