BOWLERS' BATTLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 151, 29 June 1931, Page 7

BOWLERS' BATTLE.

THE CRICKET TEST. New Zealand Get 224 and England 190 for Seven. FIRST DAY HONOURS EVEN. (Special to N.Z. Press Association.) LONDON, June 28. Tor the first time in the history of New Zealand cricket a team from the Dominion met England at Lord's yesterday in a Test match. The New Zealand side was not chosen until the morning. There was keen competition for inclu- : sion in the eleven which was to take part in what was to New Zealand an historic encounter and the unfortunate I three who stood down were Matheson, Vivian and Talbot, the young Auckland colt, Vivian, being twelfth man. Vivian is one of the youngest playere to be twelfth man in any Test match, having celebrated his> eighteenth birthday recently. Matheson was particularly unlucky, the selectors deciding not to play him in view of the danger of a recurrence of a leg injury. The teams were as follow:— NEW ZEALAND. T. C. Lowry (Wellington). C. S. Dempster (Wellington). J. E. Mills (Auckland). G. L. Weir (Auckland). J. L. Kerr (Canterbury). R. C. Blunt (Otago). I. B. Cromb (Canterbury). M. L. Page (Canterbury). C. F. W. Allcott (Auckland). W. E. Merritt (Canterbury). K. C. James (Wellington). ENGLAND. D. R. Jardine (Surrey). W. R. Hammond (Gloucester). K. S. Duleepsinhji (Sussex). F. E. Woolley (Kent). L. Ames (Kent). I. A. R. Peebles (Middlesex). G. 0. Allen (Middlesex). R. W. V. Robins (Middlesex). J. Arnold (Hampshire). A. H. Bakewell (Northamptonshire). W. Voce (Nottinghamshire). The match began in glorious summer weather and attracted widespread attention. There was a large attendance in the morning which grew to 25,000 during Che afternoon. The New Zealand captain, Lowry, who has been phenomenally lucky with thp toss during the tour, was again euccessful, and decided to bat. Dempster and Mills were the opening pa;r. The first hour of play was brimful of interest. The New Zealanders started with confidence and England's opening bowlers, Voce and Allen, never appeared dangerous. Mills was in scoi'ing mood right from the start, and in the first half, hour hit six fours. He batted with confidence and artistry. His end came when, he wae bowled off his pads by Peebles with a ball which turned in sharply.

Dempster was more-workmanlike than Mills, and set about the getting of rune with cool determination. He gave a fine exhibition in which there were no chances until his dismissal when he put his leg in front of a googly from Peebles. This was just before the luncheon adjournment. Dempster showed a tendency to use his pads too much for defensive purposes. His failure to use his feet flattered Peebles, but was the cause of this bowler bringing about his downfall. Weir, who had followed Mills, batted very solidly, and with Dempster added 72. With his partner's dismissal Weir failed to stay and went soon after lunch. Kerr, Blunt and Lowry were also dismissed in rapid succession. Blunt fell a victim to a leg spinner from Robins when only seven, and Lowry, when one, snicked a ball from the same bowler into the safe hands of Hammond in the slips. Page opened with confidence, and had compiled a useful 23 when he was well beaten by Allen. The bowling had no terrors for Cromb. He got into his stride very quickly and had scored 23 when he skied a ball from Peebles, the wicket-keeper taking an easy catch by running to mid-on, where Jardine was also waiting. Allcott and Merritt were both caught in the slips, and the innings closed for 224 runs. Both Peebles and , Robins bowled steadily for England, particularly the former. The wicket was easy, but an occasional ball did more than the batsman expected. England's innings opened disastrously, the new opening batsmen, Arnold and Bakewell, being both out to Cromb with only 14 runs on the board. Arnold was well caught in the slips by Page off Cromb in the latter's second over. Hammond, who went in first wicket, was badly beaten by Cromb with a ball which whipped in from the off, the Gloucester player being only seven. The score was then 31 for three wickets. Duleepsinhji and Jardine doubled the score before the young Indian was caught in the deep field by Kerr off Merritt, who was bowling his first over of the day. Merritt was unaccountably j not used in the opening stages of the ' game. Jardine and Woollfiy added 67 for, the ! fourth wicket. Both" had moments of I anxiety when facing Merritt and Blunt. Finally Jardine was caught at short leg j by Blunt off Merritt when 38.

Woolley and Ames added a useful 59 when Woolley got in front of one from Merritt. His 80 runs were made in as many minutes, and included 11 fours. Although Woolley played a fine innings he was never over-confident with the slow bowlers. He succeeded in knocking Cromb off his length. Cromb, however, bowled excellently at the start. Merritt was at his best and was always troublesome. He deserved Woolley's wicket earlier. Blunt commanded respect from all the batsmen and was unlucky not to secure wickets. The fielding of the New Zealand ere was excellent throughout the afternoon. Details of the scores are:— NEW ZEALAND.—First Innings. "Dempster, Ibw, b Peebles 53 Mills, b Peebles 34 Weir, IbAV, b Peebles 37 Kerr, st Ames, b Robins 2 Blunt, c Hammond, b Robins ...... 7 Lowry, c Hammond, b Robins ...... 1 Cromb, c Ames, b Peebles 20 Page, b Allen 23 Allcott, c Hammond, b Peebles ...,. ; 13 Merritt, c Jardine, b Hammond ....; 17 James, not out ........................: 1 Extras ...—*,*..,.......*..*.. 16 Total ~ 224 Bowling: Voce took no wickets for 40 runs, Allen one for 45, Hammond one for 8, Peebles five for 77, Robins three for 38. There were tAvo byes and 12 leg byes. Robins bowled one wide and one no ball. ENGLAND.—First Innings. Arnold, c Page, b Cromb 0 Bakewell, Ibw, b Cromb 9 Hammond, b Cromb -, 1 Duleepsinhji, c Kerr, b Merritt .... 25 Jardine, c Blunt, b Merritt 38 Woolley, IbAV, b Merritt 80 Ames, not out 15 Peebles, st James, b Merritt 0 Extras 16 Total far seven wickets 190 SUTCLIFFE'S OMISSION. STORM OF COMMENT. LONDON, June 28. The eelection committee's action in omitting Sutcliffe has aroused a storm of comment. Sutcliffe explained that he wanted to try his leg to see if he could field, after the recent Hampshire match, but he received a telegram from the selectors saying that, ae he had not recovered from the strain, they were unable to include him in the team at Lord's. He eaid he was most disappointed.