INTEEVIEW WITH RANJITSINHJI.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 301, 29 December 1897, Page 5

INTEEVIEW WITH RANJITSINHJI.

COMPLAINTS OF THE PRESS.

Recently Eanjitsinhji, in criticising Jones' method of delivery, claimed that Jones " threw" in the Adelaide match. He has no inclination to withdraw from this position, but, in the course of an interview at Sydney, expressed resentment at the treatment he has received in the matter both from the public and the press, especially from the South Australian press. •'The Adelaide papers," he remarked, "have so stirred Jones up that he now cherishes a sentiment of personal hostility to myselr. I can assure him that the personal element was absent altogether from my criticism. I was invited by an Australian publication to give my views on the South Australian and Victorian matches, and I gave them conscientiously and to the best of my ability. In thecourse of my writingl had to deal with the no-balling of Jones by Phillips ; and though I referred to it plainly and without mincing matters there was no malice in what I said, but that has not saved me from the most scurrilous abuse on many sides. Fair and temperate criticism I welcome, but I do object to the imputing of motives. Phillips, too, has not escaped. I was attacked for saying that Jones threw, and I was attacked for failing to praise the Adelaide oval and the appointments of the ground. Moreover, it seems that I did not praise the South Australian players enough. In order that their standard of criticism should be consistent, these people ought to have commended me for referring highly to the Victorian play and the Melbourne ground; but no, the newspapers have made scandalous attacks upon me. One newspaper indirectly (it had not the courage to do it directly) made a most cowardly and insulting attack. on my nationality. Nobody has made greater efforts than I have to uphold in England the repute of Australia and Australians, and I have therefore felt the more regret ac the unpleasantness which has arisen. I am happy to say, however, that wijh our opponents we are on excellent terms. We know that they, at any rate, will give us fair play, and, besides, the fact that Trott is their captain is a guarantee that we shall be treated in sportsmanlike fashion."

The prince was quite ready to talk of the test match, and he cannot be charged with being too anxious to exaggerate the credit of his own side. "We had the best of the luck," he says, " in that we won the toss, and afterwards everything came our way. I think we proved that we deserved the luck, inasmuch as we made the most of it. The solitary piece of luck which fell to the Australians was the advantage which lies in following on." Kanji affirms that the win was due to the work of McLaren as a captain. "He was as skilful as Tiofct; and more than that, no one could deny that he is undoubtedly one of the best captains in the world. During this match

his changes in bowling always came off, and in a word, his captaincy was as effective as his batting." ■