CRICKET.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 147, 26 August 1926, Page 8

CRICKET.

THE ASHES. England has at last regained the Ashes. And it is a good thing that it should be so. It will give a fillip to the game in England, and will arouse in the Australians a very great determination to regain their laurels. A series of successes in any sport is never really good. It is apt f n bring.about over-confidence and unduly high regard of capabilities. 'Therefore the defeat will serve as a stimulant to the Aussies. It should lead to a search for young players, and above all to the encouragement of bowlers. It is to be regretted from a sporting point of view that the possession

of the Ashes should have hinged on one match. Granting that the season has been almost a record wet one, still it would seem that even if the weather had been perfect that none of the first four games would have been finished. Has! there been three matches to a finish it would have been a truer test of the merits. It is highly improbable that the possession of the Ashes would have been effected, since in the unfinished games the advantage on the whole was with the Englishmen. Still it would have been more satisfactory. In all the clamour to have matches played out, one point has not been touched on to any extent. Will the English wickets stand a five or six days match? it must not be taken all seasons will be as wet as this one. But it should be remembered that rain is more frequent than in Australia. Unless there is a very clear belief that under average conditions wickets will last five or six days, it would be better to restrict the limit to such a period as will ensure this.

In the last match the Australians had their chance, and let it go. With the comparative failure of the English batsmen in the first innings came Australia’s opportunity. But the earlier Australian batsmen failed and though the tail wagged so vigorously as to pass the Englishmen’s score, the 1 margin was much too small to compensate for the disadvantages of a | fourth innings, and the partnership of that great pair of opening batsmen, Hobbs and Sutcliffe assured England’s victory. The wicket went and the bowlers had their, chance. Never in the history of a test in England has 400 been scored in the fourth innings. With the wicket crumbling, the Australians’ position was hopeless. The match will always be memorable for the great uphill game of the last Australian batsmen in the first innings, and for the wonderful partnership of Hobbs and Sutcliffe in the second venture of the • Englishmen.