TO-MORROW’S CRICKET.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18014, 26 November 1926, Page 3

TO-MORROW’S CRICKET.

RICCARTON OUGHT TO SCORE OVER EAST. The third round of the Canterbury Cricket Association’s Senior A competition will be continued to-morrow. Followin';: was the position of the games at. the end of the ilrst day of play:— Sydenham 145, Linwood 61 for four wickets. West. Christchurch 162, St Albans 89 for four wickets. Old Collegians 115, Old Boys 85 for seven wickets. Riccarton 206, East Christchurch 105 for seven wickets. Riccarton are in a strong postion against East, but. as far as the other games are concerned, neither side has anv marked advantage. *: The first match for the Hawke Cup this season will be played between Ta- , ranaki and Wanganui at Cook’s Gar- I dens, Wanganui, commencing on December 3. *■* *•» I The Sydenham Senior A team deserves success this season, for the members are keen. Several of them turn out for practice at Sydenham Park at :ix o’clock in the morning. i :s | D. C. Nixon. who has been invited by the selectors of the Canterbury eleven to attend the representative practices when he is in Christchurch, did well for the North Canterbury

team in its recent game with the City and Suburban eleven. In the first innings he scored 70 and in the second 39. Me also took five wickets for 30 r uns and two for 10. and he cleanbowled all victims: _ Another country player, who has been invited t<> attend tiie practice, is M. L. Page, of Malvern. Page has played for Canterbury on several occasions. He played last season and his best effort, with the bat was 71 against Otago. Against Wellington he made t and 21 and against Auckland 30 mid 18. From a cricketing point of view it is rather a pity that Page does not live, in Christchurch, for, with the better cricket that he would have been able to obtain, he would probably have gone much further than he has. Following is the positions of the teams in the Wellington senior championship: -Hutt 10, Petone S, Y.M.C.A. 7, Old Boys (5. University 4. Thorndon 3, Wellington 3, Kilbirnie 3, Midland 3 and Institute 1. Three rounds have been played. J. E. Mills, the young Auckland batsman, made 122 for Eden last Saturday. Mills is regarded in Auckland as one of the most prorqising young bats in the Dominion, and there was a good deal of criticism of his non-inclusion in the New Zealand team which went to Australia last season. Playing for Auckland last season Mills made 59 and 20 against Otago, 43 and 7 against Canterbury and 1 and 10 against Wellington. Judeing by the way he has shaping this year he should be in the running for the trip Home. ** 3 The selectors of the Canterbury team have picked 21 players to attend representative practice and three country players have been invited to attend if they are able. There is not much fault to find with the selection that has been made, though there are one or two promising colts who might have been given a try-out. It would have helped to improve their cricket 1 and it would have been some encouragement to them. From the pla\'ers picked to practice it should be possible to select a really good team. The first practice is to be held at Hagley Park next Monday commencing at 4.45 pm. It is to be hoped that the selectors will adoot the policy of refusing to pick for the team any player who fails to attend the practices without a reasonable excuse. Plaving for Carisbrook against Grange last Saturday, R. C. Blunt made 73 not out. This was out of a total of 114 for five wickets. It looks as if Blunt is going to be to Carisbrooke what he was to West Christchurch, the mainstay of the batting. Blunt was also ii> t;ood form with the ball, taking four wickets for 29 runs. A Southern paper suggests that E. TI. Bowley, the Auckland professional coach, and F. T. Badcock, the Wellington coach, should taken Home with the New Zealand team next year in order to strengthen it. One can imagine the howl that would arise from one end of the Dominion to the other if the New Zealand Cricket Council adopted such a policy. After all the idea is to send Home a team of New Zealand players, not a team of players who have been imported to help the game along here. Naturally everyone wap is to see New Zealand make a name for herself in the cricketing

world, but let. her do it on her own merits, not with the help of outsiders.

It has often been said that a Magistrate is somewhat of a recluse and that he cannot mix too freely in the social life of the community. However, Mr J. S. Barton, S.M., of Wanganui. finds that cricket does not clash with his official duties. He plays for the Old Boys* team in Wanganui, an i the other Saturday he knocked up an attractively scored 71.

It is difficult to know who really are the leading batsmen of the West Christchurch senior A team. In the first match of the season T. Condiiffe came to light with a quite unexpected 56 after most of the earlier bats had failed. Then last Saturday, agamsr tt Albans, J. L. Findlay and C. A.

Cocks, who are in the team mainly for their bowling, made 43 and 33 respectively. Findlay does not generally make many runs, but it will be recalled that he had a rather remarkable batting average in Plunket Shield matches last season. Out of five innings he was not out four times. He made J not out against Otago, 6 not out and 8 not out against Wellington, and 1 and 6 not out against Auckland. Thus in the five innings he scored only 30 runs, but, with four not outs his average was 30. Linw.ood, who came bottom in the senior A competition last season, are shaping better this season. In the first round they were beaten by Riccarton by six wickets, but in the second they beat West by ten wickets. Last Saturday Linwood dismissed Sydenham for 145 runs an,d then made 61 for four wickets. The)' have a fairly good chance of passing Sydenham’s first innings total and gaining a two-point win. In W. Oliver and C. Hore Sydenham have two very promising young bats who should develop into top-notchers if they are coached along the right lines. They made a fine stand for Sydenham in the match against Linwood last Saturday, Oliver scoring 32 and Hore 25. For such a young player Oliver gave a great exhibition of patient batting, and he absolutely refused to be tempted until he had played himself in. By the way he is shaping Oliver looks like developing into as good a bat as his elder brother, Charlie. There was one fault in the patnership between Oliver and Hore. arid that was their slowness in running between the wickets. They lost a good many singles in this way, but, with more experience, they will pro bablv improve in this direction. There arc now lour Hamiltons playing for the Old Collegians' senior /. team. Three of them are brothers and the fourth is a cousin of these three. $s *; The action of the Management Com mittee of the. New Zealand Cricked Council in failing to give Auckland a representative on the selection com mittee fgr the New Zealand team ha> t aused adverse comment up north, and such comment will not help in the collecting of the money necessary to finance the tour. At the annual meet mg of delegates to the Cricket. Council there was a remit from Auckland tc the effect that the number of selectors should be three, but that the province to be unrepresented on the selection committee should be decided by baiiot. and, in future years, each of the four main provinces to take its turn at being unrepresented. This remit \va« not carried, though it was eventually decided that the number of selector should be three. There is no doubt about the capabilities for the job of the three selectors who have been ap pointed, but it would perhaps have been more diplomatic if Auckland hac been given representation; or, as one northern critic suggests, it would have been better to have had five selectors, one from each of the four main provinces and one representing the country districts. Five selector* picked the team which visited Aus iralia last season, but two of them were from Canterbury, and ‘•his fact occasioned adverse comment in tne North Island. Of course the trouble about a selector representing the minor associations would be that his selection would probably occasion a clash b<* tweeii North and South Island u. terests. The ideal way seems to bt to have one selector, but the difficulty would be to get a man who knew thor oughly the merits of the various players in all parts of the Dominion TO-MORROW’S MATCHES. TEMPLETON CLUB. Juniors v. St Albans B, at Templeton. —S. Bush, H. Drayton, J. Drayton, D. Falconer, A. Muckie, R. Mackie, L*. Manion, I. Mortland. C. Price, G. W. Robb R. J. Voice. Emergency: H. Spicer. Third Grade v. Green’s B, at Sydenham Park (bus leaves at 1.3 P p.m.) —-J. Fahey, W. Hampton, H. kempthorne, P. Kent, C. Knight, D. Portland, R. Motz, N. Vasey, C. Voice (captain), L. Ward, F. Wright. Emergencies, Cox and White. ST JOHN’S CLUB. Against Clark’s A, at Woolston Park. —C. James, R. Woods, W. Reeves. A. Dryden, R. Potter, A. Flitcroft, S. Reeves, R. Farrant, H. Nuttridge, J. Edwards, A. Potter. Emergencies: R. Calder, W. Marshall. GREEN’S CLUB. Seniors v. Council, at Sydenham Park No. 4.—P. Peacock, B. Morris, W. Lawson, G. Robertson, J. Lamb, F. W. Pitfc, A. Pitt, E. Keenan, H. Moore, J. Batstone, L. Columbus, T. Tilloyshort. Juniors v. Shirley, at Richmond Domain.—G. Duggan, H. French, R. French, W. Cowlin, li Russell, L. Hughes, 11. Davis, C. Prebblc, W. Lagan, G. Pitt, R. put. Third A v. Clarke’s, at Sydenham Park No. 5.—E. P. Chappell, W. Cox. R. Griffiths, W. Lawson, R. Main. G. Wilson, S. Tolchard, H. Langford, J. Lloyd, E. King, F. Pitt. Emergences: P. O'Callaghan, F. Langford and F. Rhodes. Third B v. Templeton, at Sydenham. Park No. 2.—H. Hussey, W. Bock, W. Cress well, F. M'Namara, E. Hassell, J. Munro, L. Sundborn, R. M’Ewan, T. Carter, B. King, W. Robertson, 11. Orniandy, K. Sim. CITY COUNCIL. CUUI). Against Shirley, at Shirley.—J. Clarkson, W. Smythe, G. A. Morris, J. Lee, JI. Fletcher,. W. Rowlands. A. llLslop, F. Horwell, F. Quinn, R. Freeman, L. Sanders. Emergency: J. Prooan. FIRMS' MATCH. A match between the Argyle House (Beath and Co.) Cricket Club and the New Zealand Refrigerating Company will be played at Kt Albans Park at 2.15 p.m. to-morrow. The -following will represent Death’s: H. Shirley, L. GeiYs*. H. Basteon, A. Jackson, F. Grainger, R. M’Rorie, A. Buckley, V/. Gini, R. Dun shea., 11. Luxton and A. Holmes; emergencies—G. Manifold and L. Harris.