Cricket 1912

F eb . 24 , 1912. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 19 5 wickets, C. P. Carter 4 for .Zingari, George Cox 4 for 39 in first innings of Zingari. Nov. 25 and Dee. 2 at Durban.—Greyville v . Casuals. Greyville 216 for 9—A. Nonrse 63, D. J. Nieol 36, A. C. King 30, L- B. Tuckett 28, J. Cox 22 not out. Casuals 136—C. C. Aeutt 29, H. Bayner 25 not out. A. C. King for Greyville took 7 wickets at a cost of 51 runs. M a r it zb b r g , December 16, 1911. A special and most cordial invitation from Mr. F. A. Morris, the genial and hard-working secretary of the Maritzburg Cricket Union, took me to the capital for the annual Inter-Team match. Distances in South Africa are scarcely realized by British readers ; it may interest them to hear that I, with some other enthusiasts, left Durban by the 2.35 a.m. train in order to be in good time. The pretty Oval in the Alexandra Park attracted a holiday crowd on the Saturday— “ Dingaan’s Day,” one of the national public holidays of the South African Union—and for once the weather was ideal. The match was not a great one, however, and the Durban team, who do not seem to be suited by the ground at Maritzburg, where the pitch has little life, were beaten pretty easily. Dave Nourse did nothing, for once. Burne, Henwood, and Ken Thomson made nearly all the runs in Maritzburg’s first innings. It was a real pleasure to. see Herbert Taylor come off in the second innings ; he batted quite in his old form, and he and Henwood, who usually goes in first with him in club cricket, added 84 for the second wicket. Dudley Pearse batted best for the winners, and he and his brother, Ormerod, added 55 for the fourth wicket in the second innings in a failing light— a stand which had much to do with Maritzburg’s victory. The elder Pearse’s 32 included a six to leg. Dowling also deserves considerable credit. Anderson’s swervers and Samuelson’s googlies secured most of the Durban wickets; for the losers Joe Cox and Easterbrook bowled well. D urban , Wednesday, December 27, 1911. A full programme of Senior League matches yesterday—Boxing Day—and a Scotch m ist! Some of the interest in the matches was taken away by the fact that six of Durban’s beBt were on the Band, fighting for places in the South African eleven. At the last moment J. Davidson, the Greyville fast bowler, was added to the five originally selected. Greyville lacked Dave Nourse, Joe Cox and Nicol, as well as Davidson, and it was rather expected that the Wanderers, who held second position to them in the table, would beat them. But the leaders managed to pull through, having two wickets to fall when the other side’s score was passed. Some of the new blood intro­ duced played a considerable part in the result. W. Fletcher bowled particularly well, and should be seen in senior cricket regularly next season; he captains a junior team at present, and will hardly care to desert it just now. Many catches were dropped in all three matches; towards the end of the day’s play it became almost impossible to hold the greasy ball. The Casuals scraped a victory by a single run against the Escombes, for whom George Cox bowled well and made four catches, but again failed with the bat. Zingari v. Queen’s Park was some­ thing of a fiasco. Queen’s Park were four men short, lacking, too, not only Herbert Taylor, but Henwood and Cradock. In spite of this handicap they managed to put up a decent fight, as the score will show. Michaelhouse College, Past and Present, went on tour up conntry during the holidays, playing four matches. Herbert Taylor played three times, and scored two centuries — 126 v . Ladysmith, and 166 v. Newcastle. Matches played December 26th: - G r e y v il le v . W a n d e r e rs . — Wanderers, 142—B. C. Cooley 35 G. H. Whyte 34; Greyville, 184 for 9—F. Jury 65 not out, F. w ! Holmes 36. For Greyville, W. Fletcher had 4 wickets for 22; for Wanderers, J. W. Easterbrook 4 for 32. E scom bes v. C asu als . —Escombes, 134—B. Siedle 80 ; Casuals 135—J. R. Beningfield 40. No one took more than three wickets. George Cox’s three cost 37 runs. Z in g a r i v . Q u e e n ’ s P a r k . — Zingari, 217 for seven, declared— G. R. Burne 65, E. Clark 44, L. D. Dalton 42, H. Rachmann 30 ■ Queen’s P ark , 181 — A. J. Bisley 65, A. Grice 38. For Q.P., P. C.' Lilburn had four wickets fo r 59. D u r b a n Saturday, Jnnuary 13, 1912. The match between Durban and Northern Districts although the former team was short of its crack players' ended in a run-away victory for the port. Few of the country team showed any form. Ken Mowat, top scorer in the first innings, is an old Durban Wanderer. H. A. Hawkins hit hard and played finely for 117, getting the ball to the boundary seventeen times. V. L. Honwood and H. Chapman added just 100 runs for the fourth wicket, Hawkins and Ken Thomson put on 64 for tho sixth and Hawkins and Tuckett 111 for the eighth. Durban batted a man short owing to an injury to their wicket-keeper. Lieutenant Coker’s 36 was the highest score in the visitors’ second. H. Chapman had 8 wickets for 53 in the match. At Maritzburg the Second Division Intertown ended in a victory for Durban, for whom W. H. Fletcher, reforred to in my notes of a fortnight ago, actually took 9 wickets for 9 runs in the second innings of the home side. He is a fast bowler— is he, by any chance, tho man South Africa needs ? Anyway, he should be worth keeping an eye upon. During the holidays I paid a visit to Cape Town, going by sea each way, and while there saw an interesting match at Newlands between Ex-Collegians and Tho Kest. “ Micky ” Commaille, who could not get up to Johannesburg for the trials, made 56 and 36 for tho former side ; but ho was quite overshadowed by C. Delbridge (of last soason’s Eastern Province team in the Currie Cup Tournament), who played a grand hitting innings of 117 for Tho Rost. He made four 6’s, and all through put any amount of power into his strokes. The scores were : The Rest, 176 and 214 for 3, declared ; Ex-collegians, 177 and 176 for 9. A few minutes more, and The Rest should have won. Cricket is not at llood-tide in Cape-Town. Golf and lawn-tennis are powerful rivals. Nevertheless there is bitter feeling about the selection of the S. A. team for England, a very sore point being Natal’s representation of four, possibly five, in tho team. Cox will probably go, for Kotze’s return to his old form is very unlikely, and Nicol may just possibly scrape in if Sherwell persists in his refusal. C. O. C. Pearse’s non-inclusion is resented in Maritz­ burg. It leaves the city without a representative. But my personal opinion is that the Selection Committee did rightly in this case. Dudley Pearse is still quite young ; and, like Davidson and Nicol, may get his chance later on. Nourse was always a certainty, also Llewellyn, provided he accepted ; and everyone here is delighted at the in­ clusion of Herbert Taylor and Claude Carter. The air is full of cricket here. We are all pleased with England’s success in Australia. Natal is essentually an English Colony, and the old patriotic feeling is all there still, though a man may not have trodden for many years the green turf of the Old Country. There will be enormous interest in Natal in the Trian­ gular Tests, especially if South Africa is at all in the running. And she may be ; after all, nearly every man chosen can bowl, and if we have no fast bowler we have any amount of variety. If Faulkner, Schwarz, and others are in form our men may yet set both England and Australia thinking hard. r- The Senior Leagues in the two chief towns of Natal still have each an unbeaten team—Maritzburg and our own Greyville. In Durban Escombes and Queen’s Park have got to score their first win. George Cox bowled splendidly for the former to-day, but to no avail. The veteran A. C. King was also to the fore for Greyville, and Carter for the Zingari. Herby Taylor had his usual wretched Durban luck of this season—out for a duck ; he simply cannot get going at home. H. G. B. Hine, the Zingari skipper, a member of a famous cricket family, and Dudley Pearse both scored centuries at Maritzburg. Matches played January 6th and 13th :— Casuals v. Greyville .— Casuals 49 and 162 for five.— J. R. Beningfield 67 not out, C. C. Acutt 36; Groyvillo, 187 for four, declared— L. Field 64, L. R. Tuckett 37 not out, A. Nourse 34, F. Holmes 25 ; A. C. King 4 for 8 and 3 for 30, Nourse 4 for 13 in first innings. Zingari v. Escombes. — Zingari, 90 ; Escombes, 80— Basil Siedle 30. C. P. Carter, for Zingari, 6 for 44 ; George Cox, for Escombes, 8 for 19. Wanderers v. Queen’s Park. —Wanderers, 192— B. E. Burne 57, B. C. Cooley 48 ; Q.P., 101 for 9—V. L. Henwood 40, C. Platt 33. Maritzburg v. Zingari. — Zingari, 237—H. G. B. Hime 113, J. Forder 44 ; Maritzburg, 344 for 7—D. K . Pearso 176 not out, A. Hais 47 not out, C. O. C. Pearse 41. Eor Maritzburg Hais took 5 wickets for 57. Samuelson had 4 for Zingari, but at heavy cost.