Cricket 1913

616 C R I CK E T : A W E E K L Y RECORD OF THE GAME. September 13, 1913. a n n u a l ev en ts fo r a tim e, b u t little o f note occu rred in them , and latter on N elson d ro pp ed ou t o f the ru n n in g . A fa r more im portan t ev en t o f the ’ 77-8 season w a s the v isit o f the F irs t A u s tra lian T eam , w h ich w a s later to s ta g g e r h um a n ity b y d e fe a tin g the M .C .C . in a s in g le d a y ’s 'c r ic k e t at L o r d ’s. A lla n w a s not w ith the side, bu t K e n d a ll, w h o did not g o to E n g la n d a fter a ll, w a s ; and he, S p o ffo rth , G a r ­ rett, and B o y le m ade up a quartet all too stro n g for M ao rilan d cricketers. M a tch es were p la yed at In ­ v e rc a rg ill, D u n e d in , O am a ru , C h ristch u rch , W e l­ lin g to n , N ap ier, and A u c k la n d . W e s n e y ( C o n ­ w ay ’s Au stra lian Gu id e g iv e s him as H e sn e y , bu t W e s n e y is correct) d istin gu ish e d h im self by m a k in g 39* at In v e rc a rg ill— total o n ly 89, w ith 14 extras. H . M cN e il, p ro b a b ly O t a g o ’s best b at abou t th is tim e, scored 28 at D u n e d in . O lliv ie r made 36 and N elson 26 in the C a n te r b u ry ’s N V . ’s first in n in g s. In none of the oth er m atch es did an y batsm an reach 20. A m o n g the b ow lers M o rrison (6 fo r 87) at In ­ v e rc a rg ill, M illin g to n (5 fo r 33) at D u n ed in , L id d le (5 fo r 5 1) at N ap ier, and L y n c h (5 fo r 67) at A u c k ­ land d id b est. T h e s e w ere d a y s o f sm all th in g s fo r N ew Z e alan d cricketers when th ey ran up a g a in st first-class s id e s ; bu t e v e r y th in g must have a b e g in n in g , and th e y were la y in g the foun d ation s. C an te rb u ry beat O ta g o at D un ed in b y 9 w ickets th is season . H . W . M oore fo llow ed up his 76 in the last m atch b y a 75 in th is, W . F rith made 51, and A s h b y to o k 8 for 56. F o llo w in g on in a m in o ­ rity o f 131 O ta g o m ade 185, e ig h t men rea ch in g d ou b le figu res, w ith 30 ’s b y G . H . C la rk e and W . G . D ix o n as h igh e st scores. B u t before this m atch C an te rb u ry had sen t a team to A u c k lan d , and had w on b y 108 run s. No one reached 40 for th em ; bu t A s h b y (5 for 2) and W . F rith (3 for 3) bund led ou t A u c k la n d fo r 13 runs (8 extras) in the last in n in g s o f the g am e . F rom A u c k la n d they w en t on to W e llin g to n , and scored 153 (A s h b y 44) to the hom e s id e ’s 32 and 42 fo r 4. T h is w as credited to them as a v ic to ry , one d a y ’s p la y o n ly ta k in g p la c e ; bu t the m atch shou ld h a ve lasted tw o d a y s, and a s its po stponem en t w a s du e to the C a n ­ te rb u ry m en ’s late a rriv a l the correct result w a s un ­ d ou b ted ly a d raw . W . F rith took 8 fo r 26 here. It w as w ith ev e ry r ig h t to sa y that they repre­ sen ted the c h ie f cricket cen tre o f the D om in ion (not so-called then, how ever) th at the C an te rb u ry men v o y a g e d to A u s tra lia in D ecem b er, 1878. T h e ir p rog ramm e w a s not o f an am b itiou s order. T h e y defeated B a lla ra t in a m atch p re se n tin g no v e ry m arked featu res, were h e a v ily beaten b y a M e l­ b ou rn e C lu b team , and b y S ou th M elbou rne, and then had a fine w in o ver a stro n g E a st M elbourne side, w h ich included T om Ilo r a n , B o y le , G rou b e, C am p b e ll, the old O x o n ia n , and oth er crack s. O lliv ie r made 83 for on ce ou t in th is m atch, A s h b y 69 for once o u t; W . F rith p la yed an in n in g s o f 50, and N elson one o f 48. W . F r ith ’s 9 fo r 115 also had a b ig b e a rin g upon the resu lt. T h e tou rists lost to the Bohem ian s, bu t beat R ichm o n d , W . F rith m a k in g 54, O lliv ie r 48, and C . F rith ta k in g 5 for 16 in R ichm o n d ’ s second . A on e-d ay gam e p layed at H obart on the return jou rn ey w a s lost by 6 runs. T h e members o f the team w ere W . F . Neilson (captain ), D . A s h b y , T . S . B aker, E . F ow ler, C . F rith , W . F rith , E . T . A . F u lle r, J. F . H a rtlan d , G . H . L ee, R . T . M cD o n n e ll, A . M . O lliv ie r , and G . W a ts o n . In the absence o f C . C . C o rfe and M . J. G o d b y , it w a s not qu ite at fu ll stren g th . Bu t its m embers perform ed v e ry cred itab ly indeed. O lliv ie r scored 278 in 10 com pleted in n in g s (aver­ a g e 27.80), W . F rith 209 in 8 (26.12), A s h b y 211 in 10 (21.10 ), N eilson 192 in 10 (19.20 ); and B aker, F ow ler, L ee, and W a ts o n had also doub le-figu re a ve ra g e s. W . F rith (30 w ickets at 15.50 each), A s h b y (27 at 13.77), C . F rith (21 at 14.76), and L ee (16 at 22.50) did most o f the b o w lin g . F ow le r w as the w icket-keeper. A fte r their return the team beat O ta g o at C h ris t­ chu rch in an in n in g s. A s h b y scored 40 and took 10 fo r 67, YV. F rith made 33 and took 6 fo r 23. T h e in v alu ab le P aram o r bow led w ith g rea t stead iness fo r the losers, and had 6 for 45. C an te rb u ry won a g a in at Duned in (b y 9 w ickets) in 1879-80, and in the fo llow in g season they had a v e ry b ig v icto ry , ru n n in g up the record score (wh ich still hold s for these m atches) o f 381, and g e ttin g ou t O ta g o for 77 and 72. G . W a ts o n , w h o had been a member o f the team to A u stra lia , hit up 175 for C an terb u ry — another record for the series. T h e S econd A u stra lian T e am , after its return from E n g la n d , visted N ew Z e alan d in J an u a ry and F eb ru a ry , 1881, p la y in g at In v e rca rg ill, Duned in , O am aru , T im a ru , C h ristch u rch , W e llin g to n , N el­ son , W a n g a n u i, N ap ier, and A u c k la n d . C an te r­ b u ry (a X V .) w ere the o n ly team to raise three figu res a g a in st them in an in n in g s. A t C h ris t­ chu rch M u rdoch m ade a cen tu ry (c. and b . S ecre- tan), and the sp ectators had a ch an ce to see one o f the w o rld ’s g rea t batsm en at h is best. In 1881-2 O ta g o , after seven su ccessive defeats, at last beat C an te rb u ry a g a in , w in n in g b y 77 runs at D u n e d in . W . J. C raw sh aw , w ho later p layed fo r tw o or three oth er p ro v in ces, w a s top scorer in O ta g o ’s first w ith 39 ; 0 . H . H a sk ell m ade 34 ; in the second L . M . H a rris scored 30. A s h b y (34 and 30) headed the score in each in n in g s o f C an te rb u ry . W . F rith had m igrated to O ta g o , and took 8 fo r 70 in the match ; for the losers E . T . A . F u lle r had 11 for 9 1. A n o th e r E n g lish team cam e a lo n g th is season, S h aw , S h rew sb u ry , and L illy w h ite ’s . T h e y p layed seven m atches, w in n in g five, d raw in g two. D uned in , O am aru , T im a ru , C h ristch u rch , W e l­ lin g ton , W a ik a to , and A u c k la n d were the places visited . A u c k la n d ’s 122 w a s the h igh e st total. T h e d a y o f sm all th in g s had not ended y e t.