ONE UP.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 138, 13 June 1934, Page 6

ONE UP.

England had the worse of the luck in the first test match. The home team was not at full strength,'it lost the toss, and it had last strike on a worn wicket. The Australians' victory, however, was clear-cut and emphatic. In batting, bowling, and apparently fielding, they were better than the Englishmen. Woodfull ran it pretty fine Avith its declaration, and if the last English batsmen had managed to play out time he would have been blamed for not closing his innings earlier. Ho left England, playing against time on a wicket that was the worse for wear, a total larger than has yet been obtained for victory in these matches. Age and youth shared the honours of the game. Hendren is forty-five, Grimmett forty-one, and Geary forty. Fames, on the other hand, is not long up from Cambridge, and O'Reilly, now fulfilling his Australian promise on English wickets, has years of cricket ahead of him. Grimmett's figures are fresh proof that he is a much better bowler in England than in Australia. Even when allowance is made for _ the progressive deterioration of the wicket, it is strange that O'Reilly and Grimmett were able to make so much better use of it than the English spin bowlers. ■ There are bound to be changes in the English team, and possibly the selectors will look for more enterprise in batting. Larwood's return seems to be doubtful, and it must be borne in mind that Fames obtained results of which Larwood would have been proud. It should also be remembered that several times in the history of test matches the side that has won the first game has lost the rubber.