English Team, an Attractive Side, Should Give Cricket A Fillip

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 71, 17 December 1935, Page 14

English Team, an Attractive Side, Should Give Cricket A Fillip

(By

W. H. BICKLEY.)

ENTERTAINING cricket can be expected from the English team which is due at Auckland to-day to play a programme of IS games in New Zealand. The side is the youngest that has been sent from England, and created a very favourable impression in Australia. By enterprising batting, lively fielding and steady bowling, the tourists won popularity in each centre, and by all accounts they proved “good mixers” off the field. Their visit should do great good to the game in New Zealand. It can be said, too, that the game wants a little revitalising. With C. S. Dempster, R. C. Blunt and K. 0. James abroad, and T. C. Lowry and M. L. Page in retirement, so far as first-class cricket is concerned, and R. O. Talbot and M. Matheson, C. F. W. Allcott and others practically out of big games, few of the leading players of three and four sea- ■ sons ago are now active, and a new side has to be built for the next tour to England. In matches against the English team, players who have shown signs of development over the last three seasons will undergo the test of fire, and those with the capacity will come out of it worthy representatives of New Zealand. "in helping the selectors build a team for England, this tour is as important and opportune as was that of an equally likeable band of sportsmen from England in 1929 under H. Gilligan. The English team will begin its tour with a match against Wellington, opening next Friday. It will play four matches against New Zealand —at Dunedin, Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch. These should be interesting contests. W. E. Merritt, the Canterbury slow bowler who returned from England recently to take up a coaching engagement for the season in Christchurch, said when he was in Wellington that New Zealand should “just about beat the Englishmen. Ces. Dacre, of Auckland, who has been playing county cricket for some seasons in England, is not so sure about it. as he has advanced the suggestion that New Zealand’s best chance of winning is to send H. D. Read away for the fishing at Taupo. Two Men of Pace. . The fast bowler is a man of whom high hopes are held, but he did not do particularly well in Australia, leading to intriguing but possibly groundless suggestion that he has been held back for the matches in New Zealand. In Australia the express man took only 10 wickets for 334 runs. It is highly probable, however, that he will be outstandingly successful, if fit, in New Zealand. Our batsmen do not have the chance to acquire competency against bowling of real pace, for the fastest bowler in the country would not rank as better than fast-medium m cq orickpt. Read, one of the most interesting members of a very interesting side, will probably receive many wickets by sheer pace in 'New Zealand. He is not as fast as H. Larwood, but is a shade above the pace of H. Nichols, who was in New Zealand with Harold Gilligan’s team, and is faster than George Dickinson, of Otago. Tall and loosely but not especially strongly built, he is the joy of the sporting cartoonists by the reason of his abnormally long and rather awkward approach to the wicket. He goes back nearly a chain, comes up with a plunging, gallop that ends in a leap and lets fly with abnormal arm swing, but little body work. Despite his rather labouring run, however, he has great strength and heart, and can keep going for long spells. He is accused of being rather erratic in length and direction, but on occasion bowls with great fire, showing considerable capacity m making the ball bump. Almost in the same class, and also likely to be troublesome in this country is A. D. Baxter, who is in roughly the same grade for speed as M. J. 0. Allom, who was in New Zealand with, the last English team. He was used extensively and with great success in Australia, taking 11 wickets at 30.05 runs each.- Against Australia in the last match he secured four for 63 and two for 57 in totals of 22i and 18S, although, through a knee injury, he was bowling at half pace only for part of the first innings. Baxter is accurate and has sticking power and he may quite easily be one of the successes of the side in New Zealand. He swings the ball well when it is new,

and quite often opens with three men close U in on the leg-side—genuine leg theory as „ distinct from the- much discussed body- „ line. ' Neither Head nor Baxter is a batsman t —t] lo former made five runs in five inn--1 ,ings “on the other side,” and the latter li • had seven knocks in which his highest score was nine not out —and it remains to be seen if it will be considered worth while to “carry” both of them in the 3 matches against New Zealand. ’ A Fine Slow Bowler. The success of the side, as a bowler, > in Australia was J. M. Sims. He took 33 > wickets at 25.27 a piece, and made a ' considerable impression on such a sound judge as J. C. Davis, who said the slow man seemed certain to be among those ‘ who would visit Australia next season in ■ search of the Ashes. Sims took seven for i 95 against West Australia, four for 134 . and three for 76 against South Australia, ; three for 101 and none for 39 against , Victoria, six for 125 against New South ' Wales, two for 70 and three for 69 against Queensland, and one for 44 and four for SI against Australia. Sims, a tall man, differs from R. Tyldesley, A. P. Freeman and other Eng- , lish slow bowlers who have visited New Zealand, in that he does not rely on the • leg break much. He exploits variations of pitch and flight, flicks one that goes ' through like greased lightning now and ' again, and turns back from the off at ’ considerable speed. He follows the ball in frequently for possible “caught and bowled” chances. He has been described as more like an Australian than an English slow bowler. His pace off the pitch with the one that goes straight through is well shown by a study of the score sheets for the matches in Australia. He secured an abnormal number of l.b.w. victims. Not a very good but by no means a bad batsman, he should prove one of the most interesting players’ in the side. He shares the elow attack with James Langridge, a fine all-rounder, already well-known in New Zealand because of his coaching in Auckland. Langridge topped the bowling averages and was second in batting in Australia. His bowling is steady, and even if he is not taking wickets he is generally keeping runs down. He bowls left-hand round the wicket, with an easy action. His batting reveals the typical grace of the left-hander, hie runs coming more from the timing and placement of his strokes than from their power. Enterprising Batsmen. E. R. T. Holmes, the captain, is quite a good bowler of round about medium pace, but is almost purely a new ball man, his deadliness being in the quick dip in his flight. He takes a very short runonly five or six paces—delivers fairly high, and varies his pace. Holmes is renowned for his dash and grace as a batsman. .In Perth he scored 29 in 19 minutes and 50 in 35 minutes, with , three sixes, two being off successive balls, before he was caught in the outfield. New Zealand bowlers are in for a pasting if he strikes form. N. S. Mitchell-Innes is of the same type, and C. J. Lyttelton is almost as big a hitter as Fred Earle, of Harold Gilligan’s team. J. H. Human is a-quick scorer, as well as one of the most consistent in Australia. He made _ 118 against Queensland and 87 against South Australia. He has great wrist power, and is very severe on anything short. In addition, he is an uncommonly fast traveller in the country. The English team has no outstandingly prominent batsmen like F. E. Woolley and K. S. Duleepsinjlii, of Harold Gilligan’s side, but it has young and bright batsmen whose vigour and spirit should appeal to crowds in New Zealand. In Australia, in fact, they were more than once criticised for sacrificing soundness to brilliance. The whole side showed no particular hesitancy before fast or medium bowling in Australia, but in several matches seemed uncertain against slow bowling. New Zealand, however, has no outstanding slow bowler at the moment, excepting W. E. Merritt, so that it may be that the task of dismissing even venturesome batsmen with the bowling on call at present will not be easy. The Star Batsman. Undoubtedly the star batsman of the i team is Joe Hardstaff. son of a famous | player for England. The young profes- ! sional was described as “the pick of the basket” by Jack Worrall, one of thp most reliable observers in Australia. He made 13 and 55 against West Australia, 90 and i 24 against South Australia, 34 against Victoria, 77 and 37 against New South Wales, and 230 not out and -63 against

Australia, failing only against Queensland. , In each innings he made his runs like a master craftsman, with good footwork, strong driving, neat play behind the wickets and equal confidence to fast, medium and slow bowling. Moreover, he showed courage in difficult situations. When he went in to bat against Australia three good wickets | had fallen for under 50 runs, and two . more fell for under 20, but he was still there when 400 was posted, and of these he had made 230, without a chance till he reached 120. He usually goes in third or fourth. It seems that he must have line chances of selection for the English team to visit Australia next year, and it is certain he will be a great attraction in Mew Zealand. He is a very fine field "in the deep.” The “Steadiers.” The steadiness in the batting ot the touring side is provided by J. 11. Parks (usually one of the opening batsmen be; cause of his watchfulness when the ball still has the shine on it), W. Barber (also an opening batsman), and I). Smith (who sometimes opens and sometimes goes in first wicket down). Parks, short and nuggety, is difficult to dislodge. He played some good . innings in Australia, including 67 against South Australia, 72 against Victoria, and 55 against New South Wales, and scored 305 in nine visits to the wickets. He can punch very hard square off the wicket Smith opened with 83 against West Australia (going in fourth), followed with 52 against South Australia (as an opening batsman), and scored 109 against Queensland (also as an opening batsman). Smith has a strong square-cut and also a powerful straight drive, and in build and style is somewhat reminiscent of Frank Woolley. Barber did not get going early in the tour, but scored 91 against Queensland. He played against Australia, scored 13 and 35. Parks and Smith were the most successful opening pair till the match with Queensland, their partnerships including 93 against South Australia. . Parks and Barber put on 61 against Victoria, and Barber and Smith 204 against Queensland. ... In the Queensland match, it is interesting to note, wickets fell at 204, 204, 208 and 219, strongly suggesting uncertainty against a new ball when properly used. However, as the next wicket took the score to the tidy total of 401 for five it would seem by no means easy to get the tourists “on the run.”