CRICKET.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7892, 23 December 1903, Page 1

CRICKET.

NOTES. (By SCORING-BOARD.) Saturday'was another ideal day for cricket. Naturally the grounds were all fast and aids.] the batsmen, with- the result that scoring was higher all round, s. Alost interest was taken in the SydenhamLancaster Park game, as at present uoth teams are level for the Cap. Owing to Lancaster Park being again engaged play took place on Sydenham. ground, where the usual somewhat 'unsatisfactory Sydenham wicket was provided. This, however, did not prevent the Park., who batted first, from running up a .good score by means of some even, batting. The Ridley brofchens were the highest scorers, both passing the half-cen-tury. H. C. Ridley batted in. a manner which makes his inability to play against Otago all the more regrettable. " He was sound and vigorous all round the wicket. R Ridley showed much improved form, arid went in for more hitting, a style which suits his play better than trying to act o» the defensive. Orchard ajjain demonstrated tiiat he has struck form by playing a good busy inniugs of over 40. Callaway, too, batted in his best' vein during a stay extending, over an hour at the wicket. Nor did the Park depend on their usual run-getters. Atkinson, again promoted to senior cricket, more than justified his inclusion, and made some clean strokes in getting his score. In fact, none of the Svdenham bowlers except Frankish were troublesome. Bennett was too short, and in trying to keep down runs was considerably below his recent form, while all tl>e others were treated with scant respect. Frank ish's figures speak for themselves; it is a long while since he bowled so successfully and at the same time so well. In the hour's batting which Sydenham had four wickets fell, mainly to good bowling by Howell. In the other senior <rame. that played at Hagley Park between United and Midland, scoring was ako .of a higher and evener nature than uual. The wicket was good, easy and a trifle 9low, with no sting in it, a remark which equally applies to the bowling of the Midlanders. The United have several men fn their team who can score well, though tbis season, I think, two, or three have been left to do the scoring. On Saturday, however, an excellent start was followed by good stands -right down to the.la*t wicket. W. B. Cl'arkson was top scorer, and thoroughly earned his pin cc. His 81 not out was* _a first-class contribution, his runs bein"'made by clean cutting and nice fitting on the leg side. His opponents say he was really caught out directly lie went m. Another pleasinc: feature was Talbot's effort. Ec drove well, choosing his ball on oven- occasion, and if he maintains this form he should be decidedly useful "to his club. He must, however., improve in his running between the wickets. He lost several runs through not backing up. Ollivier, Sims and E. Prankish each made useful contributions, and none of these made any mistakes before being dismissed. Weston, on the other hand, has played more soundly. He Mas evidently bent on going for the w«ak bowling, and with the l-ather slow wicket suiting' his full stroke, ha picked up his runs in* little over an hour. For the last wicket Fisher came out: of his shell, driving and cutting in fine style, **ntil he got ifl front to a straight one cf Lawrence's. Th? Midland bowling and fielding were below par. There will be no more Cup "games played until January 9. The cricket shown in tho colts' game was vei<v' disappointing, the form of tlw few men who could make run? bemg considerably discounted by bad fielding opposed to it. AlUv the reputation the .....Canterbury team rightly earned last year for fielding, the poor form cfrey showed on Wednesday csme as a shock to their supporters. Tht colts, for their part, pave an even worse exhibition. Tlie one bright feature of the game was the spkndid hitting by Vernou for tne Colts. On Friday will begin the Ota^o-Cr.nter-bury game, the ouly "lep." tame to be played here this year' A* vras the case two years fvgo, it will take place at H-igley Park-, and no doubt, given fine weather, thews will ' toe the same good atteudanoe as there was then. In the amount of meney taken at the gate there wo"uld be room for a vast improvementv as last time the average amount paid by those present did. not i«ach threepence." Christchurch people like a free show, but in this case they ought to do the "fair thing" by the Association. As far as the o-ame itself is concerned, it is hard to foretell the result, Of late years our " reps " have beaten Otago at" Dunedm and consistently lo?t here. Last year Otaeo made a poor show, and even allowing for. the presence of Graham and Sbaekloek in tie visiting team, the rest will have- to show improved form if they want to register a. win. Shaddock is an unknown quantity here. Two years or more ago he was a first-class bowler. Graham is well known to all cricketing communities. When h«re with ' bh« Melbourne team he played a great innings of 169, the brilliancy of which was in every respect worthy of one of Australia s great batsmen. He" is still in the best of form, and his and Trumble's absence from Victoria's eleven are mainly responsible for that State's present weakness*. Sydney writers are again referring to the poor catching of the New South Wales teem, particularly in the slips. Oarkeek, the wicket-keeper ; for the ■ Eawksburn Club, Victoria, has a good re- • cord for this season, as he has taken all 1 the ten chances offered him behind the ; wickets. . A. J. Hopkins, who dismissed the South Australian batsmen Pellew, Rees and Hay

with successive balls, also accomplished the hat trick last year "when playing for the Australian team against Cambridge University. A Melbourne writer states that W. Br-doe's- recovery of form is marvellous, and, having a tendency to pitch good length off-side balls round to square leg, he is as good as «ver ; it is only a Victor Trumper that, can successfully tempt the odds this way, and there is but one Trumper. The fourth wicket partnership by R. A. Duff and M. A. Noble against South Australia realised 294 runs, and is the best- on record for that wicket in, first-class cricket in Australia. The previous beat was accomplished as far back as 1882 by W. L. Murdoch and S. P. Joues for New South Wales against Victoria, when the pair added 245 rjins. Though it has been greatly surpassed for an Australian team in England (M. A. Noble and W. W. Armstrong I put on 428 for the sixth wick«t against Sussex last year), Duff and Noble 'a stand is the second highest on record for any wicket by Australians in a first-class match in Australia, Trumper and Duff's 298 against [ South Australia last season standing as the best. The record in Australia for any wicket ijelongs to A. C. Maclaren and T. Haywnrd, who put on 314 for Maclaren'» team against New Sonth. Wales in 1902. M. A. Noble's 230 against South Australia is the tenth three-figure innings he has played in Sheffield Shield cricket. He has made a hundred on the average in every 4^ innings against Victoria and South Australia. At the wicket. 1 ?" five hours, his cricket was frequently brilliant, and never at any period slow. His finest strokes were on the drive, but his forcing strokes to leg and on the pull were also of very high quality. In 43 completed innings he- has now made 2497 runs against the other two States, at an average of 58 runs per innings. Besides, he has oenired just under 100 wickets. In all. Noble has made 17 centuries in firstclass cricket, and three times reached 200 — 200 and 230 y. South Australia, and 284 v. Sussex. It may be news to those who find it interesting to compare George Giffen and M. . A. Noble as all-round cricketers, to leafn that Giffen made 18 centuries in firstclass cricket, «o that the New South' Wales captain has not far to go to equal that record oi-the famous South Australian. Giffen made 200 in an innings on four occasions, twice against Victoria, and once each against New South Wales and an English team. R. A. Duff's 271 against South Australia is tha highest innings he has ever played, and his ninth century in representative cricket. It is, moreover, the highest score ever compiled against South Australia, Albert Ward's 219 for Stoddart's team in the closing match of 1894-5 having hitherto held that position of honour. Duff hit forty fours, and got his runs in four and threequarter hours, playing with, wonderful brilliancy. In versatility of strokea and beauty of execution (says " Not Out ") it is doubtful _if any other batsman in Australia, to-day, excepting Trumper, could have surpassed or even equalled it. The offcstrokea square with the wicket were gems, the ball shooting from the but as though fired from a gun. But the strokes all round were masterly, the hooking, glancing, and driving being thoroughly in keeping with those on the cut. It far eclipsed anything seen in the recent England v. New South Wales match, and was quite in keeping with, those classic displays given last summer by the young Shoreman. He has almost developed into a second , Trumper in the matter of brilliancy and beauty of cricket, and is a magnificent brttsman. A century in four successive inter-State, matches is also a. record now held by R. A. Duff, who has, tmoTeover, ma-dc 100 in five of his last six firstclass matches, the break occurring in the fixture with the M.C.C. English team. Last season Duff's scores were : 94 and 18, South Australia ; 102 andi 66, Victoria ; 132, South Australia : 132 and 39, Victoria ; and 9 and 194, LorcPHawke's team. i , ~