COMMENTS ON PERSONNEL

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 22, 27 January 1931, Page 11

COMMENTS ON PERSONNEL

(By Telegraph.) (From "Not Out.") ' AUCKLAND, Tftis'Say. ■Tt© striking feature, of the team ..chosen for .the- tour is its', strength in batting! It is a team" without'a tail. Not one of the chosen players has a •batting average-below'2o in this season's Phmfcet Shield matches, and it is a remarkable fact that the averages of Dempster and Blunt are the lowest. Strong as the team is in batting, it could well do with : a batsman of-the M'Girr type, and age must have, been the only thing that kept M'Girr out of iC There is no more confident, batsman in New Zealand than M'Girr,. and he is good for many more big scores. In spite, of opinions to the contrary, he. would have been a very serviceable man to the touring side, and his type of batting would: have made a strong'appeal. It is a,-matter of opinion -whether Mathcson, Talbot,. and Cromb are better all-rounders • than M'Girr, who can still send down a good ball, and so far as age is concerned, if M^Girr is top old, then Allcott musf be close to the limit, AllcottV .allround ability as a left-hander .gained him a place, and he will have work m plenty. The hope is that he will- be able to stand up to it. . _ Since the team has been stocked with 'batsmen, it comes as no surprise to find two colts, Vivian and Kerr, given the big chance that should make them two of the best batsmen produced in this country. Their inclusion is a pleasing feature of the selection, although this has been done at the expense of the bowling. There is, however, a possibility of Vivian' developing as a lefthand bowler, but his part is batting. ■ «. SEQUENCE OF BATSMEN. ' Dempster and Mills will be the openin" pair, and bettor form is to be expected' of them that that shown during the.preseut season. , Kerr will also 'have a chance to develop as an opening batsman. AVeir is .a solid man for ■the. first wicket, .and then there isBlunt AV,ho, however,, will probably "have to'play a greater part as a spin bowler. It seems probable that' Blunt will have better bowling figures than • Merritt on this tour. Lowry will be one of the" batting stalwarts, and no better leader could be found for the team. ■ Apart from Mills, the only left-hand-era are Allcott and Vivian, and they will be wcll^placed for run-getting, while earlier batsmen should give the .side a good enough start to onable ■ Page, Croinb, Matheson, Talbot, James, arid Merritt to indulge in plenty of freo' hitting. James, in view of his strenuous -wicket-keeping duties, will no doubt bo given a place low on the bat- , ting order. . . BOWLING STRENGTH. Its batting, will go a long way towards making the team popular, but while good scores should bo made in plenty, the New Zealand team can ex-., pert some solid scoring to lie registered against it. Its bowling is by no means aa strong as was hoped, and it appears to have been sacrificed for batting. The selectors ha.ye evidently attached too much importance "to certain performances in this season's Shield matches, and as a result they are sending the team away rather poorly provided for 'in the "types- of bowling likely to bo of. most value-.in England. ExCept for slow spin bowling, for which Blunt arid Merritt are the principals on hand," with others in support, the ' selectors have done the- right thing in passing over the so^called speed merchants, as there is no1 fast bowler in New Zealand good enough for a trip to.England. But.there are others on hand who have demonstrated that they would fill the bill'more capably than was the case in the previous team sent to England; Moreover, two candidates, Dunning nnd Blundell, have tho backing of good . experience of English conditions, and the latter in particular had porform- ■ ane'es for two season's in first-class cricket in England that could not be lightly overlooked. However, the selectors have seen fit to pass over this reliable stock j

bowler, as well as another, Massey, who in the opinion- o£ competent juclgea is a type of bowler who would also have considerable success in England. If any bowler was worthy of a place in tho team on Shield performances alone it was Massey. . Then Newman, as a left-hander, can. be marked down, as one of tho unluckiest of the candidates. On the other hand, Matheson is decidedly fortunate. He bowls a fair ball with a slight off turn, but has not impressed as one.of New Zealand's best bowlers. . THE FIELDING. In fielding, the team should give an infinitely better account of itself than the 1927 side. It was brilliant fielding, no doubt, which weighed largely in making Cromb one of the elect. Merritt and Cromb, by the way, are in partnership in Christehureh, and it is assumed that both will be able to take the, trip. Those who were not in the previous, team sent to England are Weir, Vivian, Kerr, Cromb, Matheson, ' and Talbot, so that with eight of the "old brigade" the team will have solid backing in the matter of experience. SEASON AVERAGES. _. Averages of the selected players in this season's Shield matches are:— Batting. Buns. Average. Weir 346 SG.SO" ■ Allcott 186 4G.50 : Lowry 272 45.33 Matheson 171 42.75 Cromb ............ 236 39.33 Page ..;...... 233 35.83 ■ Vivian ' 162 " 32.40 Mills IS9 31.50 Talbot 182 30.33 ; Kerr 158 26.31! James -147 24.50 Merritt 121 24.20 Blunt 141 23.50 Dempster .......... 123 20.50 Bowling., ■ '■•■'• ' ' Wfcketa. Runs. Avg. Allcott .... 10 135 23.50 Blunt 16 284 17.75 Cromb .■ 11 218 10.81 Merritt 13 309 '21.00 Weir ...... 3 ■ •■■ 64 21.33 Vivian .... 1 26 26.00 Matheson !) 276 30.66 . , Talbot 6 194 "32.33 Tage 2 69 '34.50 It has been the rule rather than the exception for Wellington to have small representation in cricket teams going overseas, and it is extraordinary on this occasion that senior club cricket in Wellington, which is of a higher standard than in other centres, can provide only two men out of the fourteen selected to represent Hhe Dominion.