AUCKLAND HAS GOOD BATSMEN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18349, 29 December 1927, Page 8

AUCKLAND HAS GOOD BATSMEN.

PLUNKET SHIELD SIDE MAY PROVE WEAK IN BOWLING

AUCKLAND, December 29. The Auckland rep. team which has been selected to play against Otago in the Plunket Shield series is strong in batting but weak in bowling. The selection of nine of the players who have caught the collective eye of the selectors was practically a foregone conclusion, and the new men to win a place in Auckland rep. cricket, A. F. Weir and Williams, have thoroughly justified their selection. Bright of the team are first-class batsmen. Player is a useful bat with a penchant for forcing the game, while both Rowntree and Williams are capable of getting a handy score. It is the bowling that will occasion the most concern. Anthony, Garrard. Bowlev, Cooper, Weir and Mills' are all slow to slow-meduim right-handers, with a leg-break for preference. Player and Williams are medium-paced righthanders. The former is the best stock bowler on the side and can keep a good length over a long period, with ability to swing the ball away from the right-handers. Williams has had a big run of success in club cricket with a ball that is just medium in pace and occasionally sufficient spin to beat the bat. The only left-hander on the side is Dacre, who, despite one startling bowling success when on tour with the New Zealand team in England, can scarcely be regarded as other than a change bowler.

In one respect the team should be excellently served. Rowiitree’s wicketkeeping is still up to the high plane of last season, when he was acclaimed as the best wicket-keeper in the land. In fielding the team should give satisfaction, as there is a fair blend of comparative youth. Not up to Form. Earlier in the present season it was expected that Auckland’s leading bowlers for the rep. season would be Matheson and Alcott. The former has not this season shown the fine form that he disclosed last season, when his sharp, late swerve, in conjunction with marked nip from the pitch, caused some good judges to regard him as the best bowler in New Zealand. His batting form, as evidenced by a recent century in a club game, is good, and it has probably been the means of his selection as twelfth man.

Alcott has not as yet made an appearance in club cricket this season. Last season his bowling shotted a loss of its distinctive qualities of previous seasons, and although extremely accurate in piteh, was mechanical. Through stepping into a hole while playing in rep cricket at the close of last season, Alcott injured one of his feet, a disability w'hich probably accounted for his failure as a bow’ler when he toured England with the New Zealand team. It appears that the injury is still troubling him. The only mild surprise in connection with the 1 rep. team is the non-inclusion of G. L. Weir, the Eden all-rounder, who has during the present season certainly been one of the best local bowlers. A Great Need. The great need of Auckland cricket at the moment is a bowler with real pace, who would provide a contrast for the rest of the bowling battery. Unfortunately there is no player of the type in sight, nor are any of the few fast-medium trundlers up to rep. standard. A good slow left-handed bowler with imaginative qualities and ability to flight the ball would also improve the rep team. In S. G. Smith, Auckland has the best bowler of his kind in the land, despite advancing years, and but for advancing years his selection would be a certainty. From the Auckland viewpoint it is consoling to know that Otago is moaning the fact that the southern bowling for the match with Auckland will be weakened by the absence of Dickinson and Blunt, and it seems that the two provinces have a joint disability. REP ATERAOKS. The batting 1 and bowling* 'averages of the players chosen’ for the representative team are as under:—

The twelfth man. A. M. Matbieson. has scored 174 in six innings, with an average of 2!>, and has taken thirteen wickets with an average of 23.51. Of the other reserves. 1,. Weir has a batting average of 104, the result of three not out innings, and has twenty-five wickets for an average of 10.72. Hendy has scored 326 runs with an average of 46.57.

BATTING. Innings. Huns. A. F. Weir 3 192 Av ,r« a <r L. W. Cooper .... E. H. Bowley H. D. Gillespie S-S-Sfir :::::: S !Si 3 3 27 2 6» 5 166 S 161 61.50 59.00 IMS 3 4.50 A. H. Anthony , . A. S. Player ;<|5:=o 2 l:ll 6.50 c £Xr: A. Williams 6 39 6 39 J. K. M ills .... 6 54 A. Williams 35 360 1 oi25 A. S. Player 1>. R. Garrard . . I. W. Cooper .... A. F. Weir 29 329 IK 24 4 22 29 5 ii:SS 13.40 l 6 s fSS isoo ; ns iMS