(Specially Written for “N.Z. Railways Magazine,” by W. F. Ingram.)

Although the Empire Games, and the excellent running of the New Zealand distance runners, took priority of place in the minds of New Zealand's sporting citizens, the performance of the women's cricket team in Australia was so full of merit that it must be chronicled in these columns.

This is the first occasion that a team of New Zealand women cricketers has left these shores, and it cannot be said that they left with the confident support of many people. They returned with the satisfaction of having more than justified their visit to the stronghold of women's cricket, and in future New Zealanders must realise that the standard here is high and worthy of every encouragement.

Five games were played, the results being as follow:—

v. New South Wales juniors, at Sydney, drawn. New South Wales juniors 111 (M. Hollis two for 11, J. Holmes two for 19, R. Martin one for 29, M. Thomas two for 29, P. Blackler for 8). New Zealand, 82 for four wickets (D. Hatcher 55).

v. Metropolitan, at Chatswood, won by 68 runs on the first innings. New Zealand 145 (D. Hatcher 41, P. Blackler 35 not out), and 68 for five (J. Holmes 22). North Metropolitan 77 (M. Hollis three for 18, M. Thomas four for 24, P. Blackler three for 18).

v. South Metropolitan, at Sydney, lost by seven runs. New Zealand 123 (M. Hollis 26, J. Holmes 17, P. Blackler 15, M. Corby 11, R. Ingram 10). South Metropolitan 130 (M. Hollis six for 32, M. Thomas three for 26, J. Holmes one for three).

v. New South Wales, at Sydney, lost by 18 runs. New Zealand 144 (I. Johns 37, D. Hatcher 22, I. Pickering 18, P. Blackler 15, J. Holmes 14, J. Fowler 11, M. Thomas 10). New South Wales 162 (M. Hollis six for 42, P. Blackler two for 30, M. Corby one for 9, J. Holmes one for 8).

v. Combined Country, at Sydney, won by 158 runs. New Zealand 347 for five, declared (I. Pickering not out 54, I. Johns 52, J. Fowler 50, R. Martin not out 39, D. Hatcher 13, M. Corby 11). Combined Country 89 (I. Pickering five for 23, J. Holmes three for 7).

Miss M. Hollis (Otago) was the most successful trundler—or is it trundless? —taking 17 wickets for 106 runs in four matches at an average of 6.2 runs a wicket. She was the only bowler to take more than 10 wickets, the others, Misses Holmes (seven for 50), M. Thomas (nine for 98), I, Pickering (five for 71), and P. Blackler (seven for 114) sharing the remainder of the wickets. Miss Hollis was really brilliant in the match against the strong New South Wales team, taking six wickets for 42 runs. When it is mentioned that this team included six players from the Australian team which had successfully toured England last year it will be appreciated that the New Zealander's bowler did no mean feat.

On the batting side, Miss I Johns (Auckland) topped the averages with three innings totalling 95 runs—an average of 31.6 an innings. The best aggregate was returned by Miss D. Hatcher (Wellington), who made 149 runs in five innings for an average of 29.8.

The match against New South Wales was anticipated to be far too big a task for the New Zealand girls, but they rose to the occasion, against a fast bowler considered equal to many leading male speedsters, and lost only by 18 runs.

Cricket for women is making steady progress in New Zealand, and as the result of this tour the public interest should be made more noticeable. It is not possible to improve the standard to an appreciable extent unless the public enthusiasm is shown by patronage of the game.

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