CRICKET.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13921, 27 March 1909, Page 9

CRICKET.

(By "Mid-on.")

Interest in cricket circles is bom-, » barely kept alive locally by the pro.v 1 pect ol the representative match at Auckland at Easter. Twenty-two players have been picked to practice at tli° nets in view of this game. Last week on an .average about three out of the twenty-two put in an appearance for practice. There is some excuse tor this, as no selector was present on several occasions, and prct-uin-ably the idea is for the selectors to watch the net play with a view to selecting their team. On Thursday a match practice wa^j held^-A Team v. B Team. the selectors in their wisdom agreed that the best results would be obtained by pitting the weak batting side against the lull strength of the North Taranaki bowlers, and- by sending in tho flower of the batting strength against .the weak bowling of the B team. \Vhstt , other result could be achieved than chat one which came about? A to. tin fa gainst all precedent in such cases) went in first, and after threshing the B bowling about for a couple of houru, and losing •■our wickets, declared their innings closed, and proceeded to annihilate the B batsmen, who, entirely dispirited, failed ignoniiniously. Southajl and Benbow,. bowling on a crumbling wicket, had matters all their own way. The game for a practice was a complete farce, and if its object was to I ring to light the possibly hidden prowess of some batsman in tho B team it defeated its own object. N.> doubt it was excellent practice for the "certs," who had a good time all round. The only man in 1J toam to show any form with tho bat was Arthur Humphries,, and he was only playing as a substitute for one of the chosen, a fact^ which speaks volume.-; for the perspicacity of the selectors. Another substitute, Price, did lairly well, but no one else made any show at all against the formidable bowling. H. S. Hasell played a very good innings indeed, and it is very , pleasing to have to record this fine player's Bctunrto form. S. Eggloston of Waitara, also played a very pretty innings, showing a great variety oi strokes all round the wicket. F. Robertson in his 2G gave a mixed display of good cricket, combined with blind slogging. He* started the game. by hitting the first ball bo received up on to the terraces. It is to be hoped that in the game to be played on Wednesday next a different course will be pursued, and that either the best bowlers will be sent' against the I best batsmen, and vice versa, or that sides as even as possible will be picked | up. | The Wellington Cricket Association has received an offer from Buckenham, a well-known Essex professional, to net as coach for £250 a year ~*nti for second class expenses coining out, but no action has been taken, pending the report from the committee, which is dealing with the matter of a professional coach. With the facts of the recent dispute between the Australian cricketers and the Australian Board of Control we are in this country happily not concerned (says the London Globe). It is none of our business whether those who are nominally amateurs, those who are supposed to play a noble game for .the love of the sport, can or cannot screw a few extra sovereigns out of the management. We < are glad that it is not our" quarrel, for it is in truth not a pretty one. It reveals many things to the public; and even the worshipping schoolboy may bo inclined to take his hero off the pedestal when he finds that he is only plaster after all. The sport will go on, of course ; but it can no longer be pretended that the champions are out for glory — there will be less glory in a futuie test match, in which each player is calculating the gate at least as much as the length of a ball, than in a rough-and-tumble contest between two neighbouring villages, played on a wickec as fiery as that at Lord's is smooth, H)ut between men and not between tradesmen. The Australian cricketers, indeed, seem to have become a new type of commercial travellers — bagmen in flannels; and that the trouble is not merely for the moment is evident when we remember their refusal to take part in South African matches, and sundry incidents during the last tour. We have no belief in tho rumour that the results of test matches are arranged beforehand ; but when a game is degraded by its players such rumours will get about. It is an unhappy period for the game when cash is put before cricket. Mr. C. G. Wilson, who captained the Otago cricket team in the recent matcn against Southland, has been in heavy scoring mood this season (says the Southland Times), but his visit to Southland has been to him rather a disappointment. He has Jfteen playing in interproyincial matches as an Otago representative for three seasons, and when he went to Invercargill for the last interprovincial game of the season he needed 14 runs to complete his 1000 runs in matches for Otago. He was bowled in Otago's second innings when one run short ol the thousand. It is not tinlikely that Studwick, Surrey's brilliant wicket-keeper, will be granted a benefit in 1911. , For some time past it has been an open secret, says an English writer, that he will not continue county cricket for many more years, owing to a desire to settle in New Zealand. Continued evidence is daily forthcoming of the utter indifference felt by the public in regard to senior club cricket, says the Melbourne Leader. While spectators in thousands will pay week after week to witness junior cricket, the seniors can hardly attract them in dozens, even though the gates are thrown open and ample accommodation offered gratis. Yoars ago, he continues, I pointed out how the apathetic spirit in which senior club cricket was played must assuredly have its effect on supporters of the game, and the anticipated result has come. Now the point for the Association to solve is, How to effect an improvement ? It's no use saying that racing, golf, bowls, eyeiing and other sports have pushed cricket out of the way, for if that were s« the juniors' matches would not draw «s \\\ev do. The fact is that cricket, as played under what are considered orthodox conditions, has not kept pace with the times. Tt is still a grand and skilful game, but as a

public attraction it undeniably requires urighlening up, and during the comiiig winter I should like to see a big public meeting of thoroughly roprosonlative enokotors held, to exhaustively discuss the subject in all its bearings.