AMAZING CRICKET

Hokitika Guardian, 20 December 1932, Page 8

AMAZING CRICKET

SOME UNPRECEDENTED SCENES

ENTHUSIASM FOR McCABE. SYDNEY, December 8. 'Cricket, cricket, cricket. For a week or more that one topic lias dominated all others in Australia. Everywhere it has been the centre of convei-sation, the centre -of public discussions, the main feature of the press, jhe air has been literally full of it. First there was the shock when it was announced that the popular idol, Don Bradman, would not he available to take his P ace iii ”th ■ Australian eleven. Then came the disastrous by the Australian team, the great 1 ' recovery, the electrifying display of the baby of the home team,. Stan McCabe, the dour batting of the Englishmen with the prospect of a thousand runs at leant, the sudden -collapse of the visitor; when -hope had faded, an'd then, unkindest cut of all, the rout of the Australians in the second innings.

Public feeling rose and fell with the fortune.,s of the game. One could a’mast detect the 'state of the game by noting the faces of passers-by in the city streets. In this age of wireless it was not necessary to be at the Cricket Ground to know- the latest. From countless shops and restaurants and hotels the bal to ball broadcast, was available to all who cared to listen.

D'SCUSSTD RUN BY RUN. Men, women and children in every walk of life kept in close touch with the game. Groups congregated everywhere in the business aret’s of the city and suburbs, making the most of this wireless age. Run by run the game was discussed, always with an air of authority, for few Australians do not regard theniselve s as experts on their national 'game. They condemned or praised tactics according to their point of view, and at times the arguments became so heated that it is a wen dor indeed that minor riots did not occur. Without experiencing it, it is difficult to believe that any- nation still in the midst of the meet serious depression in its history could take its sport so seriously.

The huge crowds that awaited the opening of the gates at the Cricket Ground each day were evidence of the enthusiasm that had been engendered by the match. Never before has the like beeni seen in Australia. Some people were there with the breaking of dawn, eager to take up their favourite position on a ground offering so many rplend’d vantage points. It would be difficult to imagine a ground that would be better suited to the staging of a great international conlesl. yet Us Sciences have been noted, and a -scheme i-s now on .foot to improve the' -accommodation uand- give the public a greater measure of comfort and convenience. PANDEMONIUM BREAKS LOOSE. With 58,000 people present on Saturday the .ground- wn«s overcrowded, for the simple reason that a Sydney crowd will standing during a cricket match. It has no objection to doing s o at a football match, but tradition demands that almost everyone shall be ■•Rented at a cricket match, even if that seat A s on a elope.. The stands were totally inadequate. Australia failed ingloriou.dy in the first, test, but no failure could ever detract from the glorious display given by Stan McCabe in the first inni-ngis. Pandemonium broke loose when fie made a hit -which gave him his first century in -a test match against England. There were nearly 50,000 people present . Oil that memorable Friday afternoon and they, with spontaneous acclaim, rent the air with delirious enthusiasm.

The famous “Hill,” packed like sardines, rose ax one man. and, wa\ ing torn sheets of paper, hats, umbrellas and istickis, vociferated in a scene unparalleled in its intensity and spontaneity. This wag the climax to the pent-up feelings of the huge crowd which had watched the shock bowlers of England decimate the ranks of the Australia batting phalanx, and the home team’s amazing recovery through the super batting of Stan McCabe, aided by Victor Richardson.WOMEN’S FRANTIC CHEERING. Stylishly dressed women, carded away by the tumult of cheering, jumped on the seats of the stands and added shrill .shrieks to the general delirium. ISO sustained was this unusual cTeplay of enthusiasm at a cricket matph that the crowd seemed to forget that McCabe wa s not out and must resume his innings. The roar of delight continued for some minutes, holding up the game meanwhile. ' While the occupants of the densely-crowded stands were cheering frantically, hundreds. of coatleos and hatle? s men and youths op the “Hill” joined hands and jazzed about with unrestrained • glee. , Seldom, if ever, has such an amazing scene been witnessed, even in the: Sydney Cricket Ground. Veterans who have followed- cricket '.for more i-han a quarter of a century dee lured that the intensity of the scene had rarely been equalled on any cricket ground in the world. These who saw it and participated in it will never forget it.? electrifying influence. McCabe was the belt) and never before liar, a batsmen, on reaching a century, been acclaimed with such fervour and enthusiasm. “NFW RLDOR NEKRFD."

» Tim great crowd which attended on Urn following day had further reason t« acclaim -McCabe. When lie -resumed his innings lie gave tin? most divdiUig display ever i-een in Sydney and seemed lo do just ns ho- liked with the remarkably accurate bowling— the really difficult howling—by the memher s of

tiie EngliiTh team. He forced the pace the wlnie time and lie was succc-sfiii in securing the strike almost whenever he a anted it. Larwood, the terror ol his team-mates, was treated with utter disrespect and all the time this young player had the crowd, ou its toc^, wondering what he would .do next. He defied all the tactics that were employed against him and when the innings closed he was still the master. Hopelessly defeated in the first test. Australia hr<s not lost hope. It is certain that the next team will be a vastly different one from that which has just played. Australia sadly missed Don Bradman and his presence in the side at the Melbourne tost, beginning on December 30, will go a long way toward restoring confidence. \ew blood in certainly needed, but the selectors have a difficult task ahead of them if they decide to experiment. If there, is to be any experimenting, the second test is the occasion for it. If Australia loses the ■second test, if will have .to win the remaining three, and it will then be a little late to introduce new blood in the hope that it will do better than the old. Whatever may fmppen, it in saf«* to predict that Australia, will not settle down to norm-1 life until the fifth test has been played. • -