GOOD FIELDING TEAM

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27004, 1 April 1953, Page 10

GOOD FIELDING TEAM

Emphasis On Youth And Speed OPENING BATSMEN MAY BE PROBLEM [By R.T.B.] The insistence placed by the New ' Zealand selectors on youth, and speed in the field, has produced an interI esting team for the South African tour, but if it has assured that there will be no repetition of the deplorable fielding in the Wellington test a few’ weeks ago, it has in the process reduced the prospects of the batting being given a good start The effort to improve the fielding is commendable, and if the selectors feel that whatever other weaknesses there are may be overcome with steady match play, there is no real reason to doubt the wisdom of their judgment. The chief fault in the team —if it could be called a fault months before the side has played a match—is the lack of opening partners for Sutcliffe. Of the batsmen selected, the most likely candidates for this particular ocsition are Rabone, Mooney, and Chapple. In England in 1949, Rabone was an outstanding success on the few occasions he was asked to open the innings, and in that position he was cut eight times for 400 runs. That was four years ago. however, and since then he has seldom gone in first. He may have the capacity, while leading hi<? team, and meeting the heavy demends made on a visiting captain, of returning to this important post, and i It may well be essential that he does i so Mooney, a very useful batsman, does not appeal as an opening batsman in test or interprovincial cricket. He is , not unsound, but he seemed better I suited to a much lower position in the order, where he can drive with more freedom. The other prospect. Chapple, is not a good one for the position. There is no doubt that he should have won a place in the side, but he has 1 opened the innings in first-class matches only four times, and on each occasion he played more bad shots about and outside the off-stump than the average opener would play in a season. Chapple could be a real success on tour, but his ability to punish

Icose bowling gives rise to more confidence in his future than his ability to master the new ball. J. G. Leggat, of Canterbury, A. A. Hunter, of Central Districts, or E. Meuli, of Central Districts, must have been close to selection as opening batsmen. Leggat has the best claims, but he was dropped after the Wellington test. There he fielded quite well, but the general standard was such that it can only be concluded that the selectors decided that there was no room for any but good fieldsmen, no matter what their ability in other directions. This they have achieved to a great extent, although Overton, Miller, and Chapple do not compare with the rest.

The Spin Bowling The only other flaw —and with the ! emphasis on fielding, it was almost inevitable that there would be such a flaw—is in the spin bowling. T. B. Burtt would have been better than Dempster, but Dempster is the better bat, he is faster in the field, and he is younger. A. M. Moir, fallen from grace as he has. would have had a much better prospect of running through a side than Bell, but he too i fielded indifferently and bowled badly lat Wellington. Bell and Dempster may develop and improve. Both have plenty of courage, and if they have ability to learn as well, any misgivings about their prospects may soon be forgotten. On the credit side, there is the youthful look of the team—and the fielding should display an exuberance which will do much to bolster up the bowling. It waif perhaps strange that Overton should be in the side as well as I. B. Legat, for it leaves the team with only four straight-out batsmen—Beck, an untried colt, Chapple, and two left-handers, Sutcliffe and Miller. There are at least four allrounders, six if Dempster and MacGibbon are included. The bowling is well varied, with three fast bowlers, two off-spinners, a left-hand and righthand leg-spinner, and two right-hand medium-pace bowlers. The choice of Rabone as captain will be a popular one. It seems obvious that W. M. Wallace led New Zealand this season only because he felt it was his duty to fill the gap left by W. A. Hadlee when no other captain was available, and Wallace probably welcomed the return of Rabone as a player as well as a selector. Rabone is a born fighter, an intelligent cricketer, and d fieldsman who exerts a profound effect on his team-mates.

Miller, somewhat disappointing in the tests in spite of a useful innings at an important stage of the Auckland match, may have to return to strokemaking if his success is to continue. He has the ability to concentrate, and with a little more sharpness in the field he should become a reliable member of the team. To select Beck before he has played a first-class match is nothing new to New Zealand cricket. M. P. Donnelly. W. E. Merritt, and G. F. Cresswell were others who had barely started their careers before they were in New Zealand teams. Beck is a dashing left-hand batsman, a very fine fieldsman in the covers, and his selection may be a sound insurance against the future. I. B. Leggat’s Success I. B. Leggat must have won his place largely on his trial match batting and bowling. As a bowler, he has had very little success, although he may plug an end up successfully from time to time. His batting has improved vastly this season, and his test trial innings, after his fine century at Dunedin, gave the selectors a good hardIjiiting batsman late in the list. Poore’s selection was almost certain after the Auckland test, and it can hardly be that Reid will continue to bat as badly as he did at the end of this season. His position was assured through his wicket-keeping, his fine fielding, and his ability as a bowler,

but it is still as a batsman that New Zealand needs Reid. Dempster as a successor to Burtt has a hard task, but he is willing to attack, and that is a good start. Mac Gibbon, a different bowler from the last few seasons, when he frequently lapsed into the most eccentric sort of length and direction, has earned his place, and although he must have been included as a bowler, his batting may yet be of real value. Overton, the hard-est-working of all New Zealand bowlers, has had a long wait for recognition, and although his task duplicates that of Leggat, his selection will be welcomed.

Blair has every prospect of a most successful tour, and Bell, probably the greatest surprise in the selection, could also have surprising success. He is young, and keen, and determined. He keeps a good length, and turns the ball. Much has been made of less promising material. The team named must coincide in all but two or three places with those of thousands of enthusiasts throughout the country, and the selectors must be congratulated on their enterprise.. They were obviously determined to produce a young, fit team of triers, and this they have done. The New Zealand side has promising batting, bowling with possibilities, and fielding which may be of an order to make good whatever deficiencies develop. ST. PATRICK’S COLLEGE BEATS ST. BEDE’S St. Patrick’s College, Wellington, beat St. Bede’s College, Christchurch, by an innings and seven runs in the annual cricket match played at Wellington on Monday and yesterday. St. Bede’s batted first and was all out for 125. R. P. Roberts scored 22 and T. Purcell 29. St. Patrick’s, in its first innings, made 167. Bowling for St. Bede’s, P. Mauga took five for 41, P. Stevenson three for 53, and P. Montague two for 19. St. Bede’s College collapsed yesterday morning and was all out after one hour 10 minutes of play for 35 runs. B. Gardiner and P. O'Connell caused the only stoppage in the dismal procession when they took the score from six for 11 to seven for 30, but the bowlers could not be held.