CRICKET.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XV, Issue 880, 17 January 1907, Page 11

CRICKET.

After so much rain during the week cricketers were lucky to get a fine afternoon on Saturday. The wicket was fairly easy, but got worse as the day wore on, while the outfield was very dead, and it took a very big hit to find the boundary. Under the circumstances those teams which had batted on the previous Saturday were at a big disadvantage.

Grafton had 190 on the slate against Eden, and this gave them a big enough pull to win. Eden, thanks largely to Relf (42), I. Mills (40, not out), and Smith (31) made something of a fight, but the last four wickets failed to produce a run, and the innings closed for 143. When time was called Grafton had lost four wickets for 31. They thus won on the first innings by 47 runs.

North Shore, under the unequal conditions, failed to reach the score of 231 set them by Parnell on the previous Saturday. A. Haddon played a capital innings for 60, W. Philson got 45, and L. Prime 23, but none .of the others did much, and when the last wicket fell the total was 185. The Shoremen were thus beaten by 46 runs, their first defeat this year.

Bowling for Parnell against North Shore, L. Robinson was in great form.

At one period of the game he had sent down eight consecutive maiden overs for three wickets, and he finished up with four for 11 runs. ♦ * * * Parnell 11. defeated Eden A by no less than an innings and 101 runs. Parnell made 268 for nine wickets (E. Foster 135) to Eden’s 129 and 38. * * * * The Campbell-Ehrenfried eleven beat Herald 11. by 71 runs. At Wellington the fourth series of the senior cricket matches were concluded on Saturday. Wellington defeated Phoenix by 15 runs. F. Laws, for Phoenix, made 122 runs. Old Boys beat Midland by 210 runs. Dickson secured seven Midland wickets for 34 runs. The Gasworks defeated Newtown by nine wickets. -ft- -W * In showery weather in the first grade West Christchurch defeated St., Albans by 44 runs in the first innings. Reese scored his century with only, one chance. Riccarton v. Sydenham: Riccarton won by 156 runs. A featture of the play was the fine stand made by Fryer, who batted well for his 116, and J. H. Williams, who added 65 for the last wicket. East Christchurch, who made 333 on the first day, defeated Linwood easily by 189 runs. * ♦ * * The match at Greymouth between the M.C.C. eleven and eighteen of the West Coast was won by the Englishmen by five wickets. The Coasters batting first made 132, to which the visitors replied with 252. Going in a second time the West Coast men did better, putting together 200. The Englishmen lost five wickets in getting the runs required to win. After the mateti they left for Nelson. * * * * Victoria’s all-round cricketer, W. W. Armstrong, is in fine form. Following on his fine score for Victoria against N.S.W., he on January 5 scored 251 for Melbourne against Essendon. He got five sixes and 30 fours. Two successive balls were lifted right out of the ground, a tremendous hit for a ground of such size. * * • It was cabled a few days ago that W. W. Read was dead. He was in his day one of the best-known cricketers in the world, and I have seen him play many a merry innings on the Kennington Oval and at Sydney. While Read was at the wickets the spectators never had a dull time, for his hitting was superb. He was born in 1855, and played for many years as an amateur for- Surrey. His career finished for-that county in 1897. He aggregated 21.110 runs, or an average of 32.630. He represented England against Australia in 17 matches, aggregating 689, and averaging 27.20, and his highest obtained at Kennington Oval in August, 1884. —Mr. J. N. Pentelow, in his. story of test matches, says of this performance: —“When eight wickets had fallen W. W. Read became Scdtton’s partner. Mr. Read afterwards confessed to me that he did not at all like being No. 10 on the batting list. Perhaps the indignity of such a position—it was certainly not the place to which his skill rightly entitled him—made him all the more determined to do his best. .Ger-, tain it is that with the of his partner, to whose untiring defence too much praise can scarcely be given, no one who had preceded him on the side played an innings to be compared for a moment with his. Scotton had scored 53 when M. Read came in. He plugged along steadily, while the Surrey crack hit hard and well, and 200, 250, 300 went up on the board, and the two were still together. ‘W.W.’ reached his century while Scotton was still in the eighties. The regular Australian bowlers bowled their best. Palmer sent down his wily leg-breaks and fine off balls; Spofforth tried every dodge he knew; Boyle’s good lengths might slacken the pace of scoring, but all. were. powerless to effect a separation; Midwinter and Giffen bowled; and even Scott and Bonnor went on. At last, with a score of 332 the South Australian got Scotton’s wicket. And with 14 added, Boyle bowled ‘ W.W.’ ” In this match the whole eleven Englishmen bowled in the course of Australia’s single innings score of 551. Read is credited with having obtained the eighth highest first-class score on record —338 — for Surrey against Oxford University at Kennington Oval in June, 1888. Read was a good lob bowler.