CRICKET.

Waikato Times, Volume 96, Issue 15864, 8 December 1923, Page 18 (Supplement)

CRICKET.

JOTTINGS. (By "Cover Point.") Hamilton and Frankton secured three poini 'successes in their latest, games, which were al the expense of Old Boy.-,' ami Warwick respectively. Old Boys miss Lenihan's services very much as be was a bowler of the stamp required to brighten up the a Mack. In addition to rpialication in this respeet, Lendhan was also a useful hat and a particularly sound field. An injury to his knee compels him to have a, respite from strenuous oxerels':'. The outstanding feature of Saturday's innincs by the Ha.mill.on batsmen was the score of 102 runs contributed by Jack Pomcroy. He opened very cautiously, but soon laid the%vvood cm and introduced many powerful and well timed shots to various points of the compass. Pomeroyas was the third century of the season, W. Menkes and Snedden having previously achieved that coveted distinction.

M. Gilmore had ill luck in not plaoing three figures opposite his name when the Old Boys batsmen visited the crease on Saturday. He tackled the bowling right from the jump and was lofting the ball to all parts of the compass. The 94 runs were compiled in something like record time, at which stage he gave Shepherd a catch which was accepted. It is quite evident that the selectors will require to go outside the four local clubs to And some of the material for the eleven that is to go south to Wanganui towards the close of the present month. One would not be at all surprised to find the wicket-keeper r.nd a bowler, in N. and R. Winger, included from Taumarunui.

The eleven that defended and lost the Challenge Shield to Taumarunui this week did not give anything 'like a good account of itself. If it is to to do any good in the Hawke Cup game some improvement is essential. N. Winger had most of our batsmen iu trouble and wound up with the very One figures of 7 wickets for 30. The inclusion of Winger in the Hawke Cup team will .greatly strengthen our chances because he is more than useful with the ball.

N. Thomas played a very fine innings for the eighty runs the Taumarunui player knocked up against Waikato. At no stage did he become reckless but bided his time and selected balls to punish. There were several boundary hits in his contribution. Senior's successful work behind the stumps was the undoing of Thomas when the latter looked Mked going on and reaching his century. Menzies (21), Morgan (19), and Senior (13), were the only batsmen to make anything of a showing against Taumarunui. The rest made a rather inglorious procession to and from the wickets. Usually scoring men like J. Pomeroy, Gilmore and Hughes went very cheaply. With the total at 69 Waikato inning'ss was anything but the cause for elation.

It would be a pity to miss the Australians when they come across this season. However, Waikato has not applied for a match as yet. Whether they will do so or not depends upon finances. It will lake at least £l5O to ensure a game here. Just how the the Association is going to settle on that, sum is the problem at the moment. Macartney. Bardsley, Collins, Taylor and Oldcld are five stars coming across with the Australians. One feels sure thai the public of Hamilton would welcome the appearance of these giants of the game at Seddon Park. But the public must be prepared to dip into the financial basket. Perhaps the Association could invite guarantors to come forward. Surely Hamilton should raise its quota all right. The matter requires urgent attention as the itinerary will soon be circulated. Hendren constituted himself distinctly the champion batsmen of the year, so far as the figures can prove, says the London Sportsman, summarising the season's play. This is the second successive season that such an honour has been won by the Middlesex but 1923 stands as his record summer, his avcruga having been increased from the 66.53 of twelve months ago to the colossal one of 77.17 to-day. This is all very wonderful, for Hendren batted upon fiftyone occasions, under conditions that were not always favourable, owing to the falling of cons-idcrable rain. Hendren equalled the records of S. B. Fry and Hayward in having thirteen three-figure scores of a single season, and he also joined an aggregate of over 3000, Hcndren's total runs were 3010, and his only predecessors in this direction were Hayward, Abel, Mead, Ranjitsinhji, Fry and John Tyldesley.

Philip Mead, usually there or thereabouts, nishes second with another great performance, and while Makepeace has done famously, the Lancastrian might not have beaten J. W. Heanic had the latter steered clear of his unfortunate accident as the autumn approached. Hobbs has fallen away from his second plaoo in the final return, and others showing a marked drop are Harding, Russell, Seymour, and Hardstaff, but, upon the other hand, there arc numerous brilliant advances.

Like Hendren among the batsmen, Rhodes heads the bowling list for ihe second season in succession. This is a [marvellous achievement for a man born so far back as October. 1577. Rhodes also scored his thousand runs £gain, but this double feat by all-round players is becoming somewhat common nowadays. Besides Rhodes, J. W. H: T. Douglas, A. E. R. Giligan, P. G. H. Fender, Woolley (F. E.), Kilner (R,\ Hearnc (J. W.), Kennedy, Pearson, Newman. Astiill and Tate were among those accompUslnng the dual feat. Maurice Tate and Parian both exceeded 200 wickets, and, taken altogether, the promise of ou? younger cricketers is most encouraging. Rut English batsmen must learn to play really fast bowling with more confidence. Francis and Johns of the West Indies, showed up this weakness nearly as much as the Australians, Gregory and Macdonald. TWO PROLIFIC STROKES. (By Alex. Handford) The biggest number of runs got off one ball 'to my knowledge at Lyndhurst, in the New Forest—Hampshire E. in the 80's viz., 38 runs. I did not see this performance, but I was playing there in 1889 for the South Wells C.C., and saw the record printed on silk in the Lyndhurst Pavilion and tho accuracy thereof was vouched for by men of integrity. The ground is of peculiar shape. On both sides it rises considerably, while at each end there is a big slope. One slope is sprinkled with gorse bushes, and the other slope runs down to the main road, which road goes down hill to the railway station about a quarter of a mile away. At,'that time they ran everything out. The batsman drove the ball on to the road and it kept on rolling. All the fielders lined up with the bowler on the top of the bank, and only t.ho wicket keeper was at, the wicket. The ball was eventually thrown to the bowler. The batsmen were both at the wicket keeper's end. I The bowler had a shy at the other wic- i ! ket and missed. The ball went down the other side among the gorse bushes where if, was reprieved. The other stroke for M runs I made myself at Clifton Notts in 1897. I was playing for my native village, Wilford. It was in September, on the occasion of the Clifton Milage Annual Feast. These matches arc most keen and interesting, and clause a lot of fun; as the "pros" who go out lo engagements in the summer months are al lwrne. In this particular match Clifton had five professionals, and Wilford three. Wilkinson (Notts XI) and I opened our innings. The ground was in a cow paddock ,and the pitch which was very good had been protected by posts 'set in sockets and barbed wire run around. After the posts and wire had been removed wooden plugs were inserted in the sockets. But as luck would have it, they were one plug shy, and the hole happened to be near the square leg umpire. The second bail 11

- received I played to square leg, and ti ; every one's surprise rolled sltraigh I into the .plug hole. It did not go fa 1 down as the fielder could just reach It 1 but could not gTasp it. The umpir* f could not call lost ball, as It was ii . sight. Amidst roars of laughter fron t the spectators and terrible languagi l from the fielding side, we ran 14 rum and then I fell down laughing (and re- , fused to run any more. The ball wa: . eventually got out by cutting twt I sticks from the 'hedge with hooks on The "big man of the parish" afterI wards told mc I was a very bad run- ! ner, as we should have, broken all re- [ cords. I asked him did lie ever tiy t< run and Laogh at tire same time. H< answered, "No!" I replied, "Try it anc you will be surprised P N.S.W.'S VISITING SIDE. 5 SOME GIANTS OF THE GAME. New Zealand would be well advised to put her cricketing house in order, and that right speedily (says the Dominion). Before many months have passed there will descend upon these devoted islands one of the strongest cricketing bands that has ever visited the Dominion, and there is no exaggeration whatever in saying this. The New South Wales team which is to visit New Zealand in February next will be a team of cricketing giants compared with the English side which were with us last season. They will be immeasurably stronger than the last Australian Board of Control team, headed by Ransford, which toured the Dominion in 1921. The side will include Ave members of the last Australian eleven which won eight test matches in succession against England, and went through the English tour with only one solitary defeat against them. The five men referred to are Warren Bardsley, G. G. Macartney, 11. L. Collins, J. T. E. Andrews, and Oldfield. It does not matter a rap who the rest of the team may be. Any one of these players is class enough to smack up a century in a test match against All England, so New Zealand bowlers will be well advised to put a half-crown down upon the pitch and aim at landing the ball upon it with each delivery. One has only the glance over the records of test matches between Australia and England to recognise that Bardsley and Macartney are two of the greatest batsmen Australia has ever produced. Bardsley has played 38 innings in test matches against England, being three times not out. _ His highest score was 136, aggregate 1108, and his average 33.37. Macartney has played against England 36 innings in test matches, being three times not out. His highest score was 170, aggregate 1167, and average' 35.36. lip to the end of the 1921 English season, Bardsley had compiled 46 centuries and Macartney 36. Both these great batsmen have scored over 1000 runs each in test matches against England, and both have scored a century in each innings of a match. Warren Bardsley, probably the greatest left-handed batsmen the world has ever seen, performed this great feat in the test match against England at the Oval in 1909, when he scored 136 in the iirst innings and 130 in the second. Macartney has accomplished the feat twice, scoring 119 and 126 for New South Wales against South Africa at Sydney in the season of 1910-11, and 112 and 121 for Australia against Sussex at Brighton in 1912. Macartney is a midget of a man, and hats right-handed, but he is one of the fastest scorers the game has seen, and is an idol with English crowds. In 1921 he hit up 345 for Australia against Notts at Nottingham. Here are the records of the pair for their last two English tours:— Bardsley. Inn. Runs. U.S. N.O. Aver, 1912 ~.: 53 2441 184* 6 51.93 1921 ... 44 2218 209 4 55.45 Macartney. 1912 ..... 50 2207 208 1 45.04 1921 .. 42 2335 345 2 58.37 *Not out. Bardsley in 1912 scored two centuries against the South Africans in the triangular test matches, making 121 at Manchester and 164 at Lord's. Macartney hit up 170 at Sydney against England in 1920, and made 115 in the Leeds test match in 1921.

But this pair are not the only great' batsmen whom the New Zealand bowlers will have to toss the ball to. H. L. Collins made his first appearance in a test match for Australia against England at Sydney in the season of 1920-21, and notched 104 on his first appearance. He also got 162 in the test match at Adelaide the same season.

Macartney and Collins put on 244 while together for New South Wales against England at Sydney in 1920-21. For Australia, W. Bardslcy and 11. L. Collins have scored partnerships against English bowling of 123, 117, and 116. Barnsley, with S. E. Gregory, put on 180 for the first wicket against England at the Oval in 1909.