LOWRY’S DASHING INNINGS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 256, 26 July 1937, Page 7

LOWRY’S DASHING INNINGS

Hard-hitting at Trent Bridge 1 Li . FINE CENTURY TO PAGE 1: 1 (From “The Dominion” Special CORRESPONDENT WITH THE TEAM.) tT O 1 s London, June -4. Taking on a new appearance altogether, the New Zealand cricket team, alter a , disappointing display against Lancashire, gave itself encouragement tor the first ' Test with a fine performance against Nottinghamshire, one of the strongest counties in England. When the New Zealand team met it, in fact, it was the only un- ’ beaten county in the first-class competition, and fielded a much better side than some of those which hud beaten New Zealand, like Glamorgan, Worcestershire, and 1 Lancashire. 9 New Zealand, however, began like 3. • winning team, dismissing Notts for 163. • The Trent Bridge wicket is famous the world over for its even, easy pace. The 1 Nottingham marl with which it was i originally laid is probably the most fain--1 ous of all wicket-binding soils. .For this 1 match it was in perfect trim, giving the : bowlers no help and the batsmen every chance. It was, therefore, a fine perform- > anee to dismiss a strong side for only ; 163. , J. Cowie, the hard-worked, again bowled wonderfully well, his pace being as impressive as his direction was excellent. Moreover, he occasionally made pace off the pitch. The wicket looked one on which a fast bowler might break bis heart in unavailing labour and leave the work of dismissing the batsmen to the slow spinners. The Aucklander bowled so well, however, that little use had to be made of D. A. R. Moloney, none at all of M. P. Donnelly, and only a little of J. A. Dunning. Cowie took three wickets for 39 runs in 21 overs. The speed of of his break-back was shown by his performance of bowling two of his victims and taking the third l.b.w. Roberts Refreshed. A. W. Roberts, on a wicket which must have reminded him of Lancaster Park at its best, appeared refreshed from his three days of holiday-making at Blackpool. He bowled with a zest lacking in some of the earlier games and also with more luck. He has been the unlucky bowler of the tour, many times having his best balls snicked just off the stumps or out of the reach of fieldsmen. In this match he took four for 61 off 31 overs, his victims being four of the best batsmen. The Notts batsmen were never really comfortable, and it was impossible to recognise the attack as the same as that against which over 400 had been scored two days before by Lancashire. Harold Larwood, who made top score for the county and who should be able to speak with authority on bowling, said he had never seen the ball “do” so much at Trent Bridge. He formed a very high opinion of the New Zealand attack and declared that England would find it difficult to score from in the Test. New Zealand’s batting was even more satisfying. H. G. Vivian was in London receiving treatment for a leg strain and J. L. Kerr reverted to his position of opening batsmen, going in with W. A. Hadlee. They gave the innings a good start, putting on 75. They had to face 11. Butler, a fast-medium bowler who has taken two hat tricks in county cricket this season; and W. Voce, perhaps the finest left-hand fast bowler in the world. They did so with confidence and success. M. L. Page, returning to the side after n rest, helped in a second wicket partnership of 129. He and his partner scored with comfortable regularity against all bowlers, and it did not seem that either need get out. Kerr did when seven short of a century richly earned, running himself out. His 93 was a steady and correct innings, including eight fours and a six. the last a clean hook over- square leg. The captain went on to a fine century, made in four hours, with a great variety of good strokes, particularly noticeable being his cuts, in making which lie moved his back foot backward almost to the line of the stumps, waited till the ball was almost past him, and then chopped it through the slips practically out of the wicketkeeper’s gloves. Hadlee scored 45, Kerr 93 and Page 109. and New Zealand lost only three wickets in making 262. This was easily the best opening of an innings on the tour and was the more pleasing because the batsmen ran for every run. In some previous matches perhaps a score of runs were lost through unenterprising running. , Lowry’s Hurricane Innings. j

Lowry followed them with what one of the Nottingham papers described as “a magnificent display of monopolistic batting, using the long handle with a vigour and freshness that delighted everybody except the poor bowlers, who so grievously suffered, and the fielders who wearily chased the battered ball, in smashing his way to one of the quickest centuries ever seen at Trent Bridge.” Disdaining the short singles his colleagues favoured, he Jiit far more boundaries than singles. Eighteen fours and a six eloquently indicate the power of his hitting. At first he relied almost exclusively on the pull, but later he introduced the hook and the drive with telling effect. The time factor of his innings was interesting, indicating how he dominated the game from stately entry to glorious exit. He reached 51 out of 65 in 50 minutes, 100 out of 129 in 105 minutes, and 121 out of 155 in 115 minutes. These figures show how he outdistanced his partners in his rocketing progress to three figures. Tt is only necessary to add that when E. W. Tindill was in the manager scored 44 while the wicketkeeper made six. Even when the second new ball was introduced he treated it with the same scant respect as the one off which he had almost knocked the cover, hitting three fours in one over, and then smashing one of the fast bowlers into the pavilion seats for six. New Zealand’s total of 428 was the best of the tour to date.

Harold Larwood, the world's greatest fast bowler, sent down only one over. He suffers intensely from skinned toes, a complaint which has been with him for years. Because of this he requires constant nursing, though he never makes his disability an excuse for not bowling. Nowadays he takes only an eight-pace run, but his pace is still exceptional. He is probably still faster than any bowler in England, simply because he has the strongest shoulders, the longest arms, and the easiest action of any fast bowler in England. A. peculiarity of the New Zealand innings wa.s that while it yielded the best score of the tour, four of the batsmen failed to open their accounts. Voce secured four wickeds for 112 runs.’ For most of the time he bowled his usual fast balls, but for a time he delivered slowmedium spinners, very accurately too. Not many people know that he was first engaged by the county as a slow bowler, and was persuaded, rather against his will, to use his easy action and fine physique as a fast bowler. The fact that lie can now bowl either way at will makes him doubly valuable to his side, because when the wicket is soft he can moderate his pace and bowl breaks with just as much prospect of success as when hurdling down his fastest. Now Zealand had some chance of forcing a win on the third day, but this disappeared when the wicket proved to be even better than on the first two days. R. Kelton, a fine batsman, who has made over 2000 runs in a season three times, scored 75. and J, Hardstaff compiled an excellent century, while G. V. Gunn, son of a famous player, who made a century against the last touring team, scored 149 not out, Notts batting all day for 454.

Dunning broke a record by bowling 48 overs in the day, the greatest number of the tour, in taking three wickets for 129 runs. In the absence of 11. G. Vivian. M. P. Donnelly again had to “carry' 1 the left-hand slow bowling, but he did not

secure a wicket, hiss 20 overs costing 77 runs. Encouraging Match. Although the match was a draw it was a most encouraging one for New Zealand. It seemed to show that the batsmen had at last recovered their capacity to go on after a good start. In earlier games too many played themselves in and then got themselves out. In this match all who secured a start went on to a big score, as is to be expected of batsmen in form. Nottingham as a city was enjoyed by the players, who were received by the lord mayor, conducted over Nottingham Castle, shown through the famous Trip to Jerusalem Inn and taken to the factory of John Player and Sons. It will probably be remembered, too, because of an unusual development on the first day. After play had been in progress for half an hour dark clouds covered the sky and an appeal against the light was upheld. The players retired to the pavilion, where electric lights had to be turned on. It is probably the first, and will probably be the last, time that play will be stopped at midday for bad light in the experience of these players. Kerr followed his success in this match with a fine innings of 93 not out at Norwich against Norfolk. There he batted in his best style against some quite good fast bowling and was unlucky not to reach hi« century. J. R. Lamason, who began to show glimpses of his New Zealand form in making 37 not out, was batting with him at the time and sportingly endeavoured to give bis partner all the howling so that he could reach three figures before the winning hit was made. The Wellington player wn« given a full toss on the leg side, a ball simply asking to be hit for four, but he let. it go in an effort to allow more opportunity to his partner. The wicketkeeper missed the ball and it went for four byes. An almost exactly similar thing happened in the next over and spoiled any chance of a century before the finish of the match. Sixteen runs were wanted before the two balls went to the boundary. Kerr needed nine for his century. With eight scored in byes he could not succeed without hitting a six. He was left not out seven short of the goal that had also eluded him at Nottingham.