CRICKET.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2658, 13 November 1909, Page 6

CRICKET.

TO-DAY’S MATCHES

The senior and junior competitions will he continued this afternoon. In the former United and Wanderers will continue, their match at Victoria Domain, and Y.M.C.A. and Taruheru will resume play at Taruheru. In the junior competition, United and Y.M.C.A., and. Wanderers and Alhambra will try conclusions at the Domain. All matches are to begin at 2.15 p.m. TOKOMARU v. TUPAROA. (From Our Correspondent.) On Tuesday morning the Tokomaru team journeyed to Tuparoa to play the match which was arranged last month. The weather was all that could be desired, and the Tuparoa enthusiasts had prepared a very good wicket, which, with the matting, played very well. Tokomaru arrived on the ground two men short, but the Tuparoa captain kindly consented to let them play two substitutes. AY. Oates, junr., won the toss ana went to the wickets with L. E. Cotterill, but a poor start was made, Oates being clean bowled by a beauty from W. Skitch. for a single. L. Reed followed, and quickly hit up the devil s number before Ludbrook bowled him. G Oates made things merry while he lasted, and was top scorer with 10. The rest, with the exception of Cotterill who played almost right through the innings for 10, made but a poor display, and the innings closed for o-l. Ludbrook and W. Skitch were the opening batsmen for Tuparoa. Skitch, after making 7. was caught by L. Reed oft’ AY Oates. H. Skitch followed, and he and Ludbrook carried the score to 52 when an adjournment was made for lunch. On resuming play xi. Skitch failed to stop a good one from L Reed, and retired with a nicely compiled 24 to his credit. Ludbrook shortly afterwards touched one into G Oates’ hands at second slip, having scored 19. Oakden (11) and Andrews (16) were the other double. figure scoiers AY. Oates, junr., striking a length with his leg break, secured the remaining five wickets quickly, and the innings closed for 92. Tokomaru in their second innings fared even worse than in their first being all disposed of for 41. Tuparoa., requiring four runs to win, got them without the loss of a wicket. The following are the scores: Tokomaru, Ist Innings.—L. E. Cotterill, b Ludbrook. 10; AA. Oates, junr., b AY. Skitch, 1; L Reed, b iAidbrook, 13; j. Oates, b Ludbrook, o, G -Gate-, b Ludbrook, 15; Carey, b Ludbrook, 0; Brown, run out, 4; Blake >st .Andrews, b Skitch, 2;R. Reed b Siutch 0; Williams, not out, 0; Doolmg, b Ludbrook, 0; sundries, 4. Total Bowling analysis.—-AY. Skitch, 3 for 24; Ludbrook, 6 for 28. Tokomaru, 2nd Innings —L E. Gotterill, st. Andrews, b Ludbrook, 0 ; \\ . Oates, junr., e Perrit, b Ludbrook, 2: L. Reed, b Ludbrook, 9: J. Oates b Ludbrook, 0; G. Oates, b W. Skitch, 4; Carey, b Oakden, 7; Brown, c Russell, b H. Skitch, 13; Blake run out 7; R Reed, not out, 2; Williamson, b H. Skitch, 2; Dooling, st. Andrews, h H. Skitch, 0; sundries, 4. Total, 41. Bowling analysis.—YV. Skitch, 1 for 2; Ludbrook, 4 for 5; H. Skitch, 3 for 9; Oakden, 1 for 21. Tuparoa, Ist Innings.—AY. Skitch, c J, Reed, h AY. Oates, 7; Ludbrook, c G. Oates, b L. Reed, 19; H. Skitch, b T Reed 24; AY. Oakden, bL. Reed, 1: Andrews, b I, Reed 16; Nicklen, st. J. Oates, b AY. Oates, 0; Pernt, at. T. Oates, b AY. Oates 2; Russell, b A\. On+es O' Smith, c L. Jb AN. Oates’, o;’Hogan, c Blake, b AA .Oates, 0; Dalgairns, not out, 0; sundries, 13. Total, 92. T , 9Q Bowling analysis.—L. Reed 4 for -J, W. Oates 6 for 31, G. Oates 0 for 19. Tuparoa, 2nd innings.—Andrews, not out, 4; H. Skitch, not out, 0. Total, 4. Bowling analysis. —AA . Oates 0 for 4.

“SOME FALLACIES.”

Roeardin rr “cricket fallacies, _ a writer in the “Field” hinteresting to say about the hucling fallacy, which, he says, is persistent and misleading. .“.‘The deterioration fielding is quite a favorite subject, He writes “on which writers, who ought to know better -expatiate from time to time, chiefly when there- has been a KP ell of fine, dry weather, and consequently a succession of drawn matches At one time we used to see artudes i the papers gravely calculating the number of catches dropped^m the eouis-e of the season, and the startling effect it would have on the proportion of d ™wn -rames if even half of them had been held. But few things are more certain than that the general run of fielding lias improved rather than deteriorated clur ing the last fifteen years. Certainly in one important point, that of wicketkeeping, it has improved out of all knowledge. 'When. Mr. Blackham first ’’ came over with an Australian team it is not too much to say that his methods behind the stumps were a revelation. He showed us ho-.v it ought to be done, and we learned the lesson more quickly and thoroughly than might have been expected from so conservative a race. The revelation heralded a revolution. At the present moment there are probably more wicket-keepers of the first rank in this country than there ever have been before. AVe have, too, an array of men who can pick up catches in the slips at least as well as any heroes of antiquity. Yet one reads daily in.the cricket reports of misses, of ‘palpable chances in the slips,’ until it lias become a matter of received opinion that wo have forgotten how to hold catches. This is merely another instance of perversion by the picturesque reporter, who must, for the sake of his living, find something to write about. What ballpens usually is that the batsman snicks a, rising ball from a fast bowler, one of the three- or four men in the slips just fails' to reach it; it goes to the boundary, is down in the reporter’s notebook as a ‘palpable chance.’ In the good < 1 d days the fast bowler did not have this array of men behind the wickets, and did not bowl primarily and almost exclusively for their benefit. The chance would have gone l unremarked, then, because there would have been no one near enough to stretch out his hand. If there had been, it is very doubtful whether he would have got as near catching :it as his successor of to-day. Slip-catching, no less than wicket-keeping, is an art in itself, and one in which we have improved con- \ si dor ably of late.’.’