FOURTH TEST

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 257, 26 July 1930, Page 11

FOURTH TEST

Australians Batting SOFT WICKET Goddard in English Team By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Rec. July 25, 1.30 a.m.) London, July 25. The fourth test match between Australia and England commenced this morning at Manchester. The weather is fine, but the wicket is soft. Australia won the toss. The following are the teams: — England.—Chapman, Peebles, Duleepsinhji, Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond, Tate, Leyland, Duckworth, Nichols, Goddard; twelfth man, Hendren. Australia. — Woodfull, Ponsford, Bradman, Richardson, Kippax, B airfax, McCabe, Grimmett, Hornibrook, Oldfield, Wall; twelfth man, Jackson. Although still overcast an hour before the start, the weather looked promising for the momentous test, which Australia must either win or draw to have a hope of regaining the Ashes, for If the rubber ends all square the symbol of supremacy will remain In England. Old Trafford is the best equipped ground in England, and is popular with Australians, and has a billiard table outfield. Woodful inspected the wicket alone at 10.30 a.m. Chapman, Hobbs, Leveson-Gower and Mann, the English selectors had a conference on the pitch at 11 a.m., presumably the object being to decide if the weather conditions would suit Goddard. A few minutes later it was announced that Goddard was replacing Robbins. Fairfax resumed his place in the Australian side.

The English selectors’ surprising decision to leave out Robbins was a demonstration of their great faith in Peebles, who is a better length bowler. Fifteen thousand people saw Woodfull again call the toss correctly. It was strongly rumoured that neither captain was anxious to win the toss, for they were uncertain how the wicket would play. The crowd increased to 20,000 at the commencement of play. There was a light breeze across the ground. Nichols, who takes a longer run than Larwood, commenced bowling. He used sawdust freely. Two singles came from the first over. Tate, who was warmly cheered, went on at the other end. Ponsford made six in 2’s off his first over.

The wicket justified the predicitlons that it would be slow but easy. Nichols developed considerable pace in the third over, but neither he nor Tate was able to make the ball kick. Woodfull let some fly harmlessly past his off-stump and cautiously played the others. Ponsford. how Aver, played the fast bowler cohfldently. The first half-hour produced only 13, but the batsmen were completely confident. Goddard, a heavily-built professional, took Tate’s end. He bowls without slips. . He is a medium-paced, over-the-wicket bowler, pitching at the leg stump. Tate then displaced Nichols. Goddard bowled well. The batsmen refused to take risks. . Peebles was called on at 30. Thus he was the third bowler to appear for England within an hour. Peebles in the second over tied up Woodfull. The cautious Victorians pursued the same tactics as at Lord’s, where the record score was built up on the foundation of their steadiness. An hour realised 32. Delightful fielding bv Chapman, Peebles and Leyland kept down the runs. The slow outfield was an Important factor also. Goddard was tnkon off after ele--'n overs, which yielded eleven runs. The wicket was clearlv suitable for the slower bowlers. Txivland was next tried. Fifty appeared on the hoard at the end of eighty-five minutes. The following are the scores:— ATISTUAT,YA. First Innings. Woodfnll, not out 37 Ponsford, not out Extras ° Total for no wickets • • 73 MORE RAIN PREDICTED London, July 24. Weather experts forecast that it will be fine at Manchester to-morrow, but that it will rain on Saturday or Sunday. They emphasise that a “huge depression over the Atlantic will bring another period of bad weather; indeed, the week-end prospect for the whole country Is unfavourable.”

DREARY PROSPECT Glee of Spin Bowlers (Notes by “Burwood.) There is every possibility that a gluepot wicket will be experienced for the fourth Test match between England and Australia, which was scheduled to start on the historic Old Trafford ground at Manchester yesterday.

The cables inform us that an unprecedented storm has raged in the North of England for some days, and that the Australians, on the train journey from Durham to Manchester, passed through miles of countryside under water.

This prospect must have made Bradman, McCabe, Woodfull, Ponsford, and Kippax look glum, but one could imagine how Clarrie Grimmett must have been chuckling with glee. W. Oldfield, the Australian wicketkeeper, in a match at the Basin Reserve one day, remarked to C. S. Dempster while Grimmett was bowling, “Look out for those leg-breaks, Stewie. This fellow can break feet on our Australian pitches, but on these wickets be will break yards.” Now, if Grimmett can turn the ball yards on a firm New Zealand wicket, what will he do if the sun commences to make steam come from the turf at Old Trafford? Hornibrook will also be able to make the ball perform tricks on the drying wicket. But, as all good cricketers know, it is next to impossible to make runs on a drying wicket. How can a man make runs when one ball whistles past his nose and the next one shoots? To give some idea of what can happen on rain-affected wickets, it is only necessary to state that Australia has been dismissed in Test matches in the past for the following Lilliputian totals: — 36, at Birmingham, in 1902. 42, at Sydney, in 1887-8. 44, at the Oval, in 1896. 53, at Lord’s, in 1896. The pride of England’s batting strength has succumbed in Test matches

in the past on drying wickets to the following sorry tune: — 45, at Sydney, in 1886-7. 53, at Lord’s, in 1888. 61, at Melbourne, in 1901-2. .61, at Melbourne, in 1903-4. But if Clarrie Grimmett is chuckling over the harvest of wickets he will reap at Old Trafford this week-end, will not Robins, Peebles, and Kilner also expect to reap a rich harvest. lan Peebles, the Middlesex bowler, who is making a first appearance for Englanl in a Test match, is a man who may do things on a rain-affected wicket.

Dennis Blundell, the e. -Cambridge Blue, informed “Burwood” this week that Peebles in 1929 was bowling at about his (Blundell’s) pace. Now, if Peebles, can rock them in at Blundell’s pace, and can also bowl the googly, I should say he was an ideal bowler for a.y class of wicket. It is difficult to understand the cable message published yesterday to the effect that Percy Chapman, the English captain, had requested the selectors to have T. W. Goddard, the Gloucestershire fast bowler, on hand at Manchester for the fourth Test match. Goddard, who is 30 years of age, was a failure as a fast bowler when first tried for Gloucester, but during a season at Lord’s he modified his pace in order to cultivate an off spin. This season Goddard has taken 85 wickets for Gloucestershire at an average of 20.61 per wicket. Chance for Bravo Hearts. A sticky wicket presents opportunities for batsmen with brave hearts. Even on a gluepot wicket at Melbourne, Harry Graham once scored a century in a test match. Bftt Graham was like a cat on his feet. Warren Bardsley was another great defensive batsman, who could score runs on the worst of wickets. Gilbert Jessup once defeated Australia by scoring a century in a test when all his English mates failed. No matter how bad the wicket may be at Old Trafford. Australia will have her Woodfull and Ponsford, and England will have her Hobbs and Sutcliffe. All these are great defensive batsmen who will take digging out, no matter how atrocious the wicket may be. Warwick Armstrong once informed “Burwood” that a really bad wicket is never met with in England. “If you want a really bad wicket,” he said, “you try and make a few runs on a Bulli soil wicket which is drying under the action of a hot sun. It is a veritable gluepot, and one never strikes anything nearly so bad in England.” Let us hope that things are not so bad at Old Trafford as they have been painted. In any ease, two tests this season have been completed. In 1926 the first four tests were cither drawn or abandoned on account of rain, and only the fifth match was played out. Australia held the “Ashes” then, but England took them by winning the fifth test by 289 runs and has held them ever since.