THE INTERPROVINCIAL CRICKET MATCH.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXI, Issue 2482, 19 February 1867, Page 4

THE INTERPROVINCIAL CRICKET MATCH.

At daylight on Sunday morning the s.s. "Wellington ran alongside the Queen's wharf, having on board the Nelson cricketers, whose promised visit has formed one of the staple subjects of conversation in town for the last two or three weeks. They were accompanied by upwards of one hundred excursionists, many of whom were ladies. Most of the excursionists sought accomodation in the excellent hotels on the possession of which "Wellington so justly prides itself; and spent the day, so far as the weather would permit, in rambling about the town and its suburbs. "We hope they will receive sufficient pleasure from their visit to induce them to repeat it. On Monday morning the weather looked very unpromising, but fortunately before eleven o'clock, the time fixed for the match, the clouds cleared off, and the sun shone out gloriously ; and during the remainder of the day the weather was all that could be desired. In order to do as much honor as possible to those who had so kindly come from a distance to give us a specimen of their skill, the afternoon was kept as a general holiday in town, and everybody who could possibly do so, wended their way to Clapham's paddocks, which presented a very animated appearance in the afternoon, as there were some 800 visitors on theground, amongst whom were most of the leading citizens of "Wei- 1 lington and their families. The ladies, who are perfect devotees to the cricketing art, came out strongly on the occasion, and we are afraid did more mischief than will be repaired for some time to come. The City Band, which was on the ground, served to while away the time pleasantly, a desideratum in cricket matches which though highly interesting to those engaged, often prove wrearisome to onlookers. A couple of booths, whero refreshments could be obtained, had been erected, and were well patronised ; and the Princess's Hotel, hard by. was besieged by a crowd ! o£ thirsty souls. The ground chosenfor thematch was the same as that on which the Anniversary Eural Sports were held, and is situated in the upper part of Thorndon. It commands a beautiful view of the harbor, which was seen to perfection yesterday. The ground, however, is very unsuitable for a cricket match, being on a slope and rather broken. It was only chosen because no better spot could be obtained. The committee did all that lay in their power to remedy the natural defects of the place, but, after all, only partially succeeded. The field was kept woll clear of intruders, and admirable order was sustained throughout the grounds, by a detachment of police under the charge of Inspector Atcheson, whose endeavors to effect these objects were well seconded by the public themselves. It is a creditable fact that, throughout the match, the visitors were not disturbed by the presence of one drunken man. As will be seen by the annexed score and analysis, the game was in the hands of the Wellington cricketers from the first, a result somewhat unexpected, as five to one was offered on the Nelson team up to a late hour in the morning. The game began at ten minutes past eleven o'clock. The Nelson men won the toss, and sent their opponents to the wickets, who remained there for an hour and three-quarters. The Nelsonians then went in, and stuck to their post for an hour and a half. In the second innings the Wellingtonians were at the wickets for an hour and a quarter. The last wicket foil at a quarter to six when the score stood as follows : —

WELLINGTON. — PIR3T INNIKGS. G-. Phillips, b McCabe 2 J. Roberta, run out, b McCabo 3 W. Salmon, run out, b McCabo ... 3 T. Boukl, b McCabo 1 L. Buck, b Sellon 18 J. Bethune, not out ... ... ... 3 W. Brewer, c Iznrd, b Sellon 0 S. Waters, b Dobbs 0 G-. Jordan, c Izard, b Dobba 0 N. Valentine, b Dobbs 0 Lomax, c Taylor, b Sellon ... ... 4 34 Bjes, 12 ; leg byes, 1 ; widea, 8 ... 21 Total ,„ 05

• - SECOND INNINGS, G. Phillips, c Izard, b Sellon ... ... 6 J. Roberts, ran out, b Sellon O W. Salmon, vun out, b Dobbt 4 T. Bould, 1 b w, b Dobbs 1 L. Buck, c Sellon, b Dobbs 8 • J. Bethune, run out, b Sellon 15 W. Brewer, c Izard, b Izard 0 S. AVaters, run out, b Sellon 2 Gk Jordan, b Sellon 1 N. Valentine, not out 1 Lovnax, vun out, b Lloyd 16 54 ! Byes, 5; leg byes, 2; wides, 5 ... 12 ! Total ... 66 ) NELBON. — FIBST INNINGS. Buscombe, c Valentine, b Jordan ... 5 Izard, b Brewer 1 Clarke, b Brewer 1 Stapples, c Jordan, b Jordan 1 McCabo, c Buck, b Brewer 6 Sellon, b Brewer 0 i Lloyd, not out 13 ' Dobbs, b Brewer 0 Drew, c Waters, b Brewer 2 Knapp, run out, b Brewer 0 Taylor, c Jordan, b Jordan 0 28 ; Byes, 3 j wides, 2 6 Total ... 33 j SECOND INNINGS. Buscombe, b Jordan 5 ; Izard, b Brewer... ... ... ••• 0 Clarke, b Jordan .. 0 Stapples, o Brewer, b Brewer 0 McCabe, c Salmon, b Jordan 2 Sellon, not out 9 Lloyd, run out, b Jordan 0 Dobbs, c Phillips, b Brewer 0 Drew, c Eoberfcs, b Brewer 2 Knapp, b Brewer 3 Taylor, b Brewer ... 0 21 Byes, 7 ; leg byes, 2 ; wides, 2 ... 11 Total ... 32 Wellington Ist Innings. — On the fall of the fourth wicket 40 runs had been obtained, and then the wickets began to fall very rapidly, the other six adding only 15 more to the score, the innings terminating for 55 runs. It was not long before the Wellington men were in the field; Nelson sending in two men to the bowling of Brewer and Jordan. The first wicket soon fell to a ripper from Brewer, and the second was notlongin followingsuit, being very neatly caught by Valentine at the wicket off a ball by Jordan. Although several overs had been bowled a very few runs had been obtained, the bowling being too good to allow of any careless play or of any liberties being taken, while the fielding was also very smart, especially on the part of Valentine, Buck, and Salmon. Brewer however was not long before he again found his way to the stumps, making the third wicket down for 13 runa ; the fourth fell soon after, being caught and bowled by Jordan, without increasing the score. When four more runs had been obtained, the fifth fell, being beautifully caught at the point by Buck off Brewer, when the latter again found a weak point in his opponent's defence being the sixth for 21 runs ; the seventh was run out, while the eighth was lowered by a splendid ball from Brewer for 28 runs ; the ninth was caught off Brewer, and the tenth caught and bowled by Jordan, the innings terminating for .33 runs. The respective sides now adjourned to luncheon, and after an interim of about half-an-hour, play was resumed, the Nelson men taking the field, and Bethune and Lomax going into the bowling of Sellon aud Lloyd, the latter taking the place of Dobbs, who bowled throughout the first innings. Lomax was not long before he sent Sollon away by a splendid straight drive ; he was, however, soon after run out, after a short but merry innings, his score amounting to 16. Buck followed, when Bethune cut Lloyd to the square for four, Buck doing the same with the next ball from Lloyd for three, following it up by again making a sorry example of Lloyd by sending the next ball, a splendid drive for three, and had the ball not been stopped by the fence, he would have made six by the hit. Dobbs was now substituted for Lloyd, and at his second ball Buck was caught in the slips — two wickets down for 40 runs. Salmon succeeded Buck, aud after a few more runs had been made, Bethune was unfortunately rim out, his score reaching fifteen — Bould followed, when Salmon was run out, Roberts taking his place — Bould did not remain long, for he was given out for leg-before-wicket,bowledbyDobbs,making five wickets down for 50 runs. Jordan ] followed, when Eoberts was then run out I — Phillips now went to the wicket, and Jordan, by two fino drives, sent Sellon away into the gully, making respectively only two and three for two brilliant hits. Sellon at length found his way to Jordan's wicket, being the^first wicket as yet bowled during the innings so far. Brewer followed, but was soon disposed of, being caught by the wicket-keeper without troubling the scorers. The last man (Valentine) then went in, but remained a very short time, as Phillips was caughtbyloug-field-on,Valentinebringing out his bat, without having had an opportunity of increasing the score to any extent. Total amount of the innings 66. The Nelson men were not long before they sent two to the wickets, again to the bowling of Brewer and Jordan. Brewer very soon began to find his way to the wickecs, to make sad havoc amongst the timber, getting three wickets in one over, two of them by two successive balls, the stumps falling and the bails flying rapidly, so much so that four wickets had fallen for only one run — a fine ball from Jordan then quickly disposed of another, making five wickets for only seven runs. The sixth fell from a fine catch by Brewer at long-field-on, and the seventh soon, after followed suit, Brewer again sending the bails flying by a splendid ball — seven wickets for ten rims. A stand was now

made for some time, but the bovyling was too good to allow of any runs being made, the defence at both wickets being cautious and at the same time strong, requiring all the skill and . science of the batsmen to protect their wickets — the eighth wicket at length fell, being caught out for 28 runs — the ninth and tenth were also caught out, the former by Eoberts and the latter by Phillips— the score amounting to 32. On the whole the match was a very good one, although it terminated in a rather easy victory for Wellington, who ■ appeared superior to their opponents at all ! points, and who, to give them their due, never played all round. In the evening the Nelson eleven were entertained at a complimentary dimmer 'at the Empire Hotel, by their brother j cricketers of Wellington. About forty | persons sat down to dinner, which was served in Host Osgood's best style. C. B. Borlase, Esq., ably fulfilled the duties of chairman, and G. Crawford, Esq., oc- ', cupied the vice-chair. After the healths Jof "Her Majesty," the ''Prince and i Princess of Wales and the other members ! of the Eoyal Family," and " The Governor" had been drunk, the Chairman proI posed " The Army and Navy," coupling with it the names of Mr Valentine and Captain Bishop. Mr Valentine responded in a few appropriate words, and Captain Bishop returned thanks on behalf of the mercantile marine and himself, and remarked on the great increase in the shipping of this port, especially as regarded steamers, which had taken place dirng the last few years, and which he hoped would still continue. Some people had said to him that the Panama service would leave him nothing to do, but he thought the result would be very different, and that as passenger traffic increased by the steamers, a greater number of sailing vessels would be required. He was getting an old man and did not wish to change from sailing vessels to steam vessels. (Hear, hear, and laughter). He had been in sailing vessels all his life. He was glad to see, from the papers, that they were getting rid of the Imperial forces, (hear, hear), and would soon be in a position to assert their independence (hear, hear), and carry it out in spite of anything the Homo Government might say to the contrary. He rejoiced at the progress of the City, and hoped and expected that when he came to Wellington again he should find the thirteen or fourteen acres of reclaimed land built over. He heartily thanked thoso present for the manner in which they had drank the toast, though he could only respond on behalf of the mercantile navy. The chairman then rose to propose the toast of the evening, "The Nelson Eleven" (loud applause), ami coupled with it the name of their captain, Mr Sellon. In doing so he referred to the tendency social meetings of this kind had to bind one province with another. In this particular instance, they could not help looking upon Nelson in the light of a twin brother to Wellington. Both settlements were founded by the New Zealand Company, and had progressed together, and he thought they would really drink that toast with more than cordiality — with feelings of heartfelt kindness. (Loud cheers.) Whenever ho saw a cricketer he saw a friend. In the cricketers that had been playing that day he must say that he saw the making of two exceedingly good teams. (Hear, hear.) With a little more practice they would be able to show playing of a much superior character to that which they had shown that day — though that was of no meau order. Cricket was a manly game, and it was very much better that young men should devote their time to it than spend it in public houses or like places. (Hear, hoar.) It was a game that ought to be supported, and should be supported. (Hear, hear.) Mr Borlase concluded by proposing the toast in the usual manner. The toast was drunk with all the honors. Mr. Sellon, on behalf of the Nelson cricketers, returned thanks for the honor which had just been done them, and also for the kind aud hospitable manner in which they had beev received by the AVellingtou eleven and the people of Wellington generally. Owing to the liberality of the owners of the steamship Wellington, the Nolson Cricketers had been enabled to bring over a number of their friends to visit the Seat of Government. They had thoroughly enjoyed themselves ; they had had a goocl match, and were not disappointed in the result, as they had come over with the full expectation of being beaten. He trusted that when the AVellington eleven visited Nelson, as he thought they were in duty bound to do, (hear, hear), they would be able to retrieve their honors, and also to shew in some more substantial way their appreciation of the good feeling and kindness which had been shewn them during their stay in Wellington. (Loud cheers). "The Health and prosperity of the Visitors from Nelson, and Prosperity to the Province of Nelson," was next drunk. Other toasts followed, and some gentlemen present kindly volunteered songs, which were accompanied on the pianoforte by Mr. Russell. Altogether a very pleasant evening was spent ; and we hope that our visitors will leave Wellington not displeased with their reception.