PROSPECTS ARE BRIGHT FOR FINAL

NZ Truth, Issue 1261, 30 January 1930, Page 12

PROSPECTS ARE BRIGHT FOR FINAL

OUR BATSMEN COLLAR BOWLING

Superiority With the Ball Gives N.Z. Moral

Victory In Second Test

FIELDING IS THE WEAKNESS

(From "N.Z. Truth 's" Special Cricket Representative. )

I TT is doubtful if the selectors will make a change m the personnel of the team for the | i third Test, which will be staged m Auckland, commencing on February 14. 1 I" 1 ««"«i»>«iiHiiim.i.i.iii.iii.iiii.ii.R since the first Test, Roberts, of Canterbury, has come out of his shell and made a - s '" l " limil " ul " m,l, » "'"""'"'"j J double century. In the debacle m Christchurch he failed badly, but he did not have the failure on his own. Bon. Talbot, | alao of Christchurch, has claims for inclusion m a Test, but the question is who is going to be dropped to give either a place 1 m the third Test? / | . "N.Z. Truth's" advice is to. leave the team as it stands. Dickinson may find difficulty m getting to Auckland, but it 1 is hoped obstacles will be removed, so that the fast man will be on hand. No team is complete without a fast bowler. jf" Should Dickinson not be available, then McGirr, Wellington, should be included. 1 "Truth" has not been slow to commenpl the doings of our men with the bat and ball, but there is still an outstanding 1 general wealoiess m the work m the field. | 1 Bad or indifferent fielding is disheartening to the bowlers. j

MORE attention to fielding and catching is essential. The whole prospects of a victory for New. Zealand m the second Test went; west when Mills and Blunt dropped simple and easy catches. Their failure to make good m this important department of cricket could hardly be attributed to nervousness. Want of alertness and sluggish action generally characterises the movement of our men m the field. If bur aspirations to go far m the game are to meet with realisation then let our cricketers regard the work m the field as being of just'as much importance as is good, batting and good bowling. ■ The limitation of the Test to three days may rob New Zealand of a straight-out victory m the third Lest. "Truth" feels confident that given similar conditions to those prevailing m the match just .concluded, our men will take the field m Auckland imbibed with the, optimism and confidence which appears to be part and parcel of Stew;. Dempster when he goes to the wicket. Tom Lowry should again captain the side. The Hawkes Bay man has his faults as a leader, but few could cavil at his method, of .controlling the second^ Test. His brilliant catches on three or four occasions were m direct contrast

to the fumbling efforts of others m the team. Lowry will no doubt do some deep thinking before , his team takes the field m Auckland and "Truth" asks him to impress on his men that time lost> m getting about the. playing area may be just what is required most as the closing stages of the game are reached. 1 As pointed out m a previous issue, cricket can be made. a slow and dreary game, and it is due to the general sporting public that any action, which is of the "go slow" type should and must be cut out of our cricket. Summed up, our prospects of "a straight-out victory m the third Test are certainly bright and as it is late m the day to be indulging m experiments, "Truth's" advice to the selectors is to refrain from making changes m the team unless there are doubts of any of the chosen men obtaining tlie necessary leave to travel' to Auckland. After the first Test m Christchurch, critics dropped into pessimistic vein, proclaiming, that we had got too far ahead m urging a claini to be included m Test trials with England and Australia. "N.Z. Truth" could not subscribe, to the view that the batting m the first Test was a true indication of our actual strength and urged the batsmen to go to the crease convinced that they were capable of great things. The Second Test, although ending m a draw, was always going New Zealand's

way, and had it been played to a finish it looked a certainty that the Dominion eleven would have had a comfortable victory. Apart from the wonderful first-innings display by v Dempster, Mill and Page, tho feature of the match was the high standard of bowling by. the New Zealanders. At no stage could the visitors' take, liberties, whilst some of them were continually at sea ' when facing Merritt, Badcock, Blunt and Dickinson. . Starting off on a perfect wicket, Dempster and Mills soon gave indications that they possessed the cricket ability and determination to take the sting out of the Englishmen's bowling. Throughout the long tour m England two years ago Dempster and Mills 'were the opening batsmen for New Zealand and the experience gained has enabled them to work up a fine combination. In this second Test they rjot only completely collared the bowling, but they went further and established a record for a first-wicket stand m big cricket m New Zealand, the score ..mounting to 276 before Mills was sent , back to the Pavilion.. Gilligan, ever astute as a leader, brought all his bowling forces into play, but even the lightning deliveries of Nichols," Barrat and Allom and the twisty ones . from . Woolley, Worthington and Bowley failed to disturb the' two New Zealanders until they had both notched centuries and established an openingwicket record for the Dominion. Jack Mills, was. the' first to. go, arid al-

though he had a couple of "lives," he gave a brilliant and finished display of clean, crisp batting. Mills ls perhaps the most stylish batsman m the Dominion and m making 117 runs he brought into play quite a variety of strokes, the most spectacular , of which was a shot to leg which generally reached the' ropes. Woolley was the only bowler who caused Mills worry and the tricky man from Kent It was who upße.t the partnership by clean-bowling the Aucklander. To Dempster goes the honor of making the first century against the M.C.C. team and In compiling 136 runs the Wellington man demonstrated beyond all question that he ranks as New Zealand's foremost batsman. / He played brilliant shots all round the wicket and it was a treat to see the manner m which he picked holes In the Englishmen's defence. His total included eight boundary shots as against thirteen to the ropes by Mills. The 5,000 odd spectators gave Dempster and Mills a wonderful ovation and In quick time all and sundry were on to the heroes for itheir autographs. ' Dempster's actual batting . time m notching his 136 was 266 minutes and Mills took '2sl minutes to make 113. This exhibition will do much to place N.Z. on the map and from now on we will not focus so much attention on the reputations of our opponents. The great Hugh Trumble was an interested spectator and during the after-noon-tea adjournment this good judge expressed himself thus: — '■' "I have not seen In my long association with cricket a better exhibition than that given by the two opening batsmen. It has been my wish to see New Zealand cricket rise above' the ordinary and naturally I am very proud to be a of this triumph.'"' ■ < Gilligan made use of his best, bow'ihg talent, but many wondered why he left It* late m the day before calling on Woolley to take the ball. There was a' rumor m circulation that the Kent trundler'^as not feeling at his best, but this suggestion was ruled out after Woolley succeeded m breaking up the record-breaking partnershp and also adding Captain Tom Lowry to his list. | He cieaned-bowled Mills, had Tom Lowry trapped m the slips and tempted Dempster to move from his crease and be stumped. As the match progressed Woolley continued to cause worry and eventually finished up taking seven wickets for 76 runs. He sent down 5 maidens m 28 overs. Captain Tom Lowry went. in when the bowlers and fieldsmen were obviously tired |and instead of taking a lead from Dempster and Mills he assumed a cramped style and after making 6 he fell into the trap set m the slips. He spent most of the time of his short sojourn m looking for "sovereigns" or stray blades of grass on the wicket. Curly Page, x like Dempster, and Mills, found it good policy to attack the bowling, and although the popular Canterbury iad failed to go on for the century, he' nevertheless came out with flying colors after giving a bright and vigorous exhibition of the cricket the spectators love. Curly made 67. Blunt has been seen , in. better moods on the Basin Reserve, but he, too, played forcefully until he .placed; one of the off theory into Duleepsihhji's" safe hands m the slips. Blunt made -36. McLeod (16), and Mr. Extras (42) -were the only others to reach double figures.Merritt . notched • the only duck of the innings. . . • New Zealand's grand total mounted up to, 440. It will 'no bqubt now be argued that as this readable total came from the efforts of only three or four men the remaining batsmen again were failures. Seeing, however, that the match was limited to three days it would appear to have been questionable policy to go scratching for runs once the first occupants of the wickets had sent the score over the three, century, mark.. Had there been unlimited time, there would have been . justification for each man doing his best to play himself "set" before taking undue risks. . Woolley commanded respect, but the batsmen went confidently for the other bowiers. The team deserves every congratulation for its fine effort which is a direct answer to those who have persistently maintained that we have not yet arrived at the walking stage of our cricket career.

The M.C.C. captain, Gilligan, placed his field to the best possible advantage, nevertheless, there were times when his men slackened off m keenness arid failed to display the same alertness that characterised their movements m the field when last, seen on the ■ Basin Reserve. Proof of . this can be gathered from the fact that 42 extras were.regisLittle fault could be found . with the M.C:C. bowling for Nichols; Woolley and Co. put forward their very best efforts. •Woolley, however, Avas the only one to inspire any measure of fear into our batsmen. '.'■ >■ The. wicket was m excellent order, but Nichols's fast ones' soon created .^one or two "spots" which- caused the ball frequently " to bounce face high; and the batsmen were lucky to 'escape facial injuries. , Jack Mills showed his • mates just

how a fast bowler like Nichols should be played. The fast trundler did not 9ci v w.cket, and 66 runs were scored from his bowling, Barratt was kept at the bowling and with wonderful length he always commanded respect. Allom took one for 73, Worthington 2 fpr 63 and Bowley 0 for 32. The English captain and his men, all good sports, were generous m their congratulations to the New Zealanders for their attractive display. To Dawson and Bowley was entrusted the task of starting the journey m quest of New Zealand's large total. The fighting spirit possessed by all English sportsmen was soon m evidence, and bold and successful efforts were made to avoid hav-' ing a follow-on. New Zealand fielding was not up to international standard, • and the easy catches missed by Blunt and Mills at a stage when there appeared to be a possibility of the Englishmen having to follow-on caused bitter- disappointment; Lowry kept. , to , hjis policy of rapid changing of , bowlers and' the Englishmen consequently' : had little chance of getting used to any particular bowler. A feature of the play on Saturday afternoon was the manner m which Merritt and Badcock tangled up the English, batsmen. Merritt's slow ones were pitched with rare judgment and spun beautifully. Badcock kept a perfect length, varying his pace m such a manner that at no stage were the batsmen able to take liberties. Dawson; m registering 44, played very careful cricket and eventually succumbed to a beautiful leg-breaker sent down by Badcock. Bowley never appeared happy, particularly when facing Blunt, the Otago man finding the stumps when Bowley. had reached .9.

I The Scoring J I New Zealand. — § I Ist Innings ..440 f = 2nd Innings .. 164 for 4 wickets | = England. — , = § Ist Innings ..320 = 1 2nd Innings .. 107 for 4 wickets | .fllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllMllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.S

All eyes were centred on Indian Prince Duleepsinhji as . he went to the crease. The dark man has given some rare exhibitions m the Dominion and it is a treat to see him swinging the willow. All his strokes were operated with a masterly twist of the wrist and his placing of the ball towards openings m the field indicated cricket genius. He and Dawson gave our men an object lesson of how to gather m single runs. Many were sorry "Smgi" went out for 40, for apart from the longing to see our own men victorious, most sports like to see a good man giving of his best. Woolley was hardly given time to settle down, for after sneaking four singles and a two, Lowry brought off a brilliant, catch at short leg from a fast one by Dickinson.

Most trouble was experienced m breaking up, the Dawson-Legge partnership, and Lowry kept changing the bowling rapidly. Legge gave a stylish and forceful display for 39 before being caught by James, behind the stumps, giving Dickinson his second wicket. Nichols and Worthington m a sixthwicket partnership plugged away at all the loose stuff adding 70 runs. It was hero that luck was against New. Zealand, for both Nichols and Worthington should have gone earlier, as Mil is dropped Nichols, and Blunt let fall an easy one from Worthington, and incidentally spoiled Merritt's bowling average. Gilligan, who usually is earlier to the wicket, played confidently on Saturday, and at the end of the day he was undefeated with his total of 20, whilst Nichols was the other not-out man with 48. The Englishmen's total then stood six for 255. . M.C.C. finished up with 320 m their first innings, Nichols topping the scoring by a useful knock for 78. Gilligan was ' the only one of the remaining batsmep to put up a stubborn fight, eventually losing his wicket to a beauty by Merritt after notching 32. At one stage it appeared as if New Zealand Would succeed m forcing the visitors to follow on, but that was not to be. Dempster and Mills opened New Zealand's second visit to the crease and whilst Mills failed to get set, Dempster once again made it clear that he is the

batsman of the day as .far, as the Dominion is concerned. The Wellington lad played all bowlerswith the utmost confidence and right up to the time. Lowry decided to close, he remained undefeated at the wicket with his score at 80. He was right on the track for adding another century to his already bright career. The Englishmen one and all speak highly of Dempster, classing him as ' worthy of a place In any international side. • The Aucklander, Weir, who failed m the first innings, was shaping confidently until he was tempted by Woolley to snick one into Duleepsinhji's hands. Weir made only 21, but m doing so he gave an indication of hla merits as a batsman, ahd It will not come a6 a surprise if the Englishmen find. It a more difficult task to capture the northerner In the next Test. Out of the small total of 21 Weir sent' four shots right through to the ropes. Page went for the bowling and m quick time put 32 as his contribution to the total. The Canterbury man believes m freedom of action and his runs come from forceful 'and powerful strokes. Blunt m his second knock was never comfortable, Worthington finding the stumps after the Otago rep. had made 12. At this stage a drawn game was inevitable and Lowry pleased the large crowd w.heri he declared ''closed" and gave them an opportunity to see the Indian Prince and Woolley m action again.

The Prince was not so aggressive as usual and it was only when a loose ball came that he hit out. He has perfect poise at the wicket and withoutany apparent effort gets pace into the ball. i Seeing that there was no chance of the game being lost there was general disappointment when this star batsman ciecided to get on the de- . fensive. He v was 56 not out at the close of play. Woolley looked like getting set, but when he had reached 23 Merritt, who was bowling a great length ball ba'diy beat the popular batsman, finding the stumps with a dazzling leg break. '' A section of the crowd good-naturedly barracked Legge and Worthington for failing to get into top gear when coming out to strike. ■ . Legge went to a brilliant catch by Lowry off Weir. Tom also distinguished himself m bringing off a spectacular catch when Bowley rose a ball from Badcock. The result of the second Test will create much interest m the third meeting m Auckland. As a side of "all-rounders," the* New Zealanders gave the impression of being stronger than the visitors. New Zealand breeds the right class of athlete, and all that .is required to bring us up to the cricket standard of other countries is experience m games with the pick of these countries. Granted that the visitors are not fully, representative of England's cricket strength, they would nevertheless be,' on a par with the best county teams at Home. For our men to make such an impressive showing as they did m the second .Test bears out the correctness of the statement made m "Truth" that, "New Zealand cricket has improved to a standard which warrants our introduction into trial games against the. recognised cricket countries of the Avorld — England and Australia."