CRICKET

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22269, 7 December 1937, Page 18

CRICKET

CAPTAINCY OF TEAMS CRITICISED MR I. B. CROMB'S ATTACK "GREATEST WEAKNESS IN GAME TO-DAY" Strong comment on what he described as -weakness shown by captains in the management of their teams, and the resultant ills from poor captaincy, was made by Mr I. B. Cromb at the meeting of delegates to the Canterbury Cricket Association last evening Mr Cromb said that this weakness had spoilt the chances of getting the full additional benefits from the one-day matches. "The first two months of one-day cricket has proved, to my mind, that I was right when I said that the greatest weakness in New Zealand cricket to-day was with the captains," said Mr ' Cromb. "This may sound cheeky comj ing from me with the present position of Lancaster Park in the championship ladder, but I am making these remarks in what I consider to be the interest of the game as a whole. Too often captains are not giving the other side a chance of getting the runs required for a win, and are leaving their -declarations until too late. "A declaration should be made to give the other side a sporting chance of getting the runs if they like to go for them, or of playing for an honourable draw. Another point is that trie young players of to-day have no idea of scoring off the back foot. Their shots are purely defensive, whereas no matter how good the bowling may be there are always singles to be gained by playing back. The greatest lack among these younger members is footwork." , , Discussion on one-day matches was opened by the president, Mr T. W. Reese, who said that it had produced two things detrimental to the game The most dangerous of these was that young batsmen were apparently going in with the intention of hitting a four or a six* off the first ball, and that if they did not do that they had better go out. He mentioned a recent Saturday at Hagley Park where he saw five wickets fall inside 20 minutes, purely through young batsmen going in and trying to hit accurate bowling over the fence before they were properly set. The other ill that he had found in the game was that many of the later batsmen went for Saturday after Saturday without getting an innings. A member of one team had told him that four of their players had not had an inaings more than two or three times in the season. Some captains were certainly arranging things better, and were reversing the batting order. "In the first game of the season, Riccarton and Sydenham put on about 500 runs in five hours. That was phenomenal scoring, and we cannot expect that everv Saturday, but the public does, and that is one of the things that we must deal with." he concluded. "Not Enough Thought" "There is no possible occasion for a player to be told to go out and score a four off the first ball, and I would like to put my boot to the captain who tells his team to do that," said Mr Cromb. "The captains generally are not giving the game and its details enough thought, they are not changing their tactics quickly enough, nor altering their plans to meet any situation that may arise." Reverting to his original theme, Mr Cromb said that there was one team in the senior competition which definitely "was not giving it a go." Three were times, he added, when it was necessary to "put up the shutters," but on one occasion a team had five wickets in hand and needed 30 runs in 15 minutes for a win, but the batsmen had been content to play out time. Every man in the Lancaster Park side had had more innings this season so far than he had up to this stage in the competition last year, and he claimed that if this were possible with the Lancaster Park side it should be more than possible with the other teams, as fewer Lancaster Park wickets had fallen than in any other side. Two results which he claimed had been derived from the one-day games, and which had brought him great satisfaction as the prime mover of the idea, were better running between the wickets and a higher standard of fielding. He said that it would be a good idea for delegates at the meeting to talk the matter over with their captains. Mr C. J. Oliver suggested that the captains of the senior teams should meet to discuss these matters, and see if some improvement could not be brought about.