CRICKET TOURS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19775, 13 November 1929, Page 10

CRICKET TOURS.

I QUESTION OF FINANCE. CONSIDERATION BY COUNCIL. The question of financing tours of overseas teams in New Zealand. with special reference to the forthcoming visit of the English team, ami the question of the advisability of sending a team Home, was considered at length by the annual conference of delegates to the New Zealand Cricket Council last evening. Air A. T. Donnelly (chairman of the Management Committee* said that all would agree that the present English touring team was the best that had visited the Dominion for many years. Cricketers would feel very grateful to the M.C.C. for the w«v in which they had met the requests of the New Zealand Council. A good deal of ditiicully had been experienced in arranging the itinerary, and nor all the Associations had been allotted matches. Some criticism had been levelled at the number of minor matches provided, but it must be remembered that it was impossible to finance the tour without the help of the

minor Associations. A suggestion had been niado that matches should be arranged against the North Island and the South Island. However, as it was. the first-class players in the Dominion were asked to play in three Tests, and also in one major Association match. The question of leave for players was an important one. It was not desired that the generosity of the employers should be strained. Mr I-leathcote Williams said that, he was one of those who thought that more important .matches should be arranged against visiting teams, apart from those against the major Associations. He would like to soe the minor Associations

put in combined teams representative of their combined strength. He would also like to see the holders and the rttn-h«ts-up irr the Ileathcotc Williams Shield field a team against the visitors, as such a match woulfl be a great lesson in the 'toys' careers in tne cricket world. It seemed that the touring firstclass players were being asked to play matches in which they could have little interest. Dealing with the question of finance, Mr Donnelly said that Associations had pointed out that the Council had always lost on the tours, and they had neked that the burden bo mores evenly distributed between the different countries. The question of finance was closely related to the international standards in the game. There was no "leisured" class in the Dominion, and international standard could not be purchased at the expense of the young men of the country. The standard had to be raised by the club matches and diligent practice, and this prevented the Dominion cricketers commanding "gates" in other countries. A guarantee of £375 and £125 respectively had been asked from the major and minor Associations, and all had agreed to the terms offered. If the Australian matches did not show a profit a loss would be made 011 the tour. The Management Committee had arranged the tour as economically as possible, and recognised the difficulty of Associations in finding the guarantees. Mr E. C. Beale said that the omission of the nine minor Associations meant a loss in publicity value, which would not have been occasioned if they had been included in combined matches. Mr G. A. Wycherley, an Otago delegate, said that the majority of the Otago Association had decided at first not to give the guarantee, but had decided( eventually that the money could be raised from outside sources. Matches in the past had been financial losses, and he thought that a more equitable method of assessing the guarantees should be arranged in the future. Mr E. E. Nalder (Auckland) said that the Auckland Associatidh had offered an assistance of £25 to the Otago Association if a sufficient profit were made in the Auckland match. Tour of England in 1931. Mr Donnelly said that the Council had been asked to send a team Home in 1931. The last conference had decided to limit visits to England to intervals of six or eight years, but it was thought than an exception should be made in the present case, in order that some of the players who made the first tour should be available. - If the offer were not accepted, the opportunity would not come again until 1935. Mr H. D. Swan, the Dominion's representative at Home, had been asked to try to arrange three Test matches, in which event the financial success of the tour would b# assured. The loss in 1927 was due solely # to the wet summer. Financial difficulties were of course to be faced, but they could be overcome as they were in 1927 by the efforts and assistance of friends and supporters 01 the formation of another company. The financial difficulties, he thought, could be satisfactorily overcome. It was decided, on Mr J. S. Barrett's motion, to approve of the action of the Management Committee in provisionally accepting the offer of the M.C.C., subject to financial arrangements being satisfactorily made. The matter of investigating the possibility of financing the tour was left to the committee.