Cricket 1912

APRIL 20, 1912. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 69 W e l l in g t o n v . A u c k l a n d . The best match of the season, perhaps. The Plunket Shield, was not in question, but Wellington were very keen on winning. They included several colts in their team, and Baker, Robinson, and Grimmett all justified their places. Auckland lacked Sale, Brooke-Smith, and Oliff. Wellington hatted first. Gibbes again did well, he and Blamires sending up 127 for the first w ick et; Gibbes batted 2 hr. 20 min. and hit twelve 4’s. Of the rest only Mahony and Midlane did much. Hemus, with some luck, made 66 in 100 minutes for Auckland ; Sneddon helped him to put on 76 for the third wicket. Somervell’s lively 54 included two 6’s and eight 4’s ; he and Anthony put on 52 for the ninth wicket. W ith Blamires and Gibbes out for 10 in the second innings, Wellington looked fairly in the c a r t; but Baker, though he never seemed at home, and Mahony then added 57 ; Blacklock showed some of his old free form for 51, and the colt Robinson hit a couple of 6’s in a useful innings of 31. Auckland would not have got the 172 wanted to win but that the Wellington wicket keeper, Berendsen, was off colour. He missed two chances at the start of the innings. Hemus and Horspool sent up 50 for the first wicket. Four were down for 72, and here the home side seemed to have the advantage. Thompson and Somervell made a useful stand of 45, and pulled matters level. The sixth wicket fell at 122, the seventh at 126, the eighth at 128, and the ninth at 139, and the spectators had grown happily excited. But the veteran Mason and the colt Wallace proved equal to the occasion, and Auckland pulled off victory in an exciting finish by one wicket. Thompson (Northants) and Saunders (Victoria) did the bulk of the bowling for their respective sides ; but Sneddon for Auckland bowled very well indeed, and Robin­ son and Grimmett, the latter very steady and difficult to get away, showed promising form for the losers. O d d s a n d E n d s . In all probability a New Zealand, team will visit Australia fairly early next season. The cost is estimated at from £800 to £1,000, and the various N.Z. associations are being asked to contribute. Some people are against the scheme ; but it can hardly fail to be of benefit to the play of the men who go, and if a careful selection is made Maoriland cricket generally should reap much good from the tour in the long run. Hemus, Sale, Brooke-Smith, Oliff, Taylor, and, Sneddon, of Auckland, Gibbes, Blamires, Blacklock, Midlane, and Mahony, of Wellington, Reese, Bennett, Boxshall, Sandman, Lusk, Hickmott, Patrick, Hayes, and Norman, of Canter­ bury, Siedeberg, Hopkins, McFarlane, Eckhold, and Condliffe, of Otago, will all claim consideration ; and the best thirteen or fourteen of these should be quite a good side. One hopes that only State elevens will be encountered even if more travelling is thus entailed ; the men will get more good from visiting Brisbane, Adelaide, and Hobart than from playing up-country matches in N.S.W. and Victoria. The N.Z. correspondent of the Sydney Referee cries down the tour on the ground that the small scoring in the Plunket Shield match at Christchurch shows up the poverty of N.Z. cricket. This is absurd, for one match is no true criterion, and the wicket was admittedly difficult during a considerable part of the game in question. R. G. Hickmott has not yet left school, after all, and the consequence is that, after playing in first-grade cricket during the holidays, he now drops to second grade— which is really ii bit too soft for him. Up to February 17th this youngster had scored 1,466 runs in 22 innings, four not out, made up thus :— For Colts v. Canterbury X I.— 235. For Canterbury v. Wellington (2 matches) and Auck­ land— 52, 39, 39, 30, 14, and 12. For St. Alban’s in first-grade cricket— 128*, 109*, 16, and 8. For High School—213, 112, 111, 110*, 96, 50, 41, 40*, 12, 12, and 3. This is really a wonderful record. Rumour says that George Thompson may be at Christ­ church instead of Auckland in 1912-13. Thompson speaks in terms of high praise of the good coaching work done by Albert Relf and Sam Jones at Auckland. He says that many New Zealand batsmen crouch too much, and are apt to defend their wickets with their legs at wrong times. Cricket in Natal. D urban, March 16. Splendid weather favoured Dave Nourse’s Benefit Match, and there was a long day’s play—from soon after 10 to past 6. A good day’s play, too, thoroughly enjoyed by some 1,500 spectators. Lacking Samuelson, the Rev. C. 1). Robinson and Ormerod Pearse, tbe Currie Cup eleven was not as strong as it might have been, and Field, who did not play in the Tournament last year, was drafted into it. It won, however, after a good fight. Five men came up from Maritzburg, the two younger Pearses, Rupert Blake and Anderson, all playing for the XI , and A. Hair, who represented the Rest. It was a genuine pleasure to see Herbert Taylor come off. His 77 was the feature of the match. He cannot get runs in League cricket; but he has got plenty in extraneous matches. Joe Cox bowled well. His analysis was nothing out of the way, but at one time he took 3 wickets in 13 balls without a run scored off him. Carter did even better. Nourse played a good game for his 29, but that is a small score for Dave. Tuckett, a club-mate, clean beat and bowled him. Y. L. Henwood ought to represeut South Africa in the future, if he continues to train on. He kept wicket in excellent style as well as batting capitally. L. D. Dalton hit bard in both innings, and Beningfield showed good all-round form. The result, financially, is not known as y e t; but subscription lists were circulated all over S. A., and Dave is such a general favourite that the response should be generous. He wants the bulk of the money to be invested for the benefit of his wife and youngster. Only one more round of League matches remains in both Durban and Maritzburg—March 23rd and 30th the dates. Greyville and tbe Maritzburg C.C. should top their respective lists pretty easily. George Cox sailed for home last Thursday. But he is coming back. He says he has never been treated better in his life. No end of testimonials and personal gifts have been showered upon him. To the High School boys he is a veritable hero. We missed him to-day. He thinks Natal cricket has a great future, aud says that Durban alone could put into the field a team equal-to most of tbe English Minor Counties. F. S. Cricket in South Africa. The Transvaal Senior League.'fixtures were all worked off by the middle of February, and for the fag-end of the season a knock-out competition was organised. This seems to have aroused little interest, and it is suggested that the governing body will do better in future either to arrange the League competition so as to last through the season, or to make fixtures for any supplementary contest in advance. Here are the batting averages of a few men (known, personally or by reputation, to English Batsman. J. H. Sinclair L. J. Tancred L. Strieker ... H. E. Smith .. B. II. Floquet S. J. Pegler ... R. Beaumont F. Le Roux ... P. J. Heather T. Campbell ... A. E. E. Vogler J. H. Moulder S. J. Snooke ... J. W. Zulch ... T. A. Ward ... O. C. White ... Among the best bowling figures were those of S. J. Pegler, 32 wickets at 13'28 each, Vogler, 39 at 16.35, H. V . Baumgartner, the old Bedford School boy, who narrowly missed inclusion in the team, 22 at 18’31, and F. Le Roux, 26 at 19-38. 1 E.R.P.M., by the way, means East Rand Proprietary Mines. Tancred ran up 88 for this team v. Wanderers on March 9th. D eu k ick W an derers desire matches with strong clubs for May 18 and 25 (away, good private grounds only), and for August 10 and September 21 (at home, first-class private ground at Blackheath). Write F. T. Evans, 52, Mark Lane, E.C. Senior League. Club. Inns. Not out. Runs. Aver. Highest Score. Wanderers 4 0 315 78 75 165 E.K.P.M. 7 1 406 07-66 240 Pirates 7 1 404 67-33 113 E.B. b’.M. 8 2 353 5883 156 Bandfontein 7 0 355 50-71 101 E.R.P.M. 7 0 348 49-71 121 Pirates 7 1 2(38 44-66 75 Wanderers A 8 0 343 42-87 88 Randfontein 7 1 212 35-33 89 Wanderers 7 0 234 33-42 76 Randfontein 7 1 185 30-83 67 E.R.F.M. 8 1 205 29-28 56 E.R.P.M. 7 0 178 25 42 55 Wanderers A 8 0 172 2150 66 Wanderers A 3 0 57 19*00 50 Pirates 2 0 31 15-50 31