CRICKET TEST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 148, 25 June 1931, Page 8

CRICKET TEST.

NEW ZEALAND PROSPECTS. A CRITIC'S FORECAST. KERR PREFERRED TO MILLS. (By N.Z. REP.) At tlie end. ,of. tlie week New Zealand tries conclusions with England's best young team, and if New Zealand can extend them sufficiently to create a contest our cricket will receive the greatest fillip it has ever had. The English team is very, strong in bowling, , and that, is the department of the game Where their superiority is marked. It could be made stronger'by the inclusion of Freeman, the greatest English bowler of the last live years. He takes more wickets than - any two bowlers. But Larwood, ! Peebles, Voce and Robins are excellent trundlers who can be coped, with by only finished batsmen. We must therefore put on our best eleven. There • are fourteen to 'Select from—three. must go .out,, and in order that a well-balanced team takes the field, I would omit Mills, Allcott and Talbot., . '. >■.' Not many will agree with me about Mills, but most people will in regard to Allcott and Talbot.- If Mills is selected either Kerr or Vivian will stand down. Now Kerr is probably the best batsmau. in New Zealand after . Dempster. One of the surprises of the tour so far to the selectors and Christchurch competent -critics is Kerr's failure to have scored more prolitically. His class is undoubted, and as a fieldsman I think it can safely be said that he is the best off-side man wo have. He is more liable to run a man out than anyone in the team, because he has developed the knack of running in- fast to 'meet the ball and ho picks it up very smartly and re- ; turns to the .wicket-keeper, with wonderful speed. Dempster is. good on the off, but his returns are ladylike. To stand, ijp .to Larwood, give .me Kerr in preference to Mills. His orthodox style enables him to play good bowling with more certainty. Mills, on the other hand, is a real artist with the bat, but he has created' a style of his own that enables him -to deal unmerci- : fully with bowling that is at all loose, and* places him at a disadvantage when opposed to'really good bowlers. With his bodv turned-to the leg side when taking 'his stance, it is impossible for him to play a straight bat to the fastrising, good length ball on or just outside 4he off-sticks, and lie is also 011 i the same account Unable -to drive with a straight bat on the off side.* : Kerr can land does both and Mills' only hope of playiilg' the off-ball is to leave it alone. In ; fielding Mills is only fair witli just an ordinary return. ' Allcott has'slowed up with the advance of vears. and it is,a real-pity that Lestei or "Roberts, of Christchurch, did not go in his stead. Talbot is a brilliant bat and fieldsman, who dashes at everything and it is safe to say that he will, give a good account of himself if selected in the New Zealand team. A Side including seven Talbots would beat England.- - , It seems that imist go into the team because, of bis. left-hand bowling and left-hand batting.Let us hope' that the team will be: — Lowry, Cromb, Merritt, Page, James, Vivian, Matheson, Blunt, Weir, Kerr, Dempster. • • We will then have a bowling combination as follows: —Fast, Matheson, Cromb; medium. Weir, Page, Lowry; slow, Merritt, Blunt; left, Vivian. What more does a captain want than thin ? Every type of bowling'with which to worry his opponents." His' left-hand bowler is not of the best, but he is a left-hand bowler. r The fielding is tip-top, with only one inan not of the highest standaid, and that is Lowry. -Yet lie excels in one position—short forward leg—and snaps them up as only one used to wicket-keeping-can do. The slips are impoitant factors in .these big matches, and in Page and Cromb we have two of the k How will the batsmen face Larwood? That is where we might fail. Quick eves and stout hearts are wanted. The hearts are strong in Page, Weir, Dempster, Lowry, Cromb and Kerr, and those are the ones I expect to check Larwood. The quick eves of Vivian, Matheson and Alei ritt should enable them to knock up some scores of runs before the inevitable happening. Blunt and James may do something with the bat, but I think not much —against Larwood. In the matter of captaincy New Zealand can claim distinction. When speaking of the previous tour, Page said no better captain in county matches was met than Lowry. This tour he is a great captain, and if England can produce a better at present I will be surprised. , Our wicket-keeper, James, is good enough for any team. So there you are, after reading the above, you see that all we have to do is to plav that Test match and collect the prize—that is, if everyone plays up to the reputation avc have given them in this article. . Mills will probably be selected, and good luck to him if lie is, as a more unassuming and sportsmanlike cricketer never existed (unless it be Anthony). However, I would prefer to see Kerr in the team—for the reasons aforesaid. Vivian and Mills are the only left-handed batsmen (having disposed of Allcott), and that adds to their value to the team.