BY "NOT OUT" TEST PROSPECTS

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 122, 19 November 1932, Page 20

BY "NOT OUT" TEST PROSPECTS

ENGLAND AND AUSTRALIA

FINDING THE -ELEVENS

..Within, a fortnight England and Aus: [ iralia will be engaged..! in the .first \inatch of a Test series which promises to be one of the most'eventful in tho history of the game.. After the present match, the Englishmen have only one more engagement; prior to the first Test,- and as ;?tiV'final preliminary is* ■to be played'-'on., the same ground as the Test the tourists should add. further to the confidence gained' by the. matches already played on. the tour. Their performances have caused riot a little change of opinion as to their: prospects of beating Australia's elect, but in the matches completed\ to date they have not met a team anything like tho c.alibre o_f that which will tie pitted "against' them in the Tests. A study of the Candidates for the Australian team and a comparison with those available '< for England tend to make Test chances very open.' They certainly go -to show that Australia is able to find;a;very.formidable eleven and; one which, man for man, compares very favourably with? that of England. In the first place it is of interest to1 set out the candidates-for each team, giving Australia .the same number as makes up England's available players. Hero they are:—' Australia. - Eiigland. Woodfull Suteliffe Ponsford Ley land' Bradinan ' ■ Pataudi Kippax ■ Hammond - McCabe , Jardine • Bichardsori ■ - ' Wyatt . Oxenham Ames Darling.;, -■:. Paynter '".- Finglitoii ..';-i .. Allen . ',' Oldfieid'''' Larwood Grimmett •■-■;•. Brown : . Tate- , " Kash '• "■;".-.-- V.oee ... Alexander -.- Verity o '?$&:.r.•.::- ■/"••Mitchell. I'leetwoodTSmithv v ßowes Ironmonger.. . .... JDuckwortH .. Jackson..and- Otters. Scrrfar"as;-tlie;Australian list is- concerned^ i£-is- doubtful whether the selectors have any other cards to place on the table. Jackson most certainly would be included but for the report that he is not likely to be considered until: the effects of his breakdown in health are completely shaken off. He, is benefiting greatly from- the change of air in Queensland, and already this season, he has been showing great form with the bat. His club scores are 56 not'out, 66 not out, 37.and 4:05..n0t out, and; in the trial' match he.made 155. Jackson missed qualifying for. the last . Shield .match in Brisbane by-three days. No i.^oubt he will be seen in Queensland's next match, and it. should not be very Jong before : he is.in line for Test- match play. Hird, Nitsehke, and Lonei-gan are about the only other Australian possibilities at the moment, but there seems to be little neeJ to add their ;names to the list from,- which the , .Tesfc'eleven will bechdsen.l .": England's- selection, '•■ 6f:4course, is confined to the seventeen mentioned in the list, but should any special circumstances arise a call could be made upon. Hobbs, who is accompanying ,the team: .a- newspaper correspondent. :It would be necessary on "that -case fpr» Hobbs. to have his newspaper contract cancelled. ;,;.,. Pew Tlaces in Doul^;. The selection, of the.;first-five placesin thebatting order for'each Test team presents nq difficulty. [/ Suteliffe, Leyland,: Pataudi, Hammond, and Jardine^ ate to be regarded as certainties, for England, as are "Woodfull, Ponsford,. Bradman, Kippax, and. MeCabe for Australia, ~ And two; fine : sets of batsmen "they are! Ame's.: appears to be assured of a place in the English side as wicket-keeper, since he 'is a far better batsman than Duckworth, and there is no doubt about Oldfieid again being .Australia's 'keeper. , The big problem on either side ds in the selection of bowlers. Larwopd arid Brown are bound to be wanted in the English eleven> and Grimmett ;must -go into Australia's team, with O'JKel}ly now apparently'entitled to a place. If.England is going to. depend upon a battery of fast bowlers, Allen, Tate, "Voce;;and Bowes all.come into the reckoning, but they "cannot; all be placed; Bowes's chances of a place' are not fancied, and Tate will nothave^ had much time to get into top form before the first Test. Voce has been' referred to as a likely menace, and, being a left-hander, he is entitled to serious consideration, while Allen has shown form in Australia which hag impressed the critics. . Although Verity has performed well so far, it is going to be hard to find-room for him in the Test eleven, unless the wicket is likely to. suit him. The possibility of the wicket wearing under the strain of . heavy use has to be considered, and no doubt every endeavour will be made to; place Verity. 'Wyatt, too, has claims, bulthe prospects of Paynter and Mitchell Appearing-in the first Test' are slender, unless they do anything., sensational in the.meantime. With Browni arid,-. Verity in the team, it is difficult to, make room, for Wyatt. ;

Uor the remaining three places inthe: Australian team there are Bichardson,- • 'Oxenham, * Darling, . Fingleton, Wall, Nash,- Alexander, FleetwoodSm|thj and Ironmonger. -.. More bowlers are"wanted,' and Ironmonger seems to hold very strong claims to a place. Fleetwobd-Smith's. candidature has reeeiyedv a setback of late, and this leftarm1 slow- bowler may now find it hard to make -the team for the first Test. Wallj. Nash, and Alexander are the trig-. : from which at least one fast boivler must he selected. Two of these thr;ee niay be required, but at the mbtaent this does not seem likely. So faiPas Nash is concerned, a.good, deal will 'depend upon his showing ifi the m&tcb;- now in progress. Wall's experience: may -be -the deciding factor in the choice of a fast^bowler. There is room for an; addition :to the batting strength of j-thasidejj and. Richardson has1 certainly pressed very strong claims. A really good all-rounder would best fit the bill, and r Oxenliam's all-round ability must be taken into account. The ?f6llowing teams would provide a great battle in the first of the Test series:—England: Sutcliffe, Leyland, Pataudi, Hammond, Jardine, Ames, Larwood, Allen, Brown, Voce, and Verity. Australia:. Woodfull, Ponsford, Bradman, Kippax, McCabe, Oxenham, Wall, Oldfield, Grimmett, O'Keilly, and Ironmonger. : Notes oh Local Matches. It was perhaps rather unfortunate for the young Institute team that the conditions were much more in favour of batsmen last Saturday than on the previous week, but full credit must "be- given to Kilbirnie for the manner injwhich they seized the opportunity to i goafter the runs. Kershaw and Mark Bilby quickly discovered that the towling presented few difficulties and tkey proceeded to collect runs freely. Kershaw's knock was particularly attractive. He laid the wood heavily without becoming rash, and, in scoring %t ;the rate of more than a run a 1 minute, did not give a chance. Although he also kept his scoto moving, Bilby appeared to be • doing little more than his. end up in comparison with

his partner, but his innings was full of merit. Bilby was at the wickets wh^le^lSO runs, .of which he contributed about a third, were added to the score. . . ',•■•;.. ■'.:'. C. Bilby, taking everything into consideration, was probably .'the best of the Institute bowlers. 'Maintaining a good length, he kept the batsmen quiet to an extent which the other bowlers did not find possible. Institute's.second innings was an improvement on their first visit to the crease, Hankins, "Wareham, and Owen all batting in good style. Wareham gave a- really praiseworthy display, scoring his runs by good shots all round the wicket. Tho dismissal of Hankins OE a, run-out decision was the subject of some coiriment, but, in fairness to the umpire, it must be stated that Monkhouso was between him and the stumps when the appeal was made and> at that moment the batsman had not grounded his bat inside the crease. ■-■•■,An exceptional number of extras were included in Institute's score, most of ithem coming from byes and leg byes toward the close of the day's play, when Monkhouse did not appear to be carrying out his work with his usual keenness. Crook was again Bilby's first choice as a bowler, but again ho failed to meet with success, and some of his overs proved rather costly. For the whole match ho took no .wickets for 60 runs. Hanscombe and Ashenden appear to be two young bowlers who can be expected to produce results in the future. The run "of play in the match between Wellington and Wellington College Old Boys at ■Kelburn Park : was. interesting and exciting all the way. - Not. only was there a keen tussle for a win on the first innings, but the match also went close to being decided on tho second innings, and this-made the concluding stages quite thrilling. Old Boys had an uphill fight all the way against, good bowling and keen fielding, and for their young players it was a severe test. Dv Chateau's splendid batting, effort in the first innings and the judgment used by Burnette and -Brown on defence in the' second innings had-a good1 deal .'to do with saving .Old Boys an outright defeat.- ','.- • -.; . v If there is any, prospect of forcing matters for .an eight-pointer one way or- the other, -Whyte,-ttie Wellington captain, will use his.b.est endeavours in that direction. In the bold bid against Old Boys he handled his side well, and, apart from a; good deal of- success, behind the.wickets, he le.t,loose, with, the bat and gave an exhilarating display which brought in 67 runs' in doublequick -time.- ' Whyte has done; some fast arid heavy scoring in the-past, and this, season he seems to be back to his best form. That, together with his captaincy, should make .him a strong possibility for the Wellington, representative, team. ' Foley again proved a difficult man for Old Boys .to shift; in fact he was not shifted by • tho time that Wellington's innings was declared closed. He, too, appears to be in for a-good season. A batsman of his type is an asset to any team. . : ■ . Another splendid bowling performance by Blundell, a better one considering the improved batting conditions, than on the first day of the match with Old Boys,-added, seven wickets to this bowler's bag. In two matches this season Blundell .has taken "as many wickets (twenty-one); as he did'ia club cricket throughout last season. The ball pitched, on the legpin""and rising sharply and'slightly to the off is one of: his best. . . .'•' ' ■ . University, used all the cricket skill; they knew in. the effort to exceed Hutt's score, and even Hutt's support-: ers admitted that bad luck was a big factor- in, their failure to get a win: on the first innings. At 200 seven wickets had gone, and the... 33 runs: needed for the win did. not seem too; much to. expect from-the last three men. But misfortune, overtook Univer-; sity. White was but with the total at 204, but there was still hope as Williams came into batl confidently; The running-out of-^Stevens, through a misunderstanding as to whether a ball ha<j reached the boundary; was a setback1 to the students^rbuti.with-,a wicket still in hand" anything:-;w4s.'t^)ossible. The calamity.- came •tyhen^ijWjlliams sent a ball -well ■ towards'; thegbpundary and a Hutt fieldsman delayed returning it. A boundary was expected,>to be awarded, and, had' it been, there; was the prospect of Williams, knocking up the remaining few runs. '■ 'However, no boundary being given;. Francis had to face the bowling, aid- ; he was immediately dismissed. ■'■'•'} . Bailey's .52 ' and' CaldwelPs 43 wer© University's outstanding scores. Champness niade a magnificent onehanded catch to dismiss Bailey. The bowling honours 'were ■ well distributed among' the Hutt men. Judd did best with three for 66. Four wickets for 80:ru"ns was the best bowling performance -for- University against.Hutt. It. was .given' by William's. ■ '.. ' ' - • : 1' ■.- Mercantile-League. Four splendid centuries were • compiled in the Mercantile League on Saturday, the titbit of the day being a sterling 156 not out by Brooks for Cowans. Partnered by Brough, who had returned to bat after being'taken ill'earlier in the game, Brooks played one of the finest fighting innings seen for a number cf years, every one of his strokes being clean, crisp, and decided. Brough was a sick.man, and on medical advico left Wellington this week for several'months' convalescence out of/.Wellington. -Another notable score was the 134 not out.' by L. . Whinham. (Shipping), who was- accurate in finding the gaps in.a closely.-packed field. With his back tO'-the wall Whinham is a vastly different, man to the care-free hitter that a lot'of his opponents'imagine him to.be; and his century on Saturday would rank with any:of tho best. " An excellent performance was that of T. Meade (Gas Co.),'who gave not the semblance of a chance in compiling 126. Once in a. while'Meade plays a game of outstanding brilliance. Sound defence and hard hitting attack combine to stamp this. plaj«r as a batsman who has learned Itls lessons wisely. Spolsky, -who scored 102 for Milk Department, is not quite such'a finished batsman,as Brooks, Whinham, and Meade, but ha's'an abundance of determination and confidence that gets him as mgny runs as the best, of them. Spolsky plays a good game, arid a continuance,of his present,form,will make, him a power to be reckoned with.