CRICKET TEAM FOR TOUR OF INDIA

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27718, 23 July 1955, Page 4

CRICKET TEAM FOR TOUR OF INDIA

SELECTION LIKELY SOON

NOTABLE LACK OF SPIN BOWLERS

[By

R.T.R.]

The team for New Zealand’s first tour of Pakistan and India will probably be announced within a week or 10 days, as soon as the availability of players and the results of their medical tests are known. By New Zealand standards, at least, it should be a very .useful team, and if it is able to reach the high standard of fielding achieved against England at Auckland in March, it could improve New Zealand’s test record, which is less than modest.

Assuming that all the leading players are available, there are six certainties for this team. They are J. R. Reid, B. Sutcliffe, A. M. Moir, H. B. Cave, A. R. MacGibbon, and J. A. Hayes. Reid is fit to rank with the best all-rounders anywhere, Sutcliffe remains head and shoulders above other New Zealand batsmen; and Moir is the only match-winning slow bowler in the country, with a particularly high reputation among South African and English cricketers who have seen him bowl. Cave, Mac Gibbon, and Hayes all bowled so well last season, when th<y helped to give New Zealand one of the steadiest bowling sides it has known, that they inspire considerable confidence in their Indian prospects. From that point, the field of selection is very much wider. For about six batting positions, there must be 12 or 15 candidates. Among them are M. B. Poore, M. E. Chapple, L. S. M. Miller, S. N. McGregor, P. Z. Harris, J. G. Leggat, J. E. Guy, N. S. Harford J. E. F. Beck, N. Thompson, R. T. Dbwker, W. S. Haig, L. A. Watt, x and A. A. Hunter. Of these, Leggat has the strongest claims, for he has had a remarkably successful record for Canterbury, end in his only overseas matches scored heavily in Australia. When fielding of a really high standard must be an essential, he may be a weak link, but few will doubt his ability to make many runs, for his concentration and determination are beyond criticism. He should be able to help New Zealand at the start of the innings, where there was inconsistency in South Africa. Harris would be a popular choice, for he is an aggressive and plucky cricketer, and a very fine fieldsman. He has not yet acquired the century habit, although he has made many good scores, but a tour should help him to develop into an outstanding player. Guy has done enough to warrant promotion, and if he has shown some uncertainty against fast bowling on a pitch with even a hint of life in it, he should not be unduly embarrassed by Indian bowlers on Indian pitches, which are reputed to be slow and easy—the pitches, that is. Chapple last season reached the best form of his career, combining prudence and aggression most successfully, but he fell from grace in the Dunedin test; there he was in company, however, and his ability at slip in a team that will lean heavily on its slips should not be overlooked.

Poorft’s Prospects Poore’s chances of selection may be influenced by the fact that, apart from Moir, thereT is no slow bowler of quality offering. Poore bowls a very tidy length, and if New Zealand is committed chiefly to a pace attack, he could be very useful with inexpensive relieving spells. As a batsman he has disappointed often, although he remains the mbst culturedlooking player of strokes in the country. He is a safe fieldsman, although rather slower off the mark than one would wish for a player who spends so much time in the covers.

Miller failed badly in South Africa, where his fixation for playing forward repeatedly got him into trouble. But in Australia on the rather trufer pitches he came into his own. How he would fare in India is a matter only for conjecture, and his fielding is hardly good enough to improve his chances of selection.

Harford is a resolute batsman who had a fine record last year, and his youth makes him a good prospect. It is to oe hoped that Beck will be fit enough to come into consideration—he suffered a knee injury at football recently—and that be will be selected, for his enterprise and natural talent are unquestionable. Should he not win a place, it might go to Southland’s N. Thompson. Little has been heard of him outside Invercargill, out he made good scores consistently in minor association matches last sufnmer. He is said to be genuinely proficient, and as a gamble—there must be several in the team—he commends himself.

Dowker averaged 45 in last seasons Plunket Shield matches, and became a figureof controversy when he was roc included in the active players for the trial match. He failed against the M.C.C., anc his critics say his shots are too few for a batsman pitted against international bowling. Dowker has not perhaps had al. the chances given to others, but he has only a limited future in cricket, and that may count against him. McGregor failed to impress in his test appearances, but he is the type of batsman likely to prosper with sufficient cricket. He has confidence, an attribute all too rare in New Zealand cricket, and even at Auckland in March he seemed to have absorbed at least a few of the lessons the English team taught. Haigh, Watt, and Hunter have all had shield successes, but they do not appeal as internationals.

Wicket-keeping * The wicket-keeping positions will be keenly disputed, ft is unlikely that Reid will again be asked to act as a deputy wicket-keeper; the injury Mooney suffered early on the South African tour will be remembered, and with Reid an essential part of the bowling, two wicketkeepers Will probably be chosen. One should certainly be T. G. McMahon, a very lively and agile player. I. A. Colquhoun played for New Zealand last season, and if E. C. Petrie is preferred to him. it will not be because he batted, well last year. However, Petrie has batting attributes, undoubtedly, and they may be needed to stiffen the middle of the order.

This, then, may be the team Cave. Reid, Sutcliffe, Poore, Moir, McGregoi, Mac Gibbon, Harris, Leggat, McMahon, Petrie, Guy, Hayes, Harford, and Beck. With Hayes, Mac Gibbon, Cave and Reid In the side, there is hardly a place for R. W. Blair, wto still has plenty of time to fulfil his earffer promise. Poore is preferred to Chapple mainly because of his defensive bowling, a necessity with only Moir to bowl spinners. There is no lefthand bowler of the required standard, no genuine off-spinner. It will be pace in the main, with Reid, Sutcliffe, and McGregor the key slips fieldsmen. By recent New Zealand standards, the batting is reasonable, but every cricketer will hope that Sutcliffe and Reid, in particular, will be available.

Perhaps the most extraordinary feature of the team proposed above is that it includes only five members of the 1953-34 touring team, of whom two went to England in 1949. Similarly, the South African team Included only four members of the 1949 side. The selectors* efforts at team building, if not conspicuously successful, have been made most difficult by the large number of retirements and by the failure of even a reasonable proportion of players to put touring experience to good use. It is expected that Cave will lead the side, for although Reid looks the logical captain for the 1958 tour to England, it will be ot benefit for him to win further experience. Moreover, he will have to do so much of the batting, bowling, and fielding, that . captaincy should not be added to his burden.