CRICKET.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8778, 15 November 1906, Page 4

CRICKET.

NOTES. (By SCORING-BOARD.') After a week's interval, consequent on all games being postponed on NewZealand Cup Day, grade matches were resumed on Saturday. The wickets and grounds were in splendid order, the rain during the week having had a good effect. As the afternoon progressed a cold easterly wind made matters rather unpleasant for the fieldsmen. At Lancaster Park, Sydenham, at the end of the day's play, were in a very comfortable position in their match with East Christ-church, and, if tlie latter do not .show better form with the bat than hitherto this season, Sydenham should have no difficulty in winning. At j Hagley Park both West Christchuroh and St Albans have established commanding leads in their respective matches, and should obtain three-point victories. At Lancaster Park, Sydenham gave East Christchurch an afternoon's U afh-er-hunting, and compiled the good score of 269 for seven wickets. This score was made by sound, all-round batting, as six out of eight batsmen got into double figures, a result which mi.it be gratifying to Sydenham supporters. Patrick was the highest scorer, with a yerv patient and correct innings or b 4 not* out. His play differed greatly from his innings against West Uiristchurch, when he gave quite a dashing and attractive display. He got most of his runs by cuts, snicks and leg-luts, mid was rather lucky in surviving two very confident appeals for leg-before. He also gave a chance at 36. Bennett played far and away the best innings on his side. Hitting with conference from the jump, he quickly rattled up 08 by capital cricket. He made some splendid drives and hits to. square-leg, and was eventually caught in this position from a weak stroke. In his score were two sixes (one nearly througn the dresra-ing-room window), and one five, and rax fours. Robson's 52, made more quickly than usual, contained some good strokes, but it was rather a fortunate innings, as early in it he survived a unanimous and apparently .weU-jWafaed appeal, for a catch at the wickets, besides which, he gave a chance later on to a substitute at forward cover. Neild scored 26 not out in a taking manner; I was glad to see him get going, and 1 expect him to make a lot more runs this season. He is a pretty bat, and got six fours in his 26. Jones made 21 patiently, mostly by singles, before being well taken by Boxshall. Of the bowlers tried North shaped best, keepings good length, though it fell to Ferguson and West to bear the brunt of the' attack. The fielding was only moderate. Riccarton batted very poorly against West Christchurch at Hagley Park, Lusk and Malono making short work of the whole team. Wickets fell with a monotonous regularity, and it was not till the last two, Burton and Ballantyne, were together that anything like a stand was made, over 40 runs being added for the tenth wicket. Burton showed that the bowling could be hit, and was batting well when Malone dismissed him with a hot catch at mid-on. J. H. Williams showed the best form on his side, and batted really well for his 22. His brother got nine less, hut was never very comfortable. Ballantyne managed to annex 18 not out, but when 3 he should have been • caught by Lusk .at mid-off. Harper made 11 neatly, while Callaway, after making a fine drive- for five, was yorked by Lusk. The batting as a whole showed great want of practice, probably due to the other attractions during Carnival Week. For West Christchurch, Lusk kept a fine length, breaking a bit from leg.. , and got five wickets for 42. Malone, , who was a little more expensive, also , bowled well. The fielding all round was good. West ChTistchurch, with two hours' batting, quickly Tan up 201 for threo , wickets. Lusk again played a splendid \ innings,' and has 92 not out. He was , very effective in his pull strokes, g-et- ', ting Caliaway away in this direction : time after time. Besides this stroke ( he scored mostly by sterling drives on . both sides of the wicket. Though he , gave a couple of hard chances his ! innings was a very fin© one. Dakin was next scorer with a capitally-played 51. j His innings was full of merit, and was j a very pleasing one to watch. He got ' his runs rapidly, and was very partial t to auythlhg on the off. His was a very , clean inninge, and he timed his off- ' strokes, especially, better than usual. \ Lawrence scored 26 not out, in his j usual finished style. Riccarton have a , big task in front of them to get rid , of these two dangerous batemen, Lusk \ and Lawrence, next Saturday.Callaway pegged away steadily ] throughout the innings, his 22 overs ' producing 70 runs and two wickets. \ SI Alhatw; for the first time this sea- ] eon, won the toss. R-eeso and Johnston < were the opening pair, and after the i latter had got a dozen he was snapped ] up by Orchard. Barrett then joined 1 Reese, and a fine stand was made, rum i coming quickly, till at 103 Barrett was i bowled by Ridley for a well-hit 54. He i made his runs by much better cricket i than usual. His was a decidedly useful ] innings, and should have inspired the 1 later batsmen with moire confidence. « Frankish got 13 quickly, before being j oaught by a club mate, fielding as sub- i •titute. Wood, who might with advan- ( tage have been put in earlier, scored. • 19 in promising style, making several \ good strokes to the on. Reese again stood out as the mainstay of the St < Albans batsmen, and played a great innings for hie side. Though not par- „ ticularly attractive to watch, he makes ] some sweet off strokes, and plays sound j cricket all the time, and in the end. - generaly manages to get there. On ' { Saturday he played all round the | wicket and gave no chance. His rune . were got entirely without blemish. He * was particularly strong in his leg hit- ] ting, and made one rattling drive for , five. Linwood, on going in to bat, failed j miserably, want of practice being very , noticeable. Batting two men short, ' they were all disposed of for 67. Little i favourable comment can be made on their batting. Read hit well for 24, ? made in his usual vigorous style, while Howell knocked up 16. but never looked ' dangerous. None of the others reached *' double figures. • < Being 121 behind, Linwood had to 1

follow on, and St. Albans' hopes must have risen considerably when Orchard was bowled off his pads for 7. Wheatlev made 15 not out neatly. Linwood want 9S to save the innings defeatFor St Albans, Johnston and Frankish bowled unchanged, the former with five for 33 again proving a tower of strength, while Fraukish, who got three for 27, varied .his pace well- For Lin wood, Clarke was a long way the most successful. Off his last eleven overs only 28 runs were scored, while he captured five wickets. The fielding on both sides was very fair, Turner making three good catches for St Albane, while Ridley brought off a good one . when he snapped up Turner in the slips off Brooks. An instance of tlie usefulness of backing up in the field was given on Saturday. Vernon, backing up Lawrence, brought off a deserving catch- The ball hit Lawrence on the finger, went on and was afterwards well caught by Vernon. I heard several complaints from captains to the effect that certain members of their respective. teams did not inform them of their inability to play on Saturday. It is too bad of a player to leave his team in the lurch like tins. There are quite enough other worries for captains. Linwood were the chief sufferers in this respect, and would most assuredly have saved the followon had they had a full team. St Albans have been strengthened by B. Wood, who did so well for the Collego two years ago. Besides being a free bat, he is a smart field. Riccarton will have a new fast medium bowler in A. Humphreys, who has bowled successfully for Harrow during' the last two seasons. Reese has been in most consistent form so far this season, his scores being 105, 30, 23, 76, or a total of 234, giving an average of 58-5 per innings. ; A Sydney cable states that there is a possibility of the cricket dispute being reopened. . Noble, writing on behalf of the players suspended by the Cricket Association, who were subsequently reinstated with certain conditions, demands that the reinstatement should be unconditional. It is considered to mean that if the request should not be /acceded to, the players will refuse to play for New South Wales this season. In the First Grade match at Sydney between Paddington and Glebe, a sensational batting performance was accomplished, that shows what coolness and determination are capable of achieving. The Glebe team had made 186 and Paddington had 6ix wickets, down for 3 at the clc«e of the clay's play. R. Strange, late of Christchurch, assisted Noble to take the score to 74. The eighth man made four, and then M'Cloy joined Noble. " Not Out," in. the Sydney "Referee," hae the following remarks on the remainder of the play :— Noble's batting was solidity itself; very safe, with no hard, forcing strokes. M'Cloy is a colt who likes to go at the ball, but on this occasion he played with the curb on. and was never in trouble- Runs came slowly, princi-* pally by singles, for the fielding of several of the men was brilliant and the bowling very fair. The Glebe team played, up with quite as much tenacity and grit as the batsmen. But they were beaten. A roar, much louder than its brothers, announced that 186 had been passed. Then, th© tension cut, M'Cloy tried to hit a ball out of tho ground, missed it, and was bowled. He had taken off the break. Going in tenth, he scored 62 out of 110 for "the ninth wicket. This young player has undoubted ability as a cricketer, and this innings should have a good' educational influence on his batting. It will probably be found to have taught him the value of restraint, and, moreover, shown him that he has the power to restrain himself, and mould hi 6 tactics to suit the situation. M'Cloy got thirty singles, and as Noble got 29 they made 59 between them — a tribute to the fielding and bowling. In connection with the foregoing " Not Out" has the following reference to the performances of R. Strange (who scored 41) and Noble: — Strange Jiai Is from Christchurch, New Zealand, and if his cricket in this innings is an average sample of his capabilities he is a distinctly good bat, of the punishing type. He displayed .great confidence, grit and cco-lncsfi, and timed the ball well on the drive and cut, in which he made it skim along very sharply towards the boundary. His cricket was rather a surprise, and made a very good impression. Noble was at the wickets about two and a half hours for 56 not out. Characteristic of the man with his back to the wall, it was one of the most careful and • deliberate pieces of batting one has seen from him. Though not yet in his true form, hi 6 defence was superb. In playiug Bowden to tho on-side, he .seemed to reach almost to half-way at times. Though an

easy wicket for tho bat, it was not -a good one. for the cut, as the ball did not come along quite high enough, hence M.A.N. ehowed none of those wonderful strokes be•hind point. If we had a few more with M.A.N. *s bulldog courage and defensive batting to be brought into operation when needed, Australia would just now be a more formidable side for England to fight than she was in 1905. R. H. Lambert, of the Leinster Cricket Club. Dublin, may appropriately be styled Ireland's leading cricketer (says the London " Sporting and Dramatic News "). His record for the past season is certainly remarkable, and may be briefly summed up ac follows : — Innings, 26 ; not out, 9 ; highest score, 246 ; total j runs, 2119 ; taking also 156 wickets with an average of 11 runs per wicket, and all accomplished against the cleverest bowling and batting in Ireland. The above record, good as it is, has been exceeded by Lambert more than once in the past. For example, in 1895 he made 2040 runs and took 209 wickete ; the succeeding year he made 2231 runs, and captured 204 wickets ; and in 1897, 1839 runs and 216 wickets. He was but fifteen years of age when he was chesen to play for the first eleven of the Leinster Club, arid has played for them ever since. He is now thirty-two. When only seventeen lie played for the Gentlemen of Ireland against Zingari, and later on was a member of Earl Cadogan's team which visited England. This season he has scored nine centuries, and during his cricketing career has achieved no less than fifty-four. The present is the third time that his season's play has out-distanced nearly all the best, and the fact that he twice scored 2000 runs and captured over 200 wickets (a feat achieved for the first time this year by an English cricketer, Hirst, of Yorkshire) proved his claim to very high rank as a player. It is due to him. to add that he is a magnificent fidd, and at short-slip has absolutely no ! superior.