SPORTS AND SPORTSMEN

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20272, 14 August 1937, Page 22 (Supplement)

SPORTS AND SPORTSMEN

By “Spectator.”

FOUR TESTS PLAYED TO-DAY Neiv Zealand Cricketers at Home : Third Match Against England : Tiraion Game Should Result : George Nepia Again Shows Form : Cricketers to tour Australia : Am-ateur Boxing Sidelights.

TO-DAY IS UNIQUE in the world of sport in that New Zealand teams are engaged in four Test matches In various branches of sport. Two of the games will toe played in New Zealand and the other two overseas—one in Australia and the other in England. The one in which most interest will centre will be the first Rugby Test between the All Blacks and South Africa at Wellington, but by the time that this appears the result of this match will be known and a review of the prospects useless. The same applies to the second Test ‘between the New Zealand and Australian League teams at Auckland, while the first and only Test of the New Zealand Hockey Team’s tour of Australia will be played at Sydney to-day and the result of this match should be available this evening. The tourists have not been doing as well as their predecessors but it must he remembered that the standard of play has improved in Australia over the past few years. This will he a very hard and even match. Australia has never beaten New Zealand in a hockey test. The fourth of the series will be at the historic Oval in England when the comparative strength of England and New Zealand cricketers will be determined for the third and last, time this season. In the two previous cricket Tests New Zealand escaped with a draw very much in favour of England in the first, and were beaten in the second after they had bowled well to secure a reasonable chance of victory. On their form over the past two weeks the New Zealanders have a chance of at toast drawing the final Test as many of the players have recently struck their best. They should not be beaten but it would be even more surprising if they won in the three days. The results of the first day’s play will not be available until to-morrow morning and a review of the prospects will be of Interest. ***>•••

Is also now getting amongst the " .uns, and with the limited variety in he attack, if the batsmen can sur- c vive the fast bowling they should c make a good score. For the latter t spin bowlers, while on a fast wicket c both Cowie and Dunning will prove f dangerous if they maintain recent \ ' efforts. With Cowie, Dunning, Mol- | 1

It was only lack of experience r at 1 the critical time that robbed New 4 Zealand of the chance of being “one up” on England in the present series . as the task they set themselves to i win in their fourth innings in the ,« second Test (after the first was , 1 drawn) was not by any means an im- j < possible one. It is not very likely < that England will allow herself to | get into the same position again but her batsmen will have to score many runs as the visitors' batting has inproved and England will again tak the field without a recognised left hand bowler. The English team ha: been announced, but the New Zealani team will not be definitely finalisei until the morning of the match. Tht English selectors are apparently in a quandary. They have an inferiority complex after Test rubber defeats b\ Australia (twice), West Indies and South Africa and they are not experimenting with their younger play ei*s as far as it was thought they would in view of the Australians’ tour next year. The only new players given a chance in this series are A. R. Gover, L. Hutton and H. Parks (first Test), A. W’. Wellard, T. W. Goddard. C. I. Smith (second Test), and A. D. Matthews and D. C. Compton (third Test). I The selection of so many of England’s stalwarts for this match can be taken as a compliment by the New Zealanders. The English selectors are certainly taking no chances and if New Zealand do manage to win it cannot bo said that the team was not England's best. The batting ordei of the side is very impressive with C J. Barnett (who opened in Australia last summer) and the brilliant young Vorkshireman, L. Hutton, capable ol putting the century up for the first, wicket. Then will follow Hardstaff and Hammond, two of the greatest batsmen in England at present. Hardstaff is in particularly fine form at j present and recently for his county he scored over 70 and in the next innings made 120, reaching the century j in the fastest time of the season. On ; a good wicket he will be a very hard ' man to dislodge. Hammond, one of the best batsmen of all times, is still supreme in England and has headed the averages right through the sea- . son. Ho has recently topped the cen- ' tury again and with Hardstaff, Barnett and Hutton forms a very formidable potential run-getting quartette, j If all strike form at the same time it j is doubtful whether England have ever had four such great batsmen to i open an innings. The batting potentialities by no ■ means end here. E. Paynter, who fol- : lows, is a particularly sound batsman, and is the onlv left-hander in the side. Ho toured Australia with D. R. Jardine’s team and played in the last i three Tests there. He batted well in ' the first Tost against New Zealand \ this year but failed in the second j match. Compton, the brilliant. Middle- I sex all-rounder, who is only li> years J of age, will follow Paynter. This is his first appearance for England and he may be one of England’s coming batsmen. lie finished third in his county's averages last season with just under 1000 runs for championship games. His stroke play is ex- ! eellent. With Ames and Robins to follow the side is very strong in bat- j ting. Matthews, as a batsman, is < bettor than most bowlers, but is not : Unless Cover and Goddard strike a ! length and maintain their excellent form this side will be a little weaker in bowling than many English sides have been, as besides these two and Matthews the only other recognised bowler is Robins. Fames is easily the outstanding fast bowler in Eng- i land at present, but cannot play owing to an injury, but Gover is a good ] fnst bowler. Goddard is another fast ' bowler of note and this week he took j ten wickets in one innings, lie was I the outstanding bowler in the second Test, when he reallv saved England 1 from defeat. The spin howling will h e j in the hands of the right-hander Rob- | ins. while Hammond is also dangerous ; with his medium-paced deliveries on a j wicket that suits him. Matthews, an- ! other fast, bowler, came into promin- : wUI Veins' first "tcsT also" Hu’ttoVis a useful change bowler and recently howls his "eft-hander*slows Vvit'h"success. There is one thing that will favour England and that, is that they Zealand has "not. proved herself * imA pleasing feature of the prospects New Zealanders, and much will be expected of them. Vivian. Moloney and • maintained his splendid form. Since the second Test Donnelly has shown further improvement and these playland form prior to the second Test,

positions the weather will be a deciding factor. In the event of wet weather New Zealand wiLl be in a strong position with three left-hand j oney, Vivian, Galliehan (or Roberts) and Donnelly, all good bowlers, the ; attack will not lack varied, w-hile : the fielding, which has been excellent, | will be a big factor if it is maintained. To sum up, England has a very strong batting side and a fine fast attack • for a good wicket, while New Zealand has a batting team that should do j well on their present form and a more ! varied attack that will prove the more 1 : dangerous if conditions are in favour of the spin bonders. With the time limit of three days a decision seems improbable, but New Zealand is a very j inconsistent team this season. Cricketers to Visit Australia'* I It, has been suggested that the New Zealand cricketers on their return from the present tour of Great Britain, should play matches in Australia. If this were done it would make an admirable conclusion to the tour and : give the Dominion team a game in Australia. It is ten years since a New Zealand eleven played on Aus- , tralian wickets and only four times has a Dominion team visited the Commonwealth. * • • « The New Zealand cricketers would, ! no doubt, be pleased to play in Australia on the way home ami the suggestion meets with hearty support from cricketers in Sydney. “A great idea,” is the general comment. If active cricketers in Australia had had the say, the ten years’ gap between : the two countries would never have ! been created. If matches be arranged , the associations concerned will, no i doubt, extend to the New Zealand authorities best possible financial i conditions. In the opinion of one Australian spoilsman the entire net ! profits should go to the Dominion. I New Zealand has been vitally hit by j the migration of players it developed j (including Dempster, Blunt. Dacrc i ami Merritt), failure of recent M.C.C, | teams to reveal attractive colour in their cricket, and mediocre success of | the present team now in England. It ; should he the pleasure of Australia to assist the Dominion with the back--1 ing of the public. • * • • I The secretary of the Australian I Cricket Control Board announced that ! I the board had agreed to the following , ! matches against the returning New I' Zealand team from England: - November 5 to 9. v. South Australia at Adelaide; November 12 to lfi, v. ; Victoria at Melbourne; November 111 I to 23, v. Now South Wales at Sydney. [I Mr A. G. Moycs, writing in Hie Svd- • ncy Sun. says; “A visit by the Now Zealanders would he most* interesting | and would no doubt be a 10-lp in a se.i- ---' | late in January, and no doubt our i j players in action In matches other than j i I

Sheffield Shield fixtui*es. Apart from that, it is time bhat the Board of Control took a hand in the development of New Zealand cricket. Visits to and from that country would benefit New Zealanders and Australians. For our younger players particularly it would be invaluable. It is a master that should be taken up at once. We could send a team to New Zealand at the end of next season, but it would lack nternationals, and it is time that New Zealand saw Bradman, M-cCabe and Co.” Latest Information indicates that the New Zealand tour of Australia has been agreed to by the New Zealand Council and it is ldt'ly that additional matches will be arranged for the Dominion team. Gun Club Shoot. The Auckland Provincial Clay Bird Championship will be held at Ruakura next month, when over the two days’ shoot two £SO open clay pigeon handicaps will be held. The tournament will be held on Friday, September 17, and Saturday, September 18. On the ■ first day there will be an eye-opener sweepstake to be followed by an open £SO handicap match and an open trophy match for a trophy of £l2 12s. On the second day an eyeopener of seven birds at 9.30 a.m. will be followed by the Auckland provincial championship and then another £SO open "handicap match. There will be further sweepstakes on both days if time permits. Amateur Boxing Highlights. It seems unlikely that one person could have gone away from the Waikato boxing - championship tournament, organised by the Hamilton Boxing Association, last Saturday night, with feeling's any other than ones of entire satisfaction at the evening’s exhibitions of skill in pugilism. For real “all-in” fighting, when every point is strenuously contested, the amateurs on championship night are truly worth supporting. This contention was fully

i brother of the well-known Te Awa- - mutu boys of other days. t m m m m i Although he is not seen in the ring v as often as other amateur boxers, W. r Purdie, the new welter-weight chami pion, must be keeping at his work t I judging from his exhibition ”or! it ,f 5 I ■■ - rlerstood he is endeavouring to get e into form for the next Olympic Games. t His victory over V. Caltaux was not v j i 1

as easy as might have been expected and he had a really hard fight to get matters in his favour, but the decision n was certainly his. Purdie’s better •_ judgment and cleaner hitting gave him F the winning points. Caltaux, crouchI ing low, is a puzzle to inexperienced . I ringmen. Giving away over a stone ’ in weight he attained a marvellous . j achievement to knock out J. Beaton, of al j Waikino, in the middle-weight final. j s j This was undoubtedly the best bout of . g 1 the night as far as excitement was 1 concerned and reached a climax when ] y I Caltaux collapsed after hearing his 1 opponent crash for the full count. —' Purdie’s New Zealand title does not look as sure as it was last year and he will have to improve to beat some of the Improvers. Percy Kelly, one of the most promising youngsters in the light-weight suffered a surprising defeat in the elimination bouts when he was outpointed by Craig, the Te Awamutu improver. Kelly, not knowing his opponent's worth, took Craig far too cheaply and he was probably surprised that he could not make up the leeway in the closing stages of the fight. There was really little between the pair. Kelly, no doubt, will go further and if he maintains his n»vsmt 1 :i he may be favoured for the New Zealand light-weight crown. A change in tactics has not. deprived Brian McKay, the present New Zealand bantam-weight champion, of any of his former brilliance. He won the feather-weight section last Saturday. Previously known as an exponent of the vigorous non-stop methods McKay has lately devoted more time to science. He fought well at the tour- £ ney.

supported at the tourney when th« boxing included some of the best bouts seen in Hamilton for a considerable time. Not only were the contenders eager, but nearly all, especially those who annexed a title, displayed pleasing science. There are many* gooc boys holding the Waikato titles, wlic should bo heard of when the Dominion titles are contested. One of the neatest of the youngei boxers seen in action on Saturday was H. Sheridan (Auckland). He was unable to reach the finals of the fly weight division but. peculiarly enough he came into the ring later and performed well in the bantam-wcigr.l final and gained a merited knock-out decision over I. Clarke, who was dropped for eight twice before taking the k. 0., all in the first round. Sheridan has a fine style and he looks likclj to be hard to beat, for a New Zealand title. On Saturday he could not have been manv points behind Brian Mr K.-iv. who was awarded the trophy foi the most, scientific, hover. J. Duncan, of Frankton, in retaining the light-weight title on points, was extended by a newcomer to the championship ring in I>. J. Craig, of Tt Awamutu. who showed any aiveanv of class, which is hound to make hin ' one of the highlights of to-morrow it he is well handled in the meantime j Duncan fought well but he has bcoi j seen to fetter advantage, Craig r

i e nl One of the verv few disappointing features of the Waikato till.* contests was the lack of heavy-weight boxers. v - There is a definite scarcity of this - n class throughout the Dominion, as evia denial il IftS.t iwi DtfUlUutUl

pionships, when no nominations were received for the heavy-weight contest. It is to be hoped that there will be some contenders this year. At the tournament on Saturday W. Goodwin, of Te Mata, and B. Fisher, of Frankton, were the only entrants. The former won on a k.o. but the fight was . not brilliant. Goodwin has force in Ihis left hand only, while F*sher loses a lot by fighting flat-footedly. Many of Waikato’s title holders will be seen in action in the Auckland •hampionships and at present it ;eems likely that some are destined Lo annex some of the New Zealand titles this year. — R.C.S.