AT LORD'S

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 596, 29 July 1933, Page 3

AT LORD'S

HEADLEY'S CENTURY FAMOUS WEST INDIES BATS MAN TAKES POSSESSION. PROMISING YOUNGSTER. Delightful glimpses of the scoring of a century by George Headley, famous young batsman of the West Indies cricket team, are given by "Cricketer" (Neville Cardus) in the "Manchester Guardain." The innings described is that in which Headly seored 129, out of 309, for the West Indies against the M.C.C. Appended ar extracts from the description. On a bright May niorning, the cricketers of the West Indies came to London eager for their first se.vere engagements this year, under the eyes of the stately and authoritive pavilion of Lord's. They had the privilege of first innings on a fast wicket, and as Roach and Hoad walked forth to bat the breeze fiuttered bravely the West Indians' pretty colours on the flagstaff — mauve and green, with a quaint emblematical picture of a palm tree. ! The beginning was sad, for Hoad • hit across a welltossed ball from J Allom and was bowled; the score ' was only nine. Now came the celebrated Headley, walking to the gleaming middle wth the slow deliberation of Bradman himself. He quickly showed his quality, by'means of a grand on-drive made. on swift feet. He moved his right foot acioss the stumps and forced the ball away with a strong right forearm, the body falling naturally and vitally into the hit. This stroke was enough — it told the tale of class. A single chord struck by a H'oworitz is likewise enough; we need not hear him play' a whole sonato to get the proof. A Small Man The runs which Headley proceeded to make after that first revelatory ; touch of skill and personality, were merely a confirmation, a blossoming of a fundamental seed or root.- He is a small man — by the side of Bowes he looked diminutive, and he has a slight and likeable suggestion of bandiness about his pads. He moves his right foot over the stumps to nearly every ball — a sign that he is definitely modern. The difference between post-war and pre-war cfieket is-mainly a matter of the importance put on the use of the left and right foot during the playing of a defensive stroke on a hard wicket. Headley did not all at once take possession of the scene. Roach, who is a busy, confident cricketer, hit a "bumper" ! from Bowes off his face for two. But ' Bowes did not exploit leg-theory; his field contained the conventional number of slips, I do not think we shall see much of the so-called body-line bowling at Lord's this season — especially when the other side has a Constantine . . . At lunch the West Indies were 112 for two, Headley 53 not out. He had not so far played demonstratively ; some of his strokes were, so to say, only half-hit. But the diseerning eye could always find.the signs of a relaible technique; the very quietness of his play, combined with its sureness, was menacing. I got an acute sense of slow fires ready at any moment to flash out consumingly. After the interval Headley made a sequence of swift-footed strokes all to the on-side; one swinging hit almost decapitated the umprie. Headley is essentially an on-side batsmen; but between squareleg and long-on his hits are uncommonly clean and variegated'. Also he has a capital straight drive. And seldom, if ever, does he lift the ball into the air. His help-mate in a valuable third-wicket stand was Inniss, who was called up from Oxford University to take part in this important game because of casualties among the West Indian team proper. For a while Inniss was content merely ito stop the ball which he did with the diffident concentration of a novice. But after a while he began to reveal hints of a pretty cut through the slips, on the whole, though, he seemed willing to look upon the idea of scoring strokes as a vain and unmannerly assertion of egoism. Slow Tempo The first hours following lunch produced 60 runs, and Headley made 34 of them; the accurate bowling of J. C. White was responsible for the slow tempo, but the cricket was interesting for- Headly constantly played the ball well and characteristically. He is not wholly acclimatised yet, but to-day you could feel his form 'and personally opening out in the sunshine. Apart from White' s length, the M.C.C.'s attack lacked distinction — F. R. Brown was unable to pitch the ball where he aimed at. Headley liked him very much. Headly demonstrated that he could cut when Hearne sent him a short ball; the stroke made his score 93 and it sent the ball to the boundary in a seconds' flash. Inniss also achieved a cut hereabout from the only loose ball wheeled up by White for a long time. It can be taken as a fact that White is bowling well if the quick feet of a Headly cannot discover a half-vol-ley. Bradman is the only batsman I have ever seen positively hitting White and causing him to wonder where to pitch the next ball. But then Bradman is the greatest bats-

man of our day, excepting Hammond when Hammond is in the right mood; Headley reached his hundred out of a total oi^ 187, in three hours and' a quarter. It sounds a long time, but after lunch Inniss seemed always to be getting the bowling, nursing it tenderly and with care. Headley batted with the aspect of a cricketer who was quite certain he was going to make a century on the occasion of his first appearance at Lord's. He never faltered, never seemed to see "anythirig in it." And as soon as he had obtained his century, he played brilliantly for a while. Ho drove a fast ball from Bowes straight for four off his baclc foot; then he drove another fast ball from Allom straight.to long-on — a wonderful hit, with the left foot prancing and the bat just one quick flash and crack, beautiful and warlike. He was caught at the wicket trying a cut off a high ball. The great crowd rose at him as he came home to the pavilion. He and Inniss seored 149 for the third wicket in two hours 20 minutes.