ATTEMPT FAILED

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 208, 18 September 1937, Page 18

ATTEMPT FAILED

EFFORT TO F0RCE WIN » _ THIRD CRICKET TEST, : i

MATCH WITH N.Z.

England made a bold, but smgifiarly unsuccessful, bid to force a dramatic win in the final Tet match with New Zealand at the Oval, wrote Charles Bray at the conclusion of the match on August 18. It failed surprisingly, because the wicket, drying under the sun and wind, aided the bowlers to such an extent that even Wally Hammond made the ball do all sorts of queer tricks. In fact, he might be termed — with good reason — England's most successful spin bowler, and it is not often that Hammond adopts that rolei. Robins declared at lunch-time, having just topped the New Zealand first innnigs total, and when play was resfimed we were treated to thrills that have been all too rare in this Test. If Vivian had been caught when the score was 39 off a high skier, which was really Robins' catch, but he lost the ball in the sun, England would have been right on top. Hardstaff, however, ran hard from extra cover and got the ball. But he was unaible to hang on to it. Vivian went on to make 57 runs to end any anxiety that the New Zealanders might have had on a wicket that should have caused them any amount of trouble. Did His Best Once again we had to come to the conclusion that England's bowling was not good enougli, and I frankly sympathise with the selectors — whoever they may be — in their fcask next summer of finding an attack to meet the Australians. Robins tried his best. He bowled a good deal, gave other bowlers plenty of opportunity to show their worth;

but, while the ball turned acutely, it did not pop often, and Vivian, in particu'lar, batted extremely well. By tea-time- a draw was inevitable. So Robins gave Compton and Hutton bowling practice, and the left-hander clean bowled two batsmen with his slow left-arm deliveries, which indicated that he might have been tried earlier. A drawn game was -sufficient to ; give England the rubber on the single ! victory at Manchester. But surely the experience this summer of only one Test being finished in three, against a team that has been beaten by several county sides, raises the question whether. three days are enough for any Test match. New Zealand can, with truth, declaxe that its defeat at Manchester was only obtained as a result of the weather being bad and the wicket "going to pot" on the third day.

Compton Ploases The highlights of the final scene of 1937 Test cricket were a typical century by Hardstaff, who at least reestablished confidence in our batting, the excellent debut of young Denis Compton, and the general perfection of England's fielding. Hardstaff and Compton put on 125 runs before the Arsenal footballer was out in the most unfortunate fashion imaginable. Hardstaff drove a ball from Vivian hard back, and the bowler just let it touch his flngers before it crashed into the wicket. Compton must have been standing out of his crease, for a quiet appeal from Vivian saw Compton walking to the pavilion— run out for 65. I have heard criticism of some of his strokes, but it should be remembered that he is under 20 years of age, and that he produced enough to show ys that he is a great England player in the making. He hit four boundaries and took 125 minutes to make his runs, but most of the time he was playing on a soft, turning wicket. His debut was excellent. Hardstaff, when Wally Hammond would permit him to have the bowling, hit away merrily until he reached his century, which included sixteen fours and, while he took risks, he adopted the right tactics and deserved whatever fortune cam his wav.

He should have been oaught at square-leg, and Compton had a similar piece of good luck. No more need be said of the English batting, for, apart from these two innings and a brief bright one from Hammond, it was not copspicuous for its merit. Curly Page, the New Zealand captain, strained a muscle during the morning and took no further part in the game, so that reduced the tourists to ten men. But Vivian, and later on Moloney, Tindill and Dunning, stayed long enough to send slcy-high that brief hope we had of a sensational Englisfe. victory.

i The scores in the game were: — New Zealand: First innings 249, second innings 187 (Vivian 57, top score). England: First innings 254 for soven wickets (declared), second innings 31 jfor one wicket.