SCHOOL AND PLAYGROUND

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 257, 29 October 1931, Page 14

SCHOOL AND PLAYGROUND

(By

“Demoni.”)

Last Saturday, owing to the bad weather, no matches were played in the Boys’ Association competition and the eighth round has been postponed until next Saturday. ■First Grade. This week’s matches in the first grade should provide two interesting contests, School meeting St Bede s, whilst Technical have been drawn against College. All these teams possess a number of promising batsmen and, by now, they should be commencing to show some of the form which went to make the first half of the competition so interesting. In the only round which has been played since the resumption of the competition, School scored a fairly decisive first innings win from Collegebut there was not much between the two teams if the SO runs notched by G. I-'. Christmas are deleted. This lad, in the first half of the present season, was the captain and mainstay of the School second grade team for which he notched several good scores and also proved successful with the ball. This term he has been promoted to the first grade and, although his absence will, doubtless, considei'ably weaken the lower grade team, he should prove a decided acquisition to his new eleven. St Bede’s can be relied upon to make a good showing. A good deal seems to depend upon whether T. C. Thompson and A. T. Hendren get going properly or not. Both are aggressive batsmen and, although he failed in the game with West, Thompson had a great record in the first half of the season, notching over 300 runs and taking nearly twenty wickets. Hendren, who is the skipper of the St Bede’s eleven, bowled well, sending up a mediumpaced swinger which at times proved most effective. If these two boys should both fail to show form the game will most likely go to School, who are a, mo • i even eleven and do not possess as long a tail as their opponents. Technical, who are at present the leading team in this section, were not seen in action in the opening round as they drew the bye. They, however, are reputed to be at practically the same strength as they were before the adjournment. Although their batting is not as strong as it might be, they have a great range of bowlers in R S. Harvey, C. G. Roberts. E. H. Johnston, J. R. Anderson and E. J. Swain, and should be hard to defeat on Saturday. College, however, have often proved “ surprise packets ” in the past and are always liable to do so again. Without any really brilliant, batsmen save, perhaps, R. E. Alexander and A. R. W. Ormond, the team is a good even one, practically every boy haying come to light on some occasion. Their main weakness is in bowling, where their only really consistent performers have been T. A. Fisher and Ormond. Second Grade. The competition in the second grade is unfortunately not proving as well contested as has been the case in the past, two teams, Grammar and St Andrew’s, standing out as superior to the others. Grammar are at present leading in the competition with 35 points, secured by way of seven fivepoint wins. St Andrew’s have scored 30 points, their only loss being in their nr ;L t , . series match against Grammar. This week, Grammar play Normal at Hospital Corner and, on their past performances, the Cathedral team should secure the victory. They are a. strong batting side and possess practically no tail. A. E. Boulton, the representative wicket-keeper for the Coast trip last season, is their star performer and, although he notched °TY y , „ run ? when his team met Technical a week ago, he has already a coup e of centuries to his credit. R. b Fiizzell, despite his lack of inches, is another sound bat who boasts a r£Ti* and several other good scores. Only three of the Grammar boys have r‘ h ball— l Opie, Frizzell and Gi ay, but this has been more due to the tact that they have been consistnessT in “tile S Rttaek. atller t 0 any short -

t« 2 hL ri 2 al, ? ln ? ou eh by no means a team have a much more prothrU.V£ied th , an their opponents. AlTnough their eleven includes several i* * b ? ys ’ T their only really wUiwvi _ bat J - F - Booker, who 5 of the two Grammar t„ ay rS;V 8 . the °* nly secon <3-grade player to notch a century this season. If Booker should be in form on Saturday. might find serious difficulty, nit it he goes cheaply, there should be 1U Sf fn? as t 0 th ® result of the game, anrt frnm Sfc? are drawn a&ainst School haif f nf i their performances in the first i? f *. th - ® e ason these two teams Uld r b + e , falrly evenly matched. The „n® u th ? lr skl PP e r, G. F. Christmas, who has been promoted to the first w r i?2%?i? W i. Ver ’» may se riously interfere with School s chances. St Andrew’s, on other hand, appear to be at full « i?’ , an * £ week ago showed good form to beat College by over 100 runs on the first innings. Taken on the whole 5 ’ wou J d appear that St Andrews ha\e a better chance of winning. game is between Tech*and Co L le& , e i and * although these teai P s should be evenly matched, IVfii-fier eleven is of any great merit, and the result, cannot have any bearing upon the premiership in the grade. & 1 Third Grade. This Saturday no game of any great moment is to be played in the third K? d ?J? r , W r t Chr »stchurch and School, leading teams, have each been aiawn against elevens which are among the weakest in the section. Their reSt e And-«,SfL POne i ’:£ s ar ® st Bede's and niin Sr ?’■ "either Of whom are likely to Heid particularly strong sides. West Chnstchurch, who already hold usefu l lead of eight and a half points, so rar nave shown themselves to he the oest team in the grade. Although they defeated School the first time thev met h2tween h 1 y d t rew in the return maTch ® r®' 1 s le two tea me. i„ the first Halt ot the present season W M Strachan, captain of the West team was the mainstay of the side, notching’ sevnotl m,°t° d including one of 127 41 w?ckets H a nrt a SO to ° k no fewer than the coveted ‘‘ hat trick S figures being seven wickets for 29 runs. This ™ n th ®. third time that he had taken half season^hp'h:, oll6 timings, and, this hS has already shown that b- t non re T ott f, n how to handle the oat and ball. In the opening round he nS!d Cl i e i«„ Ir°° 1 r °° . (ret i r ® a >' against College, run aifa ° ca PI UI e, l four wickets for 33 a« S £,^‘l e ' S ’ ,h ? wever ' are by means an eleven, and, although they ~ drawn matches and also played have done really well are P^F* 1 rCelson° Uun >I Me p Vil i£’ ¥■ Brady and tlm ca£ U Ta y l or>- Their most coni' F < b,?,s:i lers h S V A been P. F. Nelson, . Sheahan and A, G. Melville, all of “'3 kee » J steady length and can be formanoe 011 £,° slve . a sood average pertoimance. Otherwise the attack is a to the West Christchurch batsmen 6 weak ’ and s bouid not cause much

.Tb® remaining- same Is between Colnrnve f Technical, and this should prove a great contest. Technical at present having ISJ points, whilst College have 16. College, however, have ~ I y .st a couple of matches, both of these being against West Christchurch, but four drawn games have pulled them clown on points. A point which should mToi- to this game is the fact teams drew when they met in the first series of matches. Both teams have sound batsmen, the Tech-' meal stars being E. H. Wickham, G W M Pherson, M. A. Keats and R. R. Skerten, whilst R. Lewis also helped himseir to on one occasion. M. G. Somerville, who previously played so weH for Medbury, G. M. B. Douglas, G. L. Rolleston, B. L. Tapley and S B. Thompson have been the most successful for College. Tourth. Grade. When New Brighton failed so dismally in their game with Riccarton, they just about “ cooked their goose ” as far as the competition is concerned, and it now looks as though School, who have a lead of 7i points, are unlikely to be displaced from their position at the head of the grade. New Brighton, however, are a good team, L. N. Bellamy, their captain, having several successes to his credit. N. H. Dean, J. R. Hay and W. R. Mackrell have also done well in the past, and this week may give a good account of themselves when they meet College B. This game,

although scheduled for the New Brighton ground, will most likely be played at Hospital Corner, and should result in a win for the District High School hoys. College B have not done particularly well this year. Although they succeeded in defeating Technical, their only other points were scored in a drawn game with their own A team. Lack of ability with the bat appears to be their main weakness, for with W. A. Diedrichs, K. C. Bibby, A. G. S. Patterson and other sound bowlers, their attack is a distinctly strong one. The game between School and Technical may have considerable bearing upon the result of the competition, for although Technical have scored only points, there are some promising boys in their eleven. Unless the bowling of A. A,. H. Pullan and H. A. Harris proves up to its best standard, they might easily upset calculations. Before the adjournment. School had a strong hatting side, but promotions, notably that of their good little wicketkeeper and batsman, A. Carey, will have weakened them to some extent. It remains to be seen whether they are still good enough to maintain their unbeaten record. The game between Riccarton and College A should he a good one. Although the latter team possesses several good batsmen, including R. C. Webb and L. W. Fleetwood, who have already notched centuries, Riccarton have proved a nuisance to the leading teams on more than one occasion. Their form, however, has been rather inconsistent. The Riccarton eleven at its best is a rattling good combination, including such players as B. C. Harbidge, R. H. Scott, J. Dunn, C. Somerfield, A. C. Cade and M. Dunn, several of whom were knocking at the door of representative selection in the past season. Provided a few of these get going well, the club team should win the match, particularly as their bowling is also fairly strong. R. C. Webb, one of the College stalwarts, has already shown himself in good form by his score of 141 against Technical in the last round, whilst Fleetwood and B. C- Wright are also batting well, so that a close contest, resulting in a drawn game, would not come as a great surprise.