NEW CRICKET RULES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 49, Issue 198, 7 June 1929, Page 3

NEW CRICKET RULES.

LOWER AVERAGE SCORES. CRITICISM BY HOBBS. LONDON, May 26. The new rules are making cricket brighter, says Mr Carson, the wellknown authority on the game, writing in the "Evening News." He gives figures for the first few matches of 1929 compared with those of 1928, and says' that,' although the time that the new conditions have been working is rather too short for a complete comparison, the new rules appear to be a move in the right direction. Mr J. B. Hobbs, however, strongly criticises the new lbw rule. Mr Carson shows that in 19 matches in Hie first fortnight of May, 1928, 17,643 runs were scored for 535 wickets, at an average of 32.98 runs a wicket. In 17 matches in the same period this year 10,979. runs were scored for 510 wickets, averaging 21.57 runs a wicket. Ten games out of 19 were won in 1928, and 11 out of 17 in 1929. "The scoring thus approximates to the pre-war scale of 22 runs a wicket," he adds. "I hesitate to say that the larger wicket has affected the run-get-ting power of big batsmen-. "Possibly there has been a reduction of the time occupied by batsmen Nos. 9, 10 and 11. This is all to the good, for nothing is more dreary to the spectator than a long drawn-out innings bv the tail-enders. "I am afraid, however, that much as the size of the stumps is increased, it will not bother the high-class batsmen much, although it may eliminate the 'rabbits.' "I think that there will be an increase in the number of finished games, and a lessening in the volume of runs scored. This proves the value of the suggestion that wickets should be less elaborately prepared than they are today." , . J. B. Hobbs, in an article in the "Sunday Dispatch," says: "The lbw change is generally resented, owing, firstly, to the belief that it is unfair to the batsman, and, secondly, that it is liable to get a batsman the reputation of getting his legs in front of the wicket. . , "I believe that the wider wicket has come to stay in county cricket, but it is not likely to be applied to the Tests, as the* Australians would object to stumps larger than those to which they have been accustomed. A temporary return to smaller wickets next season is advisable in order that English bowlers may not be handicapped in the Tests."