THE KANGAROOS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1605, 23 November 1912, Page 13

THE KANGAROOS.

WHAT THEY THINK OF ENGLISH CRICKET. GENERAL DETERIORATIONTHE AUSTRALIANS MISSED THUMPER. The American contingent of the Australian oricket team which went hunting the ashes in England this year—Messrs. uregory, Matthews, Kelleway, Muyne, Car'£eo': ' Smith, M'Laren, Wnitty, Emery, and Webster— arrived in Auckland this week by the Canadian-Australian, mail lmer Marama, en route for the Commonwealth. Gregory's Impressions. Syd. Gregory, the veteran New South Wales hat who was the Australian captain m England, when questioned by an Auckland "-"Star" reporter about the team's experiences, said that although they had not brought back the ashes with them ho thought they had reason to feel gratified at the measure of success which they had achieved. It should bo remembered that the side was without tho services _ of a number of Australia's most experienced test match players, and that many of the team had not played in English oricket previously. Nevertheless, the oolts had acquitted themselves with distinction under the trying circumstances. In his experience he had not met with suoha persistently wet season in. England; indeed, he believed that it was the worst for twenty years. Asked for a comparison, Gregory said that he thought the present English eleven was the best that had been put in the field since the days of_ M'Laren, Raniitsinhji, Hayward, and Hirst, but these latter players were very much superior to those playing at present. This applied aJso to the.' Australians. Such players as Trumper, Hill, Noble, and Macartney were at the top of their form some-years ago, but although they were growing old at the game they must still be reckoned amongst the world's besifc players.. The only conclusion, therefore, was that the standard of cricket in England and Australia to-day was not up to what it had been eleven or twelve years ago. There were some splendid batsmen in England, however, two outstanding one 3 being Hearne, . of Middlesex, and Meade, the , Hampshire player, though Ranjitsinhji was still one of the most brilliant bats in England. Unfortunately the one-tim eagile/'Ranji" had grown so stout that he found, it accessary to almost walk between the wickets when notching "runs," so that lie could not have borne the strain of the tests. A Chat With Emery. '< S. H. Emery waxed eloquent in referring to the shocking weather which; had followed tho Australians during their tour. "After the first' two weeks there: were never two.consecutive days without rain," declared the young New South Welshman. "Our fellows were not accustomed to' Buch continuous spells oi wet weather, and nearly all suffered severely from rheumatics. The English teams were peculiarly fortunate in getting, the best of the wickets. It frequently occurred that they would bat on a sodden wicket, and knock up a fair score before our turn came. During the intervals the sun would dry the ground just sufficiently to make the sodden pitch sticky. Then we were at the, mercy of the bowler; that's exactly what happened in-the last decisive test. The match depended on, the spin of the coin, .and the coin favo.ured the Home team. We were particularly, unlucky with the toss. , Out- of 38. matches played, we only had our- choice on eix occasions." '' Was their bowling particularly good? "I don't think that the Englishmen were all round much better, than -we were in • that respect, but they' had such - a, large number of players to select from.' that, it ' iivas possible - when ' the' morning, 'of the teat broke, wet to drop' v out- the d-ry-wicket bowlers and inolude ; wet-day 6pechlists, sudh.as Dean (Lancashire) , and

W. C. Smith, who, with their slow. deliveries, wero able to puzzle tho batsmen completely. Barnes bowled even better than lie aid in Australia, but Foster was handicapped by tho slow wicket, and did not apneur to such advantage. What of the recalcitrant six? the interviewer asked, conscious that this was a difficult question. "Well," Emery replied rather hesitatingly, and evidently anxious to do the veterans full justice, "no doubt the experience of such experienced men would have made a difference, but it would not be right to say that they would have materially altered the position. Victor Trumper was, we considered, the most serious loss, for in view of tho cautious stjle he adopted last season, and his extensive experience on English wickets, ho might navel rendered very great assistance." In speaking of. Gregorj;, the bowler said that he had been a decided success as a captain, and, with tho material at his disposal and the climatic difficulties which no had to face, ho had carried out the matches as well as could have been expected. Appreciation of Bardsley. Questioned in regard to tho batsmen, Emery said that'he believed that Bardsley had more strobes round the wicket than any other player. Even on a wet wicket he played brilliant cricket, though without wishing to detract in any way from tho New South Wales player's performance, it should,be pointed out that he was fortunate in being a left-hander playing left-hand bowling. Macartney's performance had been a remarkable one. His 99 at Lords in the second test was the Tcsult of beautiful oricket. Incidentally that 99 was a record for tests at lords, no player having scored that exact number of runs previously. Smith had only got fjoing properly on one occasion, when he hit up a oentury in great style against Surrey; Jennings had also batted well. He was stylish rather than forceful. Hazlitt and Whi% were the two most. successful, iren with, the ball, Hazlitt having the better average, while Whitty secured the greater number of wickets. Triannular Tests, The Australians are enthusiastic advocates, of the triangular test system. They are of the opinion that under reasonable conditions the triangular tests would prove successful. A number, of . the matches were not completed owing to the bad weather, and the weather was also responsible for the failure of the system financially. There would be general regret amongst tlie players if the scheme were abandoned.