CRICKET.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 226, 1 March 1928, Page 8

CRICKET.

THE AUSTRALIAN TOUR. The Wellington match has aroused a controversy over the issue, has Wellington, and with it New Zealand, cricket advanced or has Australian cricket gone back? Probably the true answer may be found in both. The question that only can be answered at the end of the tour is the degree. The Wellington match was a remarkable one. For a team to follow on, lose six of its best batsmen for 90 runs, and then be beaten by only four wickets, is something out of the common. Right through, the match was a series of surprises. Outside Woodfull the Australian crack batsmen did not come to light, and the Victorian run-getter was missed twice. Nor was his a brilliant innings. He patiently played all the good balls and scored, off the loose stuff. The most enterprising batsman was the diminutive Schneider. A left-hander, he used his feet very cleverly to make up for the deficiency in reach, and the accuracy of his timing was attested by the power he got behind his shots. Dempster stood out as the great batsman of the Wellington side. In the first innings he was very patient and refused to be tempted by the traps of Grimmett and Blackie. His dismissal came about through loss of restraint. He. let go at one of Blackie’s leg theory traps and Grimmett brought off a wonderful catch. In the second innings' his batting was much freer. Foley, a very lengthy left-hander, stonewalled the dangerous stuff, and anything of the off or leg theory type he left well alone. His best scoring stroke was an off drive, and he got a lot of power behind it. A most promising batsman on the Wellington side was Massey. A young player, he has a nice style, and, though not reckless, is a free batsman. His stand with James for the last wicket in the second innings was the brightest cricket of the match.

To account for "the Australian failure, for such it was, is difficult. Admitting that their batsmen have yet to become accustomed to the wickets does not account for the failure of the bowlers to take advantage of the wicket. The Wellington wicket was not good on the second and third days. All bowlers were getting turn ; Blackie in fact was breaking too much. There were occasions when, bowling round the wicket, he turned the ball from the off stump to outside the batsmen’s legs. The fast bowlers did not seem to get much assistance from the wicket. It was really a mediumpaced bowler’s wicket. In one thing the Australian team is far behind its predecessors, and that is fielding. Granting the outfield was hot the smooth surface that the Melbourne and Sydney grounds are, yet it did not excuse balls going through fieldsmen’s legs nor was it responsible for inaccurate returning from the longfield. Never has any Australian wicketkeeper moved so frequently and so far from the wickets to gather outfielders’ returns as did Oldfield.

The Australian bowling is not strong. Blackie is by far the best. Bowling with an easy style, he keeps a great length. Mainly he is a leg theory bowler. He appears to make a lot of pace from the pitch with some of his deliveries, and the one he howled Badcock with in the second Innings nipped very fast. Grimmett appears to have lowered his delivery since his last visit here. It might he said that Grimmett is the more dangerous howler if on, but Blackie is the more consistent. Oxenham is a right-handed length howler turning from either side. Morton, the fast bowler, was not impressive, and did not appear to rank with Gregory or Cotter. Certainly the wicket was not to his liking, and he has to be seen on one from which he can make the ball “ fly.”

It is probable that New Zealand has not yet seen the visitors’ true form. Though their attack is not very strong, it seems probable that their batting will improve and they may become a great run-making side. FROM HERE AND THERE. Allan Kippax, who holds a wonderful first-class cricket average in Sydney, has made five centuries in six matches against Victoria. No excuse can he found for teams late in appearing on the field, states an exchange. Often players are late arriving and find substitutes in the field which is not playing the game, hut this does not form the only side to the question. Delay in starting has been seen on more than one occasion, and quite frequently where matches have been in dispute claims have been put forward for extra time, but not before the start of the innings—the correct time.

The following attendances at a fecent match between New South Wales and Victoria were a record for the fixtures: Thursday, 30,386, £2195; Friday, 13,387, £909; Saturday, 15,830, £1040; Monday, 6895, £■l3l; Tuesday, 1036, £3O; totals, 67,616, £4606. The’ previous record attendance for a Sheffield Shield match in Sydney was 56,152, and the takings £4133, two years ago.

C. G. Macartney, the Australian “ little wizard,” who quite recently retired from first-class cricket, and Mrs. Macartney, will leave towards the end of next month on a trip to England, where they will arrive during the summer. “ Boys have to be hustled one minute,” says Patsy Hendren, who is at present coaching South Australian boys, “ and joked with the next to get the best results. Once you get the lads to like you they will do anything you want them to.” If the selection of the Australian team for the Dominion had been delayed until the New South Wales v. Victoria match had been played, it is possible that E. a’Beckett and C. Nicholls would have won places, says the Referee. Experience on such a tour might have been of inestimable value in developing these new ones so that by the time the Tests come on next season they would be well qualified to step into the eleven. E. a’Beckett, the fast medium right-hand bowler, graduated from the Melbourne Grammar School to Melbourne University. He made his first appearance in the Sheffield Shield by taking the bowling honours and gathering in six wickets in the first innings against New South Wales. He shapes so ably in the field and with the bat that he looks quite the most promising young allrounder turned out by Victoria for years.

When discussing wickets recently, P. Hendren said that a really sticky wicket in Australia was much worse than one in England. It was not usual in Australia to have bad wickets. In England, they remained in a bad state ever so much longer. When a wicket was wet there, the ball not only turned, but it “ popped ” or lifted. “It is not a turning ball, but the one that lifts which gets the best batsmen,” he said. “ When deliveries are turning is the time to judge a batsman.”

Mr. B. B. Wilson, the North Taranaki cricket coach, has received a letter from Mr. F. C. Toone, the wellknown ex-Yorkshire cricketer,, in which he says that there is every likelihood of the next M.C.C. team (after the one which comes this year) to visit Australia will also visit New Zealand. He states that the Marylebone Club have the matter under consideration and favour such a course. Mr. Toone is well known as a manager of touring M.C.C. teams, and was in Australia with the last Test eleven, and will probably manage this year’s teams. P. F. Warner, according to cabled notes, has suggested that the 16 to represent England in Australia next season may come from the following 19: A. P. F. Chapman, Jardine, Stevens, Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Mead, Macaulay, Holmes, Woolley, Hammond, Geary, Tyldsley, Hendren, Hallows, Clark, Larwood, Tate, Brown, 'Ames. He predicted that Hammond will be the outstanding success.