"NOBLE'S COLT."

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 276, 19 November 1913, Page 9

"NOBLE'S COLT."

C. G. MACARTNEY Uf AUCKLAND.

AMERICA'S NATIONAL GAME. ,

Charlie -tlacartiiey. the brilliant little Australian cricketer, w*ho excels alike in batting, bowling and fielding, was among the passengers of the Makura when she put into Auckland yesterday from Vancouver. He is returning to his home in Sydney, after a month's holiday, for which he stayed behind at the end of the recent tour of the Australian cricketing party in the United States. Macartney, the cricketer, had no comments to make for publication upon the tour Ihe preferred to leave that to his captain) but Air. Macartney, the tourist, in the course of a chat said a lot of interesting things bearing on the realm of sport in America. Cricket, he found, did not have a very big hold on the public. The people relished baseball much more, largely because it was a game that crowded all its incidents into an hour or two. The Americans did not appear to have the patience to sit throughout a lengthy summer afternoon watching the less sensational movements of batsmen, bowlers and fieldsmen. They came to a baseball match, went through an hour or two of excitement and left again feeling "tickled to death. - ' The grounds reserved for the national gatne; were. Mr. Macartney said, the best that dollars could produce, and tbe club-houses were palatial, some of the floors being so decorative and polished as to call for the. exchange of cricketing boots for rubber shoes, by those who would enter. Baseball stars were paid as much as 12.000 dollars per annum each—about 50 dollars per minute while they were actually playing. Mr. Macartney mentioned that two loading teams, the New York Giants and the Chicago While Sox. "had left the States for Japan in the course of a round-the-world tour, which would include Australia and Xew /.caland. These stars would doubtless be seen in exhibition games in. Auckland. Philadelphia was the strongest cricketing community. Mr. Macartney found, more on account of the enthusiasm of players than the patronage of the public. The srrounds there were Helhrhtfu.l. both as regards the turf and the appointments. Still, the gaiie had no cha-nce of competing with baseball in the I>and of the Stan- and Stripes. The pubic r egarded it as being too slow. This led to the expression of an interesting opinion on-ming from such an authority. Mr. Macartney said he thought that something should he done to prevent cricket from becoming too slow in the eyes of the npectators. He did nnt uphold the methods of the stonewallers at all, believing that it was against the best interests of the game for a few slow batsmen to impart monotony into a match. In the ease of a test there were lots of cricket enthusiasts who could not manage tn see it throus-h if it dragged over four or five days. The only course to pursue was to discourage that particular style. Australia had had " a few of thorn." but they were fortunately ceasing to monopolise firstclass cricket. At the same time, "he did nnt wish to- -detract from tbe value of men whn held the fort in time 3of need. The returning cricketer appears to be in excellent fettle, and should soon get into form when he -shortly re-enters Australian cricket. 'He remarked that he was looking forward to the visit of a Xew Zealand team to the Commonwealth. Mr. Macartney turned 27 years while on his present trip, and he does not look a day older. He attributes much of his ntne=s to his abstemious habits. It is a.bout nine ye3rs since he was "brilliantly introduced to the cricketing world as " Xoble's colt."