DROPPED CATCHES.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 955, 27 December 1933, Page 11

DROPPED CATCHES.

Canterbury’s Weakness in Shield Match. THIRD DAY'S PLAY. (Written for the “ Star ”.) Dopped catches and weak returns to the wicket again marred Canterbury’s display in the Plunket Shield match against Otago yesterday. An improvement in this department has long been needed, but season after season the old faults crop up again. There were smart fieldsmen among the Canterbury men. notably Lester, Hadlee and Riley, but the muffed catches made an enormous difference and the throwing in was of poor quality. The general impression was of a rather tired team. A fieldsman would work cleanly and smartly for a time, and then make a bad error. It was a pity, for the Canterbury bowling was of a high standard; it had variety and sting, and with more encouragement would have dismissed Otago for a smaller score. When play closed for the day. the position was : Otago— First innings 353 Second innings 299 Canterbury— First innings 217 Second innings, two for .... 52 At the drawing of stumps, therefore, Canterbury had done very little to reduce the 436 runs needed to beat Otago. In one hundred minutes they scored only 52 runs for the loss of two wickets. The task of making over four hundred runs in the second innings has been successfully accomplished by a Canterbury side before now, but the efforts of the batsmen yesterday afternoon did not give any cause for optimism as to the results of the final day’s play. A valuable Otago partnership between D. A. R. Moloney and K. Uttlev, which added 106 runs for the sixth wicket, was the main reason why Canterbury were set such a hard task in their second innings. Things looked bright for the home team when L. E. Riley, the slow bowler, took three wickets in quick time, making Otago's score 139 for five wickets. But Moloney and Uttley played doggedly, and as the score crept up, Canterbury’s task became harder. Frequent bowling changes failed to break this stubborn partnership, and it was not until the score had reached 245 that Roberts was successful in having Uttley dismissed. Three wickets then fell rather quickly, but the policy of changing the bowling was not pursued with, and as a result J. A. Dunning and W. Ilawksworth added 3i runs before the innings closed for 299. Riley’s Figures.

Although Riley finished up with the excellent figures of six wickets for 89 runs, he was not spelled sufficiently after he had taken his first three wickets. Both Moloney and Uttley became used to the slow bowler; he was not punished severely, but they played him with a confidence which inci eased in ratio to the number of his overs. Riley made a most promising e 9 tr y into Shield cricket, however, and his figures might have been better if he had been given more support by the fieldsmen. Several catches were missed, and fumbling also occurred when a run-out was possible. Altogether, the young left-hander bowled thirty-seven overs, ten of which were maidens. who took two wickets for 2/ runs, proved his worth as a change bowler by breaking the Moloney-Uttley partnership. All the batsmen found it difficult to score off his slow-medium deliveries, as _was shown by the eight maidens in his eighteen overs. V. G. Cavanagh, who opened with A. Knight on Christmas Day, batted confidently for 62, his tptal including four fours and one six. The bowling caused him little trouble, and he reached his half-century in ninety-two minutes. A feature of his innings was his excellent backing up. Valuable Runs. There was nothing very stylish about the way in which Uttley scored his 54, but they were valuable runs. What he lacked in grace he made up in force, and he hit some hard shots on the on side. Moloney scored more slowty, but was not very much troubled in making his 44. When Kerr and Roberts opened Canterbury’s second innings they faced an attack which was extremely accurate The bowlers were on top all the time, and the batsmen had to struggle for the runs. Badcock was the main factor in Canterbury taking one hundred minutes to score 52 runs. Bowling leg theoo* against Roberts, he had the batsman completely tied up. When stumps were drawn, the Otago captain k°™ led twenty-four overs, sixteen of which were maidens, for two wickets at a cost of 17 runs.

Wellington v. Canterbury. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, December 26. The team to represent Wellington against Canterbury in a Piunket Shield match on the Basin Reserve, beginning on Saturday, will be selected from the following twelve:—James, Dustin, Tindill, O’Brien, Ell, Morgan. Lamason, Newman, Blundell, Hatch, AA'ard, Freeman. The team differs from that at present playing Auckland in that Crook and Du Chateau have been dropped. The inclusion of Hatch, the Manawatu fa ent b ° Wler ' will stren &then that departVeterans’ Club. A match between the Veterans’ Club and the Canterbury girls’ team will be Played at Hagley Oval at 2 p.vn. toMalvern Competition. Playing in the semi-final of the Maivern Shield competition, Hororata met Sheffield on the Hororata racecourse and were defeated by 125 runs. Sheffield i made 160 (T. Junes 11, C. C. Innes 24 L. T. AVright 24. L. Hawke 38. d! Toombs 15). Bowling for Hororata A. Stout took five wickets for 57 runs A Jones one for 22, and R. Olliver one for 5. Hororata replied with 35 (C. Thorne !>. A. Jones 6. R. Murray 7). Bowline for Sheffield L. T. AVright took five wickets for 9 runs, including the “ hat trick,” and J. Ferguson took five for 25. Next Saturday Sheffield will play Par field in the final on the Sheffield Do main, commencing at 1.30 p.m. Hawke Cup Match. Per Press Association. NELSON. December 26. In a Hawke Cup match Taranaki in the first innings scored 354 (Betts 10l Giddy 128. Parkinson 57). Ralfe took six wickets for 95 runs. Afler losing five wickets for 75 runs Nelson ended the day with 234 for seven wickets (Buddie 57, Morgan 80 not out).