CRICKET PASSES.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 45, 30 March 1914, Page 2

CRICKET PASSES.

END OF THE SEASON.

SOME IMPRESSIONS. Away with bat and ball, and all the other paraphernalia of the finest of summer sports! King Cricket is descending from his throne again, and the fields where late resounded the smack of bat against ball, the cry of " Over! " and the shout of " Well run, Jones," and " A lovely cut, Brown,'' will soon ring with '' Take him low, Robinson," or " Shoot, sir, shoot! "

Already bats are being oiled for their winter hibernation. The Canterbury Cricket Association's season elosed on Saturday. It has been a notable .season, even if it did not finish in a blaze of glory. A long season, which included some great events, but, like many other great things, it has had some disadvantages. As far as the average club player is concerned, it has been overmuch' broken by representative matches and other interruptions. But even these tribulations have a good effect —they make players appreciate their crick.et all the more. Tlie two things which stand out most prominently in the season's doings are, of course, the New Zealand team's visit to Australia, and the visit paid to the Dominion by Mr Arthur Sims's team of brilliant Australians. With both Canterbury has good reason to be satisfied. Her place as the premier cricket province of the Dominion was exemplified by the inclusion of seven Centerbury men —D. Reese, W. R. Patrick, D. M'K. Sandman, J. H. Bennett, R. G. Hickmott, C. Boxshall and T. Carlton —in the New Zealand touiing team. And, as a band, they well upheld the honour of Canterbury cricket. So much hai? been said of that tour already that I do not propose to dwell upon it now. For a similar reason, it is unnecessary to write again about the effect of the Australians' visits to Christchurch. Let it suffice that Canterbury performed creditably against that exceedingly formidable team, and that the play of the Australians in Christchurch must have a highly educational effect upon Canterbury cricket.

REPRESENTATIVE MATCHES. In representative matches Canteibury has strengthened her position in the forefront of New Zealand cricket. Even when seven of her best players were absent, in Australia, she administered severe defeats to the representatives of other provinces who pitted their strength against her. Here, for reference, is a list of all the matches played by Canterbury representative teams during the season, in chronological order: —

Versus Otago, at Christchurch —Won by six wickets. Canterbury 189 and four wickets' for 70; Otago, 187 and 71. Versus Wellington, at Christchurch —Won by 243 runs. Canterbury 367 and 253; Wel-

lington 169 and 208. Versus Auckland at Christchurch —Won by 318 runs. Canterbury 372 and 362; Auck-

land 17.1 and 245. Versus Southland, at Invercargill—Won by 10 wickets. Canterbury 173 and none for 25; Southland 100 and 97. Versus Otago, at Dunedin —Won by an innings and 32 runs. Canterbury 442; Olago

195 and 215. Versus Australia, at Christchurch —Lost by an innings and 364 runs. Australia 653; Canterbury 92 and 197. Versus Australia at Christchurch —Drawn. Canterbury 258 and 169; Australia 243.

A goodly record, indeed! Four of the matches —those with Otago (two matches), Wellington and Auckland — were for the Plunket Shield, but, as the scores Canterbury had no difficulty iri*istrengthemng her grasp upon the trophy. Twenty different players were given representative honours (luting the season; but there were several others who were very little, indeed, below them in point 61; merit, and thes-i facts speak well for the present welfare of the game in the Canterbury Cricket Association's district. W. R. PATRICK'S BATTING.

The batting and bowling averages of the representative players, with some comment thereon, were published in THE SUN just after the second game with the touring Australian team was played. Only a few words of reference now to W. R. Patrick, who has been the most successful batsman of the season in Canterbury's representative matches.

the season was in Dunedin. He scored a fine 318 there for Canterbury against Otago, and in the first test match between the Australians and New Zealand he batted so stylishly as to be aeclaimed the batsman of the match. For some reason or. other, Patrick has batted in his last couple of matches with the little' restraint which is necessary, and his hitting has brought him early dismissal. But, he lias been showing that he retains his fine capabilities as a batsman so well that brilliance may be expected of him again next season. As Patrick has joined the staff of the Christchurch branch of the Otago Sports Depot, he will have ample opportunity for retaining,his interest in cricket and in hockey. ~ The standard of play in club cricket has been well maintained this season. The batting and the fielding have been very good all round. The bowling has been well lip to the average, but to a certain extent it suffers from the fault common in New Zealand cricket —a a general sameness. There are many bowlers/but not much variety in their bowling. Indeed, Australasia as a whole is feeling a dearth of new bowlers of promise, but-the period may be considered one of the ''lean" ones which are to be expected now and again.

WHITTA'S FINE RECORD. / If. B. Whitta, of Riccarton, stands out as the batsman of the year in Canterbury cricket. Not a polished and graceful player, he is a run-getter of great ability, and "it's runs as count," as I heard a spectator remark the other day when Whitta was batting. He has a splendid batting record in elub competition cricket this Season. His sequence of-scores is:—53, 65, 207 not out, 99, 64, 31, 145, and 73, an aggregate of 737 runs in seven completed innings, an average of 105.28 runs per innings. In representative cricket he has scored 360 runs in 10 innings for the province—an average of just 36 bringing his tally in Canterbury cricket to 1097 runs in 17 completed innings, which gives him the fine average of 64.52 runs.

Next to. Whitta stands F. Woods, of Sydenham;- of whom a good deal was said in THE SUN some time ago. Woods is a more polished batsman than Whitta, and he has some very nice strokes. He is a man from whom Canterbury should expect much in the future. On actual performances, G. C. Wilson (Sydenham) is the bowler of the year in Canterbury. He has. bowled very well indeed, but from him, -too,' even greater things may be expected in the future. In similar case is H. Watson, also of Sydenham, a good, steady bowler of undoubted merit. Of course, J. H. Bennett remains the best bowler in Canterbury—and also in New Zealand —but his absence in Australia placed him lower in the list than he really merits. Appended are the best batting and bowling averages in club cricket:—

The Sydenham Club emerges.from the season as the crack club of Canterbury, and it well deserves the honour. Certainly it had a very strong team in the senior championship contest, but the club's success is not due merely to cricket ability. Enthusiasm and keenness to put the club at the top —a sporting keenness, though—have done much to assure victory for Sydenham. Public interest in the game was well maintained until the Australians had played their second match in Christchurch. Then it fell off considerably. But it was only natural that the brilliance of the Australians, coming near the end of a long and rather '' heavy'' season, should rob the public of what zest they had remaining for club cricket. All things considered, it has been a good season indeed. HAMBLEDON.

CITY AND SUBURBAN CRICKET. NOTES ON THE PLAY. Sydenham Hockey Club disposed of Sumner very cheaply on Saturday—29 runs for seven wickets. Keane took four wickets for 12, and Sheridan three for 9. These two bowlers must be given much credit for the position their club holds. Not much can be said of the Sumner batting, as Lawson was the only man that made anything like a stand, but after playing Sheridan carefully and scoring eight runs he made the mistake of going for a hit and out he went. Sydenham Hockey Club tlien made the bowling look pretty cheap, live of the men who batted making good scores. Sheridan, 120, including 14 fours, and five sixes, topped the list. lie played a sterling game, and did not give a chance until after he had passed his century. Chambers batted finely for his 46, and Avith Sheridan put on 88 runs. Cusworth went out to hit, and after making 25 hit all oVer one. Fairclough 34 and Ryde 24 both batted well, and put up good scores. No less than eight bowlers were tried by Sumner, but all shared the same fate, although Sexton had three wickets down very early. Owens" batteil. well for Hornby against Linwood Wanderers, knocking up 45 in fine style (including one 6), while Matsou was making 13. No doubt when Owens is on it he is an. at-

BATTING. In. N-.O. H.S. -Agg. Avg. H. B. Whitta (R.) 8 1 207* 737 105.28 F. Woods . (S.) . . 10 3 170* 598 85.42 D. Reese (West). 8 1 180 450 64.28 R. Hickmott (St. A.) 6 0 149 309 51.15 H. A. Bishop (St. A.) 9 0 124 393 43.66 P. Greenlees (East) 9 5 49 165, 41.25 A. Norman (R.).. 9 1 76 358 39.77 W. Hayes . (S.) .. 10 1 86 346 38.44 T. Carlton. (East) 5 0 102 183 36.60 D. Sandman (St. A.) 6 0 102 219 36.5 E. R. Caygill (R.) 9 0 73 325 36.11 R. H. North (East) 3 1 4(5* 69 34.50 C. Bryan-Brown (W.) 8 0 107 263 32.78 W. R. Patrick (S.) 4 0 53 127 31.75 0. E. Beal (East) 10 2 69 253 31.62 J. H. Bennett (S.) 5 3 21* *62 31.00 * Signifies not out. BOWLING;

Runs. Wkts. Avg. Gr. c. Wilson (Syd.) 510 53 9:62 H. Watson (Syd.) 352 28 12.57 C. E. Beal (East) 283 22 14.00 A. W. Thomas (Lin.) . . 447 30 16.31 J. G. Firth (Ric.) 98 6 16.33 J. H. Bennett (S3 r d) . . 165 10 16.50 E. E. Crawshaw (West) 478 28 16.96 S. A. Orchard (Lin.) . . 173 10 17.30