CRICKET STOPPED BY RAIN.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20334, 5 September 1931, Page 15

CRICKET STOPPED BY RAIN.

DRAW WITH GENTLEMEN. A HIGH TRIBUTE TO BLUNT. (special to tress association. J LONDON, September 3. A magnificent doublo century by Blunt was a feature of tho cricket match, Now Zealand v. The Gentlemen of England. Tho other batsmen were disappointing and apparently were deceived by the pace of the wicket. Tho weather was fine, but the wicket waa slow after tho rain of the previous day. Lowry won thq toss and New Zealand batted. James, Dempster, and Matheson were omittad from the New Zealand team. The teams were:— Now Zealand. Gentlemen. T. C. Lowry J. L. Bryan. C. F. W. 4lh'ott It. E. S. A yatt 11. O. Blunt D. P. B. Morkel I • I B. Cromb Q. C. Newman J. L. Kerr C. A. FiddianM. L. Page Green \Y. E. Merritt D. G. Foster I[. G. Vivian G. E. V. Crntclilov G. L. F. It. Brown It. O. Talbot E. T. Benson J. E. Mills H. S. Althani J. G. Wagener Kerr and Lowry were both bowled through playing too soon in attempts to hit short deliveries. Blunt dominated the bowling and soon settled down to play an innings, which from the viewpoint of technique was the finefct Of the tour. Hardly a shot was not played. With Talbot he made 96 fur the fifth wicket, and with Cromb 84. It was the highest individual score ever made in New Zealand representative cricket. Blunt gave a Chanceless display for 261 minutes, hitting 29 fours. Tho dead wicket was of no assistance to the bowlers. Brown seldom was dangerous. Bryan and Fiddian-Green batted for twenty minutes before stumps were drawn. The attendance was 3000. (Received September sth, 12.40 a.m.) LONDON, September 4. Owing to heavy rain last night there was no play to-day in the match between New Zealand and the Gentlemen of England. The match was abandoned as a drawn game. The New Zealanders are travelling to Folkestone this afternoon. "Tho Times" pays a high tribute.to Blunt's batting and says the number of runs scored was less important than the strokes with which they were scored. Blunt's mastery of the late cut made him a difficult batsman to bowl to. Scores;— NEW ZEALAND. First Innings. G. L. Weir, lbw, b Morkel .. 36 J. E. Mills, c'Newman, b Brown .. 16 It. C. Blunt, not out ... 225 J. L. Kerr, b Foster ... 13 H- G. Vivian, c Wyatt, b Brown 8 Jt. O. Talbot, c Brown, b Foster L'B M. L. Page, b Wagener l T. O. Lowry, b Wagoner .. 12 W. E. Merritt, b Wagener .. 6 I. B. Cromb, c Morkel, b Foster 22 C. F. W, AUoott, b Brown ... 2 Extras ... ... ... g Total ... ... ...377 Bowling Analysis—Foster, three for 73; Wagener, three for 74; Brown, threo for 105; Wyatt, nono for 40; Morkel, one for 55; Newman, none for

ENGLAND. First Innings. , J. L. Bryan, not out ... ... 7 C. A. Ficldian-Greon, not out ... 10 Extras .. ... T t<> g

Total for no wickets ... 22

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Two days ago it was remarked that Blunt appeared to have lost the century habit, but his performance on Thursday more than compensates for one or two disappointments during the tour. The former Canterbury player has been forced by. circumstances to bat for tho greater part of his present stay in England with a restraint that is far from being his natural game, but he has now made it plain that he has not lost his oldtime skill and brilliance. Time and again Blunt has been called upon to stop incipientr rots in tho New Zealand batting, and he has rarely failed his team. It is the more to his . credit that he has been able to adapt his game to the coAditions during the tour.

Reports of earlier games seem to indicate tyiat Blunt had eliminated from his wide, range of strokes all that had tho slightest element of risk, and that he relied almost exclusively updn offshots and late cuts for his scoring. He has occasionally adopted such methods in New Zealand, but in his best form —as Bo evidently was on Thursday—his cover driving and leg play are little less than superb. "Wisdeji," in reviewing his play in 1927, remarked that he followed the flight of tho ball so closely that he was rarely deceived by changes of pace, and this largely accounts for his consistent success during the present summer of rain-soaked pitches. En his "safety first" mood, Blunt is unimpressive to watch and critics who ought to know better have even gone so far as to describe him as an indifferent batsman. * -5f *

With the third Gentlemen v. Players I match in progress at the same time it was inevitable that the team to face New* Zealand should not. represent the full strength of English amateur cricket. 'One or two of the leading lights were spared for the match with New Zealand, but it cannot be denied that the home side is only of moderate quality. It appears to be stronger in bowling than, in batting, but even so, there is little likelihood of the New Zealanders dismissing their opponents twice in one day, as they must do in order to win. Wyatt and Brown are the only two who 1 took part in the earlier Gentlemen v. Players games.

R. E. S. Wyatt, solid batsman and steady medium-paced bowler, captained England in the fifth Test match against Australia last year, but •be has not produced the form this year that gained him his former high honours. J. L. Bryan, although his appearances in first class cricket are now limited, occasionally plays a dashing innings as opening batsman for Kent. C. A. Fid' dian-Green, an old Oxford blue, was a leading batsman for Warwickshire a year or two ago, But now plays little. G.-C. Newman is one of the best, batsmen in the Middlesex team, although he made only one run .in fwo innings against New Zealand. G. E, V. Crutchley. also plays for this County. E. T. Benson is w&ll known in New Zealand as the second wicket-keeper for the last M.C.C. team that visited the Dominion. 11. S. Altham is better known as a cricket writer than ae a player.

D. G. Poster, the most successful of the home bowlers, is a young Warwickshire player with a future as a fast bowler. He was even suggested as a Test player last season. P. E. Brown, slow-medium googly bowlers has already played against the visitors in the Second Test. He is regarded as the "find" of the season, and is undoubtedly a fine all-rounder. D. P, B. Morkel, fast-medium, with spin and pace from the pitch, was the best bowlor for the last South African team that ( visited England, and moreover, batted well on many occasions. J. G. Wage- 1 ner is a left-handed bowler who would ] probably do well in most Comity teams, i but his appearances for Sussgx, a team with any amount of bowling talent, ara rare. With Wyatt and\ Newman, these players comprised an attack sufficiently formidable to dismiss cheaply all the New Zealand batsmen except Blunt. ; GENTLEMEN Y. PLAYERS, j ~~ f (united press association—by electbic J TELEGEAPS—-COPYRIGHT.) LONDON, September 3. i Players in their first innings against * Gentlemen lost six wickets for 357 ! and declared (Woolley 83, Hearne 55, c Snndham 118). v Gentlemen in llieir first innings have c lost three wicket® for 89. s Yorkshire* in their first innings made s 200 (Oldvoyd 04). v Marylebone in their first innings t have lost noue for 10. '