BODYLINE BOWLING

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 105, 27 January 1933, Page 9

BODYLINE BOWLING

M.C.C. and Australian Cable CONCILIATORY SPIRIT Appeals for Compromise (By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) London, Jan. 25. Sir Stanley Jackson, the famous Test cricketer, speaking at the Yorkshire Cricket Club’s annual meeting, said that the M.C.C. had considered the Australian Board’s cablegram In a conciliatory spirit, and he hoped that the Australians would accept the reply in the same spirit. Nothing in his cricket career had distressed him like this unfortunate affair. The situation was so serious that he would do anything short of sacrificing the honour and reputation of the British people to put the difficulty right. Everyone regretted that the board had thought is necessary to cable, and it was probably now regretted in certain quarters that the message was ever sent. It was essential that the M.C.C. should support the team, for it was Impossible to think, that they could have resorted to any method injurious to the game. It would be disastrous to cancel the Tests. He hoped that they would be continued and played in an amicable spirit. “We should all be careful,” he said, “especially old cricketers, to say nothing to impugn the sportsmanship of another country. In my long experience I never knew an Australian cricketer with whom I could find fault. The Australians have always observed the written and unwritten rules of cricket.” The “Manchester Guardian,” in a sub-leader,, recalls that protests against body-line bowling were heard long before the present tour of Australia. “A fresh rule or interpretation seems necessary. The cancellation of the remaining Tests would be deplorable. An opportunity has arisen for the application, of that English genius for unspoken compromise, and there is also an opportunity to redeem cricket by an exhibition of good temper.” The “Guardian” sentiments are fairly representative of the more conciliatory attitude now prevailing in responsible quarters. “Let’s keep cricket as a game and not mix it with politics,” writes Duleepsinhji in the “Star.” “I cannot imagine Englishmen refusing to buy Australian meat and other goods because there has been ill-feeling over a game. My only objection to the leg theory is that it makes the game uninteresting.”