CRICKET.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13926, 3 April 1909, Page 9

CRICKET.

. (By "Mid-ori.")

Four clear days before the^ representative match , North , Taranaki. v. Auckland—and the team is not yet published. There are eight certainties an'l at least a dozen men any three of whom may fill the remaining places in the team. ' These gentlemen; ar^ in the 'unpleasant position of being unable to make arrangements for their Easter Holidays^ of of doing so and losing their place.? in the rep, team. , ,

ane selectors are x,o •» great exmni to blame for this unfortunate state of affairs, but not altogether so, for It is mainly attributable to the system which" puts The selection 6f the rep. eleven in the hands of five; infen scattered all over the district- It fe, of course, extremely, difficult for these five selectors to meet en two or^three occasions, and it is equally impossible for them to come to a fair decision on the merits of players unless they do so. "

The following represents my forecast of the rep. eleven.: — Clegg, Orombie, Inman (Inglewood), Seholefield (TJrenui), Eggleston (Waitara), Fred. Robertson (Carrington. Road), . Southall (United Service), Hagell, Weston, E. Lash (Rovers), Hilf "(Wanderers) ; exnergencies—O'lJyrne r Fiwcett. , Whittle I should have put in Hill's place, but unfortunately he. is not sufficiently recovered from his illness to be able to play. Benbow is not available; if ho was, he wduld be a certainty. The team is very weak in the , bowling department^ and it is questionable whether Fawoett should *ot be included in the team. On paper b* would appear to be a certainty. But rep. cricket is a different thing .to, club cricket, and a young player sejdom does himself justice in representative cricket until he has gamed oqnsJderable experience, in club. games. And Fa^wcett, fine as it his record this year, lacks knowledge of the game. Besides, lie did not come off in His own department. He would be of little' service ta'his side. Then he has not come ;n to practice; and that must always be taken into consideration

The "-team is? a strong batting side, member being a good performer and liable to make runs. This may make up for its weakness in the bowling department.- F. Robertson is not so sure behind the stumps as his brother "Monty," but wiH give a good account of himself in what 'is apparently an hereditary position.

Southall is the mainstay of the eleven in the bowling department, and, unless the wicket is soft, should prove a thorn in £he sides of the Auckland men. From all appearances, however, the wicket Will not be in his favour, and he loses a great deal of his deadlines;on a \ soft wicket. Whittle will be much missed, bis bowling on a soft wic ket would have been very valuable to the side. • Of course the Auckland team will be a very strong combination even if they do not send down many of their cracks, but the major part of our eleven will be old experienceci cricketers who are not likely to be affected by "funk." So I hope to see them put up a big fight, and shall not be at all surprised to see them win.

The New PljTnouth Club are losing their energetic secretary Mr. ,C. 0. Berg. On Friday evening member presented him with a travelling bajr suitably inscribed as a small token of their appreciation of his services to the club. Mr. Berg has- filled the position of hon. secretary to the club for the past two seasons, and last year sue ceeded in establishing a record by showing a substantial credit balance with no outstanding unpaid subscriptions. H<> is leaying affairs in a vory satisfactory condition this year, ,the books showing a" credit balance, although the club have this season been putting four teams in the field. Mr. Berg is taking up a position in Wanganui, and he will take with him the best wishes of his old clubmatcs. >

A practice game was held on Wednesday last in the Recreation Ground In spite of the unfavourable weathei conditions, a good number of playerf turned up, and some good cricket wa? witnessed.* The wicket, wlfich war pitched just, outside the Longburn foil area, played very well, and proved a

batsmen's wicket, over 3UU runs being made during the afternoon.

P. M'Alister was the hero of the meeting of the Australian Board of Con trol, held in Melbourne recently. He was inado vice-captain, treasurer, and one of the selectors oi the Australian team, and representative of Australia at the International Cricket Coni'orence. M. A. Noble was appointed captain and a member of the Selection Committee, 8. E. Gregory being the third selector.

The lowest total on record is 0, and the most successful bowling in an innings on record is 10 wickets for no runs. These cannot very well be eclipsed. A bowler named Rae, for Alliance v. Granville (Eng.) secured 10 for no runs in 1880.

Raymond Bardsley, aged 14, a brother of the Australian Eleven batsman, made 109 out of 150 for the last six wickets recently in a competition schools' match, without giving a chance.

Have more than seven! wickets with successive balls been taken by a bowler? There are many instances of seven wickets, and some of these were recently mentioned in the Referee. In 1882, for Ashbourn Par.k against Tunstall (Eng.), Jas. Walker took eight wickets with successive balls, according to Lillywhite's Guide, 1883. On July 11, 1878. for Christowe v. Garth Garmon, at Cheltenham College, G. H. Cornwall took seven wickets in seven balls. Garth Gamon made no runs from the bat, the total (7) being made up of sundries. A curious, fact relating to the innings is that J. Vaugllln went in first and carried out his bat without scoring. In .April, 1885, for Langbornes Bridge Club v. Woodchester (South Australia) F. Howlett took seven wickets in successive balls. A E. Goldman, formerly of Sydney, and once more here (residing at Double Bay), in a match at Barnato Park, Johannesburg, in January, 1898, took seven wickets in seven balls, and got eight wickets in 10 balls. In response to an invitation from the South African Cricket Association for the visit of an English team in 1909-10, the M.C.C. have decided to do their best to send out a team next December. the New Zealand Cricket Council has communicated direct with the South African Cricket Association to ascertain the terms upon which the team will extend the visit from Australia to New Zealand in 1910.