CRICKET NOTES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXII, Issue 9876, 6 January 1911, Page 7

CRICKET NOTES.

[By " The Critio."l

Wairarapa has stopped the victorious maroh of the Nelsouiuus by defeating them by five wickets. The win was out iioe enough by another of those peculiar displays for which Wairarapa is now noted far and wide. After makiDg 308 in their first inaiuga it took the local team all their time to get the 3i5 required to win, and then they lost five wiokefcs. Wairarapa is one of the most inconsistent scoring teams in the Dominion, and have some small totals to' their credit. Aga'.nst Hawke's Bay, two years ago, they made 8(>. In 1905, at Materton, they compiled 52 and 96 against Weilington; against Hawke's Bay, in 1908, Wairarapa compiled 46 and 56; their second innings (with 15 men) against the Englishmen in 1907 producer! 65 runs; against Manawatu ttiis season they recorded 89, and now they nearly repeated the performance against Nelsou by losing 5 wickets for 86. About six years ago. at Wellington, against the Empire Oity "reps," Wairarapa made about 50 in their first innings, and fu their second innings, with their usual "consistency," ran up over 800, MaunseU, of Oarterton, ranking over the century. It is interesting to note that in this match Ooboroft, now captain of the South Wairarapa, also topped the hundred for Wellington.

However, to harK back to the Wairarapa—Nelson match. The Nelson players were a very ordinary lot. Their batting was only fair, while they had only two players whom one could say could bowl—viz., Allcott and Fairey. Neithflr of these truudlers were as good as several I could uame in Wairarapa.

It was the mediocrity of the trundling, together with the usual peculiarity Wairarapa captains display in handling their bowling, that was largely responsible for Nelson's score of 146. Only one of the batsmen showed anything approaching decent batting, and that was Meade, who ran up 41 before being bowlerl by a ball which struck his body aud then caunoued on to the wicket.

Judging by the way the bowling was managed, a good deal of experimenting vyas attempted. A youth named Beard—who by the way should never have been in the team, and whose bowling is about on a par with that of the average schoolboy—was put ou to bowl before Beechey and Waugh. Beard iiad ten runs hit off him and failed to get a wicket, while Beechey came <mt with the bnst average (8 for 21) and Waugh (1 for 4). had the batsmen "tied up in a knot" with his slows.

Before going any further, it would bo interesting indeed to know why Phelps and Beard —both of whom, 1 believe, have not played in a senior cup match in Wairarapa this season— were put in the team when better

players than either of them, who have taken part in senior championship matches are passed over. F. Welch, I understand, was asked by one whom he understood to have authority, to play in the matcb, and on getting down to the ground, found his place filled by an "outsider." Then ugain, Neil Maclsen intimated that he would be prepared to play if required, and in anticipation of a game, arranged matters in connection with his employment accordingly. The only reason I can assign for the two Cartertouians obtaining a place in the team is that those who had the selecting of the team are suffering from "swelled head," after Wairarapa , s "brilliant victory" over Manawatu last month, and considered that Wairarapa could defeat the "Hoppers" with half a toatu. Beard made 15 (including a chance at 11) and 2, took one wicket (Olaike one of the weakest men in the team) for 29 runs and dropped an easy catch given by Kichmoud at 17, which cost Wairarapa 67 runs, while Phelps failed to score, did not get a wicket though he had 7 runs hit off him and fielded poorly. Now, it will take a smart man to convince me that Madpen and Welch are not capable of doing considerably better than this.

Beechey, who headed Wairarapa , s individual scores with 112, gave a magnificent display. His cricket was a treat to watch. He forced the scoring at a great pace. The rate at which he was scoring can be judged when I mention that he got his 100 in 61 minutes and 112 in 109 minutes. He never gave a semblance of a chance off his bat. though at 97 Quilliam, the Nelson wicket-keeper, missed a fairly easy chance of stumping him. I heartily congratulate the Cartertonian on his performance. His score was made up as follows .-—2414131414441829 2411414112122416132114111141411214.

Smart played a pretty innings for 55, his driving being particularly good. Though not a chanceless innings, it was a display full of merit. Waugh played the most patient innings I have ever seen him give. He took over an hour to make his 40 runs, and hit nineteen singles in succession. He gave a fairly difficult chance at 5, but after that his cricket was perfect. Waters gave a vigorous display for his 29, which iucluded four bound-

Aries,

Nelson reached 197 in their second innings, and they ha7e to thank the Wairarapa fieldsmen for the lives they were allowed. With the exception of Logan, Waugh and Moorhouse (behind the wickets) tne fielding was disgraceful. One lost cuunt of the number of chances tnat were dropped, and in this respect Waugh suffered mos,t. Knapp was missed twice oft Waugh before I' 4 was reached, Fairey was missed in the slips, and Oooke had a life at 17—both the latt9r chances being also off Waugh's bowling. With decent fielding Waugh should have nad at least three more wickets to his credit, while Oongdon lost a wicket through Beard dropping an easy catch given by Richmond when the latter had made 17. Richmond compiled 84 not out, and he stonewalled for nearly three hours. He gave two chances.

Two Wairarapa players deserve special mention for their work in the field—viz., Logan and Moorhouse. Davy was brilliant from start to finish. No matter how fast or at what angle the ball was coming, Logan's nimble fingers would close over it and send it back quickly to the bowler or wicket-keeper. His smart work saved Wairarapa many a boundary, Iv Nelsou's second innings he took two splendid catches. I have seen many capital expositions of fielding on the Park Oval, but none superior to Logan's. Moorhouse deserves special praise for his good work behind the wickets. He stumped one and caught two men, and should have had another "caught out" to his credit, a Nelson player admitting to me that he touched a ball which Moorhouse held, but he was given the benefit of the doubt by the umpire. Another consistent "grafter" in the field was Waugh, whose -work was also of a high order.

Nelson gave a very poor display in fielding.