INTERVIEW WITH MR P. F.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11500, 5 February 1903, Page 5

INTERVIEW WITH MR P. F.

A VISITOR'S IMPRESSIONS During the journey Iron Springfield to Christolwirch, » representative of Tbe 1 Preee". bed the pleasure of as isforating '- talk with Jir P. F. Warner, the oantftin of the visiting t*am. * "Wβ have had a very good tinted Mr Warner eaid, speaking of tie tour J* a whole. . "Delightful. There has been too much travelling, though. Often ire pfejed. only a very few hour* after arriving at a place, and sometimes vent straight to " the ground. At Hawtra, for fewtenca, - there was an hour's interval after arrival. At Greymouth Wβ -were able to reefc for"' only two houre, after a most fatiguing journey." i J "What do you thmk ©f ibo eceaery of - New Zealand, at far ad you have been able U judge of itr For an atmnt'to this question ilr Warner referred the pnaijnaa < to Mr LeathanvM 'teeenfo expert ol the ' team." Mr Leatham, who sptnt most of , tie time while he watt in tie train in * jotting down mformation acquired on the country and crops, laid down nje pencil with alecrifcy and anewered "LoveJy. *Wo - all think that," added Mr Warner. ''W* * wore of a different opinion, though, on ilie wet day when we drove from Blenheim to Neleon. ,, J The English captain was reluctant, at first, to stftte hm impressions of New Zealand cricket. "We have not «en the beet of it yet—except at Wellington," he explained. "I think that Auckland jfcrald . > ]» better, considering it* 60,000 inhabitant/). Grey-mouth )« not nearly a* bed an it i.i alleged to be They placed their fiuld -very Veil there, hut-, of course, they had eighteen fielders. At Nefoon , , aS»o, , the field was v«ry well placed, Aa a *ol» " the captains we 'hare met might alter the - disposition of the field more to meet tb* different bntamen. Much the beef orioket piiwd againft u« was at Wellington* At ' . Greymouth the fielding wa* very good, on a very rough wicket, and there were three or four extremely good catohea • made. The West Coaet did no well agabttt us that I certainly thiak they ebomjj. be.inc'u.led in the list of visiting teams ia I f>r, the whole, Mr Warner wa* of twin- . i '-■■': )!..■•• the ntandard of cricket in New j />^ : :i».d..ahould be \cry high in a- few ■M~.Td i:mo. "CatcJi your cricbetem your;;, and bring them on by firetrdaei I'licl.ct mnffteni or by professionals," intfrjfcic'i Mr TiCatham, and Mr Warner endorsed Utc atlnce, adding that it'was al> wavK well to wcure the services of pro* fesiiopals, and it ought to be pojaibla to get excellent men from Australia, with lers expense than from Home. Tlte beet ground on which the risitora have yet played, in Mr'Warner*e opinion, m that of Auckland. At Wellington there were a fine ground, a good pavilion, and. a eplendkt wicket, but the oatrffeld was very rough, and should be improved , , he thought, before the icat match k placed there. Hie beet wktefe met with wa* on"ti>e first day's play at the Eknpsn city, when the Wellington men batted The English team went in the next moming, but it. had runed during the sight. The Auckland wicket waa also very good. < Among batsmen encountered, 'Mahoney, Tucker, Richardcon, and Hjckson (aH ot Wellington), Hay (Auckland), Han&all (Wanganui), and Liuk (Napier), were 'all . good men. The beat bowler* were McCarthy (Hawera), and Ongley (Weet CciKt). Hie latter, after diecouating h» advantages in Slaving 18 fitldm, and in bowling on a starting wicket not pinned at the sides, was «tis an fine stow lx»wlfcr, and ought to make a very good cricketer. "We nearly alwarp get ii good wicket- k.eeper here, added Mr -Z Warner, "and «orae of them, are v«ry ,< good, taking the ball especially weptnt the leg." The oonrers*tion turning upon more general matters, the Engiieh captain "was

asked his opinion on the proposal to widen the wickete from eight inohen to nine inches, and the alternative suggestion of adding two inches to their height. Either course, ilr Warner thought, would be preferable m> altering the leg before rule. At present a batsman is onrly out under this law provided that the ball which .strikes his log ( has been pitched within the width of the wickets. The new proposal would abolish this proviso, Mr Warner stated that he did not Bee. any reaeon for altering tho Jaw, while there were millions of arguments against it. In his opinion such an alteration would epoil the game altogether- Tln» proposed alteration had bw.ll thoroughly tried at Lord , *, and everybody who played was against it. With perhaps one exception, those -who advocated the change were cricketers not of tho present, but- of a past generation. The proposed widi-uing of tho wickets would, he thought, b? a gord thin;?, tod rather preferable to t!:« suggest, d heightening of them. Probably nv>re balls jwrt missed the wickets at the side than went ore* , tho top. and. as v. w«->«i. which w«ni high oft«n caused a batsman to be caught in the slips or ai thr. wicktt. If the wickets vretd wid-ined a b'-Ut-r t-hante would be givt-n to Mt-hand b-.w',«'is. The widwiinjf of the wickets would not come into force yet, however, bpcauw* Australia, and .'nil parts of the world whore the game is p.iyrd would need to be corwid« v rrd. /Ax fvi'lfnoi r»f i.ho interest with which cricketers in England tire watching the prrnent (our, .Mr Warner stAted that, tjiree mpmb<>is of th« team wen , contributing accounts of R. tn I r ,ii/.is!j sporting papers. Mr Johnson acts ;is correspondent of "Sporting l>ift*," yir H.iitiioavn of tho "'Atble.tie. News," and TT; - Warner hiinwlf of tho "Sportsman." A bonk which Mr Wamn* <vontemplatfis writing on his return, under the probable title of ''Cricket in Maorilaml," should contain yrnne interesting trnprewjons and obeerTation. , ?.