CRICKET TAME CONCLUSION

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21279, 24 February 1939, Page 8

CRICKET TAME CONCLUSION

Star-Old Boys Match Poor Batting by School The match between Old Boys and Star concluded in a tame manner with a rather pointless declaration by Old Boys when they had made 45 runs in the second innings and when there was about 40 minutes play left. Star with 85 runs to make did not bat and the match was concluded. If Old Boys were seeking an outright win It is surprising it did not insist on Star batting, and 85 runs in half as many minutes is not an impossible task, especially on a ground with short boundaries, it is also surprising that Star did not make a bold effort to convert defeat into victory. Star had nothing to lose by doing so and had it succeeded in its effort would still be in the running for the championship. Possibly the captains decided that the windy conditions were so bad that further play was undesirable. Old Boys’ victory proves more than ever that had they shown in the early part of the season the form they have produced since the second innings of the game against Timaru they would have been one of the teams i- the running for the championship. Erratic performances proved tbeir downfall, and poor batting gave their bowlers little hope of forcing victory. In their score of 210 it was pleasing to see four men pass the 30 mark. Davies followed up his century against Geraldine with 30, and his partnership with Kane gave the .-ide a good start. Earwakes who has not been playing all the season, has been to a large extent responsible for the better showing of the side, his bow’ling being especially valuable, and he and Souter carried on from the good position in which Kane and Davi. left the team. Mason Star’s Mainstay Another player who has been prominent in the past but who has not been playing this season came to light for the Star team, and had it not been for his score Star w’ould possibly have suffered an outrigh’ defeat. The player was S Mason and while his display was not a chanceless one his strokes were attractive and effective. He was well settled when the tea interval was taken but was dismissed soon afterwards. Mason appeared to b: on his way for a century before the interval, and had he ’■eached it he might have won the game for Star.

Short boundaries may have helped him, but they do not detract from the value of his innings to the Star team in which Welford. with 39, was the only other man to make a stand on the second day. The match was commenced at Fraser Park and continued on the second day at School Park, where the boundaries marked out w r ere shorter than those at Fraser Park. Some •! them were the same, but the Fraser Park ground has one or two long boundaries. Earwaker Takes Honours Earwaker’s left hand slow bowling was the principal factor in Old Boys preventing Star from overtaking their score. He bowled steadily and well for six wickets, and in spite of a long spell of bow’ling gave away only 45 runs. Often Earwaker appeals to sacrifice his trickiness for the sake of keeping runs down, and bowling a little short is not difficult to a defensive batsman. On Saturday he was both steady and eff- Rive, and as a lesult gained all the bowling honours in addition to having made highesl score on the first day. School Batting Disappointing High School’s weak displays of batting against Timaru were most disappointing. The wicket was not ot greal assistance to the bowlers cn either day but uncertain batting led to the quid and cheap dow’nfall of most ’ th( school players, many of w’hom gav( Smith every chance with his slows bi waiting and watching even balls wel pitched up. A few who did move theii feet moved back and made good length balls of what would hi ve been hali volleys had the batsmen played forward. There can be no doubt that Smith was obtaining a big break on the wicket on the second and that he was bowling well, but he was allowed to do as he pleased as the school batsmen were flatfooted and did not use their brains. Watt Solid and Unenterprising Watt came to light in ‘be second innings and as opening batsman made a solid and dull 34 before he was run out. He showed fine defence, but at the same time his lack of initiative caused the bowling to look much more difficult than it really was. Watt uses few scoring shots and rarely hits even the loosest of balls hard, so that he wastes many of his runs. It appeared on Saturday that he could have made 20 more runs in the time he was at the wickets, without taking any more risks than he did. How’ever, it is pleasing to see in a schoolboy a superfluity of patience, as most of them err on the side of recklessness. A man is more likely to make runs regularly if he bides his time, but Watt, as the mainstay of the School batting, would be more effective with more initiative. It was unfortunate that he was run out, as he and McKenzie, who showed promise in his two innings, might have prevented the innings defeat. Both men were batting well, but they showed bad judgment when they started the run that was Watt’s downfall. In the first place there was no run there and then when a misunderstanding arose and both were moving up the wicket neither made a definite decision. In cases of misunderstandings between the wickets one or the other should make a decision quickly, no matter whose call it was. McKenzie wa wrong in calling for the run, but Watt was also wrong in not sending him back at once. Having decided not to run, he advanced up the wicket and was out at his own end. Terrific Scoring Pace A terrific rate of scoring was seen in a junior match at New Plymouth last Saturday. Playing against Western Park, High School made 209 runs, an excellent total for junior grade. Western Park was undeterred and responded with 327 runs made in the ilmost unbelievable time of 109 ninutes, or an average of three runs

a minute. Western Park then dismissed School for 53 and won by an innings, so that in an afternoon of about four and a half hours actual play. 30 wickets fell and 589 runs were scored, a average of seven wickets and 130 runs to the hour. ’ VISIT OF SIR JULIEN CAHN’S TEAM TWELVE-A-SIDE MATCH IN CHRISTCHURCH 8v leieurapn - Hres? Association CHRISTCHURCH, February 23. For the first time for many years a representative cricket match will be played between teams of 12 men aside instead of the customary eleven Both Canterbury and Sir Julien Cahn's team will field 12 players in the game starting to-morrow. The visiting side will be: Sir Julien Calin, G. F. H. Hearne, C. S. Dempster. V E. Jackson. C. R. Maxwell. H. Mudge, J. E. Walsh. A. H. Dyson, J. Hardstaff, N. Oldfield, P. Smith and E. A. Watts. The Canterbury twelve will be:— J. L. Kerr, captain. M. P. Donnelly. A. W. Roberts. I. B. Cromb, R. C. Shand. W. A. Hadlee, W. McD. Anderson. R. E. J. Menzies, H. Davis. E. Mulcock. R. C. Webb. F W Bellamy. , TOUR OF TEAM REMAINING FIXTURES IN ITINERARY February 24. 25. and 27—v. Canterbury. at Christchurch. March 1 and 2.—v. Combined South Island Colleges, at Oamaru. March 3,4, and 6.—v. Otago, at Dunedin. March 10, 11, and 13.—v. New Zealand, at Wellington. March 17. 18. and 20.—v. Auckland, at Eden Park. M.C.C. TE.AM IN AFRICA fourth test match drawn Onited Press Association—By fiectrw Telegraph —Copyright JOHANNESBURG. February 22. The fourth Test match between England and South Africa was drawn. The wicket was soft and slippery this morning, favouring the spin bowlers and Verity bowled unchanged, taking his fiftieth wicket of the tour. South Africa with eight wickets down for 349 runs declared at lunch. When the Englishmen commenced their second innings, against accurate bowling, there were 225 minutes of play left. Hutton batted f<' '*o minutes and hit only one boundary. Gibb was at the wicket 144 ilr.utes. Grieveson took three brilliant catches. Hammond played very confidently, scoring with typical cover drives. The following are the scores:— ENGLAND First Innings 215 Second Innings Hutton, c Grieveson. b Gordon .. 32 Gibb, c Grieveson. b Gordon . 45 Paynter, c Grieveson. b Newson .. 15 Ames, b Gordon 17 Hammond, not out 61 Valentine, not out 15 Extras 8 Total for four wickets (declared) 203 Bowling analysis: Newson, took one wicket for 22 runs; Langton, none for 49: Gordon, three for 58: Mitchell, none for 42; Dalton, none for 24. SOUTH AFRICA Melville, c Verity, b Wilkinson .. 67 Van der Bijl, b Goddard 31 Rowan, b Fames 35 Mitchell, c Ames, b Fames .... 13 Nourse, hit wicket, b Verity .... 38 Langton, c Hutton, b Verity .... 6 Dalton, not out 20 Newson, b Hammond 15 Viljoen, lbw., b Verity 5 Extras A

Total for eight wickets (declared) 349

Bowling analysis: Fames, took two wickets for 64 runs; Edrich. none w 11; Verity, three for 127; Goddard, one for 65; Wilkinson, one for 45; Hammond, one for 19.