CONTRASTS IN CRICKET MATCHES

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 266, 6 August 1937, Page 7

CONTRASTS IN CRICKET MATCHES

New Zealand Touring Team NOTORIOUS LEICESTER PITCH; LEEDS BATTLE (From "The Dominion” Special Correspondent with the Team.) Leeds, July 14. Cricket of the most wearisome character imaginable was provided in the half-way game of the New Zealanders’ tour, against Leicestershire, at Leicester The team saw, for the first time in the lives of most of them, a perfect example of an over-prepared wicket. On it the bowlers could not bowl, nor, curiously enough, could the batsmen bat. The bowl- j ers simply hurled the ball down with the best length and direction they could and the batsineen simply put the bat in front j of it so that the ball would not go in I the air and waited for runs to come. Al- | though the wicket was heart-breaking for ; bowlers it was equally useless for batsmen. It was suicidal to attempt to play strokes on such a pitch. New Zealand batsmen who attempted it early in the innings were quickly dismissed. The only game to play on such a wicket was to stay there and wait for runs to come. The Leicester pitch is the most notorious in England. The average number of runs made on it for each wicket this season, up to the time the touring team was there, was the astounding number of 35. Huge scores are made, but matches are almost inevitably drawn. If the purpose of preparing wickets in this way is to make cricket attractive by making sure that big scores will be made, it fails, because the public stays home in large numbers in Leicester. The New Zealanders’ match seemed, in fact, to be three wasted days. From the time the first ball was bowled there was nd chance of 1 a result unless batsmen were prepared to get themselves out. Leicester batsmen refused to do this. L. G. Berry and F. T. Prentice, the opening batsmen, simply plodded on and on and on till they had amassed 2G5 for the first wicket. N. Armstrong and W. Watson pursued the same tactics and the former was helped by C. S. Dempster on the morning of the second day to take the score to 557 for four wickets. The New Zealander, much more careful in his play than either the quality of the bowling or the situation of the game demanded, scored an unbeaten half century. Three of the six batsmen made centuries and two others half centuries. New Zealand’s bowlers toiled like navvies on a pitch that was what cricketers term a feather-bed. N. Gallicban bowled over 50 overs and J. V. Cowie and A. W. Roberts sent down close on 40. Roberts, getting out of his bath in the hotel that morning, twisted a muscle in his shoulder and had to leave the field after bowling one over on the second day, this disability keeping him out of the game with Yorkshire. New Zealand had over a day and n half to bat and it seemed certain from the first that the batsmen would never be dismissed as long as they were prepared to 'play a waiting game. W. A. Hadlee was again given out 1.b.w., but J. L. Kerr and D. A. R. Moloney then adopted the tactics pursued by the county batsmen and simply picked up runs as opportunity provided. They advanced the score slowly but surely from 13 to 133 before the latter was dismissed after making 51. W. M. Wallace was the only batsman on either side who attempted to force the bowling for runs and he paid the penalty of venturesome cricket on a wicket made for barndoor play when he was caught after scoring 27. Rain Ends Match. M. P. Donnelly, having seen which was the most successful game to play, however distasteful it might be, adapted his methods to the circumstances and for the rest of that day and for a. goodly part of the next morning the Scoring numbers on the board were changed almost automatically every few minutes until the total was 285 for three wickets. Kerr was then 130 not out, and apparently determined to stay till he had reached 200, Donnelly was 55 not out and appeared certain to reach 100. The wicket, the bowling and the batting combined, in fact, to give the impression that only a miracle could prevent a score of 600. As it happened, rain came on and. prevented further play, ending a most uninteresting and tiresome display of uneventful cricket. Off the field the players enjoyed Leicester. One evening they were the guests of Mr. Lindsay Everard, . a wealthy brewer and member of Parliament, at his private aerodrome at Ratcliffe, where he has a DH Dragon 1* ly and two Percival Vega Gulls, similar to those used by Miss Jean Batten and Mr. L. E. Clark on their flights to New Zealand. Edgar Percival, designer of these famous machines, was present., and gave a fine display of night aerobatics. The aerodrome is the finest private ground in England, and the owner is one of the most enthusiastic aerial tourists in Great Britain.- He has covered nearly the whole of Europe and parts of Africa, and talks- of visiting Australia. The players, by the terms of their contract, are prohibited from flying. From Leicester the team went to Leeds for its hardest county match against Yorkshire. This match had many exciting moments, and the tourists managed to make it a draw. It can be said that luck was not with them. On the first day they bowled and fielded determinedly, but each time the wicket showed some sign of giving help rain came to biud it together. L. Hutton showed that he is a really good batsman with an excellent century The New Zealanders, it might be admitted, were rather pleased at his success, their attitude being that if anyone had to make runs against them they would prefer that it was a young player whose career was going to be assisted by his success. Actually he batted quite well, although he made onlv one and a nought, in th’e first Test. In each innings he was in for nearly half an hour, and each time he was dismissed by a very good ball. There seems no doubt that if he is given good health and a reasonable run of luck he will be opening batsman for many years for England. His patience is immense, and his stroke play correct, and he appears to have that mysterious quality known as the big match temperament. Yorkshire Starts Well. p A. Gibb, of Cambridge University, scored 52, and Arthur Mitchell, a capable professional, made 62, so that Yorkshire had 257 up for two wickets. M. P. Donnelly then showed his usefulness as a change bowler. Bowling round the wicket. he made the ball swing in on to the leg stump and then break back, ’three batsmen who tried to force him to leg against the break saw the ball curl off their bat with the spin and lob up in the direction of square-leg, where three catehes were taken by G. L. Weir. Donnelly finished the day with three wickets for '42 runs, the best figures of the day and his best performance in England.

I J. Cowie showed signs, not unexpectied considering the amount af work he i luis had to do, of tiredness. He was slow|er than usual and pitched shorter. J. A. Dunning, on the other hand, was as tireless as aver, bowling what one of the papers termed, ‘‘a simply colossal number of overs” and taking two wickets for 113 runs. He bowled round the wicket to a leg field, pitching the ball on the middle or leg stumps and spinning it back. Next morning, he reverted to over-the-wicket swingers, and was mainly responsible for the quick finish of the innings, taking three for 26. so that the last five wickets added only 50 runs. On the second day the weather was dull and the atmosphere heavy, and the ball swung in most disconcerting fashion. Yorkshire had in W. Bowes and T. F. Smailes two professionals who knew well how to use such conditions, and four or five other bowlers who could keep a length and make the bull move off the pitch, ini eluding the almost mechanically accurate I Hedley Verity. The Yorkshire howling, I in fact, was the steadiest the team has j met in England. Not a run was given ' away. Such presents as long hops or full tosses were simply non-existent. The New Zealanders discovered that they could maintain a strokeless defence ; well enough, but that when they attemptI ed to attack the bowling their safety was j immediately endangered. They only just i managed to save the follow-on, scoring I 223. H. G. Vivian played easily the ! brightest innings, • scoring 45 with five I fours and a six. Five others reached the : twenties, but fell as soon as they began Ito open out. The aggregate total was I rather disappointing, but the bowling was very steady and the fielding keen. Yorkshire, keen for an outright win, forced the pace for quick runs in the second innings, but the New Zealand bowlers were evidently refreshed by a rest on Sunday. Six wickets were taken for 207 runs before the declaration was made by Yorkshire. E. W. Tindill distinguished himself by stumping one batsman from a ball two feet outside the off stump and then catching another, and fine catches were taken in the outfield by Wallace and Vivian, while Donnelly accepted two, one from a hard drive to cover and the other a high return off his own bowling. Donnelly’s Fine Innings. New Zealand rightly decided to play for a draw and managed to do so amid excitement. Donnelly played a wonderful innings, scoring 97 out of 139 runs made while he was at the wickets. He was the only batsman who could attack the bowling without giving the appearance of being in danger of dismissal. He used his feet well to the slower bowlers and cut, hooked and drove the faster men superbly. He hit fours to all parts of the field and never appeared likely to go out till he tried a rather rash hook to an extra fast ball when only three off the century. All the other batsmen concentrated on defence, except Wallace, who in both innings was the victim of his own impetuosity. for he could not resist the temptation to attempt to dispatch Hedley Verity out of the ground as he had done at Lord’s. In each innings lie was caught on the boundary. M. L. Page and J. 11. Lamason stone-walled for long periods and brought the draw closer. The finish of the match was exciting. Yorkshire naturally desired to hurry the score up to 200, so that the second new ball could be given to “Big Bill” Bowes and Fred Smailes. New Zealand naturally desired to avoid this and refrained from scoring. B. A. Sellers, the opposing captain, soon saw what was happening mid took the ball himself, deliberately bowling wides on the leg side, which the wicket-keeper allowed to go through to the fence, in order to push the score along. Eric Tindill in hif turn concluded that this was a game that two could play, so he ran ont toward square leg to stop the ball with his pads instead of his bat, saving the runs. The battle of tactics ended, as it was bound to do. in favour of the Boldins? f»ide in the end. Then Tindill and Cowie, amid great excitement, stayed together for nearly half an hour and savefl the match They just defended, allowing balls off the wicket to go past and stopning the others. They hardly scored n run, declining singles when chances offered so that they could each stay at the same end and piny the snme bowler. When Cowie snicked a ball almost down to the boundary they slowly walked a single, amid cheers from the crowd. The Yorkshire crowd loves n fight and the two last men were giver; a great ovation when they walked off after having defied a keen and strong attack and a packed and eager field and saved the game.