NGUTUNUI NEWS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 79, Issue 7137, 25 November 1949, Page 5

NGUTUNUI NEWS

CRICKET MATCH (Contributed) Last Sunday a team of locals from the above district, plus a couple of “ring-ins” jouneyed to Ngahinepouri to play that village at cricket. The visitors were very confident that they would put on an excellent exhibition with King Willow and thereby bring home the bacon that eluded them last year. To cut a long story short, the visitors batted first and Haycock and McGruther opened to some accurate but by no means hostile bowling. Runs came freely until McGruther played a shot that certainly is not in Don Bradman’s book on cricket, and was clean bowled. Bell joined Haycock but he didn’t last long, and then Haycock was joined by McDougal. These two batted merrily on and brought the score up to approximately half a hundred—not bad, but certainly not good enough to bring home the bacon. On Haycock’s dismissal McDougal was joined by Haywood. This latter player certainly had power, but his style just lacked something. On his dismissal, Mellsop joined McDougal and one could see that this Mellsop fellow really had handled a cricket bat before. After playing a couple of sound strokes he received a rather loose ball, which he immediately did smite right lustily to the boundary. The next ball he also swung at and was caught. After all, perhaps he was more used to a slasher. McVerry joined McDougal, and naturally the multitude expected fireworks immediately. as McVerry swung wildly at the first ball, missed, and the ball somehow missed the stumps. Like a rusty gate, McVerry swung at the next due and an easy catch was taken much to the disappointment of the crowd. The look in McVerry’s eye, as he walked back to the pavilion brooded ill for someone. Beet then joined McDougal and at once started to hit the ball out of the ground—he did his best anyway, only to lose McDougal who had knocked up a very handy forty odd runs. Lynch joined Beet, but he didn’t last long—it appears that he was more used to tossing wool bales around than to the handling of a cricket bat. Forster then joined Beet, and from the manner he glanced around the placed field the spectators expected to see the ball trickling through all the gaps. The ball did find a couple of gaps—but that was all. Beet was then partnered by Blackie who after a couple of singles and a four which brought the hundred up, played a shot which reminded one of a steam shovel working in very soft mud, and was skittled. Johnston came in to partner Beet, who was still carrying merrily along and one did see from Johnston some really copy book shots to all parts of the ground until he attempted to hit one ball into the Waipa River, a mile or so away, didn’t connect as he had hoped, and Was caught. In conclusion, anyone who has the patience to read this will see that the Puketotara-Ngutunui team played one man extra—and we know that Ngahinepouri had one man short. However, this even didn’t help the former bring home the bacon—they were well and truly trounced.