BRIGHT PLAY, IN SPITE OF BAD WEATHER OUTLOOK

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18016, 29 November 1926, Page 11

BRIGHT PLAY, IN SPITE OF BAD WEATHER OUTLOOK

CRAWFORD HELPS ST ALBANS TO MAKE HIGH SCORE AGAINST WEST. At Hagley Park. Riccarton beat. East Christchurch by 48 runs on the first in-, nings. On the first clay, Riccarton made 206 and East 105 for seven wickets. The beginning of Saturday's play was marked by a desperate effort on the part of the remaining East batsmen to wipe out the big deficiency. However, the task was too much for them and the innings closed for 158. E. Brosnahan scored 34 by dogged batting. For Riccarton. C. T. Rix took four wickets for 39 runs. At stumps, Riccarton in their second innings had made 203 for six wickets (A. Roberts 64). H. T. Stringer took four of Riccarton’s wickets for 48 runs. At the end of the first day of play, the game between Old Collegians and Old Boys was fairly even. Old Collegians having scored 115 and Old Boys 85 for seven wickets. Thanks to a good stand by F. R. Powell and R. C. Burns, Old Boys on Saturday managed to pass the score of their opponents, and, with nine wickets down for 120 runs, the innings was declared closed. G. M. Heasley took five wickets for 37 runs. The second innings of the Old Collegians opened badly, I. M. Hamilton with 35 being the only one of the earlier batsmen to make a decent score. Seven wickets were down for 77 funs when R. H. T. Hamilton and W. J. V. Hamilton became associated. Their partnership was the bright spot of the innings, and they carried the total to 162 (an addition of 85 runs) before they were separated. R. H. T. Hamilton made 50 and W. J. V. Hamilton 43 not out. The innings closed for 171. In their second attempt Old Bovs made 33 for no wickets. Against West Christchurch, St Albans carried their first day’s total of S 9 for four wickets to 368. The principal scorers were C. G. Crawford, who made 134, and C. Falloon, who made 68. They carried the score to 243 for five wickets before they were separated. Crawford played an excellent innings and for the first time this season displayed his true form with the bat. Falloon also batted well. St Albans went after a three-pointer, but at the call of time they had disposed of only six of the West batsmen for 70 runs. For St Albans, D. Sandman took four wickets for 36 runs. St Albans won by 206 runs on the first innings. Playing at Lancaster Park, Linwood beat Sydenham by 25 runs on the first innings. In their first innings Sydenham made 145, and at stumps on the first day of play Linwood had lost four wickets for 61 runs. # On Saturday R. Read, with 40, and E. Perrin (35) assisted materially in putting Linwood in front on the first innings, which closed for 170. In their second strike Sydenham made 172 for nine wickets (C. Oliver 55). POSITION OF THE TEAMS. The following table shows the eosition of the teams at the end of the

HONOURS BOARD. BATTING. C. G. Crawford (St Albans) 134 C. Falloon (St Albans) 68 A. Roberts (Riccarton) 64 O. Oliver (Svdenham) 55 R. H. T. Hamilton (Old Collegians) ' * 50 A. Cox (Riccarton) 44 W. J. V. Hamilton (Old Collegians) 50 R. Read (Linwood) 40 D. Sandman (St Albans) 37* C. E. Evans (Riccarton) 37* W. R. Patrick (Sydenham) 35* E. Perrin (Linwood) 35 I. M. Hamilton (Old Collegians) 35 E. Brosnahan (East Christchurch) 34 F. R. Powell (Old Boys) 33 * Not out. k BOWLING. G. M. Heasley (Old Collegians), five wickets for 37 runs. D. Sandman (St Albans), four wickets for 36 runs. C. T. Rix (Riccarton), four wickets for 39 runs. 11. T. Stringer (East Christchurch), four wickets for 48 runs. J. L. Powell (Riccarton), two wickets for 23 runs. F. R. Powell (Old Boys), three wickets for 38 runs. R. O. Talbot (Linwood), four wickets for 53 runs. J. T. Burrows (Old Boys), three wickets for 44 runs. W. Cunningham (Sydenham), four wickets for 67 runs. J R. Hawkes (West Christchurch), four wickets for 73 runs. R. Read (Linwood), two wickets for 37 runs. SYDENHAM GO DOWN TO LINWOOD. Linwood beat Sydenham by 25 runs on the first innings. On the first day of the match Sydenham were dismissed for the comparatively small total of 145. Linwood did not do a great deal better, losing four wickets for 61 runs. Therefore, when play started cm Saturday the position of the game was fairly even, and Sydenham’s chances were improved when Linwood's fifth wicket fell for 68 runs. After the fall of the fifth wicket E. Perrin and R. Read became associated in a partnership which went a long way towards winning the match for their side. They carried the total to 126 before they were separated. Dropped catches, however, assisted them. With only six to his credit and the total 89, Perrin was dropped by Here off Patrick. It was a high catch, but not a very difficult one. Perrin showed his appreciation of the let off by scoring ten off Patrick in the cjTpe over. When the score was just over 100 Perrin gave another chance, an easy return to W. Cunningbam, but, much to the surprise of e\*eryone, the Sydenham bowler dropped the ball. Perrin had made 17 when he gave this gecond chance. Both these let offs were

expensive, and they probably cost Sydenham the match. sjs i’fi When the total was 120 a change of bowlers was tried, Cunningham being transferred to the southern end. He was then bowling with the wind behind him. It was a change that Sydenham might with advantage have made earlier, for it came off, Cunningham clean bowling Read in his first over from the south end. With four wickets in hand, Linwood wanted 20 runs to pass Sydenham's first innings total. Sydenham supporters had hopes that Cunningham would be able to account for the remaining batsmen, but such did not prove the case. C. Orchard and Perrin managed to carry the score to 140 for seven wickets and then F. Kerr and Perrin put the issue beyond doubt. Top score for Linwood was made by Read, who contributed 40 to the total. It was a most valuable knock for his side and Read made his runs in good style. In one over he scored 18 off Patrick, a six and three fours. Perrin made 35. His innings was marred by the two chances mentioned above, but otherwise his batting was quite sound. Of the Linwood batsmen who had a strike on Saturday, the only other one tex reach double figures was F. Kerr, who made 10. He is a lusty hitter and shows considerable promise. The Linwood wickets were shared by Cunningham, who took four, and T. Sincock and Patrick, with two each. Two of the Ivin wood batsmen were run out. Cunningham, as usual, bawled well, and on Saturday be skittled the stumps of three opponents, Logie, Read and Orchard. He bowled 19 overs and had 67 runs knocked off him. Sincock also bowled well and kept a good length. The batsmen did not find him easy to score off and several times he beat them, just missing the wickets. In 13.6 overs, 47 runs were scored off Sincock. Patrick was knocked about a good deal on Saturday. He had 38 runs scored off him. He bowled nine overs, including three maidens. x The second innings of Sydenham opened badly, J. Robertson being caught in the slips by T. Kennedy off Talbot when the to'.al was only five. It was a hard catch, but Kennedy took it brilliantly. Robertson made 2. So far, this is the only time he has failed to make a good score for Sydenham. Sydenham started their second innings at 3.55 p.m., so that, by dismissing them cheaply, Linwood had a chance of a three-pointer. Certainly it was only a moderate chance, but it was spoilt, like Sydenham’s chances of winning the game, by dropped catches. C. Oliver, who eventually scored 55, gave two or three chances, which were not accepted. One was a hard one early in his innings in the slips. Though he was inclined to pkiy uppish strokes. Oliver batted well, and he brought off some nice shots. He was dismissed hi a rather curious manner. He gave a chance off Talbot to Kerr at point. Kerr dropped the ball, but Orchard, who was handy, returned it smartly to the wickets and caught Oliver out of his crease. Oliver had only himself to blame for being run out. » Patrick carried his bat for 35. He gave a good display of sound batting, his driving being a strong feature of his play. C. Aylirtg contributed 23 and R. Walburton, one of the young members of the team, compiled 17 attractively. Some of his shots were excellently timed. Although he made only S, W. Oliver again batted well and- played very steadily and patiently. He was at the wickets for thirty-six minutes. « x Read and Talbot both bowled well for Linwood. Talbot was unlucky, several chances being missed off his deliveries. lie did not bowl quite so fast as usual on Saturday, with the result that he was not nearly so erratic. lie was not sacrificing length and direction for speed. Talbot bowled fifteen overs, including a couple of maidens, and took four wickets for 53 runs. He should stand a good chance of getting into the Canterbury eleven. He is practically the only player Canter bury has who is good with both bat and ball. Read bowled sixteen overs on end and was then taken off. He was not put on to bowl again, though he might, with advantage, have been employed towards the end of the innings. Five of Read’s overs were maidens and he took two wickets for 37 runs. C. Orchard took one wicket for 19 runs and Perrin one for 27. x ?: x On the first day of the match, the fielding on both sides was good, but on Saturday many faults in fielding were committed by both sides. Not only were catches dropped, but the ground fielding and returning to the wickets were also faulty. Perhaps the cold weather affected the fieldsmen. ST ALBANS SACRIFICE POINTS FOR RUNS. There were two outstanding features of the West Christchurch St Albans match played at Hagfey No. 1 ground. First there was C. G. Crawford’s fine effort, for his first century this season, the Canterbury colt compiling 134. Secondly, there was the inexplicable action of Sandman, the St Albans skipper, in not declaring the innings closed when Crawford left, and endeavouring to obtain a three-point win. As it was, St Albans completed their innings, making the large and unnecessary totai of 366. leaving West Christchurch ample chance to play out time. Had St Albans declared with, say, 100 on, they would have had a good chance to dismiss West and secure a much-needed three-point win. Again, from the point of view of sportsmanship. St Albans, when assured of at least a two-point win. might well have terminated their innings ahd given the West fieldsmen relief from such a long spell in the field under weather conditions which were anything but pleasant. xxx When play started on Saturday the issue looked fairly open, as with four wickets down for 89 St Albans required a further 73 runs in order to obtain a first innings lead. However, a great fourth-wicket. partnership between Crawford and Falloon for 142 changed the complexion of the game and shattered whatever hopes West had of winning With the sting token ou i of the bowimg the St Albans fail able to wag to good effect, and the huge total of 368 was reached before the last wicket fell. With a little over an hour to go West Christo.lurch commenced their second innings, and at time had scored 62 for the loss of six wickets.

C. G. Crawford struck his best form j on Saturday when, with 31 to his j credit over-week, he added a further 103. It was a fine knock and came just when runs were needed. Crawfor was very patient and waited for the loose bail to score off. Altogether he was at the crease for 205 minutes. His display was full of confidence and . his leg shots pleased the onlookers. | When he had reached his century he j went for a hit and executed some < pretty shots, chiefly a sweet off-drive ■ and a fine hook to leg. His 134 included one 6 and sixteen 4’s. Second top score went to Falloon, i who proved an able partner to Craw- ( ford. All his runs were made on Sat- J urdav, when he assisted Crawford in \ adding 142 for the fourth wicket. After a rather patchy beginning he settled down to a good solid display of j clean hitting and, for his first appear- j ance in senior cricket, he perfomed re- j markably well. 11 is timing, especially, j was excellent, and he should go a long j way in cricket. J. Johns showed promise with a i bright 28, while Sandman was steady for his 37 not out. Both these batsmen, however, were in when all the sting had gone from the bowling. J. R. Hawkes. the young fast bowler, finished with the best average, 18-3, 73-4. On Saturday he was unable to obtain any pace from the dead wicket, but he pegged away and was always a trier. Findlay, one for 119, was palpably overworked, and was unlucky in not securing more wickets, several catches off him being dropped. Cocks’s sixteen overs cost 95 runs, but his three wickets were well deserved. T. Condliffe was the only bowler to keep the batsmen quiet, his seven overs producing only 11 runs. The bowling attack was badly handled, Cocks and Findlay being overbowled, whereas Hawkes and Condliffe, the only bowlers who were really dangerous, did not receive j enough of the ball. sx . i 7he West batting in the second innings calls for little comment. Ramsden gave promise in a bright little knock for 24. His strokes are inclined to be uppish, and it was in making one of these hits that he was caught. Hayes held his end up well for 11 not out. | , Sandman secured the majority of the wickets, his spin and break causing the batsmen trouble. Nome kept a good length and his five overs cost only four runs. Thomas put in a good one occasional!}*, but the wicket was not in his favour. • RICCARTON GAIN AN EASY TWO-POINTER. At the end of the first day Riccarton held a strong position, having made 206 and got rid of seven of their opponents for 105. The not out men, Brosnahan and O’Reilly, carried the total to 128 before the last-named was caught for a useful 22. Flood failed to score, but Phelps held his end up while Brosnahan put on the runs. When the total reached 158 Brosnahan hit a ball to square leg and Robertson held it. Brosnahan batted well, giving a glimpse of the fine form he showed three or four seasons ago. XXX Rix obtained the best bowling average for Riccarton—four for 39. He bowled one man, caught and bowled two and the other was stumped. Powell and Gibbs each took two wickets, the last-named bowling better than his average suggest.^ On the batsmen's wicket the Riccarton men had things much their own way in their second inrfings, the score at the call of time being six for 204. X X*: 88 Cox batted freely and j*ave his best exhibition of the season m making 44. With the approaching representative fixtures it is pleasing to note that Cox is striking form. Haines is another batsman who is showing very fine form this season. He made 27 on Saturday and was well set when he was smartly stumped. Roberts top-scored for Riccarton with 64. It was easily his best exhibition since bis promotion to senior A grade. He hit out freely and made some excellent strokes on both sides of the wicket. He hit one six and eight fours. Gumey made a dozen before Stringer beat him with a good length ball. Evans got going towards the finish and at the drawing of stumps had 37 up. He hit one six, but other good strokes sent the ball into the corners of the field, threes resulting. “Scrum” gave a chance or two. Stringer was easily East’s best bowler on a wicket which gave him little assistance. His ability to maintain a good length was of valuable assistance to him. East’s fielding was not nearly so good as on the first day, and several chances were dropped. Phelps was again in capital form behind the stumps, catching one man and stumping another. On the first day lie stumped three men and was associated in running out another. THE HAMILTON FAMILY RISE TO THE OCCASION. The second afternoon's play of the match, Old Collegians v. Old Boys, at Elmwood Park last Saturday, started oft' in an atmosphere of tense excitement. Old Boys had three wickets to fall and required 31 runs to pass the Old Collegian first innings total of 115. F. Powell and Burns were at the wickets, facing the .attack, of*Heasley and Ball. Runs came one by, one, only ten more being needed when P6we.ll was well held by Lester at midoff, off R. H. Hamilton’s bowling. Graham arrived, and, after taking some time to settle down, got the winning run with an uppish shot just out of point’s reach. Burns was then magnificently taken by Lawrence in the outfield, and the innings was declared, nine wickets being down for 120. k :*: The Old Collegians’ second knock opened in an exceptionally disastrous manner. Bruges, the highest scorer of the first innings, made 2 and then had his stumps skittled by Powell in the first over. Chrystall was caught in the slips off his third ball; Lester, the most brilliant bat of the side, put his I leg in front of a straight one before he had scored, and Laurence, who is usually good for runs, was also dismissed for a duck. Then W. J. V. Hamilton joined his brother I. M., who was one of the opening batsmen, and the pair stopped the rot. Runs came slowly, but 76 was on the board before I. M. went, i caught, close in off bis first weak shot. | 35 was invaluable. H. W. F. Hamilton looked like a score, but was clean bowled when S. Then R. H- T Hamilton signalled the occasion fey driving Cro*nb dean out of the frttwid. last he wu* run out the s cor* board thawed 160, of which he had made a bold 50. His innings was marred by one or two hard j chances, but his driving was excellent.

j W. J. V. Hamilton made a patient, I chanceless 43 not out. He' is a finished batsman, but seems to lack that power in his strokes which is necessary for the big scores. He should make an ideal opening batsman, as he had has not failed this year to stay in, and to register a fair number of runs while • at the crease. *C j.; , When they saw that there was no I possibility of a three-pointer, the Old Boys’ keenness wore off and nearly j eyerj* member of the team took a turn with the ball. Powell and Burrows got j right 'in among the opening batsmen, • each taking three wickets, but the j Hamilton family spoilt their averages | during the later stages of the innings.

third round:— »-pt. 2-pt. wins. L. Ch. . 1 1 1 Llnwood 1 1 Sydenham lOast Christchurch 1 4 Boys 1 West Christchurch o 3 Old Collegrians . . .