CRICKET.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 270, 18 December 1914, Page 2

CRICKET.

NOTES OF THE WEEK. It can scarcely be held that the matches which were played last Wednesday furnished any reliable comparisons of the standard of play in the Canterbury Cricket Association's clubs and jthe City and Suburban Association's competitions. The only plain fact outstanding is that a senior district representative team would be greatly superior to the City and Suburban Association's best. But there is no apparent reason, why a second best district senior eleven should not be. pitted against the Suburban body's representative team in the next contest between the two associations.

As it was, the Suburban senior eleven had slightly the better of the game with the district juniors. Neither team was quite at full strength, but the suburbanites had suffered most in the inability of good players to take part in the match. One factor in the inconclusiveness of the comparisons was the strong nor'-wester which blew on Wednesday < The men bowling against it were quickly tired', but it made their off-break bowling harder to play than usual, while those bowling frbiti the other end were assisted by'it. Anyone wh6 could " flight''-tHeball at all was able io disconcert the batsmenv 'Howit may be urged that ;the Cfty and Suburban seniors more than held; thenown with the' district juniors, and that in the next inter-associatibn jnatehes <tli<?y therefore should be tried out with a'fairly strong district senior eleven. TIMARU HIGH SCHOOL CRICKET* Although , the Timaru: Boys' • High School's entrance into the Heathcote Williams Shield contest was'attended by-a severe defeat, that school '&■ eleven has' no reason to feel ashamed of its-performance. So long-as they arc not disheartened by it and do not fail to heed the lessons imparted to them, the very decisiveness- x»f the Christehurch Boys' 'High School team's victory should benefit the Timaru boys. The niatch very »cle : arly demonstrated what is needed to improve cricket at the Timaru High School, whereas a more closely-contested game probably would have confirmed the Southern boys in their cricket errors.'

It is sometimes.necessary to be. severe in order to' be kind, and that is just the position in which a critic of this Heathcote Williams Shield match finds himself. The' Timaru r bbys can be assisted : drily by pointing out their faults. In the first place, it must be said that, .with. but two or three exceptions, their batting was very poof. 'How poof it' was can'lie' gathered from the that' most lof the Timaru' batsmen played back" to halfvolleys. There was also too much uncertainty about-their methods. However, there is some explanation of this. A view of some of the batting left the impression that the Timaru boys are accustomed to playing on very bumpy wickets, and inquiry proved that this is "the case. The first thing necessary .for.the. ..improvement of the school's cricket is the provision ol good wickets. " . .'",.. The Timaru fowling was also decidedly weak. The acquisition of good bowlers for a school team is a matter of luck, but there are ways of making, the most'of what bowling is at a teanr's disposal. That is where the Timaru- team : failed. Too many of the trundled at the wickets alone, instead of for the field, and they did not vary their attack sufficiently, jit, may seem rather paradoxical to say that even if. they, haft tfr' 'the 'field they probably would not' h&vje succeeded. But that just serves to showj up another error. • The field was badly placed. None of the Timaru bowling was; faster than slow-medium, yet ■ there ; were'" g6nefally three men in the slips! This shows how much the co-drdina'tion 6f bowling and fielding has been neglected at the Timaru Boys' High School, .The fielding itself showed, that this very important department of the game has. been neglected.

■ The writer understands that the TimarU boys are accustomed to having two or three masters playing with them and directing affairs generally oh the cricketfield. That is. a mistake. It is better to leave the boys to their own initiative in match-play, and. thus enable to acquire the confidence and experience which are. necessary to success. Coaching and directing should be done at the nets and fielding practice, and not on the field of play. In matches the boys should be left to "stand on their own feet." Then they would learn-their cricket.lessons more readily. The experience gained this week should be very helpful to'' the Tima ! ru boys, " "'''

THE, OTAGO TEAM. The time for the first representative match of the season, that with Otago, draws near dpace. It will be played on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, -and the following Monday. Otago ? s team has already been selected, and this is what "Long-Slip," of the "Otago Daily Times," has to say about it:-—"The team has given general satisfaction, and the selectors, Messrs Martin, Crawford, and must be congratulated on their task. This year's team was more difficult of selection than teams of many previous seastfns, owing to the fact of several players just being on the fringe of it, consideration of whom must have necessitated considerable thought. At least, I presume that such was the case. Few teams are beyond criticism, and the latest Otago team, good as it is, is open to comment. The side may be faithfully considered a good all-round combination, the like of which Otago has not had to represent it for several seasons. Every man can bat, perhaps with one exception, and that one :can get runs at a pinch; there are eight men who can bowl; there is a wicketkeeper of undoubted qualifications, and the whole 11 are able to field. There should be no qualification fiere, for there are no old men in the team, and. no cripples. The players have been selected mainly on , this season's form, and there is no betttr guide. . The days of reputation players are over. Judged on' this basis, almost every man has earned his place. If there is an exception, it is Ramsden, whose highest performance with the bat is his first innings for 56, since when he has done practically nothing in the scoring line, and whose bowling has not been consistently good. Casey, who has been selected as emergency, fills the eye more completely than the Carisbrook man. His figures with the bat are onjy a trifle better than

that of-Ramsden, but with the ball the Opoho player scores heavily, and is probably a better field. Of course, it is not wise to place too much reliance oh figures, and Ramsden as an experienced player'may strike form and do the province and.hiniself. eredit. It would not be the first time.

"If figures alone place a man in the team, exception'might be taken to one 6r two others. Bruges, for example, has done' nothing remarkable outside his score of 103 a month, ago. Then there are Tuekwell', Siedeberg,' and Alloo, whose scoring has not -been as consistent as others left but, but whose general form is known' 6 be "higher. Indeed, one inight almost go through the whole team : combating figures against forni and : 'f ol'ni ! agaitist : figures .with glorious inconsistency,..but the object of the selectors has been, and pretty faithfully carried out, to choose a team that, taking all things into consideration, is the most likely to do the best for the province. Here I would like to put: in a word for Bckhold, whose all-round qualifications must have given him a lot of consideration. Leaving the batsmen to make all the runs 'required' to beat' 'Canterbury and Wellington, anq 1 discussing the' attack, it is a;pity no left-hand bowler of sufficient merit was available 1 to' afford a "distinctive variety. There is- nothing se disconcerting to the Average batSma'n as 1 haying a ! right-hand and a left-hand'bowleg operating at .different ends. Still, the attack has variety and several changes, and with '.Qrawfpr^^wha't.'great ; hopes are centrecl pn. the- star,!—the,.' teani should do .well,'. Then there is the Cl' : Chadw'iek,' an undeniaibly -good-' rtiaifj' and; the. field; generally fine slip, a |bbwle'r", and' a.long' field in f brie, "the .largest... pair of hand? in'jfche -.teaxn,!. '. What inorei' -.',; ~ * ...,..■ "■■-■ CANTERBURY'S SELECTION;^ The selection of the Canterbury team may be expected to reach completion within a'day orjt'wo. It is By no means an easy task,' tis there are so many players • who are- <: ' much : -6f ' a miichnessy' 'and probably the selectors may desire' to' have, to-mdri'qw's' ; play as a<fditioh'al'material to work upjo;h in making their choice. ' Wtiatever the team is, it is almost sure to be a good one.

There is a great ' deal of speculation among" cricket'"enthusiasts' in Christchurch as to the selectors' ; choice, but Opinions differ "considerably. It is easy to understand'this.' are so many men with practically even chances of securing one of the last' 'four or five places in the team that-one could almost make a ve'i'y ; ' f air selection by drawing f tiames : fi"bm" a hat? 4 The amateur'selector who picks put, say, half a dozen of the probables &)r six places in* the teanrand then-finds" that the' official' selectors have,chosen a 'totally different selection, could find- but little argument in'favour of his-choice being the right one, and yet the official selectors ycould not advance * much against the amateur selector's eleven. ■ • - ■

To the present writer it seems very likely, that, the . team will be much the same, as last year ? s. No doubt too much is often made, of past deeds in cricket. .At the same time, it should not .be forgotten that representative .cricket is much , different from club criek,et t ., } Men whp do well in the latter often Sail in cricket, while many players who meet with only moderate success- in club matches play brilliantly in the more responsible game. One always likes to see '' young blood'' given a chance to distinguish itself, but due regard, must also be paid to the question whether a young player's style of batting or bowling is convincing enough to warrant expectations that he will succeed in-:a-sterrier contest. ~

Taking the "certainties" first, these may be put down, as being D. Reese — who. writ be available, for the Otago match ; .but not for the northern tour— Bishop; Patrick, Bennett,. Woods, and Sandman:' So far, Sandman has done Very little with'the bat this season, but he will be required as the team's slow bowler. *His performances with the ball this season have been much better than Wilson's. Hickrnott has not struck his best form yet, but he has been rather more consistent than most people seem to appreciate, and he probably will find a place in the team. If one left out of consideration Whitta 's performances last season, it would be doubtful whether, the Riccarton batsman would get a place. In fact, it would be rather a toss-up between him and Hiekmott. The latter has been more consistent. Here are their scores: —Whitta: 8, 25, 110, 14, 72, 20, 0, 5, 42; average, 33.8. Hickrnott: 41 /4, 54 not out, 22, 30, 15; average, 33.2. Beal is another man a good average—much better than either. Blickmptt's or . Whitta fs—but who has been as.. inconsistent as Whitta. BeaT's scores have been: 56, 0, 69, p; 71 not put, 89, 3; average, 48. He must be considered seriously. The choice of a wicket-keeper must be earnestly engaging the attention of the selectors. I have not seen Boxshall playing since his return from his visit to Australia, so' cannot express an opinion regarding his present form. But whether it is good or indifferent, it must be admitted that Boxshall has had a remarkably fine —and, of course, a wellmerited —innings, and it might be a good thing to give some "yOungblood" a chanc3, with a preference for H. M. Taylor. : A BOWLING PROBLEM. Now, here's another question. There are three left-handed bowlers bidding for places in the teanv —D. McBeth. D. McLachlan, and T. Carlton. No doubt controversy will continue to rage hotly over their merits, whoever is selected. Personally, I rather think Mcßeth is the most consistent and the steadiest bowler of the three. He has been unfortunate in having had a number of catches missed off his bowling this season. At the'same I '-time) McLachlan is a decidedly good bowler. But there is also another man to be considered, and he is A. Thomas. Then, if figures counted for much, Carlton would be the more useful man all round, for he has an excellent batting average, thanks to.his last three innings. His' scores have been: —10, 4, 0, ,0, .0,- 70 ,not out, 116 not out, .62. Figures ■ are not by any means a reliable guide to .ability, but: after all it is necessary to call them into assistance in selecting a team. Well, I will give some of the of the most likely " probables," and of one or two who are not '' probables." ; The decimals have been carried out to only one place:

Batting.—Bishop 98.5, Skelton 51.4, B'eal 48, Bryan. : Brown 47.2, Carlton MA Perjrin' 41.4, Smith (Kaiapoi) 40, But Jer 38.3, Woods "37.8, Patrick 36.6,

Whitta 33.8, Hickmott 33.2, E. R. Caygill 32.6, LY Reese 31.2, Hayes 22,8, Sandman 10.2. ••'■■• ■■-...

: Bowling.-—Thomas,. 35 wickets at 8.7 runs, each; McLachlan, 32 at 8.8; Mcßeth, 38 at 10:5; Bennett, 32 at 12.9; Carlton, 20 at 13.4; Sandman, 32 at 15.2; D. Reese, 19 'at 15.2; Hickmott, 15 .'at 17.4; Read, 16 at 18.7; Wilson, 21 at 21.5. i McLachlan and Carlton have done so well for East Christehurch that Beal has been required to do only very little bowling indeed. He has taken four wickets at 12.5 runs each.,

The 1 figures which have been, given probably will surprise those people who have' not • been keeping track of the averages. Here's a puzzle cox petition for them. Select a team on the figures alone, and see how!, near it is•-■■. to the selectors' choice. Sufficient has been said to indicate the difficulty of choosing the' team. Personally, I like the chances of two of the "colts," who have not only very good averages, but are likely to make runs against representative bowling. These are Butler and Skelton. Butler is'only just striking form,' but there is in his favour the fact'• that he has Succeeded against high-grade bowling in Australia. My own 1 choice of the'eleven to play Otago is as follows:—Reese, Woods, Patrick,; Bishop, Butlefy Skelton, S'andhian, H. M.; Taylor, Bennett, : Mcßeth, and i 'MeLach i lan: '■■'■■ • " ."''' . : '■ ' ■ "" ■

■• ■•; •■:■'-■.• ■■ •■■:■..- ■■ >v : ' • '-■■ A.L.C. • ' A .recent census the motor' vehicles owned by Gernmrf mftinieipalities-showed that of ■• fifty-eight? towns populations above 80,000 only four did not own any motor vehicles- at .all. ' The- number oWned by each corporation ranged from one : to twenty-five' and ; the total' number was 590. Fire' brigades' owned -250 6f them 1 ; 118 were used for. street cleaning, and' watering, -arid fifty-four were ambulances, the' rest -being ' ■ miseellaneous." ; •■■■ ..-"'■ '■■' '■■■ '■'■•■'■ - : • '•' "■ ■ ; "

• has developed in 1 • sympathy with" 'the* growth 'and change of the motor cycle : itself, • and, at the present time,--when it seems-'that radical alterations are no longer likely, it is interesting to trace the process l that has prodifced • • -the • 'present-day saddle. The first motor'cycles were simply strong bicycles, < • with a small • engine> etc.,. added. • They : were, higfy. heavy* not> particularly fast, and, above, all, liable to need help- from the pedals. Consequently, the saddles used wei'e simply large ahd ; strong cycle saddles', and so they remained, altering-only to increase in size and improve "in springing until the discarding of; pedals befor.,a saddle that would allow freedom to the rider for pedalling, the saddlemaker^'quickly abandoned the ''stretch l ed'' form .of: saddle-top;, providing in its place a moulded.and; padded- top:,, to 'fit the rider accurately. ■/ ; ''■•-