Cricket 1913

704 CR I CK E T : A W E E K L Y RECORD OF THE GAME. November 1 5 , 19 13 . Southland as good as that in H aw ke’ s B ay, and H aw ke’ s B ay were allowed to compete. Questioned, Mr. O rchard stated that Southland were prepared to fulfil all en gage- m ents, and Mr. A. E . R idley said that he felt sure the donor of the shield had never intended that any association w ish­ in g to compete should be debarred. Mr. F. W ildin g, K .C ., the chairm an (an old C an terbury cricketer of fame, and fath er of A. F. W ildin g the tennis cham pion), said, in reply to a q u ery that H aw ke’ s B ay only go t their Shield matches on sufferance. A n d ju st here, one thin ks, Mr. W ildin g ga ve aw ay the opposition ’ s case. No one can pretend that Southland would be very likely to beat C anterbury, A uckland , W ellin g­ ton, or O tago; but they m ight beat H aw ke’ s B ay, whom they have never yet met, as it chances. H aw ke’ s B ay are a m ajor association “ on su fferan ce.” T h at is to say, they are not expected to carry out such a programm e as the other fou r provinces mentioned. T h e schem e agreed to provides that A ucklan d and C an terbury, A uckland and W ellington, C an terbury and O tago , C an terbury and W ellington, and O tago and W ellington should meet every season, and A u ck ­ land and O tago every other season, while H aw ke’s B ay should arran ge such m atches as seem suitable. T h at is to say, C anterbury and W ellington must play at least three m atches every season, A uckland and O tago three in one season, two in another; Hawke’ s B ay m ay p lay only one m atch if they choose. Southland are prepared to do what H aw ke’ s B ay are not; they would fulfil a regu lar programm e. One would not for a moment su g g est their b ein g allowed to suppant H aw ke’s B ay, but there ou gh t to be room for them on a sim ilar basis to A uckland and O tago. Southland has to stru g g le again st clim atic conditions very sim ilar to those of, say, the H igh land s of Scotland, and its cricketers deserve encouragem ent for th eir pluck and tenacity. T h e ir gu aran ­ tee to fulfil all en gagem en ts n ecessapr seems to remove the one objection to th eir inclusion, w'hich was pointed out in these p ages when that inclusion was first mooted. But for the present Southland must content them selves w ith Hawke Cup m atches a gain st the m inor association s, and they hope to meet South A uckland (the holders) at W ellington or Christch urch this season. A s to the H awke Cup, a resolution to revert to the form er system of challen ge m atches, instead of the recent tourna­ ment principle, w as carried by 17 votes to 3. It was g en erally felt that the m inor association s could not stand the financial strain of a regu lar series of m atches, as their revenues were so sm all. T h ese m inorassociations are many. Some of them— Southland, N elson, M arlborough, Westland — are provinces; others, such as W anganui, W airarapa, South C anterbury, North T aran ak i, South T aran ak i, South A uckland , R an gitek ei, P overty B ay, are parts of provinces or districts so placed that their lead in g p layers have no chance of selection for provincial teams. T h e result is som ewhat con fu sin g; it is difficult, however, to see how this could be avoided, and certain ly these m inor associations help to keep the gam e from la n g u ish in g outside the cities. B ut as an instance of the anom alies th at follow , I may instance the fact that D avid C ollin s, the C am bridge blue, is sh eep-farm ing in the W airarapa district. T h is is in Wel­ lin gto n , his native province . It is said to be doubtful whether he w ill p lay for W ellington or in the com paratively obscure W airarapa matches. One does not see why he should not p lay for both sides. T h ese m inor association s ou gh t to be affiliated to the provincial bodies as w ell as to the Council. T h e delegates at the m eetin g were: M essrs. F. W ilding, K .C . (chairm an), J. Y o u n g (Auckland), D. R eese and C. R. C lark (Canterbury), J. F. Peake and A. E . R id ley (O tago), J. H. W illiam s and K. S. W illiam s (W ellington), F. H. L abatt (H awke’ s B ay), S. A. O rchard (Southland), W. B. Bottrell (M arlborough), E. J. A ustin (N elson), J. N. Fow ke (W estland), A. H. H ardy (North T aran ak i), A. T . D onnelly (South A uckland), H. R. B rittain (Eouth C anterbury), G. F. F ra n cis (W anganui), R. V incent (Poverty B ay), T. W. R eese (Buller), and F. C. R aphael (Hon. Sec., N .Z .C .A .). T h o se who follow N ew Zealand cricket w ill note the pre­ ponderance of C an terbury names. T h e distant provinces w ere nearly all represented by some Christch urch man. T h ere m ay be draw backs incidental to this; but it certainly has its good side. A. E. R idley, as spokesm an for his old O tago opponents, S. A. O rchard sp ea k in g up m an fully for little Southland, and that worthy veteran, James Fow ke, represen tin g Westland, are pleasant pictures to contemplate. T h is sort of th in g must help the solidarity of N .Z. cricket. It is more than likely that the A lbion and G ran ge C lubs of Dunedin w ill am algam ate. Both form erly strong they have of late years been weakened by various causes. T h e y draw their men from the north end of the city, and th eir com­ bin in g would mean one really strong club for that quarter instead of two very moderate team s. T h e A lbion C .C . recently held its jubilee, and is the oldest club in the Dom inion, by the way. T h e O tago C .A . started the season of 1912-3 w ith a credit balance of £42, and ended it with a debit of £ 32, bad weather at the tim es of the representative m atches b ein g the chief con tributing cause. W ellington have nom inated E. M. B eechey, C. V . G rim ­ mett, F. A. M idlane, and C. W. Robinson for the A ustralian tour, O tago, J. W. Condliffe, C. C. Hopkins, T . M cF arlane, H. G. Siedeberg, R. C. T orran ce, and B. J. T uckw ell. Not all these w ill gain places, of course; and it is understood that the selectors are not tied down to these nom inations, but are at liberty to choose men passed over by their associations. A t the annual m eeting of the W ellington C .A . there was the usual amount of criticism— unfortunately all of the destructive, not of the constructive kind. Lord R osebery is the stan din g example of the destructive critic; but they are not all R osebervs ! Mr. C. G. W ilson su ggested th at some of the m embers who criticised the comm ittee had a splendid chance of pu ttin g their shoulders to the wheel; but this is not the role of the little Roseberys— not by lo n g chalks ! Mr. F. A. M idlane had to point out that visits to other centres, th ough they m ight be expensive, could not be avoided, as without them there would be no visitors from those centres to the B asin Reserve. T h ere does not seem much hope for the people who needed that explanation. T he m anagem ent comm ittee of the association con sists of M essrs. C. G. W ilson, M. J. Crom bie, J. F an n in g, F. A. M idlane, E . M. B eechey, A . L. Goldfinch, Claude H ickson, and A. A. G eorge; Mr. B eechey is Hon. Sec.; Mr. F. M. Martin Hon. T reasurer; and Mr. C. E. Stevens Hon. Auditor. Mr. M. F. L u ck ie was nom inated for the com­ m ittee, but preferred not to serve. He and Mr. W ilson are the association ’ s delegates to Mr. N .Z. C ricket Council. THE SCORE BOOK. A ll S a s k a tc h e w a n ( X V I I I .) v . A u s tr a lia n T e a m . A t R e g in a , S e p t e m b e r 5. T h e lo c a l te a m in c lu d e d a n u m ­ b e r o f m e n w h o h a v e s c o r e d w e ll in to u r n a m e n t m a tc h e s a n d c lu b g a m e s , b u t n o n e o f th e m (n o t e v e n S . P. M e s t o n , w h o p la y e d b o t h f o r G lo u c e s t e r s h ir e a n d E s s e x ) fo u n d C r a w fo r d a n d M a c a r t n e y to h is lik in g . O ’ H a r a e a r n e d c r e d it b y h it t in g a 6 a n d th r e e 4 ’ s in h is 20, a n d p e r h a p s s o m e o f h is c o m r a d e s w o u ld h a v e d o n e b e t t e r i f t h e y h a d g o n e f o r t h e b o w lin g a s h e d id . L it t le w o o d is a fo r m e r L a n c a s h ir e p r o . T h e A u s tr a lia n s h a d th e ir u s u a l e a s y w in . A ll S askatchewan (X V III). R. Edwards, lbw, b Arnott ...... 4 R. C. E lliott, c Craw ford, b E. H. H artley, c Crawford, b Macartney .............................. o Collins .......................................... 10 A. Stronach, st Campbell, b S. P. Meston, b Arnott .............. 3 Macartney .................................... 7 D. Byass, c Craw ford, b Collins o Rev. D. Parker, b Craw ford ... 2 G. C. O’ Hara, b Collins .......... 20 Dr. H ewitt, b Macartney ............ o C. Holmes, c & b Arnott ......... 4 G. Littlew ood, not out ................. 5 J. Gordon, b Macartney ........... 14 R. H. Scott, b Craw ford ............ o J. J. Brewer, c Mayne, b Craw- A. C. Down, b Craw ford ............. o ford .............................................. 7 Extra.......................... 1 A. W. G oldie, b Macartney ... 3 G. L. Slater, b Macartney ....... o — H. A. Goome, run out ............... 3 T otal..................... 83 A ustralian T eam . W. Bardsley, c Hartley, b G. S. Down, b Littlew ood ..................2 Meston ........................................ 58 E. R. Mayne, c Meston b Little- H. L. Collins, c & b Meston... 45 wood ............................................... 18 P. S. Arnott, c Slater, b Meston 11 L. A. Cody, not out ................ 10 S. H. Emery, b Littlewood ... 45 Extras........................... 12 C. G. Macartney, b Meston ...... 7 ------ G. C. Campbell, not out .......... 68 Total (for 8 wkts.) 278 J. N. Craw ford, b Littlew ood 2 A.Diamond did not bat.