N.Z. CRICKETERS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 202, 11 September 1937, Page 18

N.Z. CRICKETERS

LORD TENNYSON'S TRIBUTE DEFIED COMMON UNDERSTANDING No touring cricket side has so dftfied common understanding as the New Zealanders, says Lord Tennyson, former English Test captain. Their record against the counties is a story of many woeful failures, a confession, indeed, that they are the least qualified of all the countries to test the cricketing strength of England. It is a record that lies outrageously, for, even if they do . not conform to international standards as popularly understood, they have the stamp of quality. That I say in no spirit of patronage; they are sportsmen worthy of our steel. I am utterly lost for an explanation why against the counties they have done so badly. That will ever remain a problem. Every member of the team is a player of high degree; they are all fighters to the core. If they have a fault it is modesty, and yet they may not be suspected of an infei'iority complex. In the game at Lord's they had the boldness of buccaneers, and forced a claim to an equal share of the honours. In the second Test at Manchester, in what, to them especially, was impossible weather, with the least luck they should have won, instead of losing by 130 runs. They beat themselves. They had seven of our batsmen out in Ihe second innings for 75, and England's lead was a paltry 154. Maybe they were overwhelmed by the prospect of victory; it seemed all so easy. Surrey's Brown was missed four times, and remained to score 57, and with Ames and big Jim Smith turned almost certain defeat into what was a probable victory. There was no joy for the impartial onlooker, only a genuine feeling that the visitors denied themselves a magnificent triumph. But out of the match emerged this incontestable fact: Cowie as a, fast bowler has no superior. I doubt whether Kenneth Farnes, in point of durability an dconsistency of length, is quite his equal. If Cowie were

from Australia, the fashion would have been set long ago to liken him to a wonder of the age. He knows no tiredness; he refuses to be discouraged. His capacity for work is enormous; he demands that every ball he sends down shall be played.