TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27149, 19 September 1953, Page 8

TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA

CRICKET

NEW ZEALAND TEAM’S PROSPECTS . HARD TASK AHEAD (By R.T.B.] The New Zealand cricket team, which will leave within a fortnight for its tour of South Africa, must be given, even at this early stage, a reasonable chance of opening the Dominion’s account in test matches. None but a blind optimist would assess the team as really strong or experienced, or discount the strength of South African cricket, but there is at least a fair prospect of New Zealand improving on its present dismal record of no wins and nine losses in 26 tests.

On paper, the 17-match itinerary does not appear particularly trying, but the • New Zealand team may have more dif- , ficulty in maintaining a physical and men- J tai peak than any of the other seven . sides New Zealand has sent overseas. - Because of the late departure of the ship taking it to Cape Town, the team will Have only about three days for practice before the tour opens. It will have to ■ become accustomed to the unusually clear air and strong light. It will have to travel long distances—as much as 800 , miles between matches—and it will have to make rapid adjustments for the change in conditions between sea level and high 1 altitudes. , On the field, the team will have problems that may not be overcome without a struggle. Most of the players are rela- 1 tively inexperienced—one of them has never taken part in a first-class match, three others have played fewer than 10 representative games, and only four members of the team which toured England in 1949 remain. It is short of opening batsmen, and the leg spin bowling is largely experimental. At this stage, it would seem that New Zealand’s best prospect of dismissing its opponents for reasonable scores is in the fast bowling of R W Blair and A. R. Mac Gibbon, supported by the accuracy of G. W. Overton and the captain, G. O. Rabone. But the fast bowlers have their own problem—in South Africa the eight-ball over is used, and for the tourists matches 6a of them will have to be bowled befof*each new ball, unless 200 runs have been scored with . the old one. This might seem a depressingly long list of liabilities, but no item.must be excluded in an attempt to strike a n balance Some of the team’s assets; will be convertible to the currency of runs and wickets only as the tour progresses, but even now they are sufficient to keep the New Zealand cricket public, the small shareholders in the concern, in a state two main advantat?pq First, it is young and eager, and willing to learn; second, as a touring team it will become a closely-knit unit, with each member eager for the succgsi of .the others and of the team as a whole, ine nlayers have been in training for months and in the field the team should be fit and fast, and able to take advantage of whatever opportunities the bowlers offer it The team is not packed with outstanding batsmen, but it includes many Jood ones, and, by New Zealand standards at least, it has practically no tail. There is every prospect, too, of some of the young pllyere exceeding present exnectations; they will have every opportunity, for although the tour will be for them an enjoyable experience in ways, cricket will be their mission, and thetull expression of their various talents their goal. South African Cricket If South African cricket can be accurately assessed on the performances of the Springbok team in New Zealand last summpr there is no reason to fear that tne New Zealanders will be outclassed. South Africa's sweeping victory at Wellington was thoroughly well earned, but the difference between the teams was not nearly as vast as the score-sheets may have sugeested. The South Africans were extremely competent cricketers, and born fighters. Their success in Australia was derived from extremely accurate mediumpaced and off-spin bowling, fast, sure fielding, and a reluctance on the part ol even the most humble tall-ender to acknowledge batting limitations. In New Zealand, the South Africans showed that only the fall of the last wicket marked the end of a determined effort to make a New 6 ZeSand cricketers, by and large are probably, less successful than their rivals at playing really good, prolonged defensive cricket. In South A£ rm®. they must make the most of their ability to score runs at a reasonable rate; they must seize every chance m the field, and they must bowl, in general, to take wickets Enterprise, not rashness, couia bring the team success. With New Zealand’s test record as it stands at present, the" touring team will have nothing to lose and everything to gain if it plays determined, aggressive cricket. ine material is there, and the opportunity is J almost at hand.