CRICKET.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 143672, 16 December 1911, Page 8

CRICKET.

(By “IVillow.”)

MATCHES FOll NEXT WEEK. Thursday, Dec. 21.—Carrington Bond v. New Plymouth, Sports Ground; Inglewood v. IVaitara, Inglewood; L'ronui a bye. Saturday, Dec. 23,—New Plymouth v. United Services, High School ground ; Law v. Inglewood, Sports Ground. Last Saturday up to about 2 o’clock the weather conditions were all against cricket, and at nooii the matches were put off. The afternoon proved beautivully fine and tho gained could have been played, but the clearing up came too late to get the teams together, so yet another blank day has to be recorded. Mr. Frank Robertson has selected 2b players to practice at the nets, in anticipation of representative matches during tho holidays. The Wanganui representative team this year is composed mostly of young players under 21 years of age. The fielding and bowling are said to be good and the batting well up to the average, but of course the team will miss tho backbone which would have been supplied by such old campaigners as the Cave brothers, Buttorworth, Howard, and Addison. Mr. J. I'Tiruio will act ae manager of the team, which will arrive in New Plymouth on Christmas Day. Cricket is indeed being plnycd under adverse conditions this season. The New Plymouth Club were notified late on Wednesday night that the Sports Ground would be too soft for play the following day, and this was confirmed on Thursday morning. The club then wired to Inglewood, asking whether they would postpone the match or play on tho Carrington Hoad ground, and about noon the answer came that they chose the latter alternative. It- was then discovered that the Horticultural Show and tho Petroleum Company meeting would prevent two or three players from taking part iu the match. It was too late to put tho fixture off, so' seven men went out to meet last year’s champion team. Under the circumstances comment on tho match is unnecessary. Tho seven acquitted themselves nobly, and were eventually only beaten by 26 runs. Ingram bawled splendidly throughout the innings, and was mainly responsible for the smallness of Inglewood’s score. Lash also did well with the ball. Had the match been played on the Sports Ground ton men would have been available, and quite probably a different result would have been arrived at. As it is, it is satisfactory to neither club. The proper mode of procedure would have been for the ground committee to have notified the fixture committee of the state of affairs, and it would then have been the duty of tho latter committee to have decided what was to be done. Cricketers will bo sorry to have heard the news of the death of Mr. E. A. Duff, the Australian representative cricketer, at the early age of 33. Duff and Trnmpor were Australia’s opening pair of batsman on many a notable occasion, and on several ’of these were responsible for huge opening partnerships, Amongst others, for New South Wales against South Australia in 1902 they made 298 for the first wicket -, in tho same year, for New South Wales against Victoria they put on 267 for the first wicket; on numerous other occasions they saw' tho century hoisted before being parted, mid in the New South' Wales v. Victoria match in 1903 they did what has only been done on fifteen occasions, scored over 100 runs for tho first wicket in each innings. Curiously enough, Duff was one of the partners’in the record last wicket stand in the test games between Australia and England, for in 1901, at Melbourne, he and IV. IV. Armstrong made 120 for the tenth wicket, the record for a last wicket stand in international'' cricket. Tho selectors of the Australian Test team for the ;u .sent match could not hare had a very hard task. There were eight, possibly nine, certainties, namely, Hill. Trumpcr, Bardsley, Armstrong, Cotter IVhitty, Macartney, Hordcn, and possibly Kellaway. At least seven players were candidates for the two remaining places—Hansford, Carter, Carkcek, Minnott. Jennings, S, E. Gregory, and Matthews. Carter would have been reckoned as certain ol a place' but for his having been unable lo play i-crentiy. Tho choice of the last man tell on Rnnsiord, but it was certainly not on tho present season’s pei lormances. 11. Minnott has been selected us emergency, probably boating tho others by his all-round qualities, though Sid Gregory must have mu him close. It is identically the same team which did battle against tho South Africans last season. The following team has been selected lo represent Otago in the match against Canterbury, to be played at Christchurch at Christmas;—Austin, Siedcberg, L. Watson, Doannerman. Hopkins, CondhUe, Torrance, Kekhold, Downes (captain), M'Fai-lane, and Eckhoff. The following is taken from the San Francisco Chronicle of September 9:— “Trundlor Orton, of the Alameda cricket eleven, laid mu two players with one delivery of the ball at Croll’s Grounds yesterday in a pennant game between the Eneinals and Wanderers. In was during the first over of the innings, and Dick Stuart, was the batsman. The latter tipped a fast ball behind tho wicket, and Winding, the wicketkeeper, sustained a broken finger in trying to cheek its progress. Not don tent with this damage, the leather continued its career by cannoning off to the forehead of Wildy, who was fielding at short slip, and laying him out cold. Then the spiteful sphere was caught by Theobald before it could make connections with mother earth, ami the batsman was also out, but this time only in a cricket sense. Thus one deadly delivery put three men out, though two were injured. To the writer’s knowledge there is no parallel in the history of the time-honoured English summer sport.” Regarding T. Hay ward's records, he has only two centuries to make to he the first professional to score a _ hundred centuries in first-class cricket. He recently added one small record to his numerous list, as iu scoring his 2000th run of this year he brought tho number of his 2000 aggregates lo 10. lie really headed the list in this respect before, as he had compiled 2000 runs nine times to Abel’s eight. All English critic. in the Week's fiport, says Hayward has still a long journey to travel to exceed II .G.’s o-t. 311 aggregate, being about 14,000 short of that figure, and even he will scarcely he getting his 1000 runs in the year 1021. The most likely of the batsmen of the day to get within hail of IV.G.’s 126 centuries is J. B. Hobbs, who has already seored 39, with at least 15 years’ cricket in him. No other professional, and only C. B. Fry (if he plays any more cricket) of thp amateurs, has a sporting chance of overtaking the G.O.M.