DISTRICT CRICKET.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume V, Issue 1540, 20 January 1919, Page 7

DISTRICT CRICKET.

THE FIRST GRADE MATCHES.

The sixth series of matches in the Canterbury Cricket Association's first grade competition opened on Saturday iai fine weather. Although showers of rain fell In other places in the early part of theafter.noon, none fell at Hagley Park, but the ' wickets had been left a little on the slowside by the previous day's rain. The aggregates ol the teams which had first strike were respectable, but, on the whole, I the scoring was not very evenly distributed. . An Interestinr Position. I With the exception of R. fl. Booth and :\V H. Patrick, the Sydenham men did not hat as well as they should have done against the mediocre Riccarton howling, and their position in the match is not very sound. Lnless the Wellington-Canterbury representative match in Wellington this week finishes in time to enable the Cantermiry tram to return by the Terry boat next Saturday morning—assuming that one does I come south that morning—Sydenham will be without its best four bowlers when the 'game is resumed. Against the mucllIweakened attack Riccarton will have to make but 176 ruus to win on the first innings, and it has six wickets in hand. IRiccarton's score is 58 for three wickets, but :C. E. Guiney, one or the two not out mien, will be absent with the Canterbury eleven. The principal fly in Riccarton's ointment is that H. B. Whitta has been dls- ! missed.

i Over half of Sydenham's 233 runs were (scored by Booth and Patrick. Booth opened the innings with J. Gray (who/ scored 25), ;and his was the fifth wicket to fall. Of the 134 runs obtained at the loss of those five wickets, Booth got 73. He was at the I wickets for an hour and 37 minutes. Booth ; played a nice variety of neat shots, his 10 ] fours lieing hit nearly all round the wicket, ; but he was rather too much inclined to wait ' for the slow bowling and "stay at home" !to it. He gave a chance of stumping, off 'a ball rrom R. H. North, when his score was 155. Eventually he was caught in the decpIflcid, on the on side, by E. T. Taylor, off ILuttrell.

Patrick seemed to be set for a century until, when he had made 54, he played just !a trifle too late at a ball from Whitta, which } came in from the off and kept low. He had given one chance (at 35), but it was a very ! hard one, a hot drive back to the bowler, JR. S. Taylor. With J. Taylor as his partner, Patrick gave an enjoyable little exposition of the art of getting smartly-run singles from well-placed shots that did not travel , far from the wicket. His fine-leg hitting iwas very crisp, especially against Luttreil's bowling, but the products of these shots were kept down to singles by fieldsmen being placed on the boundary there. Most of the shots that Patrick did get away across the boundary were square with the wicket, on both sides of it. In the 50 minutes of his innings he hit seven fours and 26 singles. harder in the Innings N. Conradi had got 2fl before he edged a slow one rroni Eutlrell (in to his pads, whence it rolled into the

stumps with little more speed than was Inecessary to shift the bails. J. Taylor, who scored lfi, showed improved form with the bat, in comparison with his other displays isince he returned to Christchurch. After

running fairly well with Patrick he ran himself out through taking a run too easily. C. Bellamy, the only other Sydenham man to get into double figures, got his 12 with three scoring strokes. Whitta, with four for 34, got the best bowling analysis for Riccarton. The latter team's fielding was rather better than usual. Particularly good was the <mt-flelding of G. W. Cox, of the H«iys' High School eleven, who was very active and sure in his ground fielding, and who took a fine catch—the one which dismissed Mcßelh. So far as it went, Riccarton's innings was a slow and unimpressive one. Guiney played carefully for his 22 not out-too carefully, in fact, for he could well have l«rn more aggressive against McEwhVs l>owling. The colt did not seem very sure of himself: he would be much more successful if he could acquire more confidence and the ability to concentrate his mind on his batting. He gives one the impression that he lacks concentration of thought and physical effort—that while he is at the wickets his mind is half upon considerations of what others may be thinking of his batting. Guiney has a lot of good crieket in him, but much of it is still latent. A Linwocd Weakness. It has been remarked before that one of ! I.inwood's principal weaknesses is the lack lof a good slow leg-break bowler. As at present constituted the Linwood attack does not possess sufficient contrasts in styles, and whrn it is without thtft little bit or "devil" which gets wickets it is apt to simply "play the batsmen in." On such occasions it probably would be advantageous for the Linwood captain, A. W. Thomas, to put on one or two of his worst bowlers as changes for a time, to see if the very badness of the .bowling will get wickets, or, at least, unsettle the batsmen, lint Thomas evidently prefers to ring the changes on his best four bowlers; even at that he does not always ring the changes quickly enough.

The point was demonstrated on Saturday, when N. Jones and B. B. Wood scored 127 for the first wicket fur East Christchurch against Linwood. The first change in the bowling was not made until after the batsmen had got set and had taken the score to 03. Then Thomas, who had been bowling with Bead, gave way to Perrin. The only other bowler tried was Russell, and he was not put on until rather late. It was fortunate for Linwood that East has a "tail" which is not over-fond of wagging, for at the rail or the fourth wicket the score was 2IIS, but the next six wickets added only 05 runs.

Jones's innings, which produced SI runs, wns marked i» a solid defence to the good balls and punishment for the loose ones. He Rave, however, a couple of chances—a hard one to Russell, close in at niid-oif. when he was at 2."!, and one to Patterson, at square-lex, when he had 71. Jones hit 13 fours, getting them all round the wicket. It was a ball from Thomas that took his leg-pin. Wood, who Rot 3d, made some verv neat drives and cuts. He hit • seven fours. When he was at 13 he Rave Read a hot return, which the bowler failed to hold. The ball from Perrin which got him swung from the oir and then went straight, hitting the sticks near the bails. W. Howell, who scored 30, hit hard and often in a comparatively short space of time. He smacked four"sixes (two of them were particularly hefty efforts) and three fours. As has been" indicated, however, the later batsmen did not take advantage of the earlier batsmen's treatment of the bowling. ' The game brought back to cricket W. r"Clicttlc") Hayes, the former Sydenham Club and Canterbury representative player, who returned from the front a week ago. doing in second wicket down for East Christchurch, Hayes scored 1">. Of course, he could not be expected to lie in iiythmg like form, but there were indicating that he should not be long in regaining his form. With two wickets (those of King and Read) alrcadv down, Thomas (14 not nut) likely to be absent next Saturday, and the present total only 30, Linwood has a nice proposition to solve. St, Albana v. West Christchurch. j In the' St. Albans v. West Christchurch match, St. Albans took first strike, and," in an innings that lasted for about two and a-half hours, made 239. This total was the result of a good all-round effort on the part of the team. Seven or the players reached double figures, and six ended up with 20 and over to their credit. Yet none of the players gained a half-century. J. H. Martin, with 48, was top scorer. As usual, he played vigorously, but the timing of his shots throughout was remarkably accurate this time. He and S. Johns made a very useful stand, carrying the score from 139, when the fifth wicket fell, to 218. During this partnership the runs came quickly, Martin in particular adding rapidly to the score. For instance, in one over he hit Dr

Foster for three fours and a two, whilst In the previous over he had lifted Blunt over the boundary for six. The bowling of Both Blunt and Foster was heavily punished during the partnership, but Foster persevered, and at last Martin hit one off him into C. Zimmerman's hands. . Some time before this Zimmerman had relieved Blunt at the pavilion end. This proved a useful change, as Zimmerman ended up with three wickets to his credit. Johns made 38, the second highest score. He was at the wickets much longer than Martin. At first he scored very slowly, but once he had become set he punished the loose stuff, whilst still playing the good balls carefully. Zimmerman at last scattered his stumps with a good one. Another •''splay of vigorous cricket was given by J. L. Ilkau, who made 36. He hit one very line six off Blunt. However, his luck was •in, for, when he had made 15, he gave an easy chance off Blunt, which was not nc- ?£ D ; , • Il 'H'Bht be mentioned, in passing, that this was not the only catch dropped during the day. There were at least two others that should have been held. Other good scores were made by L. R. Brunton (.*/) and C. G. Crawford (28). Crawford, who played iii the Boys' High School team last year, is quite a young fellow vet, but he has an excellent style, and should be heard of as a cricketer in the future. H. C. Watson, who took three wicketsjor 27 runs, had the best bowling average. Altogether he bowled 11. overs, and four of these were maidens. It is a question whether he should not have been given more to do in the bowling department. Zimmerman also had a fair measure of success with the hall. He bowled 12.2 overs, four of which were maidens, took three wickets, and had 42 runs knocked off him. R. C. Blunt and l)r Foster opened the West Christehurch' innings shortly before 5 o clock. Both began cautiously, and in the llrst half hour ruus came slowly. Dr Foster scored mostly by singles at this stage. J hen the distance to the southern boundary accounted for the loss of a good many runs. It was very noticeable all through the match on Saturday, probably on account of r e !i ow ,? iato of ,he ground, that players tound a difficulty in getting boundary shots to the south. It was no uncommon thing to see an energetic fieldsman stop reallv good l? lu ; ndu, ff f or this boundary by chasing after the hall. On one occasion, when the hall was driven toward that boundary, roster and Blunt ran four before it was returned, although the ball did hot reach the boundary. Other times, of course, they were not so fortunate, and two or three would he all they could run. At 79 Blunt was caught behind the wickets by Brunton off H. T. Stringer. Very early in the game he gave a chance to Brunton, who, however, missed it. Blunt's total was 41. lie brought off some good shots, but he did not seem to play as confidently as usual. The howling was poor, and it gave one the impression that he should have been able to make more or it. About 0 o'clock the century went up on the hoard. Dr Foster was now scoring a good deal faster. At 6.30 the score was 130 for the loss or three wickets, the not-out men being Dr Foster (65) and E. J. Norman (-1).

THE DAVS HONOURS. FIRST GRADE BATTING. X. Jones (East Christchurch) .. 81 R. H. Booth (Sydenham) .. .. 73 Dr I'. S. Foster (West Ch'ch) .. 04* B. IS. Wood (East Christchurch) sti W. 11. Patrick (Sydenham) .. 54 W. Howell (East Christchurch) 50 SECOND GRADE BATTING. H. Moore (St. Albans B) .. .. 56* * Not out. FIRST GRADE FOWLING. H. B. Whitta (Riccarton) four for 34. H. C. Watson (West Christchurch) three for 27.

SECOND GRADE BOWLING. Hatch (St. Albans A) four for 2. Unwin (Riccarton A) four for 7. Ward (Technical College B) live for 20. Ashby (Riccarton A) three for 15. Fleete (Linwood At three for 15. Dobbs (Technical College A) three for 20. Yates (Technical Co.lege A) four for 29. C. -Marshall (Sydenham Bl five for 47. Hill (Sydenham B) four for 38. Weston (Linwood A) five for 51. THE SCORE BOOK. SYDENHAM v. RICCARTON. SYDENHAM. First Innings. J. Gray bR. S. Taylor •.. 25 I!. H. Booth c H. T. Tavlor b Luttrcll 73 .1. McEwin e Bvrne b Whitta .. .. 2 N. Conradi b Luttrcll ■ .. 20. 1). J. Moßcth c Cox-b Luttrcll- .. 9 W. R. Patrick b Whitta .VI J. Taylor run out 10 J. Young b Sinclair 8 J. Forrester not out 4 L. T. Donaldson lbw b Whitta .. 1 C. Bellamy b Whitta 12 Extras 9 Total 233 Bowling: M. 0. Sinclair, 17 overs, 5 maidens, 36 runs, 1 wicket; B. S. Taylor, 21,2,77,1; H. B. Whitta, 13.1,3,31,1; It. H. North, 4,1,17,0; E. E. Luttrcll, 10,0,02,3. RICCARTON. First Innings. C. E. Guiney not out 22 It. H. North b McEwin G G. Haines b McEwin 1! 11. B. Whitta b Gray 13 E. T. Taylor not out 2 Extra 1 Total for three wickets .. 58 LINWOOD v. EAST CHRISTCHURCH. EAST CHRISTCHURCH. First Innings. B. B. Wood b Perrin 50 N. Jones b Thomas 84 A. R. Blank b Read 14 W. Hayes b Thomas 15 W. Howell b Russell 50 T. McClellond c and b Read .. .. 22 G. Tate run out .. 8 L. Smith b Russell 0 H. Trustrum c and b Read .. .. 5 E. Collins b Read .. 2 L. W. Guiney not out 0 Extras 17 Total 273 Bowling: B. Read, 31.2 overs, 10 maidens, 78 runs, ! wickets; A. W. Thomas, 20,0,80,2; E. G. Perrin, 12,1,58,1; G. Russell, 12,1,10,2. Perrin bowled two no-balls. LINWOOD. First Innings. A. W. Thomas not out 14 W. L. King b Tate .. .. 9 R. Read c Blank b Tate 6 E. G. Perrin not out 1 Total for two wickets .. ~ 30

ST. ALBANS Y. WEST CHBISTCHBBCH.

ST. ALBANS. First Innings. D. W. Reese c Norman b Blnnt .. 13 C. G. Crawford lbw b Watson .. .. 28 S. W. Hickmott b Watson 20 L. R. Brunton c Norman b Blunt .. 37 J. C. Tikau c Watson b Foster ..• 36 J. H. Martin c. Zimmerman b Foster 48 G. W. Bettle.b Zimmerman .. .. .0 H. T. Stringer b, Watson .. .. ..8 S. Johns b Zimmerman 38 R. Twyneham b Zimmerman .. .. 1 F. J. Jacobs not out .... .. .. 0 Extras ... .. ~ 1" Total -.239 Bowling: Dr P. S. Foster, 18 overs, 1 maiden, 78 runs, 2 wickets; R. C. Blunt, 14,0,68,2; C. Zimmerman, 12.2,4,42,3; H.- C. ; "Watson, 11,4,27,3; P. Hooper, 2,0,14,0. ■ WEST CHRISTCHURCH. J First Innings. Dr P. S. Foster not out .. .. ..65 R. (',. Blunt c Brunton b Stringer ;,'"4l J 3. F. Peake b Stringer 1 P. Hooper c Brunton b Hickmott .i ill ; E. J. Norman not out .. .. .. ... 4 Extras .. .. 8 ' Total for three wickets ..130 SECOND GRADE MATCHES. Linwood A 124 and 37 for three wickets v. Technical College A 164. ; St. Albans A 113 and 72 v. Technical College B 62 and 37 for three wickets. _ St. Albans B 201 v. West Christchurch /0 for Jive wickets. Riccarton A 177 v. Sydenham B 37. Riccarton B won from East Cliristchurcli, by default. .. : THIRD GRADE. Technical College won from Riccarton by default. CITY AND SUBURBAN MATCHES. FIRST GRADE. ' ! Railway 82 v. Ward's 110. , Green's 135 v. Druids 178. ' ' SECOND GRADE. Oddfellows A 91 and 105 beat Oddfellows B 34 and 49 by 116 runs. Druids 75 v. Excelsior 130 for three wickets. Green's A 311 v. Railway 37 for one wic-; kct. St. Albans 125 v. Green's B 75. BOYS' CRICKET LEAGUE. FIRST GRADE. West Christchurch 36 and 138 beat Boys' High School 43 and 02 by 69 runs. D.I.C. 106 and 94 heat St. Bede's 95 and 50 for three wickets by 11 runs on the first innings, Farmers' Co-op. 130 beat Boys' Gordon Hall 31 and 32 for four wickets by 96 runs : ;on the first innings. SECOND GRADE. , St. Matthew's 78 and 95 beat Christ's College 39 and 19 by 115 runs. Boys' High School A won from Boys' High School C by default. Boys' Gordon Hall won from Boys' High School B by default. Technical College won from Boys' High School D by default. >