BIG CRICKET.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16923, 23 December 1922, Page 10

BIG CRICKET.

M.C.C. V. CANTERBURY. CHAPMAN’S HUGE SCORE. THE LOCAL BOWLING COLLARED. w Y win the tom, we bat.” paid '»■ C. MacLaren, the English captain after inspecting the wicket at Lancaster Park this morning. The spin of he coin favoured the M.0.C., so the isitors took first, strike under perfect .onditions. A light wind blew from >be east, and the pitch was as smooth md hard as a billiard table, with the iight excellent. \\ hen the game began at twelve *’clock the attendance was fairly small, out it grew steadily and interest was keen, especially as T. C. Jjowrv. an ex(‘hrist’s College boy, was one of the opening batsmen. The other wan W. W. Hill-Wood, of Derbyshire and Cambridge Un 1 rorsi ty. THE TEAMS. The English team, in the order of batting, was: 1\ .W. Hill-Wood, 4 . C. Lowry, O. H. Titchmarsh, A. Wilkinson, A. P. F. Chapman, Hon F. S. G. Gftithorpe, G. Wilson. A. O. MacLaren (captain), Lieut.-Colonel J. C. Hartley (vice-captain), Hon D. F. Brand, and C. H. Gibson. The professionals. H. Tyldeeley nnd A. P. Freeman, stood down. The Canterbury team was:- TV. R. Patrick (captain), R. C. Blunt, 1). M. Sandman, L. R. Brunton. F. Smith. W . Hayes. A. W. Thomas. R. D. Worker. It. Read. J. Young and O. T. Rix. By agreement with the New Zealand Cricket Council, the overs were limited to six balls, instead ol eight. Not used to this system, the umpire at the pavilion end allowed Rix to send down eight in his opening over. Runs came at a fair pace, and after twenty-five minutes’ play the board siu*.wed 27. At this stage Sandman relieved Read at the south end. It looked like a good first-wicket stand. Hill-Wood was sweet on the leg, and Lowry executed some delightful late cuts, though once or twice Rix ap»'cared to have him tangled. A STEADY OPENING.

Opening batsmen were M . W. HillWood and T. C. Lowry. Hill Wood opened toR. Read, who bowled from the southern end. the over being a maiden, t . T. Rix was the next bowler. Lowry scored off the sixth ball from the left 1 nnder through the. field letting the ball through. On the next Lowry attempted to run a single but turned back in time to save being stumped bv Brunton. Lowrv snicked Read’s opening ball of the next over behind for four and then notched a single. Hill-Moo 1 added lour with a pretty stroke and drove Read for three on the lost ball, making twelvo off the over. Brunton let R-ix’s bowling through for four ) yes. Hill-Wood hit two off Read to square leg in the second ball of the < ver and brought the score up to 20. Hill-Wood scored a single before the < hange over. Rix’s next attempt at bowling was a maiden over. Lowry got a single off Read and remaining part of the over showed no score. Lowry got one from Rix end Hill-Wood followed with a single. A solitary run to Lowry was the only event of Read’s next over. Lowry hit Rix to leg, and the stroke realised two by well judged running between the wickets. FTRST HALF-CENTURY. The score was 28 when Sandman took the bowling from the southern end againßt Hill-Wood, a maiden over. Lowry turned Rix througn slips nicely for two. and this was followed by singles to each batsman Haves fielded a “hot” one from Lowry, off Sandman The next ball Lowry pulled to leg for a single. Read resumed bowling, this time from the northern end. and Lowrv got a two and a single. He added another off Sandman on the opening • f the next over. A nice off stroke bv the same batsman produced a single off Read. Lowry brought the total to 40 with a singio off Sandman, and TTiU-Wood hit the howler to leg for four. Lowry, who was the more prolific scorer, got two off Read. Hi!' Wood survived an appeal for lbw and tbe batsmen secured singles al tern ate1* till tbe '-•core reached 50. after three quarters of an hour’s play. FTRST WTCKET FALLS. The opening of Read’s over saw the dismissal of Lowry, who was caught behind the wickets by Brunton. 50 - 1 27. Wilkinson faced Read’s bowling fox a maiden over. By a coincidence the opening ball of an over bad aga.n secured a wicket, Sandman sending down one that beat Hill-Wood. 50 - 2—19, and C. H. Titchmarsh took the vacancy. It was a maiden over. Read opened next to Wilkinson, whi tapped one to the off for a single. Titchmarsh hit round to leg for two Wilkinson got two in singles off Sandman's over. The third ball from Read came down at a rattling pace and got through Titchmarsh’s defence. 00 —3—s. Chapman joined Wilkinson and notched a few singles. Facing Sandman Chapman scored a single and two Four to Wilkinson was recorded off Read, and Chapman got four off Sand man. as the score mounted into the eighties. AT LUNCHEON The members of both ten ms were entertained at luncheon on the ground l .• the Canterbury Cricket Association Mr W. H. Winsor said that it wap v ith great pleasure that Canterbury welcomed the M.C.C. team. They hac

often had verv fine visiting teams in ( hristchureh. but until that day they had never had an opportunity of welcoming such an all-round side of prod: ising players who were destined to make their mark in cricket both in the Old Country and in Australia. Canterbury people were particularly pleased to have Mr MacLaren among them. Tho speaker had seen Mr MacLaren batting in Launceston, Tasmania, j M 1894, when lie was dismissed by a man pa rued Winsor —no zeiation to himself. (Laughter.) Canterbury people wished t(, thank the M.C.C. for sending such , r team, and they hoped it would be £ tlu- forerunner of others, and that in, s . seven or eight years time they would ree a team lead by Chapman or Hill-Wood. or some of the others, visiting Australia and New Zealand. Tf t. could keep in the good graces of the M.CC., eo much the better. Tt was to the M.C.C. thev looked for future visits. In the present match Canterbury tad got a good chance of winning and there was sure +o be a stiff fight. (Applause.) Replying. Mr H. Swan, manager of the M.C.C. team, said he wished to thank the Canterbury people very much for their kind words of welcome, xt was a great pleasure to be here and ■ .e visitors thoroughly appreciated, the lci.rln-,, «w n thom ' A, reenrS* tho Xu"!*-* !! teams ' he felt confident j {fhot o , would leave no stone

unturned, if requested, to meet the wishes of the New Zealand Council. Onoe more, he thanked the Canterbury Association and the Canterbury people for the reception accorded them (Applause.) CENTURY APPEARS. On resuming after the luncheon adjournment tn© Ohapman-Wilkiuson partnership brought the score past the century. Both batsmen gave displays of clean hitting Chapman’s style at tracted notice. The left-hander plays his strokes mostly to the off. Sand man and Read were still the bowlers Chapman timed Read nicely for a four. Rix took Sandman’s place, bowling from the southern end. and two singles were bit off tbe over. A similar tally was recorded off Road. Rix bowled another over, and Hayes came on at the northern end. with the score at 120. THOMAS FIELDS WELL. Chapman got a singio off the opening ball from Hayes Thomas who was noticeable for his work in the field, smartly returning a hard drive. There were two runs off the over. Wilkinson scored two off Rix. bringing his score o 30. Singles brought the runs off the ever to four. The second ball from Hayes's following over was lifted to the off boundarv bv Chapman a great stroke. A four by Wilkinson was the main event of Fix’s next over. Chapman touched n fast one from Haves through slips for four and earned further plaudits for a graceful square log stroke to boundary. He added another tt. the off from Sandman’s howling. CHAPMAVS VERSATILITY. Haves and Sandman was the order of the howling for a. while, but made no impression, and just after 2.45 tho wicket, had already added 110 to the

score. Chapman’s versatility was demonstrated heaps of times. He hit to either boundary with frequency. and proved his reputation as a fast scorer. Wilkinson plodded steadily on, but did not score with such frequency. At three o’clock the scores were

CHAPMAN’S RAPID CENTURY. Thomas was tried as a change in the bowling, a couple of singles falling from his first over. His next on© was bit to the extent of 11. The score readied 200 about 3.10, the last 50 runs being put on in twenty-two minutes. Chapman’s score was mounting briskly +owards the century. Patrick took a hand in the bowling. His third ball was snicked through the slips by Chapman for four. His second over cost nine. Chapman reached the century after ninety-six minutes’ batting. This was his second centurv of the tour. He made exactly UK) in Sydney against New South Wales. TWO SIXES TO CHAPMAN. At Chapman’s century the total stood at 225. Wilkinson was 06. Jn tho next over Chapman startled the spectators in the double-decker stand by driving a ball from Patrick in then direction, and it duly landed for six. After this he put on more fours. The last. 50 in the total of 2.50 had taken twenty-five minutes. A sixer by Chap man went over the fence between tho double-flecker stand and the members’ pavilion, bringing his score at this stage to 130. TENTH BOM LING CHANGE. “ We’ll have to send out for more bowlers,’’ said a spectator, who was no doubt thinking of the various changes which had been made. At 3.40 Hayes | relieved Sandman. This was the tenth change. Read went on at the not them ; end instead of Rix. and the over was hit for 13. Chapman reached 150 at i 8.50 p.m., and Wilkinson had run up to 87. Blunt dropped Wilkinson in the j slips a minute afterwards, when the ' total for the innings was 300. The full batting time was 179 minutes, the last 50 taking sixteen minutes. The next i bowling change was that Blunt reliev-

ed Hayes, who had sent down seven I overs at a cost of 44 runs. Smith just failed to intercept a boundary from ' Chapman. At the tea adjournment the : score was RI7 for three wickets. Ohap- ; man not out 163, Wilkinson not out 94. CHAPMAN RUN OUT. Sandman bowled to Chapman after I the adjournment, and the batsman ! opened with a. four and a three, bring- ; ing him to 170. Wilkinson skied one fiom Read at 95, and the crowd waited expectantly while Thomas got underj neath. but be dropped the ball. Ohap_ man forged ahead and followed with | three boundaries. Chapman hit one ' round to leg off Sandman ; the batsmen ran a single, and Thomas retrieved his : previous mistake by a great throw in J ; from the southern end, dismissing i Chapman. 342—4—183. H« betted two hours and a quarter, and received ; an ovation on returning to the pavilion. ; The partnership realised 282 runs. WILKINSON’S CENTURY.

F. S. 8. Calthorpe joined Wilkinson Mid took the bonding from Read. M ilkinson faced Sandman at 97, and added a single. Calthorpe narrowly t .issed being howled by Read, but brought up 350 with a four off the next ball. M : ilkinson passed his 100, and was then eent back to the pavilion through lifting a ball from Sandman. W orker acoepted the catch at long on Wilkinson batted 158 minutes. 357 5 —102. G. L. Wilson was tbe next man to go in. Read and Sandman bowling. The latter bowled a maiden over. Thomas replaced Read, and another maiden over was recorded. Rix joined Thomas in the bowling. Tbe rate of scoring slowed down, and at 5 p.m. tbe scores n ere : M.C.C. First. Inning* W W Hill-Wood. 4312111411. b Band man ...... 19 T. C- Lowry, 14111112211121111211. c Brunton b Read 9f7 C. H. Titchmarsh. 2111. b Rea-d . 5 A. P. F. Chapman, run out . 183 \ <\ "Wilkinson, o Worker b Sandman 102 F. R. G. Calthorpe. not out . . .19 G. L. Wilson, not out 1 Ext Total for five wickets . . . 357 ACCIDENT TO L. R. BRUNTON. While practising to-day before the

match commenced. L. R. Brunton, Canterbury’s wicket-keeper, broke a small bone in hi a left hand. During the play up till 1.15 p.m. it gave him increasing pain, and during the adjournment he had to receive attention from Dr Lester. Later on his hand was strapped up and he decided to keep on playing.

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