THE CRICKET TEAM.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20274, 27 June 1931, Page 17

THE CRICKET TEAM.

- 9 ' THREE DAYS' REST. TEST ELEVEN TO BE CHOSEN TO-DAY. ENGLAND DROPS SUTCLIFFE. (special to press association.) LONDON, June 25. The New Zealand " cricketers will practice at tlie nets at Lord's to-morrow morning, and tlie Test eleven will not be chosen until Saturday morning, when the weather \yill probably be the deciding factor in the filling of the last two places. Several of the players are receiving treatment for muscle strains but there are no serious injuries. The players are enjoying three days' much-needed rest before the Test at Lord's. They were entertained at the International Horse Show, Olympia, last evening, and to-day watched the lawn tennis championships at Wimbledon. Mr A. T. Donnelly, chairman of the New Zealand "Cricket Council, arrived to joita the team and hopes to discuss with the M.C.C. the prospects for future tours by English teams. Considerable interest is being taken in the Test and tickets are selling rapidly. Given fine weather a large attendance is assured. Sutcliffe has not recovered from his strained leg and Woolley replaces him in the English Test eleven.

M.C.C. BEATEN AT LORD'S NEW ZEALAND'S SPLENDID PERFORMANCE. (sracuxxy wmrrxK »or thz rasas.) [By Dr. A. J. Habrof.] LONDON, May 20. So completely did New Zealand rout the M.C.C. at Lord's that one is ?tili left gasping with bewilderment. Pew of us who have'been following the fortunes of the team with the keenest interest since the beginning of the tour ever thought that such a feat was possible. When the M.(J.(J. side was announced we saw that it was strong,, .and while confident that New Zealand would not be .beaten, resigned ourselves to threo days of high scoring similar to . that of the M.C.C. match in the last tour. . - To think that the match is oyer—that .there .was. Jess, .than nine hours' actual play—that' twenty'' M.'O.U. wickets fell' m four hours for .180 runs! It seems almost too,good.to be t r ue, and such a brilliant performance "more than compensates, for the bitter disappointment of the bad .weather; which ruined the first two days of the match. Early Failures. The game began with one or two early shocks for New Zealand. . James ah 4 Blunt'' were out with! the score board showing only 28. Dempster, was unlucky to, be out off a. good nit when he looked to be well set. Only one Bowler in ten tfoiild hate brought -off the catch which J. C. v White held. Talbot delighted - everybody, with some freer hitting," and when rain 'c&used play to be impossible after lunch>time, the score stood at 114 for 4; There was a long - wait on the second day, but it proved - worth while., Talbot's soore mounted rapidly from 29 to 66, arid Lowry showed that he retained hia habit of scoring runs when they were most wanted. Starting very ecratchily, he soon began' to score at a pace which was remarkable in view of the state of the .qutfield. Everybody was glad that he had time to complete < his hundred before the close of' play. On the third day we arrived at Lord's a certain pleasurable anticipation, but little dreaming that we were going to see cricket history made , before our eyes, or that Mr P. F. ' Warner, chairman of the England selection committee, would be comparing May 19th, 1931, with May 27th, 1878, when the Australians placed themselves on the cricket map of the world. : •. '

» Good Bowling. When Matheson and Cromb began the bowling to, F- W. Dawson and J. W. Hearne, one was at onoe impressed by their command of length. Cromb had Dawson beautifully caught almost at once, and Matheson soon after had Crawley caught by Page at short slip. This began a collapse which was not arrested until seven wickets were" down for 67. ' White then stayed with Jardine, who batting splendidly, (mtil 68 were added. It 'looked at one time as if the follow-on would be averted, but Merritt finished the innings off at 132, getting Franklin l.biw. and Allom caught by Kerr. The M.C.C. total , was small enough to bring out startling newspaper placards, but nobody thought that the side would be able to avert defeat in the 170 minutes that remained for plijy.

We reckoned, however, without Merritt and' Blunt. Lowry, whose captaincy throughout the match was remarkably good, wasted little time on the medium-paced bowling. After a couple of ove'rs from Matheson, Merritt and Blunt bowled unchanged through probably the most remarkable ininugs in whSch New Zealand has ever engaged. Merritt Unplayable. Merritt was positively unplayable. If one had not known that the batsmen opposed to him had nearly all played for England against Australia or South Africa, one would have thought them an extremely poor side. Hearne, the only professional in the team, was almost as much at sea as the other members of the side, and only Jardine emerged from the match without a sadly diminished reputation. Merritt. got three wickets in one over and one in each of the next three overs. Nine wickets were down for 82, and even after a despairing last wicket stand had increased the total by 50 per cent., the net result was only 48 after 65 minutes' play. "When congratulated after the match, the heroes of the encounter were careful not to exaggerate the importance of the victory. They said it was the sort of thing which would happen only once in a life-time —and they were probably right. Just as the viietorv was one achieved by whole-hearted team work, so was the pleasure of the result enhanced by the feeling that the whoje tour would benefit. The comments of the critics on the result were very flattering, but there is no tendency among the members of the team to think that their path is likely to be an easy one. Wholehearted determination has done a lot already, and it will do a great deal more tc win matches for the side. There is ample evidence already that the fielding is as good or better than that of any county side in the country. Some of. the catches taken, at Lord's were really brilliant. Only one was missed, and the fieldsman retrieved his mistake by catching, the same batsman a few runs later. Sir Thomas Wilford, the High Commissioner, who was present during the closing stages of the game, was naturally delighted by the Result and the spirit of the New Zealand side. Whatever happens during the remainder of the tour, it will be made memorable by this almost incredibly M.C.C. match.

KEEN AND EFFICIENT. AN APPRECIATION. (raOM OUB OWN COKBESPOHBENT.) ' LONDON, May 21. . In the "Field" of May 16th, there appears the following appreciation of the visiting New Zealand cricketers:— Those suffering from depression, whether it be industrial, agricultural, or constitutional,, will not find a better antidote than an afternoon with the New Zealanders.. On or off the field they are a breezy tonic from a new land, and even in a Test match they will probably not be wholly dull. They are considered quite formidable in batting, and their slow spin bowling will be effective after rain when the sun is shining. But if their opponents bat on a plumb wicket they will probably have -to do more than their share of fielding. Their fielding looks keen, and has so far been fairly efficient. It will doubtless improve as the various "cogs", of their run-saving machine settle down into well-oiled working oMer. Against Essex the stopping and pieking-up were exceptionally -fine, but the returns to the. wicket were hardly up to the mark of a touring , side. James, the, wicket-keeper, reaches alinbst to the highest Australian standard. Like Oldfield, he has . that indescribably attractive and CTfective way of taking the ball with both arms at full stretch and then allowing his hands to give with a graceful rhythmical gesture. Fumbling snatchers should rftudy James. In T. C. Lowry, who led the last New Zealand side four yeats back, some see a semblance to the late S. M. J; Woods, and all New Zealand is agreed that their captain, is the best .they have ever had. Certainly Warwick Armstrong himself could not have managed the bowlers and fieldsmen better than Lowry did at Leyton. A Question of Geography. ; An amusing anecdote is told of Lowry's qualification to play for Somerset. A celebrated Somersetshire eni thusiast often seen at Twickenham inI vited him to play for the Western county. "Where Were you born!" he j asked. "Wellington," came the answer. I ''Splendid—a birth qualification!" was the surprising reply. , C. S. Dempster seems determined to maintain a batting average of ' Don Bradmanish proportions. More interesting is the fact that he to help to make fashionable the square cut. He does it with an elegance and crispness of wrist and turning that a picture is forced to the mind. A faded blue cap, with a blob".6t crimson in front, a keen, sinewy tanned face, and the short but virile graceful figure of a great batsman—Johnny Tyldesley' _ Among their bowlerp they possess in /W. E. Merritt a-. high-class slow legbreak ,boiler who can serve tip a genuine googly when he waijts to. As a side, the New Zealanders provide an interesting blend of youth and experience.

The' Right Atmosphere. Perhaps one 6f the best compliments paid to the New Zealanders was that of an old cricketer at the dinner, given by the M.C.C, last week. He.-said their matches reminded him of the old Country. House matches. Their cricket was not too serious. Of all the visiting -teams lie* liked the New Zealanders best. They brought the ■ right atmosphere into their game. Members of the team are to be the guests of the directors of the National Horse Show at Olympia on June 27th. ,They will have special seats at Wimbledon at the All-England Lawn Tennis Tournament on June 25th, and they will be the guests-of the .directors of the Koyal Naval and Military Tournament at Olympia. This week they have had an opportunity of seeing a rehearsal for the Trooping the , Colour. The officer-in-cliarge thoughtfully feserves a space for them where the public are not ordinarily allowed to stand. In the meantime the team; . moves abroad in the Armstrong-Siddeley cars which have been placed, at their disposal. The cars fly a. small New Zealand Ensign, and across the radiators are silver metal fern leaf badges. The cavalcade undoubtedly attracts the attention of all who see them. DISPLAY OF THE NEWS. The result of the first day's play in tho Test match'will be posted in front of The Press'office immediately after it is received. This should be about 10 o'clock td-znorrow (Sunday) morning.