SCHOOLBOYS THRILLED

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1033, 25 July 1930, Page 14

SCHOOLBOYS THRILLED

WHEN THE ELEVEN PLAYED THE AUSTRALIANS “GAFFER” FORGOT LUMBAGO Ponsford. the Austral, of the centuries, stood at wicket on Downside Sch2o cricket field recently facing tH bowling of a boy—Radcliff. tk! captain of the school. Suddenly (writes H. Wiglev i n English paper) we saw the schLr* small wicket-keeper, his cap liis eyes. dash out and hang on r* grim death. * on Ponsford caught! It was incredibi* The wicket-keeper tossed the balL u was true. 11 From hundreds of flannelled school boys came a roar of joy; the eves the masters gleamed; precious worJ« of praise came from the players, who sat awaiting their tui? at the wicket on which they practising for the Test match at tingham. 1 * >ot - RadclifTs glory a: Downside win never fade. Nor will that of liaroin de Ten they-O'Kelly, the wick <»t-keener Dazzlingly rich in its early summer green, the ground was as even as a billiard table, and the t*r raced banks that sloped up at the boundaries were like the facets ol a cut emerald. The Australians said that the vhjprovided one of the thrills of the<lives. Hundreds of eyes watched them as they strolled across the ground to tfc* pavilion. On one side of WoodfM! walked the headmaster, Fathe Trafford; on the other side can* Kadcliff. who is a son of the old Yorkshire captain. Woodfull did the right thing as goon as he arrived at the school. He aske* the head to give the boys a holidav This was granted. And then the boy* sprang their surprise. They presented Woodfull with * silver cigarette case for which they had subscribed, and they turned Uk Australian into as big a schoolboy as ‘ themselves. Acknowledging the gift. WoodfaL said: —"I cannot tell you how much va fellows appreciate the peace andqgfet of Downside after knocking about ia hotels for so long. “We are looking forward to a great victory in the first Test, though, •! course, I know you boys naturally won’t want us to win.” HIS LUMBAGO FORGOTTEN I watched Richardson go out to th* wicket, and a ' boy” with white hair lumbago and a grandson at the school, began to suffer excruciating agony by involuntarily thumping his knee is admiration of the Australians’ wonder ful strokes. Dickson, one of the school eleven, electrified the boys and earned undying fame by catching Richardson ok on two occasions. Those boys fielded brilliantly. The fact is that any one of the school team would have got in front of a cannon ball at whatever cost, rather than let anything go by. When Radcliff got Ponsford caugh: grandfather lost complete control He went into alternate rirrniw of joy and lumbago. HOW TO BOWL At the nets Grimmett gave a demosstration of bowling, with the lwj» listening to every word and watching every movement. He and Falrux gave a bowling display that amounted almost to wizardry. They were hitting a single stump four times out of six. They laid a couple o* stumps flat in front of the wicket and pitched the ball between them every time to demonstrate how to keep a length. They made the ball bcund sideways as if they had an angled reck concealed in the turf. Those boys were dumb with admiration. Of course, there were no autogrmpb books. Somebody Minor told me regretfully that autograph hunting to strictly forbidden. But there was no bar against photography and there was a perfect orgy of snapshotting. One of the school eleven who fielded, was Kevin O’Connor. He is an Australian, and the school bellovp thai one day he will be in the Australian eleven, just as one day Radcliff wiT. be In the England eleven. O’Comer last Saturday made 92 against Bh»dells.