The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. SATURDAY, JULY 13, 1935. THE CAPTAIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 164, 13 July 1935, Page 8

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

SATURDAY, JULY 13, 1935. THE CAPTAIN.

For the cause thot lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the dislar.ce, Amd the good that we oau da.

There must be thousands of New Zealand boys who, if asked what their ambition was, would reply that it was to bo captain of a New Zealand representative Rugby side in Britain. There have been many "All Black" sides, but the teams for Britain stand in a class by themselves. For every football "fan" who remembers the names of the captains of New Zealand teams in Australia, there are a hundred who are ready with Gallaher and Porter. To this select body the name of J. E. Manchester has now been added. He is to captain the team that sails in a week ox two for England. A prominent player, he could hardly be called a national h(h*o of the game. Forwards are seldom this; most of the lynelight and the popular applause is reserved for backs. Batsmen are made, but bowlers come from heaven, it is remarked in a famous cricketing story, and the same distinction might be made between forwards and backs. Nevertheless, captains are frequently chosen from among forwards. Bedell-Sivright, Prenticc and Wakefield are examples in Britain, and all three New Zealand captains for the tours of Britain have been forwards, though, to be sure, two of them have been on the "wing," and a wing-forward is half a back. To many followers of the game it would seem obvious that the captain should be outside the scrum, for in it he must be partially blind to what is going on. How, it may be asked, can a captain direct the quick changes in tactics that are so often necessary if he is not in the open? The fact remains that in their wisdom the authorities frequently do give this distinction to a forward. A number of qualities are looked for in a captain in any game, and especially for long tours. Capacity to lead generally goes with popularity among the captain's fellow players. Social qualities are also an asset. A very great player may be an indifferent leader. Maclaren was a great batsman and onb of the finest judges of the game, but as leader of England's eleven he had faults of temperament which seriously weighed against success. Jardine is a better batsman than Chapman—at any rate, a more consistent one —■, and certainly superior to Arthur Gilligan, yet though Jardine is by general consent a firstclass captain in the. actual handling of a side, he was much less popular in Australia than these two of his predecessors. It is not extravagant to suggest that if Chapman had led the last M.C.C. team in Australia, Larwood would still be playing in test matches. Captaincy in cricket, however, is more important than in football, or, indeed, any ! other game. The main reason is that, whereas

in football cvcrj'body attacks whenever j they can, in cricket the captain chooses and j changes the attackers. Other reasons arc j the length of a match, and the peculiar, intimacy into which players arc thrown by ( what is so largely a social game. In football the action is simpler and shorter, and tactics are more automatic. Character is destiny, said .Napoleon, and the truth of the saying comes out in games ! as in oilier activities of life. Unselfishness" and self-control, coolness and determination, are all needed on the field. The objection to bowlers being chosen as captains is well known; it was said of George Giffen that his idea of changing the bowling was to take himself off at one end and put himself on at the other. The coolness required on the playing field is the coolness of Wellington and Marlborough; in the heat of battle. The British tradition j is against heroics and what is" 5 considered to be theatrical. A good many of us do not believe that the captain in Sir Henry Newbolt's "Vitai Lainpada" said anything so definite and tense as "Play up, play up, and play the. game!"' accompanied by a "smite" on the shoulder. Probably all he said was "Good luck, Smith!" But this school captain had very limited responsi-1 bili ties compared with those upon whom ; beats the fierce light of international games. They have to take their sides through weeks and months of play and hospitality, seeking the bubble reputation even at the I tankard's mouth. Their teams have to play ( before crowds and keep their virtue, mid talk with admirers and not lose the common touch. Their captains have to keep themselves and their colleagues fit, stand up to strain on and off the field, and act as ambassadors. It is a formidable ordeal, but there is never much sign of unwillingness on the .part of players to undergo it.