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The Spike or Victoria College Review June 1914

Cricket

Cricket.

"How is this reason (which is their reason) to gauge a scholar's worth

By casting a hall at three straight sticks and defending the same with a fourth."

—Kipling.

There are some optimists in the Cricket Club. At the beginning of each season they anticipate with confidence a match with the Professorial Board—which is another way of saying that the Senior Eleven will win the Championship. That match has not yet been played, but with the team we had in the field last season, it should have been.

During the season we met Otago 'Varsity at Dunedin, and Canterbury College in Wellington. At Easter the first inter Island 'Varsity cricket match was played in Christchurch. We were represented in the game by Atmore, Broad, Dempsey, and Caddick. Dempsey skippered the North Island team. After the match, a meeting of delegates from the four colleges was held. It was decided to make the fixture an annual one, and rules deciding eligibility of players were drawn up.

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The Senior Eleven has been disappointing during the past season. It was probably the strongest eleven we have ever put in the field, and yet it succeeded in winning only three games. Bad fielding was noticeable. Indeed, the match against Petone was thrown away by wretched mis-catching at the most critical stage of the game. Practically no fielding practice was indulged in last year, and we have seen how disastrous the result has been. Given the same tram next year, and provided that the members practice seriously and steadily, we shall have that match yet. Frank Joplin and G. Howe are to be congratulated on winning places in the Wellington representative team. Joplin played against Canterbury, Southland, Otago, Auckland, Australia; and Howe against Auckland, Hawke's Bay, Australia (twice), and Canterbury. We have been greatly helped during the season by the advice and example of Mr. Arthur Fenton, whose untiring energy and unfailing persistence have given us an example of the way the game should be played.

Senior Eleven.

Matches played, 9; Won, 3; Lost, 6.

v. Central.—Lost by seven wickets. Central, 206 and 16 for three wickets. College, first innings, 69 (Howe 16); second innings, 152. Birch (41) and Dempsey (35) batted very well. Other scorers were: Beechey 27, Dickson 14, Fanning 13. Fenton took three wickets for 44, and Duncan three for 42.

v. Old Boys.—Lost by 50 runs on first innings. College. 214 (Joplin 66, Beechey 48, Atmore 27, Dickson 13, Dempsey 11); Old Boys, 264 and 52 for five wickickets. In their first innings Macintosh took five wickets for 71 runs.

v. Hutt.—Won by 275 runs on first innings. It rained, and Fanning won the toss. Oh, lucky Jim! Rejoicing greatly, we went to the wickets, and scored 374 for eight wicket, (inning, declared closed). Joplin (116) and Birch (103 not out) batted splendidly, putting on 167 for the third wicket. Other scorers were: Atmore 41. Howe 30, Fenton 28, Beechey 21. Hutt made 99 when they went to the crease. Duncan (three for 14), Dickson (two for 14), and Macintosh (two for 19) bowled well for us.

v. East B.—Lost by 65 runs on first innings. Our fielding was not up to the mark. College, 172 (Beechey 47, Howe 46, Fenton 20, Atmore 16, Duncan 10); East B, 232.

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v. East A.—Won by 89 runs on first innings. We opened disastrously, having lost four wickets for 17 runs. However, Uncle Jim and Atmore smote the bowling cheerfully. It was all alike to them. The crowd especially enjoyed Fanning's "side-steps" to the leg side as he smote the ball heavenwards. We made 198 (Fenning 45, Atmore 44, Macintosh 32, Fenton 27, Dempsey 12, Caddick 11); East A, 109. Fenton bowled splendidly for College, taking eight wickets for 41 runs.

v. Petone.—Lost by two wickets (and bad fielding). College, 114 (Joplin 26, Dempsey 20, Dickson 20, Atmore 13, Howe 11) and 120 (Griffiths 27, Joplin 15, Fenton 20, Dempsey 14). Petone, 153 and 84 for eight wickets. Members are silent as to who dropped those catches.

v. East A.—Lost by 33 runs. Our fielding was again weak. College 81 (Howe 24, Fenton 16 not out); East A, 114.

v. North.—Lost by an innings and 66 runs. This was our worst defeat. College first innings, 115 (Fenton 31, Dickson 23, Birch 12, Dempsey 11, Atmore 11); second innings, 102 (Birch 43, Caddick 16, Fenton 11). North, 273.

v. Hutt.—Won by 3 runs on first innings. This proved an exciting finish. We wanted 50 to win when Howe joined Caddick, eight wickets being down. The latter foolishly threw his wicket away when 14 runs were still wanted, but Duncan and Howe just secured the necessary runs. College 154 (Birch 34, Howe 27, Caddick 23, Joplin 16, Dempsey 14). Fenton (five for 40) again bowled excellently. It seems strange to us that Fenton did not gain a place in the representative team.

Batting Averages.—Birch, 27.36 (11th for Wellington); F. Joplin, 24.7; Atmore, 20.2; Howe, 18.66; Fenton, 18; Beechey, 16.7; Dempsey, 13.5; Dickson, 11.75.

Bowling.—Fenton, 49 wickets, average 14.4; Dempsey, 7 wickets, average 16; Dickson, 25 wickets, average 19.6; Macintosh, 13, average 19.6; Duncan, 13 wickets, average 19.9. Fenton secured the highest aggregate of wickets for all clubs during the season.

Junior Eleven.

Matches played, 9; Won, 3; Lost, 6.

The Junior Eleven, so far from obtaining the fine record of the previous season, finished eighth on the Championship list. The cause of this falling away from grace is not hard to seek page 67 Faulty fielding lost three matches, and irresolute batting another.

Lack of practice was responsible for much of the failure. Our batsmen are good enough, but too uncertain in form to create much confidence. The bowling figures would suggest a weak attack; but in reality the bowlers would have done well enough but for that particular bete noire of dropped catches. The slip fielding in particular was on many occasions too bad for words.

v. East.—Won by six wickets. College, 84 and 73 for four wickets. Longhurst 35 (not out) and 22, Stott 14 and 10, Graham 19. East, 94 and 56 (four men short second inings). Bruce (three for 22, and Martin, three for 27) bowled well.

v. Porirua—Lost by four wickets. Faulty fielding threw the game away. Porirua, 187 and 42 for six wickets. College, 72 and 156 (Ward 36, Graham 32, Broad 30, Bruce 20, Longhurst 17). Broad took four wickets for 34, Martin three for 22, and Duncan three for 17. A good recovering was made in second innings, but four chances were dropped while we were in the held the second time. Alas! Likewise—er, yes!

v. Petone.—Lost by an innings and 28. Unlike the Seniors, we lost the toss, and fielded all the afternoon in the rain. College, 43 and 197 (Caddick 70, A. Miller 31, Broad 30, Morton 16, Stott 16, Ward 15). Petone, 268. Longhurst took six wickets for 68. The lost toss meant a lost game;

v. Artillery.—We were no match for the team that ultimately won the Championship, and lost by an innings. Artillery, 212. College, 59 and 72 (Ward 26 not out, Broad 14, Caddick 10, Longhurst 10). Ward took three wickets for 16.

v. Old Boys.—Lost by six wickets after leading on first innings. Our batting utterly broke down on the second day. College, So (Bruce 35, A. Miller 11) and 69 (Martin 20 & not out, Ward 11). Old Boys, 63, and four for 90. Martin (five for 28, and G. Miller (three for 52) shared the bowling honours.

v. Brooklyn.—Won by 88 runs. College, 187 (C. Joplin 53 not out, Broad 40, Ward 20, O'Shea 17, Le Grove 11), and eight for 149 (Joplin 54 not out, Broad 22, Ward 20, Morton 20). Brooklyn, 98 and 151. Wickets were obtained by Ward (six for 60) and G. Miller (eight for 65).

V. Wellington College.—Lost by 97 runs on first innings. Fielding again! We made 145 (Ward 27, O'Shea 20, G, page 68 Miller 30, Martin 13 not out), and 201 (Broad 50, C Joplin 47, Longhurst 20, Willis 24). Wellington College made 242. Bruce took six wickets for 70.

v. North.—Lost on first innings by 19 runs. Still the tale of the dropped catch! North, 148 and 264 for three wickets. College made 129 (Willis 23, Castle 23 not out, Bruce 17, Broad 15), and 96 for five wickets (Castle 36, Broad 20, O'Shea 12).

v. Hutt.—Won by an innings and 43 runs. In this game the team played as it should always have done. College, 263 (Castle 63, O'Shea 49, Salmond 44, Broad 20, Bruce 33, Ward 15). Hutt, 117 and 102. Martin (five for 43, O'Shea (six for 69), and Ward (six for 46) bowled best for us.

Batting Averages.—Joplin, 81; Caddick, 22; O'Shea, 21; Broad, 18.17; Castle, 15.2; Ward, 15.13; Willis, 14.7; Longhurst, 14; Bruce, 10.5.

Bowling Averages.—Ward, 18 wickets, average 12.8; G. Miller, 29 wickets, average 13.7; Broad, 15 wickets, average 15.9; Martin, 22 wickets, average 18.9; Bruce, 10 wickets, average 22.8.

Third Eleven.

The Third Eleven has not had a very successful season so far as the winning of matches is concerned, but it is a joyous little company, and has intimated its intention of practising hard next season.

V. Central.—An auspicious opening to a successful (!) season. After punishing the opposing bowling for at least ten minutes, our tenth wicket fell with the score at——well, we won't mention it. Top scorer, Mr. "Extras." Despite Barney's "googlies" and "wrong 'uns," the other side won.

V. North.—Very exciting for the other side. Robertson's little finger nearly knocked off by our fast bowler (?). Mr. "Extras" again busy.

v. Karori.—Best game of the season. We went in first, and compiled a fair score (about 50, in fact), of which O'Shea made 20. Karori's innings closed when they were 10 ahead. O'Shea's bowling terrified the suburbanites. Note.— We turned out with 14 men. As we had a lady scorer, the extra men helped to score.

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v. Saint David's.—Our bowling improved quite out of sight. In fact, it was over the fence most of the time. Score forgotten. "Tis better thus."

v. Johnsonville.—A delightful trip to the country, although wet. On inspecting the wicket, we decided that discretion was the better part of valour. Having formally declared the game won by default, we decamped. Our first (and last) win.

v. Old Boys. —Same old story. Despite Jerry's eloquence, the game went the way of all our games. Butcher complained that he had left his bag at home.

Victoria College v. Otago 'Varsity.

Our second encounter with Otago 'Varsity took place on the Carisbrook Ground, Dunedin, on December 26th and 27th, under ideal weather conditions, and proved to be one of the most enjoyable games of the season. Dempsey lost the toss to Tweedy, who sent Otago in to bat on an excellent wicket. Their score had reached 168 when the last wicket fell, Tweedy making 59, and Uttley 22. Dempsey (three for 42), Martin (three for 46), and Duncan (two for 34) obtained most of the wickets.

Our first wicket fell at 16, but Broad and Howe took the score to 48 before the former was dismissed. Good stands were made by the fourth wicket (F. Joplin and Caddick), and the fifth wicket (F. Joplin and McCaw), our innings closing for 253. F. Joplin batted splendidly, treating all bowling alike His score of 117 included 19 fours. The other double figure scorers were Howe (34), Caddick (28), McCaw (24), Broad (14), Dempsey (10).

In their second innings, Otago, batting much more vigorously, made 263 for seven wickets, Tweedy (84) and Bannerman (52 not out) being chief scorers. Our second innings realised 99 for two wickets. F. Joplin again batted well, scoring 52 not out; Broad made 31 not out. The game was thus drawn.

Our thanks are due to the Otago men for their very hospitable treatment of our team. We carried with us from Dunedin many pleasant memories. The trip was good, but, as Fred. Martin (H.B.P.) would say, "Dunedin is always good, especially—,"

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Victoria College v. Canterbury College.

We met Canterbury College on January 21st and 22nd on Wellington College ground, and after many weary years of trying, at last managed to defeat them.

Canterbury batted first, and scored 115 (Guiney 26, Gurnsey 29). Dempsey bowled well, taking seven wickets for 43, while Morton secured three for 16. In our first innings we made 306. Broad, the reliable (54), tired the Canterbury bowlers, one of whom, in desperation, bowled at him under-hand. Griffiths (62) batted well, and C. Joplin "whanged" lustily for 45. At- more (43) batted in his usual good style. Others scorers were Dempsey 23, Fanning 20, Martin 18.

Canterbury, in the second innings, made 287. Hollis (78) out-Broaded Broad for patience. Luttrell scored 51 very breezily, and Moore (55) and Smith (54) also batted well.

Requiring 97 runs to win, and having 45 minutes to get them in, we commenced our second innings. Griffiths (43) and Fanning (45) scored the runs, with ten minutes to spare, each hitting vigorously. V.C. accordingly won by nine wickets.