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Chronicle (Levin), 5 July 1949, Page 7

Received Alonday, 7 p.m. BRISTOL, July 4. ' A fine example of the spirit of courage and determination was given by Hadlee during the second Test at Lords when he was troubled by a paint'ul injury to his left shin, underwent a minor operation on the Sunday and was sustaiued by dyugs when he batted . on Monday. Only a few members oi the team knew that he was in pain for it is typical of Hadlee that he woiild say nothing about it. Hadlee 's shin was injured during the inatch at Soutliampton against Hampshire. Rabone was bowling to a leg trap and Eagar was enjoying sweeps to the leg boundary which was causing some fiinching bv the fieldsmen. Hadlee moved from mid-off into the trap and was struck by a ball which eame from the middle of Eagar 's bat. He made light of it but his shin was badly bruised and the injury was not improved during the match against Surrey. Towards the end of the first day ot ihe Test he was in some pain and really not lit to field but he admitted it only at the end of play. A minor operation was performed ard blood clots removed. A pitting oedema was sprea'ding up the leg and hollows remained when the flesh was pressed. This medieal attention gave * Hadlee considerabie relief and th( doctor advised .some "pills"' as a sti-m-ulant and suggested he use oue befote nattuig on Monday. Hadlee, who doe. nothing by halves, took two and seern ed set for a century before he wavaught on the last ball before lunch' He was not seriously troubled for th. remainder of the inatch. ln.stt.ad of playing against Combinei. Hervices he received further medica; attention in London. The wound. is still ilischarging but has not preventei him from playing against " Gloucester. The incident is typical of Hadlee character. At Southampton his purpoS" n lnoviiig to the leg trap was to set ai example to his fieldsmen and to giv the bowlers confidence in bowling ti their field. Having taken the nast; knock, he was, so to speak, content to ' ' grin and bear it, ' ' Team Members Now Taking Rests. With the continued dry, sunny weather and the drought, the Nev Zealanders may be said to have entereil a second pliase of their tour. Pitches which earlier varied with rain, are nov hard and dry and inclined to powdei or crumble, presenting more opportun ity to the spin rather than th'e paei and seam bowlers. With the sixteenth inatch being played, the time has now come when the players are beginninji to require - an occasional rest. Thi ilnily nets are now no longer de rigeur and wliere possible the team is being picked a match aliead by the selectors so that tliose standing down may spencl a couple of days away from cricket with friends in private homes or take a sliort break wherever they may wish. Several, jiarticularly those around thac thousand run mark, are not especially interested in a rest at the moment. Donnelly, of course, is past his thousand. Wallace, having hit 910 in May, did not make a hundred. in June — sueh ure the vagaries of "cYiBcdlP— but he is now determined to get his four figurea. Butclifi'e is now safely past, while .Scott, Hadlee and Smith are all deterniined to follow this lead as soon as possible. Travelling has not imposed an undue strain so far, and here a word of praisc is due to Warwick Watts, ex-Auckland scorer arul baggage man. No toiiring team could wish for a -.more quieti\ eflicient person to fill this role than Watts. He is never bustled, always equable, cheery and helpful. Tliere ha.1 not been a single hitch so far even with the ijinallest item of the team's iitter of luggage, and several members have been grateful to Watts for his personal intercst in their welfare. There is no doubt that this team ha^ become widely popular throughout Brilain not only for its bright cricket but also for its clieerfulness and friendliness both on and off the field. It is pi;aised for both Iiy news'papers and the B.B.C. and tliough it might sounrl. slightly senteiitious, all these New Zealanders have proved goocl ambassadors for their country and more than confirmed the reputation won by servicenien during the war. Hadlee has earned golden opinions and CharLes Bracy, of the Dailv Herald, has described Mr. Phillipps as the most popular and eflicient manager of any cricket team to tour Britain.