CRICKET

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 683, 9 April 1903, Page 9

CRICKET

(By

”Yorker.”)

The team of English cricketers are now on their way back to the Old Country, having sailed by the Orient liner Oroya last Thursday. The Adelaide people gave them a great send-off.

It is very curious to notice how the English cricketers collapsed in their Australian matches, after compiling big scores in their first innings. Omitting the match against New South Wales, which was incompleted, the Old Country eleven made a total of nine hundred and three in the two first innings against the other two States, but could only make two hundred and thirty-two in the second ventures. It is hard to account for this falling off, for in neither instance did the state of the wicket give any indication of such a collapse.

Auckland 11. beat Wanderers on Saturday by thirty runs on the first innings, with scores of one hundred and twentyfive and ninety-five to ninety-five. m e • w North Shore defeated Y.M.C.A. by an innings and four runs. * * * * Parnell won the match against Ponsonby by twenty-nine runs. The match on Saturday between Parnell and United created a good deal of attention, because) on it depended the Championship. But for the weather it would have been almost a certainty for United, but as it was the rain and Cliff won the match and the Championship for Parnell. On the previous Saturday Parnell had been* dismissed for the paltry total of one hundred and three, made on a splendid batsman’d wicket, and the United men looked.forward to easily passing this total. Unfdrtunately for their hopes, between Thursday and Saturday morning nearly two inches of rain fell, and the wicket was completely ruined, cutting up badly. Aided by this, C. Oliff was in 1 rare form with the ball, capturing seven wickets for twenty-four. Not a single member of the United Club could reach two figures, and the innings closed for tne exceptionally poor total of fortythree. Parnell thus won the game and the Championship.