COUNTRY DEFEAT TOWN

Taranaki Daily News, 2 December 1929, Page 4

COUNTRY DEFEAT TOWN

NORTH TARANAKI CRICKET ■- *1 MARGIN OF ONLY THREE RUNS. MATCH ON SODDEN WICKET. A close- and interesting finish saw Country A secure a well-merited win over Town by the margin of three runs in a oneAnnings match at Pukekura Park. Town batted first and scored 137 runs. At tlie call of time Country A had scored 114 for the loss of eight wickets, but willingly agreed to play on. The next wicket fell five runs later, but the tail wagged to some purpose and, amidst keen excitement, gradually reduced the margin until with a magnificent lift for six, G. Giddy reduced the leeway to three, and with C. Foreman added the required runs to the accompaniment of applause. At the time appointed the wicket set for the match was too sodden, and after inspection a fresh wicket was cut, but it was finally deemed advisable to use matting. This delayed the start and it was 11.30 before Town, who had won the toss, went to the wickets. The weather kept fine in the morning, though the light at times baffled the fieldsmen and one .or two catches were misjudged. The ground fielding was very smart, and the catching, especially of Sp. Giddy, who held four, and of C. Foreman, two, was; good. In the afternoon 5 soon after tlie commencement of the Country innings, a light shower made the ball difficult to hold, and it also deadened the outfield. Leech, and Budd opened for Town to the bowling of G. Giddy and L. Bishop. A single’ to Leech and a brace to Budd came .. <off Giddy’s first over. Leech landed a single off L. Bishop and then drove .G. ■ Giddy to the boundary, but he lifted, the first ball of L. Bishop’s next over high to Sp. Giddy at point, and it was well held. K. Fookes sent Bishop away for a brace and a boundary, but> next over he lifted G. Giddy to square leg, where Sp. Giddy held his second catch. Bottrill opened with a boundary off G. Giddy, and then L. Bishop, who was breaking both ways, beat Budd a couple of times before the batsman cocked the last ball of the over to Sp. Giddy, who at mid-on accepted his third catch. Three wickets were down for 20.

Brown joined Bottrill and the field spread out. Bottrill sent G. Giddy to the boundary, but a little later poked one which O. Foreman could not quite reach. Bishop kept Brown quiet for one over, sending down a maiden, as did Giddy to Bottrill. Brown then became aggressive and hit a four off each bowler as well as a great six to the terrace.; Next ball he left short but B. Foreman was beaten by the ground. - Brown continued to score freely and at 48 R. Coutts relieved L. Bishop. Bottrill survived an appeal for 1.b.w., but after three runs had been scored snicked the last ball which C. Foreman held. The partnership had added 31, Bottrill making 11. N. Kinsella was the newcomer and o-ood bowling, combined with sound fielding, kept the runs mostly to singles, Brown twice driving the ball back straight to knock the opposite, wicket over. Brown then lifted. G. Giddy to the fourth terrace. Kinsella survived an l.b.w. appeal. Sp. Giddy just failed to reach an uppish stroke from Brown, but after a single to Kinsella Sp. Giddy held his fourth catch, taking Brown well out. The partnership had added 20, and Brown's tally of 32 included two boundaries and two sixers. Clarke did not last long before G. Giddy beat him. N. Kinsella, who had batted patiently, welcomed Sheppard by driving R. Coutts twice to the boundary, but next ball put his foot in front, though many thought the ball had touched the bat. He had scored a valuable 24, the score reading seven for 86. H. Fookes and Sheppard opened out, C. Foreman just failing to reach the ball when the latter snicked G. Giddy. P. Sarten injured his hand in a great attempt to catch Fookes off a terrific drive. He saved the boundary. Two runs later R. Coutts bowled Sheppard with a ball that swerved. Fookes had a narrow escape from being run out when Haughton joined him, but the next ball he sent to the boundary and 100 went up in as many minutes. O. Foreman and his father, C. Foreman, replaced the bowlers. • Haughton drove one hard which G. Giddy failed to hold, but next ball the bowler accepted. a return low down from H. Fookes; Groombridge opened aggressively with boundaries off each bowler, while Haughton was content with singles. When the teams adjourned for lunch the score read nine for 124. On resuming the opening pair continued bowling. Groombridge drove Giddy for four and two, then lifted him for six, but next over Haughton touched one from L. Bishop and was held by C. Foreman in the slips. The partnership had added 31, GroombHdge's 28 including three fours and a six. Light rain fell as W. Shallard and P. Sarten opened to the bowling of HFookes and Bottrill. The first four overs produced a single each to Sarten, whose injured hand had a restraining influence, and with the last ball of his third over Fookes, who was bowling well ,beat Sarten all the way with a beauty. 0. Foreman joined Shallard, who after 18 minutes opened his account with two successive braces off Bottrill, giving a chance in fine slips with the second. Foreman was cautious while Shallard became more aggressive, sending each bowler to the boundary. At 29 Groombridge and Kinsella took up the bowling. Runs came slowly, each bowler sending down a maiden, and at 32 K. Fookes° sent in a smart return that saw Shallard run out, he having scored 19 runs in an hour. Lye monopolised the bowling, scoring 15, including three boundaries. He then failed to get properly under one from Kinsella and was well held by Haughton. The field spread out for R. Coutts, who was missed by Sheppard behind the wickets. Next ball he lifted Kinsella to cover, but Brown was not quite able to get there. Haughton replaced Groombridge and Foreman drove him to the boundary in successive overs, but when he had scored 19 Haughton clean bowled him, and with the first ball of his next over bowled Coutts. Five wickets were down for 64 when B. Foreman and S. Sampson became associated. Smart running saw ten singles hoisted before B. Jorcman drove Haughton to the boundary. He secured a. three off the same bowler. At 1 84 H. Fookes replaced Kinsella and play quietened. Six runs later B. Foreman was clean. bowled by H. Fookes. Sp. Giddy early survived two appeals for l.b.w. off Fookes. Leech replaced Haughton. Over-anxiety saw an overthrow and 100 was- up after two hours’ play.

Three runs .later Fookes bowled Sampson off his pads. L. Bishop joined Giddy and some smart running saw the score mount until at 114 H. Fookes clean bowled Giddy, who had scored 15. C. Foreman saw Bishop survive an appeal for l.b.w. off Leech', and after a single to each batsman and three byes H. Fookes beat L. Bishop, securing his fourth successive wicket. Country were 18 runs short when G. Giddy, the last man, joined Foreman. Both bowlers were sending down good balls. Giddy at once snicked Fookes for two and survived an appeal for l.b.w. Singles to each off Leech, and then C. Foreman pasted him to the leg boundary. Giddy lifted him for six, and only four runs were required. Each batsman made a single, and two byes off Fookes gave Country the winning run. Two runs later Groombridge, who had replaced Leech, bowled Giddy. Detailed scores are: — TOWN. J. Leech, c Sp. Giddy, bL. Bishop 7 D. Budd, c Sp. Giddy, bL. Bishop 2 K. Fookes, c Sp. Giddy, bG. Giddy 6 C. G. Bottrill, e C. Foreman, b RCoutts 11 H. W. Brown, c Sp. Giddy, b G. Giddy 32 N. Kinsella, 1.b.w., b R. Coutts .. 24 G. A. Clarke, b G. Giddy 1 P. Sheppard, b R. Coutts 5 H. Fookes, c and bO. Foreman .. 10 G. W. Haughton, c C. Foreman, b L. Bishop 7 K. Groombridge, not out 28 Extras 4 Total 137 Bowling analysis—L. Bishop took three wickets for 20 runs; R. Coutts. three for 34; G. Giddy, three for 61; O. Foreman, one for 12; C. Foreman, none for 6. COUNTRY A. W. Shallard, run out .... 19 P. Sarten, b H. Fookes 4 O. Foreman, bG. W. Haughton .... 19 K. Lye, c G. W. Haughton, b N. Kinsella 15 R. Coutts, bG. W. Haughton .... 7 B. Foreman, b H. Fookes 18 S. Sampson, b H. Fookes 11 Sp. Giddy, b H. Fookes 15 L. Bishop, b H. Fookes 4 C. Foreman, not out 8 G. Giddy, b Groombridge 11 Extras 9 Total ...* 140 Bowling analysis—H. Fookes took five wickets for 36 runs; G. W. Haughton, two for 25; N. Kinsella, one for 18; Groombridge, one for 19; C. G. Bottrill, none for 14; Leech, none for 19. SENIOR B COMPETITION. OLD BOYS AND WESTERN PARK. Not much progress was made in the match Old Boys v. Western Park at Western Park before rain stopped play and the match was abandoned and is therefore held a draw. Old Boys batted first and made a total of 95, J. Palmer making 28, S. Fookes 25, M. Ford 21 and W. Moorhead 11. For Western Park McKeon took six wickets for- 37 runs and Rutherford three for 23. Western Park had lost four wickets for 45 when it was decided to abandon the match. The highest scorers were the two opening batsmen, Carroll making 17 and Jackson 13. For Old Boys Johns took two wickets for nine runs and R. Harris two for 15. WIN FOR HIGH SCHOOL. In spite of the rain, High School managed to carry the match against New Plymouth far enough to score a win by 30 runs on the first innings before the game had to be abandoned. New Plymouth, with only nine men, batted first and scored 65. Kinsella made a fine score of 35, in which he hit a six and five fours. Gibbons, who opened, placed 23 towards the score, but the rest of the team added practically nothing. For School Heard took four wickets for eight runs, Palmer three for eight and Short one for 18. School, with good sound batting replied with 95, Clegg (25), Palmer (19) and Heard (16) being top-scorers. For New Plymouth Kinsella took seven wickets for 49 runs and Simpson three for 34. New Plymouth began their second innings and had lost seven wickets for 56 when the match had to be abandoned.

JUNIOR FIXTURES. -NEW PLYMOUTH SCORE 233. The remarkable score of 233 was made by New Plymouth juniors in their match against Waitara at Tukapo. The members of the home side, who made hay with the Waitara oowling, were Page (68), Knott (57 not out), O’Don-, nell (26), K. Ferry (20) and McLean (10). Waitara made 13 and 25 in their first and second innings respectively. Kershaw, with 12 not out, was the only double-figure scorer. Kershaw, who took six wickets for 95 runs, bore the brunt of the attack for Waitara. Bowling for New Plymouth Page took six wickets for eight runs, Crapper three for three and Kinsella three for three. VICTORY FOR SCHOOL. School A had an easy victory against Western Park at the Tukapo ground by an innings and 50 runs. For School A 11. Peake made 46 not out, Hogg made 22, McCallum 23 and Dallison 17. SCHOOL B DEFEATED. Old Boys defeated School B in a match at the Tukap6 ground. THURSDAY COMPETITION. THE 'REMAINING FIXTURES. For the convenience of Eltham, the fixture for next Thursday between Star and Stratford has been postponed a week and the match Eltham v. Stratford, held over from November 14,. will bo played in its place. The remaining fixtures to complete th© first round of the Thursday competition are:-— December 5. —Waitara v. Rivals, at Waitara; Stratford v. Eltham, at Eltham. December 12. —Stratford v. Star, at Inglewood. December 19. —Stratford v. Rivals, at Stratford.