N.Z. Cricket Tour Proving Big Success.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18188, 22 June 1927, Page 13

N.Z. Cricket Tour Proving Big Success.

THOUGH ONLY THREE MATCHES HAVE BEEN WON OUT OF 13, CRITICS ARE ENTHUSIASTIC.

S (Written for the “Star."’) 25 1 r | 'IIE New Zealand cricketers A have now played thirteen « matches in England, so, as the r* programme provides lor thirty--4s nine matches (excluding two 55 j practice games at the beginE , ning), they have completed a r. third of their tour. So far the m tour has been successful. Cer- | tainlv the New Zealanders have “ won only three of the thirteen i® ■ matches they have played, but 85 in two others, which were abanSi doned on the third day on ac--1 count of rain, they gained a ni moral victory, for there is tittle ■i. doubt that they would have won u had tlie weather not interfered. Further, it was only lack of time that prevented the tourists j from gaining a decisive victory 2 over Martineau’s XI., their first match in England. 0 They also made a good showing in ~ their second game, against a strong b team of amateurs under the auspices E of the M.C.C. This game was drawn, E with honours about even. The tourists I were beaten by Essex by five wickets, E but, in their second innings of the | match, they were unlucky in having to | play on a drying wicket rendered tricky I by a hot sun. ■ The New Zealanders gave their first __ disappointing display of the tour against Cambridge University. They ■" had a first innings lead of 60 in this game, but Cambridge eventually won by five wickets. A bad slump in their second innings was mainly responsible for the defeat of the tourists. Against Middlesex the New Zealand team made a fine showing and won golden opinions for the great fight they put up when

the odds were against them. Middlesex won by three wickets, but the New Zealanders made them earn every run. Had play been possible on the third da 3% the New Zealanders would almost certainly have beaten thfc Royal Navy eleven, as they required, only G2 runs to win with eight wickets to fall. The First Victory. The first victory of the tour came in the Sussex match, which the New Zealanders won by eight wickets. It is true that Sussex left two or three of their best players out of the team, including Maurice Tate, but still the win of the visitors was a highly creditable one. Drawn matches were played with the Club Conference team and Oxford University, and then came the second win of the tour, this time against Worcestershire, who were beaten by 194 runs. Owing to a poor display in their second innings New Zealand succumbed to Northamptonshire, who won by S2 runs. The New Zealanders required 24/ runs in the second innings in order to win. The task did not seem beyond them, but they were all dismissed for 164. The Leicestershire match was abandoned on the third day owing to rain, with visitors in a winning position. Against Durham the visitors scored a substantial victory by ten wickets. The above is a brief sumraarj' of the tour to date. While the New Zealanders have at times failed, they have generally acquitted themselves well.

While their proportion of -wins to date is not high, it must be remembered that the main purpose of the tour is educational, not match winning. For New Zealand cricketers such a tour as the present one is unique, and every member of the team should return a much more experienced (and, it is hoped, much better) cricketer than he was when he left the Dominion. “ Sporting and Fearless.” It is pleasing to read that the Eng lish critics are unanimous in their praise of the New Zealanders, not only for the sporting way in which they play, but also because of the fearless manner in which the3 r attack the bowling. Vigorous batting seems to be something of a rarity in first-class cricket in England these days, and the opinion has been expressed that the visit of the New Zealanders will act as a tonic to the game in the Old Country. Another pleasing feature is that rearly all the members of the team have justified their inclusion. Jt would be more satisfactory to be able to state that all had fully justified their selection. This however, is not the case, but the one or two who have not yet reproduced their New Zealand form in England have time in which to do so. One thing that must be pleasing to the selectors is that all the men whose inclusion was most adversely criticised in New Zealand have fu’ly justified the corfidence placed in them. Figures of the Tour. To summarise the tour so far as it has gone, of the thirteen matches played the New Zealanders have won three, lost four, four have been drawn, and two were abandoned on the third day on account of rain. In the thirteen matches that they have played the New Zealanders have scored 6550 runs for the loss of 202 wickets, an average of 32.42 runs a wicket. A total of 6322 rurs for 224 wickets has I been scored against them, an average of 25.22. This gives a net average in favour of the New Zealanders of 4.20 runs a wicket. The wickets lost by the New Zealanders and their opponents have fallen as follows: E. C. Lbw. St. R.O. New Zealand . 61 102 26 S 5 Opponents ... 71 105 20 IS 9 One opposirg batsman was dismissed through hitting his wicket. How Batsmen. Were Dismissed. The following table shows the number of times each New Zealand batsman has been bowled, caught cut or I otherwise dismissed:

The children prattled at her knee The father sat and smoked his pipe Old » Iranny knitting cheerfully Although her age is ninety quite. •Jrandfather too is hale and well Hi.s eye undimmed, his step so sure There is no secret; let me tell We all take Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure! , 17

How Wickets Were Taxen. following; table shows how the Aew Zealand bowlers have obtained tliexr wickets:—

Merritt secured one wicket through the batsman hitting the stumps. Centuries For and Against. In the matter of individual centuries the honours are at present even. Eleven centuries have been scored for tne New Zealanders and eleven against them. The list is as follows: FOR. Total. Batsman. Against. Blunt Martineau’s XI. 188 Mills Martineau’s XI. 101 Dacre Martineau’s XI. 107 Dacre M.C.C. 306 Lowry M.C.C. 134 Page Cambridge. 106 Lowry’- Sussex. 109* Dempster Club Conference. 106 Lowry Worcester. 140"“ Page Wprccster. 178 Dempster Durham. *Not out. AGAINST. Total. Batsman. For. 101 Wilkinson Martineau’s XI. 171 Titchmarsh M.C.C. 110 Lyon M.C.C. 104* Allen M.C.C. 106 Seabroolc Cambridge. 107 Dawson Cambridge. 125 Tuck * Royal Navy. 100 Hunt Club Conference. 133 Newman Club Conference. 165 Holmes Oxford. 106* Coolc Durham. * Not out.

Outstanding Bowling Performances. 1 The following outstanding bowling t performances have been made by mem- ' bers of the New Zealand team:— j Merritt, four for 33 and two for 26, v. Martineau’s NT. M’Girr, six for 77 v. Essex (first innings). i _ Blunt four for 29, v. Essex (second innings). . Blunt, four for 24, v. Royal Navy • (first innings). Merritt, six for 92 and three for 36, v. Sussex. Blunt, four for 3G v. Sussex (second innings). Page, four for 10, v. Oxford University (second innings). Alcott three for 33 v. Worcestershire (first innings). Blunt, seven for 109 v. Northamptonshire (first innings). Henderson, five for 76 and Blunt four for 53 v. Leicestershire (first innings). Henderson, five for 66 and two for 5 v. Durham. Cunningham, four for 25 and Blunt three for 24 v. Durham (second innings). Fielding. Of the 105 catches taken by the New Zealanders, James with 21 has most to his credit and next to him are Dempster and Page with 14 each. Dacrc has taken 13, Lowry 8, Blunt and Mills 6 each, Cunningham five, Alcott and Oliver 4 each, Bernau and Merritt 3 each, M’Girr two and Henderson 1. Mr D. Hay the manager of the team, who played in the match against the Royal Navy, took one catch in that game. It is interesting to note that, until the match against Leicestershire, Blunt had not taken one catch. In that game he took four and against Durham two. Of the eighteen opposing batsmen who have been stumped James has accounted for sixteen and Lowry and Dacre for one each. James has kept wickets in ten of the games, Dacre in two and Lowry in one..

RESULTS OF MATCHES. The following are the results of the matches to date: — v. Martineau’s XI (May 9 and 10 at Holy-port)—New Zealand 556 for nine wickets (declared) ; Martineau’s XI 25G and 163 for six wickets. Match drawn. V. M.C.C. (May 11, 12 and 13, at Lord’s)—New Zealand, 460 and 224 for four wickets; M.C.C., 392 and 426 for four wickets (declared). Match drawn. V. Essex (May 14, 10 and 17, at Leyton) —Essex, 373 and 125 for five wickets; New Zealand, 289 and 298. Essex won by five wickets. V. Cambridge University (May IS, 19 and 20. at Cambridge)—Cambridge, 255 and 267 for five wickets; New Zealand 315 and 205. Cambridge won by five wi kets.

Y. Middlesex (May 21, 23 and 24 at Lord's)—Middlesex, 290 and 2SO for seven wickets; New Zealand, 234 and 335. Middlesex won by three wickets. A'. Roy-al Navy (May 25, 26 and 27, at Portsmouth)—New Zealand, 194 and 164 for two wickets; Roy-al Navv 114 and 275. Match abandoned on, third day owing to rain. V. Sussex (May 28, 30 and 31, at Hove)—New Zealand. 466 and 43 for two wickets; Sussex, 316 and 191. New Zealand won by eight wickets. V. Club Conference (June 2 and 3, at Ealing)—Conference, 201 and 252 for seven wickets (declared); New Zealand 213 and 183 for five wickets. Match drawn. V. Oxford University* (Tune 4, 6 and 7. at Oxford)—Oxford, 337 and 229; New Zealand, 263 and 214 for six wickets Match drawn. v. Worcestershire (June 8. 9 and 10. at Worcester)--New Zealand 276 and 349 for five wickets (declared) ; Worcestershire 222 and 209. New Zealand won by 194 runs. v. Northamptonshire (June 11. 13 and 14, at Kettering)—Northamptonshire 237 and 280. New Zealand 251 and 164. Northamptonshire won bv 82 runs. a*. Leicestershire (Tune'ls, 16 and 17 at Leicester)—New Zealand 371 and 165 for nine wickets; Leicestershire 242. Match abandoned on third day on account of rain. v. Durham, June 18 and 20, at Sunderland)—New Zealand 373 and five for no wickets; Durham 254 and 123. New Zealand won by ten wickets.

Dacre B. C. 10 Llnv. 2 St. R.O. Mills .. 10 9 Dempster . . 3 12 . . 8 8 A Icott . . 2 9 Blunt 12 Paso 12 3 unnmgbam 9. 2 1 Merritt (Jliver .. 4 fames .. 8 G M’Girr n G Bernau . . 1 5 Henderson . .. 2 2 1 1 —

B. c. Lbw. St. C & B. Blunt , 17 . I oo 0 Cunningham 4 38 3 1 1 8 12 — M’Girr Bernau Henderson . 8 21? 2 1 i ! 1 1 1 Page . 2 1 — 1 Oliver