THE AUSTRALIAN ELEVEN.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20029, 10 September 1930, Page 11

THE AUSTRALIAN ELEVEN.

OFFICIAL FAREWELL TO THE VISITORS. THE SPIRIT OF .THE GAME. (UNITED FBEBS ASSOCIATION—B* ELECTMC TELEOB&PH— COI'YBIGUT.) (Received September 9th, 7.35 p.m.) LONDON, September 9. 'lho Australian cricketers were accorded an official farewell dinner, wiiich was held at the Merchant Tay.ois' Hall, Bir Kynastoa ritudd, who wa.s a member of the Cambridge team which defeated tho Australians in 1682, presided over a distinguished of notable jjiast and present urjcketcrs, and otii«r prominent persoju in all wahis ol life* ' In propose the of tho team, boupied Witu tin; name of tiio iVlaiiaraja damsnheb of Nawanagar (Hir utiiijitsaiiiji vibJiajij, Lioiu liurns, aumilling that his remarks came from an "old fogey," deplored the slowness of the Australians' uatting in England. '•Ranji," in a tactful response, said .hat if cricket was slower nowadays, it was not due to the batsmen's desire to make it so, but to puuheity, wnioii had bocome so intense that anybody who dropped a catch or made a "duck" was ostracised for the rest of the season. He added that he felt honoured, as an Indian, in being asked to respond to the toast of an essentially British gmne. The Empire was largely built up on cricketing lines, and the introduction of more ot the cricketing spirit, such as patience and team vork, would help to remove difficulties Ho was sometimes tempted to wich that all political leaders of the Empire were cricketers. Mr W M. Woodfull, in a characteristically charming speech, said that England was not easy to beat. The Australians took tho game seriously and played it up to the hilt, but wme sections of the Press gave it too mneh importance in public life. "We came to trv conclusions at your grand old game on tho crirkot fields, not on the battle fields," ho said.