CRICKET

Hokitika Guardian, 31 August 1932, Page 3

CRICKET

M.G.G. TEAM,

STRONG ALL-ROUND SIDE

PROSPECTS FOR AUSTRALIA

The cricket Teet matches between England and Australia during • tHecoming summei"'promise to’ be”'among the -ttiost* interesting- in "tlie ’ history df the game. ’ : The games will : be ; followed 'with tiloi'e than ordinary ”lnterett in NOW Zealand owing to the fact that the Eng'ishmen 'Will 'be seen in action, ia : th-e Dominion at the conclus’-ori of their Australian’ tour.’

The 16 English 'cricketers invited to mak e the trip—it‘is an old Maryle- 1 bone custom always to invite and never to select—should form a team fully capable 1 of regaining the ashes -from Australia. 1 The strength of ■tlre : '----4We ; can be - gauged by. tile ffirX ‘that, of the 16 players, Only three have not scored hundl'hdli I 6 * cricket.; There , is Variety in the;. added’ito 'this' .is? the , --faot Of the seven stock bowlerg' selected are able to makfe runs ; '--

Perhaps iit -is l not strictly • accurate 1 to call the team- a -siS-'e of 'English' cricketers. Apart from’- the two Indian princesi; K. S-. Duleepsinhji -and the ■ Nawab of Pataudi, D; R.‘ ‘jardine, the captain, 'was" also born in India, while F; R. BroWn 1 wag born ih, Chile, L. 'E..- G-.- -Arnes’ iti’ Egy-pt, and G., 0. Alien even in ; al!‘ 6 ix have leamed'Othhir criek6t ih- i|irgland, -and the -- 1 ndturfii' pos’-essed" by .fhe 'two ’Jndran "’ princes’ n-as really ’brought'tp' llghfc -by fnmOus English coaches. E. 'H. BOivloy a-nd. A. E. Rolf in the • ease -W'’ Diiieepsihhh, and -F. E. WopUey t of PataudiV' ' r 4 _ ■ /; ■ . ’, J '-’-.I POSITION: OF JARDINE.

Even allowing for the great ail-round, strength of the team as at present constituted, one or two problems will confront the English side in Australia. The flr-’t is the problem«of--captai-npy. Jardine, who has been’’given the hoiioUi' of •eading !the!-tea.m, dS'- one -of ' the-'two most reliable batsmen -in ’Eng and, and. would naturally be one' of the fiysL choices for <afi English-' Tes.t Buh ckptaih'cy ‘and particularly Test match captaincy, demands more than just -cricket'. ability and tactical knowledge of -the game. -It 1 demands sonnlity -and' iVhei! dbihty to dine, even-' for “an Englishmalt, is ~ reserved to -a degrf'e.' ! and one rarely -sees him chatting - -team’, -on' the I all- iof S'- wicket.; In 'the;-field .li%ifes. not tlid' \ dasli of -Ohapmafi’;- - v y-' " v Th-e other problem ntoL..h6„ solved' • is' ’tliat of EfiglaiidAs'opening pair.. - There, is partner. 1 the' '''imperturbable' SutelJne,; a’thqugh, T/eyland. has -opened iwithljjiin,. fflr York-, shire ..jn place 0 : f Hohh-es in - recent .matches.- - iheyland W ■ ’the type -of baitsman who.- ;:.i-|., *.t. '- best when the edge Has -been./‘taken, .off..the,, .howling. -On -the other handed develop* gse nn” opening,.hatsipap, Enepnd will' be strgtegetioaliv we’d placed.. Ps he .may help.-to 'establish an eav'v mastery over -Grimmett, who dees not relish bowling-.toe-Jeftihattdeais;' •

HOBBS..FOR NEW, ZEALAND ■ f rS

Apart from -LeyLand, ;-Wyatt* .Pataudi and even Jardine, himself aye prospective candidates for.‘the pos-tion of Sut.liffe’g .pautuer. It is a question for Jardine to decide, but he will be plat-; ed in a most awkward position- ijf opening•• pair fails in the first.yTcst. It is not good t-o have, to texper'ment with opening batsmen. However, it is .possible, that the difficulty with regard to. the .opening■ pair, will b 6 . automatical’.y., f polyed': whenr the. team reaches- New Zealun^'%he.t-ffiinous J. B Hobbg has evidently stood firm by his intention, totfirst-class: cricket, but he told -, sQm-e of the New '7ealadders -at ;-^y^ ar that h e would ••prbba®f i -.vtsitefAiMtSli'a to- write for a London.,.newspaper. He expressed a desire then to visit New Zealand, and if Hobbr, arid tbe authorities are willing-, New Zealand crowds may yet -see • the .didst:/ .fahious opening batsmen in the world walking to the wicket-together'v i-c-iV-T,’ :

o,n paper, England should be capable of ’ ifielding-a- stronger all-iound eleven than Australia. England’s: • first .tout, Sutcliffe, Hammond,. Du T eepsinhii, and. Jardine, may. even hold the balance of povver against Bradman, Woodfu’.l, Pons-, ford, and Kippax. Hammond and Jar'; dine hav e established a mastery. -over ■. (xrimmett, who will again form the baikbone of Australia’s attack-.’.; and.•although Bradman will presumably stilb Wo a.force in himself;hhe will encounter, in Voce a bowler of a- type of •.whief/ lie has had little or no experience;

PROSPECTS .OF VOCE.

Voce ‘may -easily be the outstanding' figure of the Test seric*:bowl#fast, left-hand, over the wicket,/, and: in England oan ’make-a 'balb run -Wnly" from th«v off . stump;- rln • -addition,’to. delightfully, high;..!’ slingine-' .action enables 1 him ■ to make- the nmst. of any 'fire in the wicket, -while 1 hdYcati. n]c o vary ibis pa,.„ ati-i - njii th- lv” •effectively. Th 1913 ?a similar, type ,-bf' hnn-ler, F: Foster, vi«ited - Aiii-sfral’a with on 'EngPish team' and proved the tell of some of tbe-s'teatest batr-me-i Arstra’ia has ever'known. But to return to England’s.,batti”"itetaurli ' Wvntt. Le-yland -'andy, Apws are' a’l likely to prove diffieul.tid?ron to dteln-toe on AwtrMwn • A, r 1 bough he has-not the inimitable; errace snd ;.artistry •'of T)tvl t 'ep R inhji, P.itacdi

is- a-polished batsman who' deserves jbg be .ranked with tile best in the. world to-day.'

Wyatt appears to be a certainty for the position of vice-captain. He is a sound, painstaking bat, and a useful right-hand medium-pace bowler. N°r must Hammond’s bowling abiity bo overlooked. Ames is definitely one of tile leading Eng'ish batsmen’ of the day, and, as he is only slightly, behind Duckworth as a wicket-keeper, may gain preference in the Tests over the Lancashire man. •

STRENGTH OF THE ATTACK

Of .the bowlers, Larwood and' Al'a are both fast right-handers, the forme, dangerous, but likely to break down, and the latter' erratic, out dangerum at ! intervals. Voce,' of course, hi: great prospects, and to Uic.us;dn ol Tate, gt'll the most re'iable bowler.' in the 1 world, gives Jardine the ability to ‘bo title up the Australian batsmen at •one end and- to experiment at the other.

The remaining .three regular bowler are all men who spin the ball,. *>nd Brown, who impressed the New Zealanders so greatly last 'year, may easily prove a match-winner. • His principal drawback in England is that he spins the ball too much, but hb will' not' be such a prodigious spinner on‘Australian wickets, which, judging from li's powerful action, should 'also increase bis p r, c e from the pitch. Verity, the, Yorkshire left-hander, can only be expected to succeed’ if wet wickets rare encountered, ns he lacks J. C. White s mastery of flight. Mitchell, . the last'.player selected, its, a who .pins his faith principally on the leg spinner. He does not bowl the ‘Wrong ’un” as jß;«wn and Robins do, nor pas he any great mastery of the top-spinner, but, in. the absence of Fobins, the selector's were ”ise to choose, him-instead-of an,older map. He may esvily develop on tour. ' One of the notable points about the constitution of the team is that’ it. cout n ins six amateurs, the largest number fors many years.

BLUyJT’S ENGAGEMENT.

DUNJi)MN,';.A ugnst 29

Some time ago it was reported that JJoger Blunt, ythe New -Zealand .cricket representative, had been offered and had accepted n, commercial positionejn.-Flng-lanfl which would,carry with .it the duty 'cjf playing for a leading English .county. Several tempting offers have.-,been .made to Blunt. from..gnghnd..iilPt l Jie ; has decided -to remain in,Dunedin; having accepted a. position on. the -staff of Oswakl •f. Smith and o?** X'td.f merchants, vi-ith -headquarters ..

} SUTCLIFFE'S 3QCO RUNS

RUGBY, August 29

■For the third time injd.s career, Sutcliffe has scored thyee thousand rusis ip a.w'i? ic* >!j>oour 'tii