CRICKET.

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19451, 15 December 1934, Page 20 (Supplement)

CRICKET.

GAMES ON SATURDAY. MATCHEB IN HAMILTON. ' t GOOD BATTING,DISPLAYS. t (By “Long Stop.”) HONOURS BOARD. Batting.—B. Clough 51, D. 'MoKenzie 50 (retired), S. E. Senior 49 (retired), P. Jordan 48, S. Buckland 37 (not out), T. Skeet 31, G. Mcßae (East B) 96, T. Sklenars (Marlst) 71, D. ElSis (High. School). 40,. D. Crosby (Marlst) 35, L. Giles (East O.B.) 33, D. Lymburn (East O.B.), 32, B. Pomeroy (High School) 31, V. Gllllng (Old Boys B) 30. Bowling.—l. Owsley (East B) six for 36; A; Malcolm j (High School), five for 22; G. Davis (Railway), five for 28.

Another Saturday of scratch games provided some entertaining cricket in which local players had a very easy time against teams from the country districts. The game has enjoyed a strong fillip in Huntly this season, owing to visits from many town ‘teams which have provided a stronger opposition of higher class cricket. The success of the I-luntly team on their own wicket, hoAvever, could not be reproduced on their appearance on turf, in addition to the fact that they Avere .urfable to get their best players away. Cambridge also Avere easily outplayed, though a few of their members Avere by no means outclassed. The bowling of the visitors was especially AA'eak and their fielding was not sound enough to give • them any chance. The senior B games were all, with one exception, completed, this being the first game in this grade to go the full time.

Cambridge Start Well. , The early . batsmen for Cambridge looked, like making a good game of their meeting with a .combined Hamilton East side, but like many of the club teams, a collapse that could not be stayed by the later batsmen. The' three McKinnons Avere responsible for much of the early play, a partnership between A. and L. being particularly productive. Their batting was quite bright against good bowling, but their weakness lay in foot-work rather than in faulty bat play. Most of their shots are made AA'ith little pr no movement of the feet, and Avhile the eye may be quick enough to enable the ball to be 'hit. quite often, the hatting must always be chancy unless the body is taken into the correct position for the stroke. Wilson has had good scores to his credit in his home Aviokets, but he has not yet got used to grass. ' . .

Two Correct Players. Play by McKenzie and Jordan was very pretty to watch as both struck a patch nearer their true form than they have yet had this season. Neither Indulged in anything sensational, but concentrated on playing their best and thanks to a bit of-luck when they made mistakes, enjoyed a good long innings. This should go a long way towards restoring the confidence they must have been losing and should put them into good form for future club matches. Lee continued his succession of useful scores and T. Skeet again had the opportunity to indulge in free, hard-hitting tactics that show him at his best-. Many of his shots were powerful and being well executed gave no impression of being merely slogging. Weak Bowling. . Throughout the Huntly and Claudelands Old Boys game the bowling was appallingly weak, being only slow medium straight stuff Avithout any appreciable turn and no consistent length. Under the • circumstances it was a wonder that any wickets at all fell, certainly few of the balls that were successful deserved their good fortune. With better fielding, 1 Huntly would have saved themselves many runs, as several poor shots by the local batsmen gave chances that were not accepted. On the other hand, it was, owing to some fine catching by Clough especially, and the making of -no mistakes by the others, that the best 'Of the Huntly .batsmen, were dismissed. The two catches mentioned, in the slips, were fine efforts and. pointedly illustrated the match winning possibilities of good fielding.

Quick Scoring. There were few dull periods as far as scoring went and some spectacular hitting' occurred at intervals. Buckland stood out in this, department, his first six being a magnificent on drive that cleared the cars by some twenty yards. Of the younger players, both West and Fraser merited their runs, and showed how' their experience against the high class -bowling they meet in club games has developed their play. Galder had a larger and better innings than he usually en'joys, displaying some excellent shots in the off. Thp Huntly batsmen’s defence was sound enough, but they all lost their wickets when attempting to score, not that they were deficient in strokes, but their timing w T as wrong. Coddy alone restrained 'himself and tried to play out time, but had no one to stay with him. SENIOR B. Very Exciting. ‘The match on the High School ground provided as close a finish as it is possible to get, and the w'hole of the last innings was thrilling. Requiring 141 runs to win, a second wicket partnership between Sklenars and Crosby raised 'log of them with plenty of time to get the rest. Once again Sklenars demonstrated his ability with bat and played, to a standard seldom enough seen in this grade. -Certainly his innings was not chanceless, but it was a good one for all that. Crosby was content to play steadily—goad tactics —while his partner got the runs. After their dismissal, however, -the rest of the team went the wrong way about getting runs and under the tensest atmosphere lost their last wicket one run behind. The School fielding was very, bad and deserved to lost their match. i How’s That?

Probably no umpires have ever been so bombarded with appeals as were these officiating in the East-Railway game. No estimate could be offered as to the number of appeals for l.b.w. that went up, but some of bowlers never lost, an opportunity of raising their voice's when they hit the batsmen. Such impossible appeals were made that it appeared that the players were trying to intimidate and bewilder the umpires. Such frequent appeals oould not be warranted and players should try and curb their enthusiasm. Railway made a valiant effort to maintain their first innings lead, but their bowling was not strong enough, though one player alone, McRae, proved the chief thorn in their side.

Old Boys’ First Points. East Old Boys were not in a happy position when they resumed on Saturday, but their last few batsmen rose to the occasion and threatened to overtake Old Hoys’ total of 200. Lymburn, L. Giles and S. Stott all made light of the bowling, scoring freely despite frequent changes. Old Boys failed to do much in their second strike, only a good knock by V. Gilling saving a debacle. East Old Boys had little chance of getting the 150 runs they required in the time, but taking their lives in their hands, went for what they could get and it was no fault of theirs that they were still hi) runs short when lime came. Frankton United had their g;ime against Hamilton won at the close of the first day and il did not take them long to finish it off.

HAWKE CUP.

ELIMINATION MATCHES. The Hawke Cup elimination match between Bay of Plenty and South Auckland was one of fluctuating fortunes. In the first innings, both teams gave displays below their true form, but the batting of each team in its second Innings, at times, was most attractive and good totals were recorded. The wicket matting on grass, was In good order on both days of the game and except for a cross wind which blew throughout the first day, there was little difference in the wicket and there should not have been so marked a difference in the first and second innings tallies. South Auckland won the toss and elected to bat. South Auckland started disastrously and lost three wic'kets quickly for a total of 21. . Clark and Lissette then bec'ame associated in a good partnership. Both batsmen used some pretty • strokes, Clark especially batting most-attractively, scoring all round the wicket. ,At the luncheon adjournment the total stood at 85 and both batsmen appeared set for good scores. However, Lissette was dismissed immediately after the adjournment and Clark followed to the pavlllion three runs later. The next three batsmen added six runs between them and eight wickets were down for the poor total of 95. Ewen and Skeet then became associated, Ewen being content to hold up his wicket and leave the scoring to Skeet —this Skeet did to some purpose. He batted with great confidence and most attractively. Skeet came right back to the excellent form he displayed tAvo seasons ago. With the tally at 121, Ewen Avas dismissed and Everest filled the breach. He and Skeet then took the total to 1'55 before Everest succumbed to a good ball from Randall. Excellent Bowling. The Bay’s fielding Avas excellent, and Wells, their medium-pace lefthand bowler captured six good wickets for 49. Considering this Avas Well’s first game of the season it was a particularly good performance. The Bay made a very sorry showing in their first innings gathering a total of only 64, of which total Harding, their opening bat, made 26. He AA T as. the only Bay batsman who displayed any defence and the only one who seemed to have any idea of how to cope with the excellent bowling of Badeley and Everest. Badeley took six wickets at 5.3 a piece and Everest took four for 16. Both bowlers used the crosswind and kept good lengths. The averages speak for themselves. All the South Auckland batsmen gathered runs in their second knock, Lissette and Skeet again being the outstanding batsmen. At times the. batting AA'as painfully slow -and the bOAvling did not seem to warrant the respect meted out to It by the batsmen. As time was an important factor, the last three batsmen were sent in Avith instructions to force the pace and it Avas a delight to Avatch the Avay Skeet laid on the Avood. He hit the hoveling all over the field and finally succumbed to an excellent catch right on the boundary after knocking up a rapid 59. Bay’s Sporting Gesture.

At the luncheon adjournment South Auckland declared with nine_ wickets down and with the total at 250, leaving the Bay 341 to get. ... 'Bay lost one of their best batsmen with the total at 3. Godsalve and Hinton then took t'he total to 40 before Godsalve was dismissed. Dunn, the ex- Aucklander, then joined Hinton and was playing with great judgment These two players withstood the attack of t'he eight bowlers tried against them and took the total to 145 before a particularly good one from Going skittled Lunn’s wicket. With about three-quarters of an hour to play, the Bay’s total had reached 200

and five Avickets Avere in hand. At this stage Hinton, the Bay's left-hand-er Avho had batted most attractively, Avas dismissed and the game reached a most interesting stage as both teams were anxious to finish in tAvo days. J’his rather induced the remaining Bay batsmen to become someAvhat reckless and they were finally all dismissed for 239, 102 runs behind South Auckland’s total. Had this spirit not been in evidence and the last three or four of the Bay’s batsmen displayed the same determination as the earliest players, South Auckland’s total might have been passed. Everest again bowled well, capturing four wickets, Going also took three good wickets, breaking up tAvo partnerships. The comparative failure of the Soqth Auckland bowlers in Bay's second innipgs Avas due to short pitching; Avhat Avould have been an excellent length on grass became an easy length to play on matting.