THE TEST MATCH

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 75, 22 December 1920, Page 7

THE TEST MATCH

AUSTRALIANS ESTABLISH BIG LEAD

FINE STAND BY ARMSTRONG

AND KELLEWAY

BrTel«trajh—Pr«u Association—CoD.yrlEht . (Rcc. December 21, 10.10 p.iu.) Sydney December 21. On the fourth day play in the Test I match again commcnced in hot weather. ' The attendance during the day was 15,000, ( and for the four days it has been 104,000. ' Armstrong, joining Kelleway, faced the howling of Parkin and Hearne. The Australian captain applied tho wood vigor- , ously, Douglas and Parkin both preferring carpet drives to travel to the boundary rather than intercept them. Pacing , Hearne, Armstrong scored three successive i's by superb drives to the off boundary, lispidly approaching within four of Kelleway's total, the latter emulated his captain, and used his feet to reach lihodes, and notched an occasional boundary. Whilo m the thirties Armstrong placed Rhodes to. mid-oif— a close brace- AVaddington, thinkiug the batsmen were only running a single, casually tossed the ball W Parkin, who shied at the wicket. Strudwick, missing tho ball, and being compelled to chase it, there resulted a fine leg overthrow for three. Armstrong's display was in marked contrast to that of the remainder of the team. Always confident, he attacked' the bowling like a true artist, placing his shots with remarkable precision, notwithstanding the excellently-placed field. , By luncheon time the bowling, though T'epeatedly changed, was completely collared, but that is not to say that tho batsmen- could afford to take liberties. Any occasional short-length deliveries were promptly pulled to the pickets by Armstrong, who nevertheless refrained from touching tho cif theory .or being tempted by wily fieldsmen pretending to fumble ilho ball when the batsmen' wore running singles. Kelleway, still playing correct cricket, though a> littlo more enterprising than on the previous day, was satisfied with singles', where his partner went for boundaries. AVhen be had reached: 70 he off-drove Hearne to tho boundary, his second four in three and a 'half hours' batting. In the next over ho attempted a straight, hit oft" Woollcy, and was caught in the slips by Russell. Armstrong meanwhile, had notched 120. Six wickctw wore down for 521. This partnership had yielded IS7, and its rupture was inexpressibly welcome to the English howlers. Neither batsman at any stage looked like retiring. Douglas tried every method of attack, but ho was mifortumilo in not having tho services of Hitch, who was suffering from a slight strain from tho previous day. Ryder joined Armstrong. who set out for Die second centum in si steady manner, but was soon sparkling again. The weather continued exceedingly hot; uecessit«l».ig hourly refreshments. After Kelleway's dismissal ]?yder filled thfl cioase, but after shaping in a promising manner he played Rhodes to Hobbs at outside mid-ofl'. He foolishly ran halfway down tho pitch, and was run out. Gregory followed suit, attempting an impossible run from a stroke to slip, -and was also run out. Both wickets were absolutely thrown away. The Englishmen wero now breathing , snore freely, as these two incidents changed (the complexion of the game. The fielding was spiritless, compared with previous displays, though Hendreu, as usual, was a glutton for work in the outfield. Fender, who was fielding for Hitch, dropped Oldtield off Parkin at third man. When at 158 Armstrong, who was slowing down, was bowled oil the leg peg by Parkin. Oldfield was caught bv Strudwick

oft' tho sumo bow3«r a few overs later. The, total score of 581 is just eight short of the Test record established during lilio last iour of Warner's team. Few resetted tlio termination of the innings. Tlio bowlers were tired and the fielding wns becuniing listless. Tim slow howlers fell; the abscn n e of a fast howler. Parkin at times commanded tlii utmost respect, hut the attack generally was without "devil."

Hobbs finil Russell faced Gregory and ICelleway, with K59 required to win. Russell, glanced Gregory to Oldfield, who accepted a smart catch, ltenvne and lloblia played out time. Following are the scores AUSTRALIA. First innings 2G7 Second Innings. 1 Collins, c. Waddington, b. Douglas ... 101 Bnrdsley, b. Henrne .' 57 Macartney, b. Douglas G9 Taylor, c.-Woolley, b. Parkin 51 Pellew, 1.b.w., b. Woolley 1G ICclleway, c. liufsell, b. Woolley 78 Armstrong, b. Parkin 158 Ryder, ran out fi Gregory, run out 0 Oldfield, c. Slrudwick, b. Parkin 1G Mailey, not out 0 Sundries 26

Total 581 The wickets fell as follow.—One for 123, two for 234, three for 2-41, four for 252, live for 'J32, six for 519, seven for 536, eight for 510, nine for 579. Bowling Analysis.—Parkin took three wickets for 102 runs; Douglas, two for 79; Woolley, two for 90; Hcarne, one for 121, one no ball; Hitch, none for 40; Waddington, none for 53, one no ball; Rhodes, none for 67. ENGLAND. First innings 190

Second Innings. Russell,"c. Oldfiold,' b, Gregory 5 Hobbs, not out 18 Ilearne, not out 23 one wioket 4G AUSTRALIA'S WINNING POSITION COMMENTS OF SYDNEY PAPERS. Sydney, December 21. The morning paper critics regard Australia as now holding the winning position. They deseribo the play as correct, but not. lively. The "Herald" eays, the bowling presented few terrors for the batsmen; still the attack was well maintained throughout. The fielding was somewhat below the standard sot oil Fridav. The "Telegraph" says tlio bowling, aTTTiough only moderately successful, was j good, and, aided by smart fielding, it limited tho scaling capacity—Press Assn.

ENGLAND'S BATTING DISAPPOINTS LONDON CRITICS AUSTRALIAN BOWLING UP TO PRE-WAR STANDARD. London, December 19. Critics are nrofoundly disappointed by England's batting. They .fail to see the symptoms of the supposed decadence of the Australian bowling; on the contrary, it seems fully equal to tho pro-war standard. "Tho Times" says: "The Englishmen had their chance, and failed rather dismally. The Australians achieved a startling performance, and their bowling was extremely good."—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

MATCH AT BATBURST ABANDONED

(Rec. December 22, 0.5 a.m.) Sydney, Doceuibcr 21. Tho English cricketers havo abandoned tho mftteh at Bathurst, which should commence on Wednesday.—Press Assn.