THE BULLDOG WON THE BOUT

NZ Truth, Issue 1201, 6 December 1928, Page 14

THE BULLDOG WON THE BOUT

Aussies Were A Sorry Spectacle In The Test Debacle At ßrisbane .(From "N.Z. Truth's'' Special Wellington Representative). There's a guesser born every minute, but just at present good old Australia has a plethora of guessing gentry all of- whom have crashed badly. Perhaps many of them were suffering from the superiority complex, bait, oh! How purblind they. were. To-day the guessers are having another guess, at the -same time groping m the dark for reasons why their shots missed the bull's-eye by such a margin. ; : y , • : :

IT happened this way. " Some months ago a young: fellow, by name, Percy Chapman, aided and' abetted by the heads of cricket m Elngland, decided, on a trip, to. Australia with a dozen or moire of his: comrades Now, Percy and his friends, .figuratively speaking, were bulldogs, and' their intention was to back a species of animal, known as the kangaroo, up against a nice bluegum and score a kill: Well, they went to their, muttons, m this case a cricket ground, m- a town known as Brisbane., The bulldog was represented by the cream of the English cricketing world— a sprinkling, of youth and experience, a delectable: cocktail. .Jack Ryder was the brains of the kangaroo, the. animate paVts being supplied by a coterie' of gentlemen, aged and near-aged, from all parts of the Commonwealth! Of course, there had to be the gum tree, or gum trees, and In .this case, six wickets symbolised Australia's great trees. ' . And the killing? Well, ',N.Z. Truth" just asks -you. ; First of all, the English bulldog slammed the kangaroo all over Brisbane cricket, ground,, biffed him to leg, chbp'ped him down, the sully and drove him to the pickets.

This lasted, two ;days,. until the. kangaroo got his back against the timber. 'Then, a young chap named ;Lar-, . wood, a. fast shooter and ,a danger- ; ous 'marksman was entrusted with the main item on the programme. Did you. say marksman? I' shouldsay so. He go.t home with six deadly ones, "while lurnbersome Morrie ' Tate scored three bull's-eyes. ' That was riot, the end, but it was quite enough for the kangaroo. Debacle was no. word 'for it. The bulldog successfully killed the kangaroo at the first meeting and the remaining four of his tribe will have many quaims between now and next March. Reverting to the serious side," the showing of the . Aussies -m the, first. Test was. sorry m. the extreme. Lauded to the skies ag a great side and one which, like 'Gordon Coates, would get things- done, the .first Test turned out, to.be a debacle ,for the representatives of the Commonwealth. "Over there it must be regarded as- a 1 national calamity. ■■;• ' ; ;■•■ ... - ; • ■■.. -.■;■• First* of all, "Patsy"' Hendren" gbt going- and took the I . S but of sting m .the Aussie bowling, assisted by

Larwood, Chapman, Hobbs, Sutcliffe and Hammond. ..This was not enough, though. Larwood, England's express bowler, who had played well within himself m- earlier matches, was let. loose. And what a' bowler he was! ■Wicket after, wicket fell to the young English express merchant, until he had six to his credit. Tate did the rest while Jack Gregory did not bat — through indisposition. "Truth" doubted the ability of Gregpry and Kelleway to see the distance m last week's issue. It was pointed out' that: the Aussies were relying too much on their veterans; ■ This contention was borne out by the result. Kelleway failed to take a -wicket, and Gregory was forced to retire! He has played his last Test game for Australia, A great bowler and a great bat, Jack has done his best and. deserves to retire with honors. _ The only pity of it is that he did not say he would not be available for big cricket after his last tour.. ' Anyway, cheer up, Aussies. There are- four mpre ,Test;s — plenty, enough m "which to recover the Ashes.