CRICKETERS' RETURN.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1970, 29 January 1914, Page 6

CRICKETERS' RETURN.

»-——- FROM AUSTRALIA. . THE MANAGER ON THE TOUR. Among the passengers who arrived from Sydney.by tho Aloeraki.vesterday wero tho Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago members of Uvo New Zealand cricket team which has just concluded a tour of eastern Australia. These were Messrs, Boxshall, Bennett, Carlton, Hwkmott,- Sandman/ Robinson,' Tatter' sail, Patrick, and Orchard (manager). J Uckwoll is returning to New Zealand via the-Bluff, and tlio Auckland contingent—Sneddon; Homus, Taylor, and Sommoryell—with "Dan" Reese, of Christchurch (captain), were to- have left Sydney for Auckland .yesterday. They will have, as travelling companions the Australian team which is presently to tour the Dominion. Timing on Fast Wickets. • Sir. S. A. Orchard, tho. manager, who returns with a complexion tanned a rich brown by Australia's sun, informed' a reporter that tlio tour had been an enjoyable .one from first to last. "Though wo <lid not cover ourselves with glory," ho remarked, "yet I think that Lean go as far as to say that our men proved that they were- not such novices at tho game as they have been regarded in Australia in the past. I como back with tho firm impression that we have got plenty of good material over here, but unfortunately we .have'not got conditions to .reaching that state-of perfection which they hove achieved in Australia. Our Iwta'kets are all too slow, .and in consequence- we do not attain that nicety in timing that one picks up by hard relentless .practice on fiery wickets. What can be expected from men -who only practise for perhaps an hour during the whole of tlio wcekr All the first-class: men in .Australia get that time-in daily—sometimes a good deal.more.' You cannot do anything without hard work and enthusiasm, and the argument .applies with great'force to cricket. ■ ' The Match tfioy Shone In. "As to tho tour, our men showed improving form all along, in Melbourne they struck tho fastest wicket, of the lot, and were all at sea in their timing, but after experience (there and elsewhere) they performed splendidly at Adelaide. In the South Australian match they all looked like- making runs, all savo Soniniervell perhaps. "Whilst touching on Adelaide, I would like to mention the groat form that Boxshall showed there. His wicket-keeping was an eye-opener. In a score of 423 runs ho only let one ball past. Bowling on Flint. "Tho wickets were as hard as flint in all' the centres, except at Brisbane, where it rained, and our bowlers found it next to impossible to get such 'work' on the ball as they arc ablo to command on New Zealand wickets. They simply had to rely on sending down good-length balls, and, of course, these tfero pasted pretty severely. "We thought that we had a gre'at fielding side, and so wc had, for play en our own grounds,.but the lightmngVratc at-whichtho ball travels over the Australian grounds beat our fellows''time after time. Our fielding, therefore, suffered in comparison with that of tho Australians,, though there were brilliant patches here and there. Proof that tho bowling was not so bad as it might look from the figures is found in the fact that big scores are the rule- over there—their own men, get- pasted just as ours did. Robinson, our fast'bowler, was a very useful man in tiro Test matches, and his performances were tho best, in tho country matches Sa'iidmaw' bowled really well, but was not nearlv so effective in big cricket. Bennett and some of tho other bowlers suffered with sore feet owing to the hard grounds, and consequently were not seen in action at their best-. Bo was in good [suckle in Adelaide, however, where' his bowling was really a treat to watch. Heat Unstrung ths Men. ' "All tho men felt the beat more or less. It seemed very pleasant at first, but as it continued day after day aiid night after night, it took somo of the snap out of, tho boys. Some of them, in fact, iwmd it difficult to get to sleep at nights. At the end of the tour wo w»ro not able to put a thoroughly sound team on tho field, and that points to the necessity of taking extra men on such a trip. Some would leave, tho field alter a. Mazing day quite- exhausted, and, wing to the hot nights, would not recover to any extent by tho rest that a good night's sleep would ordinarily give. But thoy all realised that they were gaining valuable experience and .they stood up game to tho last." ' CooiHellowship and Esprlt'de-Corps. Mr. Orchard stated that the team had been a very happy family. A lino feeling of csprit-de-corps prevailed throughout, aud there had been an 'entire absence of anything in the nature, of cSiqmsm. Reese made an able and extremely popular captain, and bis performance with tho bat at Adelaide was win of tho brightest-features of -tho tour.

MAYOR'S RECEPTION.

NEW ZEALAND & AUCKLAND MEN. The teams were tendered a civic reception in the Council Chambers yesterday afternoon by the Mavor (Mr! J P Luke). His Worship, in the-course of a speech of welcome, congratulated the players on the form shown, and emphasised' the benefits likely to accrue from interchange of ideas with Australia, Ho also referred to the cricket fee-ling in Australia. There was a more enthusiastic public at the back of the game tliero, he said, and.until tho public hero took more interest in tho game it would not take the same placo as football had done up to tho present time. Ho honestly behoved, however, that there was a splendid, future before cricket in Nett' Zealand. Notwithstanding the many counter attractions ho believed cricket would assume its right and lawful place as the true national game. Mr. J. Crombte, on behalf of the Wellington Association, extended a- hearty welcome to both the Auckland and New Zealand teams. In doing so ho expressed regret that tho president of tho association (Mr. Wilson) had not been able to attend. He thought that the policy of including so -many young players in the New Zealand team had been amply justified by the results of the tour. , To the Auckland team ho would say the association welcomed them here. Thefo had always been great interest in tho Wellington-Auckland match, and the game to take place the following day would see no exception;' (Applause.) Mr. S. Orchard, returned thanks on behalf of the New Zealand team. Taking the tour all round, their record Was not by any means bad. Certainly they might have mado mere runs against Victoria and New South Wales, but ho still maintained that it was a matter cf nerves. Tho New Zenlanders' bowling compared very favourably with that of the Australians. In fact, be thought the Australian bowling was rather weak. Tho speaker also made other references to the tour on the lines of the interview published above. Tho manager of the Auckland team (Mr. Brooke-Smith) and tho Auckland • captain (Mr. C, E, MacCormack) also i spoke.