CRICKET.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 September 1920, Page 3

CRICKET.

PLAY IN ENGLAND. SOME BRILLIANT BATTING. 89 iflftlegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright, Received Sept. 15, 8.20 London, Sept. 14. Middlesex nude 318. Wilson took 4 wiek.?rs for 44 runs, Douglas for Gl, Rhodes 1 for 27, Woolley, 1 for 46, Parkin 1 for 57, Hitch 0 for 67. The Rest of England made 6Q:i for five wickets in five and a half hours' batting. There was brisk scoring throughout. Hobbs and Russell made the first hundred in fortyfive minutes, and the first wicket fell at 185, and in 93 minutes the second wicket fell. Hobbs and E. Tyldesley made 347 not out in 166 minutes. Hobbs, who was brilliant, and in his best form, made 215, Russell 84, Tyldesley 06, Woolley 71, Holmes 44, antf Douglas CO, not out.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assi. ENGLAND'S WEALTH OF CRICKET TALENT. SOMETHING ABOUT THE NEW STARS. (By John Hughes in the Sydney Referee.) The more 0110 sees of English cricket this, year the more certain one feels that Aus- 1 tralla will havo to put her very best foot forward in the coming trials, of strength lu. November. Though there is no out-1 standing figure amongst the present amateur?; like McLaren, Jackson, Fry, or Spooner, there! are several magnificent all-round players! who, if they can make the trip, will be extremely populxr with Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide crowds. I refer particularly (in order of to P. G. H. Fender, the Surrey captain; C. W. Jupp, Sussex; F. K. 0. Wood, the Cambridge captain, b.v common consent tiie finest wicket-keeper in England to-day, and a very sound batsman; <i. M. Louden. a fast-medium bowler from Essex; and the Hon. L. H. Tennyson, the Hampshire captain. Of these flue amateurs, P. G. H. Feuder Is, perhaps, the most intriguing cricket personality. He is one of the finest natural hitters I have ever seen, and his 50 at Lord's recently, against the cream oL the professional bowling of England, was brilliant and dashing in the extreme. Well over six feet, powerfully built, and with a beautifullybalanced stance at the wicket, he treated Woolley and Parkin—the latter a most resourceful and cunning bowler (he must, indeed be the first bowler selected to go to Australia), unuch as Jessop, on liis day, used to treat the best bowlers opposed to him. Five of the best Gentlemen's wickets had fallen for 57 runs when he went in, and Parkin, Woolley, and Howell (the Warwickshire fast bowler—a "certainty" for Australia) had everyone else "tied up in a knot." Fender proceeded to demonstrate how easy It was to hit them—and hit them he did 1 He was m for about 35 minutes for his 50, anil in one over from Woolley he scored, in successive strokes, 6, 4, 4, and 0, and both of the other two remaining- deliveries would have found the boundary but for the brilliant fielding of Robbs at mid-off. Fender invariably goes for the'bowling; he has none of Jessop's crouching ugliness, is a sheer delight to , watch, and is far the most popular amateur with the English crowd to ; day. I have no hesitation in predicting 'that, his breezy hitting will make him equally popular in Australia. V. C. W. Jupp is another new man who would give a good account of himself in Australia. He is a solid and dependable batsman, and a very lino fast to fast-medium bowler. He had Hearne, Hondren, Russell, Woolloy and Mead "tied up" time after time, on as perfect a wicket as it was possihhi to imagine. He has great command of "night", and mixes his pace cleverly—clearly just the kind of bowler likely to succeed on billiard-table wickets of Australia. (». E. c. Wood, the Cambridge captain, would lie a certainty for the trip if he could get away from Cambridge, but there seems to be a good deal of doubt about his ability to do so. He certainly would not be Strudwick's understudy—he is a better wicketkeeper than the little man from Surrey, and, If perchance he can get awajh, he is likely to win golden opinions from Australian judges 01 the game, and to be just :is formidable a batsman, at a pinch, as Llliey in his palmy days. He went; in tenth man, at a very critical imoment in the game, when Parkin was almost irresistible, and not only played him with confidence, but remained to carry his bat' for an invaluable 43. Stevens, the young Oxford University player, batted exceptionally well. He cannot, of couVse, neglect his studies for an M.C.C. trip, but that he is a future Test match plaver no one who has seen him can doubt. He seldom lails in an emergency, and for a youngster (he is not yet 21) displays remarkable sang froui. giving one the impression that "nerves" are the very last thing he suffers from. G. M. Louden is, on his present form, a better, bowler than Douglas—"the latter is I undoubtedly an extremely ablo leader. He Is not. the Douglas of old, but is a great general, and- for that, reason alone, is indispensable as a Test match player. L. H. Tennyson, like Fender, is a brilliant hitter—just tiio sort of man to pull a game round when things are going against his side. He is, however, a very shaky be- : ginner; if he can survive the first over or two he usually makes the' pace a cracker, putting tlie crowd in high good humor. 1 think that ho will just miss Test imateh | honors—the professionals are so strong in batting that th?ro oftft&pt - fe» aftttr TMM-

cles for amateurs except of the very highest class. (L. H. Tennyson is in the team tor New Zealand.—Ed. Referee). G. N. Poster, one of the famous brothers, is undoubtedly in that category. He played a glorious innings of 143 for the M.C.C. the other day against Oxford—he was, indeed, tUc first batsman this year-to jump out to Betting* ton and knock him off his length—but I fear Australia will not see him. like Donald Knight, the greatest of all living English amateur batsman, he is unable to get away from his work. If Foster and Knight could make the trip, Australians would see two of the most graceful and fascinating batsmen that have ever stepped on to tho field. Bettington bowled admirably; lie sent down one or two loose balls, which Hobbs and Co. promptly sent to the boundary; but. though he got only one wicket (Hobbs') he had every batsman guessing, and no one attempted to take any liberties with him. He has a beautifully easy action, and keeps a flno length; in fact, 1 have never seen a googlie bowler with a better length. As for the professionals, England is at present suffering from an embarrassment of riches. I don't suppose a mnr6 formidable 'collection of batsmen than Hoblis, Hendren, Hearn'e, Mead, Woolley, and Russell—to say nothing of the evergreen Wilfred Rhodes—have ever taken p;:rt in a Players' side. It is hard to see how any single one of them can be left out of tho M.C.C. team. Some idea of the strength of English professional batting may be gained by a consideration of the fact that, players like George Gitnn (Notts) SuteliftV, Holmes, and R. Kilner (Yorkshire), and Makepeace and Hallows (Lanes), can find no place in to-day's professional event. There is little doubt thai" the M.C.C. team to visit Australia this year and next will bo as powerful a side as has ever been got together. Howell, the new fast bowler, is sure to be a success on Australian wickets, though there is every likelihood that Parkin, the Lancashire League player, will be the outstanding bowler of the side. I have never ! seen a greater variation of pare than in his overs; ho bowls every kind of ball, from fast Lo fast-medium, with an occasional googly, reminding one of Albert Trott at his best. I With Douglas, Fender, Louden. Rhodes. Parkin, Henrne, Woolley, and Howell, the M.C.C. bowling will be formidable indeed. I am not going to try to anticipate the M.C.C. selectors and send out a forecast of the side—there are sure to be ono or two surprises, and tho inevitable storm of criticism when the selectors' task is dono. I J : I I