POOR HUMOUR

Hokitika Guardian, 2 December 1932, Page 8

POOR HUMOUR

MELBOURNE CRICKET BARRACK

A VISITOR’S IMPRESSIONS

WELLINGTON, November 30.

As a kLen cricket enthusiast of many years stanuiug, Mr .Walter Fuller journeyed to Melbourne to witness tee Cricket matches mere against tue Ehgksh team. M ilting ‘ from Melbourne, Mr Fuller says:— “Hie ail-abjoii>iiig teoic at the mo- , in,ciit of courSe is the cricket, and 1 have'had the pleasure of seeing the Englishmen in actibn in a match against the Victorians. Frankly 1 was disappointed with the performance of the local cricketers, which was really no better than that of a good Wellington team. They seemed to be entirJy oVtrshadbwed by the ' Englishmen—‘why, I don’t know, because the English 'bowling tip to now has seemed to the to be nothing very marvellous. “Having heard 1 such a lot about the barracking 1 thought 1 would like to go one day into tne enclosure where they indulge in this pastime. I really 1 expected to hear something witty and clever, but the humour was of a very poor type; but what interejted me was the hard sun-baked faces and the raucous voices of the individuals who nere 'doing their best to annoy the cricketers. Th e ‘humour’ seemed - to consist mainly of tlie old ‘Git a bog, ‘Bowl, him a melon,’ ‘Git out, you. loafer,’ and so 'forfii. Hammond, The English cricketer, made a "very tine stand aiid the crowd, or at least tlie barr a elvers seemed to- have a great ivspeu for Inm. ; After he had uiade nis'ted tnere was a great burst of applause and, as usual after such a burst, ,i great snence took p-lace. and one ’ba.rracker whs' heard' to say in a very .load -and rough voice, ‘You are wanted on the phone, Wally.’ This, of course, got a great laugh. 1 ’“ln the match between the Australian Eleven and the English cricketers. the barracking was dreadful, and it must be very disconcerting to the players to hear hundreds of voices roaring at- them. ■' / * ' “•i'llere was a great duel on Fridlay between that very flu© bowler, Ironmonger, and Sutcliffe. I lie play naturally became very slow and the crowd was getting impatient and they even went'sb far ns ; to count odt Sutcliffe twice, but ne seemed quite unperturbed. “A most cui'ioua tiring happened the other day,on the Is stand. After Haim mond had’ been boiled. I don’t know whether it was the joy of seeeing this that, lnade the crSwd exultant, but (immediately', there was a great stir among the people in that part of the ground and, on putting-my glasses on to them, I found Ifl ’ progress what a gentleman next' to" me said wak -an orange-peel fight. There seemed to be hundreds of- men''hurling orangetvfel at each other, 'and"this 1 went "on for sohlc time to' the “delight of theon lookers until th ey ‘ ’beca me tired of it. -This didn’t seem to constitute rowdyism, because the police' w v ei*e ’ standing-by and seemed to enjoy the' fun.”