STRONG BATTING TEAM

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 26968, 18 February 1953, Page 2

STRONG BATTING TEAM

MACGIBBON UNLUCKY TO MISS SELECTION • [By R.T.B.] New Zealand cricket enthusiasts, after weeks of worry, are now able to relax. The team for the first test with the South Africans has . been announced, and cricketers throughout the country, who during the week-end once more repast their own versions of the team in the little space remaining on the backs of their cld envelopes, are now able to congratulate the official selectors on their wisdom. The team announced will no doubt meet with general approval, because most of the names it contains were on the backs of most of the envelopes. If there is a

surprise in the selection, it is in the fact that the team will include two spin bowlers, T. B. Burtt and A. M. Moir. It was thought likely that as the pitch at Basin Reserve this year has been particularly helpful for bowlers who can make the ball turn back off the seam, the emphasis would have been on the faster bowlers. The decision to play both - the leading spin bowlers probably cost A. R. Mac Gibbon (Canterbury) the place he appeared to have wqn With his splendid bowling in Plunket, Shield matches at Auckland and Wellington. The choice of W. M. Wallace' as captain is tantamount to a declaration that he will lead the team to South Africa next season. Wallace has played first-class cricket only at intervals in the last few years, and there may be some dissatisfaction with the decision to play him as captain of the national team as he played only one shield game this season and none at all last summer. However, the reasons for Wallace’s infrequent appearances are not known, and they are probably very sound ones; the news that he will be available for the tests, and then the tour, will be welcomed because New Zealand will benefit by his long experience in international cricket, as well as by his stylish batting. Wallace In test cricket has seldom been the Wallace New Zealand shield crowds have known, but he remains today one of the last links with the stroke-making days before the war. The fact that Wallace is captain is no reflection on Sutcliffe, who led the teams against the West Indies last season. In those matches he made mistakes, but there is little doubt that with experience he would have made a very fine captain; he has every attribute of the successful leader. But Sutcliffe’s batting is much more important )o New Zealand than his captaincy, and a great deal will again depend upon him. The choice of Leggat and L. S. M. Miller was almost automatic by virtue of their Plunket Shield performances. Both are batsmen who concentrate and give nothing away. There are not many such players available. E. Meuli, like Miller, a product of the New Plymouth Boys’ High School, had a most successful shield season, and he will no doubt help infuse some enterprise in batting which may need it. His speed in the field probably helped win him selection over sucn a welltried and reliable player as V. J. Scott. Few will cavil at the selection of J. R. Reid, still a useful bowler, one of the best fieldsmen in the country and a batsman who, against Canterbury, played what was probably the best innings of his career. As wicket-keeper, F. L. H. Mooney probably had some serious rivals, but his batting is still a fhajor factor in New Zealand cricket, and his experience is a valuable asset. The Bowlers \ With the first test being played at Basin Reserve, the selection of F. E. Fisher was almost inevitable, for in his two matches there this season he took 22 wickets. He thoroughly earned his place. Neither T. B. Burtt nor A. M. Moir has been at his best this season, but if two spin bowlers were required, they were still the only serious candidates. Last Saturday Burtt showed in a club match that he is regaining his best form. R. W. Blair was perhaps a little fortunate to win a place ahead of Mac Gibbon and J. A. Hayes, but he is young, and although he had only one really outstanding performance during the shield series, he had to be given his chance. The Can- ! terbury players may yet find a place, in the second test—but Blair must be regarded as sounder physically than Hayes, and rather more reliable than Mac Gibbon. ’ With the tour ahead, these are import--1 ant attributes. Apparently the selectors have more ? confidence in M. B. Poore than Poore has . in himself. He still looks the outstanding batsman among the young New Zealand players, and the faith the selectors have ; shown in him will be justified if Poore ! decides to assert himself. So far he has not given anything like full expression to his talents, but his selection will be popular, and all New Zealand cricketers ’ will be wishing him well, if he plays at ? Auckland. S Scott and Mac Gibbon The most notable omissions from the r team are Scott and Mac Gibbon. A New Zealand team without Scott is rather like c the bridge without Horatius, but he may t yet be called on. The selectors no doubt i felt that a batting side which included r Leggat, Miller and Mooney could not afford another slow-scoring batsman, but New Zealand cricket is not yet in a posi--7 tion to put Scott on a pension. Mac--1 Gibbon was unlucky, but he, too, will have - his chance, if not at Auckland, then in. 7 the trial matbh, to show that as a bowler* t he is a reformed character and one 3 worthy of the highest office. The team for tfie match at Wellington has batsmen down to number seven, and - no tail at all. The fielding should be . quite sound, although the team is .unlikely to match its opponents in speed and throwing. The bowling provides an Interesting combination—Blair and Moir purely attacking units, Burtt and Fisher watchdogs needing only a hint of help in the f pitph to win freedom from the leash. Reid f and Sutcliffe understudies. By inter--1 national standards, it is not a wonderful team, but it is not blind optimism to i suggest that it is capable, in spite of the - strength of the opposition, of improving New Zealand’s unimpressive test record.