Cricket 1913

September 13, 1913. CR I CKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 013 NEW ZEALAND CRICKET AND CRICKETERS. A u s tra lia , S ou th A fric a , Ind ia, C an ad a , the W est Indies, P h ila d e lp h ia , a ll have sent cricket teams to E n g la n d . A F ijia n tou r w as projected , and a visit b y colou red W e s t A frica n cricketers is said to be a lik e ly even t o f the near fu tu re. T h e first overseas to u rin g team in E n g la n d w as one of A u stra lian a b o rig in es. T h u s fa r New Z ealand has not sent us a team, and b ecau se of that peop le ii> th is coun try are apt to im ag in e that the g am e is in a b ackw ard state in the far, fa ir island s o f the S ou th P acific. T h is is not the case. A dm itted ly N ew Zealand cricket is scarcely on the sam e plane w ith E n g lish , A u stra lian , or S ou th A frica n . Hut, g iv en equal cond ition s, a rep resen tative N ew Z ealand team would p ro b a b ly p rove itself stron ger than a repre­ sen tative team o f an y o f the o th er cricket com ­ m un ities. N ew Z ealand v . U n ited S ta tes, New Z ealand v . AH Ind ia, N ew Z ealand v . C an a d a , N ew Zealand v . the W e s t Ind ies, N ew Z ealand v . the A r g e n tin e— if an y o f these im a g in a ry m atches were to be p la y ed I shou ld b ack the M ao rilan ders every time. B arton K in g m igh t a ston ish them , J. S . W a rd en o r R . P . M eherhom ji take a cen tu ry a g a in st them , G e o rg e C h a llen o r, P . H . T a rilto n , or H . G . G arn ett do lik ew ise; but I th ink Dan Reese and h is men w ou ld pull th ro u g h . A represen tative N ew Z ealand team at the present date w ou ld have R e ese a s cap tain , b eyond doubt. T h e oth ers likeliest on recent form wou ld be L . G . H em u s and C . O lliff, o f A u c k la n d ; J. H . Bennett, R . G . H ickm o tt, H . B . L u sk , and D . S an dm an , of C a n te r b u r y ; T . M cF a rlan e , o f O ta g o , and C . R o b in so n , o f W e llin g to n . T h e last-nam ed pro­ vin ce h a s m any go od c ric k e te r s ; bu t most o f them failed to sh ow their true form last season . J. P. B la ck lo ck , F . A . M id lan e, W . S . B rice, C . G . Wrilson, T . R . S o u th a ll, E . M . B eech ey , and the R e v . E . O . B lam ires (now , how ever, in T a ra n a k i, i believe) are am o n g her p la y ers w h o w ou ld have to be con sidered . T h e n there are E . Y . S a le , W . B ro o k -Sm ith , N . C . Sn eddon , F . T a y lo r , and others in A u c k la n d , W . R . P a trick , W . H a y e s, and A . S im s (if he is not still o ver here) in C an te r­ b u ry , 11. G . S ied eb erg , C . C . H o p k in s (like W i l ­ son , an A u stra lian ), B . J, T u c kw e ll (another A u s ­ tralian), and more in O ta g o ; and H a w k e ’s B a y and the m inor asso ciation s no doubt possess p layers worth c o n sid e rin g , th o u gh inform ation con cern in g them is sc an ty . A few w ord s as to the g e o g ra p h y of N ew Z ea ­ land , con sid ered in a cricket sense, seem n ecessary here. T h e o ld p rovin ces were abolished for g o v e rn ­ mental pu rpo ses som e th irty years or more a g o ; bu t th ey h a v e been still retained as sp o rtin g en tities. A g lan ce a t the m ap w ill show on e Au ck land ,) T a ra n a k i, H a w k e ’s B a y , and W e llin g to n in the N orth Islan d , N elson , M a rlb o ro u g h , C an te rb u ry , W e s tla n d , O ta g o , and S o u th la n d in the S ou th Islan d . A s a “ p ro vin cial d istrict ” S ou th lan d is now , I b elieve, con sid ered part o f O t a g o ; m y a tla s (the H a rm sw o rth ) does not reco gn ise its separate existence, a n y w a y . B u t, excep t for a v e ry b rief period , S o u th la n d has a lw a y s cherished its inde­ pendence in the cricket w o rld , and so w e must coun t ten p ro vin ces, w h a tev er th e a tlases m a y sa y . O f these ten fou r stand out a b o v e the rest, m a in ly b y reason o f the possession each o f one town o f c o n ­ sid erab le size, where p len ty o f cricket is p la y ed . T h e s e fou r are A u c k la n d , C an te rb u ry , O ta g o , and W e llin g to n , and the tow n s ind icated are, o f cou rse, A u c k la n d , C h ristch u rch , D uned in , and W e llin g to n . T h e o re tic a lly , H a w k e ’s B a y ran ks w ith the fou r as a m a jo r p ro v in ce. P ra ctica lly , p la y in g v e ry few m atches, it stand s b elow them and pretty much on a par w ith S o u th la n d , w h ich has a sp iration s to be ranked as m ajo r. W e s tla n d has never, I b elieve, p la y ed a match a g a in st anoth er p ro vin ce. M a rlb o ro u gh and N e l­ son meet one another, and have had m atches w ith the stron g e r sides. T a ra n a k i has had occasion al g am es w ith H aw k e ’s B a y and N elson , and has met C an te rb u ry at least on ce. T h e s e m ino r p ro v in ces w ill concern us little. T h e y stand in relation to the oth ers much as the m inor coun ties in E n g la n d do to the first-class coun ­ ties. E xcep t fo r N elson , w h ich fo r years held its own in ann u al m atch es w ith W e llin g to n , their in ­ tercou rse w ith the m a jo r p ro v in ces has been sm a ll. A u c k lan d , C a n te rb u ry , H a w k e ’s B a y , O ta g o , S o u th la n d , and W e llin g to n m ust be ou r ch ief them e. A celeb rated h istorian on ce con tem p tu ou sly d is­ m issed the w a rrin g s o f the S a x o n H e p ta rch y as m ere “ b attles o f k ites and c ro w s .” T o som e people the ea rly m atch es o f the N ew Z e alan d p rovin ces m a y seem e lig ib le to be ranked in the sam e cate­ g o r y . But w ith th is 1 d o n ’t a g re e . I o n ly w ish I knew more abou t these ea rly g am es. T h e scores lie before m e ; b u t scores are not e v e r y th in g . O n e w ou ld like to know w h a t m anner o f men th ey w ere, th ese p ioneers o f rep resen tative cricket in M aori- lan d . T h e y bow led underhand , o f c o u rse ; they d id not m ake m any r u n s ; th ey fielded a s w ell a s rou gh g ro u n d s w ou ld adm it, doub tless. T h e first o f all the in ter-p ro vin cial m atches w a s p la y ed at W^ellington in M arch , i860, when A u c k ­ lan d sent a team south in an sw er to a ch a llen g e . A u c k la n d won b y 4 w ickets, s c o r in g 43 and 69 fo r 6 to W e llin g to n ’s 71 and 39. O n e S tedm an or S teedm an (even h is name is d ou b fu l) w as top scorer in each in n in g s for the w inn ers (14 and 31), and J. R u ss e ll took t o W e llin g to n w ick e ts. B u t no an a ly ­ s is w a s kept.