WORTHY OF TEST MATCHES

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 149, 14 September 1927, Page 1

WORTHY OF TEST MATCHES

NEW ZEALANDERS' FINE PLAY “IT’S CRICKET” SAYS LORD HAWKE FINAL GAME DRAWN WITH FAMOUS AMATEURS A DOUBLE compliment to the New Zealand cricket team was paid to its manager by Lord Hawke. The veteran English cricketer, noting the scoring in the visitors’ final drawn game against Mr. H. D. G. Leveson-Gower’s team, said, “Our fellows’ 170 in the afternoon was ridiculous compared with your fellows’ 3915 for five wickets. That’s cricket.” Then Lord Hawke gave it as Ms opinion that a test or two would attract the British public. Leading players have supported this view by an assurance that the New Zealand side is worthy of test matches.

By Cable.—Press Association. — Copyright.

Reed. 9.5 a.m. LONDON, Tuesday.

CONTINUING the Leveson-Goiver Eleven’s innings, Douglas and F. W. Gilligan (who hit six 4’s) averted a follow on. The pair added 97 in two hours, the innings closing with a much more respectable total than had seemed likely. It lasted 5 hours 45 minutes, exactly the same as the New Zealand innings, but yielded 131 runs less. Rain began just before the last wicket and was still falling steadily at 4 o’clock. The English climate robbed the New Zealanders of by no means a bad chance of a great last match win. The resumption of play at 4.30 was too late for a definite result. The proceedings, therefore, were uninteresting. so at 5.30. when the light failed and rain commenced, the game was abandoned. Blunt was undefeated, continuing h,s great first innings form. It was a dull end to a tour which all agreed would worthily be crowned by an innings victory. Details: NEW ZEALAND First Innings C. S. Dempster, b A. Gilligan .... 50 J. E. Mills, lbw, b Mercer .. .. 152 R. C. Blunt, c and b Haig 3 31 C. C. Dacre, b Haig f C. F. Allcott, c Mercer, b Bryan .. 5 M. L. Page, b A. Gilligan 23 T. C. Dowry, retired 4 H. M. McGirr, c Enthoven, b Haig 12 K C. James, not out IS \V. E. Merritt, c F. Gilligan, b Clay 8 M Henderson, c F. Gilligan, b Clay 8 Extras 28 Total 447 Bowling analysis.—Haig took three wickets for 112 runs, Mercer two for 89. Clay two for 86, A. Gilligan two for 37, Wyatt none for 52. Enthoven none for 21, Arnott none for 22. Second Innings Blunt, not out *>3 James, run out H Mills, c F. Gilligan, b Clay 11 Merritt, b Clay •• 3 Dempster, not out 9 Extras 6 Total for three wickets .. .. 103 Bowling analysis.—Arnott took ro wickets for 33 runs, Enthoven none for 22, Clay two for 20, Wyatt none for 22. LEVESON-GOWER’S ELEVEN First Innings Dawson, c Dacre, b Allcott .... 53 Arnott, c Merritt, b Henderson .. 27 Wyatt, b Allcott 44 Haig, o Page, b Merritt 4 Douglas, lbw, b Blunt 45 A. Gilligan, c McGirr, b Merritt .. 10 Enthoven, st James, b Merritt . . 7 F. W. Gilligan, not out 71 Cratchley, b Merritt 4 Clay, run out 14 Mercer, c Mills, b Page 7 Extras 30 Total 316 Bowling analysis.—McGirr took no wickets for 57, Henderson one for 51, Allcott two for 32, Merritt four for 95, Blunt one for 40, Page one for 11. Touring Brevities The tour commenced on May 7 at Maidenhead and ended on September 13 at Scarborough. * * * Every plaver in the team had a turn with the ball, even James, the wicketkeeper. Page and Dempster played the greatest number of matches —34 out of 39. Merritt had a remarkable string of not outs to his credit, 17 in all. His best score was 50 not out against the Army. * * * Nobody succeeded in getting two centuries in one match, but Lowry had two notable “doubles” to his credit — 106 and 63 v. M.C.C., and 106 and 74 v. Worcestershire. Oliver was one of the most disappointing men in the team, being quite unable to strike his New Zealand form with the bat. His best score was 48, against the Scottish counties. Cunningham, another Canterbury man, was the biggest failure of the tour, considering that at the outset he was regarded as being likely to become one of the stock bowlers of the tour. His best effort was four for 50 against Durham. It is stated that he was far from well in England. James scarcely lived up to his Wellington reputation as a batsman. His best score was 54 against the Cricket Conference XI. Behind the sticks, however, he was generally in his best form. * • • An injury to his foot, sustained in Auckland before he left for England, kept Allcott out of the fi r s t five matches of the tour. Thereafter he played regularly and was one of the best all-rounders in tho team. * * * H. McGirr. of Wellington, was on© of the most useful men on tour. He was always liable to get runs when the team was up against it, and his bowling was consistently good. His best score was 73 against. Kent. # Ces Caere left under a clqud. Many said that his batting had deteriorated and that he was lucky to be in the team. The Aucklander, however, jumped off with successive centuries in the :irst two matches, and there-

after was the daring, dashing batsman New Zealanders know so well. The wet English summer handicapped the pace bowlers and the team had to rely to a large extent on its slow bowlers, Merritt and Blunt, both of whom rose to the occasion in splendid style. They were to New Zealand what Mailey and Grimmett were to the last Australian team in England. reputation was redeemed by Merritt and Page. The latter left New Zealand quite unknown as a bowler, but in the ninth match of the tour, against Oxford University, he secured the sensational average of four wickets for 10 runs, and after that was one of the most successful change bowlers in the team. He bowls medium pace, right hand, with a slight off break. Dempster and Merritt, whose selection was severely criticised in some quarters before the team left, were the outstanding successes of the tour. The

former’s tally of six centuries on tour included two in successive matches, 167 not out against Glamorgan and 101 against Surrey. Besides proving an ideal captain, Lowry was the most versatile man in the team. A powerful, hard-hitting batsman, good behind the sticks and useful in the field, the Hawke’s Bay man also came to light .as. a bowler, his best performance being his six for 25 against the South of Scotland. “So near and yet so far"I—this 1 —this was C. C. Dacre’s experience against Norfolk. He wanted only one to complete his century, but had the mortification to lose his wicket before he could put another three-figure innings opposite his name. The Aucklander was always liable to get wickets with his semiround arm stj r le of bowling, a notable effort being his five for 35 against Yorkshire, one of the strongest counties in England. After a brilliant start against Martineau’s XI. and the M.C.C., the team slumped badly in the next three games, the New Zealanders losing against Essex, Cambridge and Middlesex. In the eleventh match of the tour the team was again defeated. Northamptonshire turning the trick early in June. From then on till September 2 the team preserved an unbeaten record until Kent secured a win. These were the only five English teams that beat the New Zealanders. The 14 men chosen proved ample for the tour. On only two occasions was anyone other chan one of the selected players chosen. Blundell. the New Zealander at Cambridge, played against the University eleven, earning his bat without scoring in the first innings and making three in the second. He had no success with the ball, failing to secure a wicket, with 38 runs debited against him. The manager, Mr. B. Hay, played against the Rovai Navy at Portsmouth, the ex-New Zealand rep. scoring 2 not out. A VETERAN’S TRIBUTE HIGH COMPLIMENT TO TEAM LEADING CRICKETERS IMPRESSED LONDON, Tuesday. Lord Hawke has written to Mr. Douglas Hay, the New Zealanders’ manager: “Our fellows’ 170 in the afternoon was ridiculous compared with your fellows’ 394 for five wickets. That’s cricket. They enjoy it. Our .cricket is all too serious. No doubt you have had poor gates; but if you arranged a test or two more folk would come to see you.” Leading players have assured Mr. Hay that the present side is worthy of test matches. Mr. Hay is exploring the prospects, convinced that New Zealand only has to seek tests and they will be granted. Although the tour shows a fairly heavy loss, the team’s performances, together with the attendances when the weather was fine, should give sufficient assurance to the New Zealand Cricket Council to face another tour in 1931. He hoped the Englishmen playing in Australia in 192 S would omit some small matches and play two games in New Zealand. PRINCESS AND PLAYERS VISIT TO WYKEHAM ABBEY LONDON, Tuesday. Photographs of Princess Mary are published in some of the newspapers to-day showing her Royal Highness standing among the New Zealand cricketers on a visit to Wykeham Abbey, where the Princess is staying. She is in the centre of the group. In one picture she is smilingly chatting with the New Zealand captain, Lowry, and in another with Mr. Leveson Gower. —A. and N.Z.

averages for all matches

RECORD OF ALL GAMES

v ’ Glamorgan, at Cardiff. New Zealand, ?-fnr. a i*J d .- 2 i oi “ for se%en wickets (deby 2? 6 r?is m ° rSan ' 145 a,ld 190 ’ Won V ' th S Oval. New Zealand, “K; ln i!. 371: Surrey, 377 and 284 for eight tickets. Drawn. v ' , a - l „ WeH ton-Super-Mare. New ?n?IK- d ' vv an „ d i 23: Somerset, 117 and 6,. Won by S 4 runs. y ir ?.\ at Cheltenham. New 41i>; Gloucestershire, 14S and . I*® for three wickets. Drawn mi r f/7 hlre ’ at P*rby. New Zealand, 2hire , "-ickets (declared) ; Derbyshire, 1„9 and 172. Won by an innings and 240 runs. V ‘ «h?£f aS ‘>oa Pe ’^- at r an chester. Dancashire 229; New Zealand, 57 for one T™/*®**. Drawn. (Match abandoned owing to ram). v. Cumberland, at Whitehaven. New ZeaJand, o 02; Cumberland, 154 and 130. Won by an innings and 18 runs, v. Bedfordshire, at Bedford. Bedfordfor * five tickets. Drawn, i.Match abandoned owing to rain). v * at Norwich. New Zealand, .112; Norfolk, 104 and 111. Won by an innings and 97 runs. V * iAn h >V ond < be , n efit match). Richmond, 10°; New Zealand, 221 for eight wickets. Won by 121 runs. v ’ at Canterbury. Kent, 405 and 263 for eight wickets (declared); New Zealand, 293 and 317. Lost by 58

Batting In. rc.o. Total. f* <? Dempster . 49 s 54.27 2,060 50.39 1 E. Mills. . s 1,677 39.94 C C. Dacre ... 1,504 30.23 r C. Lowry .. 4 1,498 35.66 1,379 32.07 . * F. Allcott . 8 to:: 26.04 XV E. Merritt . 44 680 H. M McGirr . 39 t 823 21.03 xr c. James .. 648 19.06 H L," Bernau . 4 13.21 \f Henderson.. 152 10.S6 \V. Cunningham . 20 3 119 7.00 Bowli ng Wkts. Runs. Av. C S. Dempster 11 203 IS.45 m. L- •• 39 721 19.00 \v E. Merritt.. 175 3.341 19.09 C Dacre .. 19.58 H M. McGirr .. 1,740 23.06 M Henderson.. 47 1,136 24.17 f» Blunt 2,306 25.06 T C. Lowry .. 607 24.28 H L. Bernau.. 982 25.84 C F. Allcott .. 3G 1.036 \v Cunningham 20 81.25 j E. M'lls .. . . 136 34.00 C. Oliver 1 2! 0 210.00 K. C. James .. .. 0 6