ENGLISH CRICKET

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 102, 3 May 1933, Page 11

ENGLISH CRICKET

NEW SEASON STARTING

THE "BODY-LINE" ATTACK

WILL IT BE USED?

(By "Left-Hander.") T]iu 1!).'!3 English cricket season, which way prove to be a momentous ouo so far us tlic future of the game is concerned, commences in earnest this week, when tlio county championship series will be started and the West Indies touring team will fulfil the first oi" its serious engagements. The progress of the comity championship is always followed with keen interest in this part of tho world, and the performances of loading players are also closely watched. This season, however, attention will bp focused on another aspect of the game—the extent to which the type of bowling which Australia termed "bodylino" will be exploited. ' The pros and cons of this form-"of attack, which played suc-h a big part in England's supremacy in the recent Test series, have been discussed very fully, and, unfortunately, with much' bitterness and ill-feeling: All that remains now is to await the reception it receives in England, if it is used there to the same extent as in Australia, and the steps, if any, to be taken by the M.C.C. with regard to it. There is a.„ general feeling, however, that the English public will not have cause to krtow "body-line" bowling as Australians knew it, and there are several factors which - have produced this impression. FAST PITCHES NEEDED. In the first place, the. fiery Australian pitches will be replaced 'by the easier English turf on which it will bo difficult for tlie fastest of bowlers to produce the "kickers" which flew over the heads of .Australia's batsmen or struck them on various parts of the body. On his arrival in New Zealand, Jarilinc, in his only reference to tho attack which he used in Australia in winning the T"ests—and, in many quarters, unpopularity—said that he did not think it would prove as successful in New Zealand, where the wickets were more, of the South of England type. Though it might have been otherwise had Larwood—"the spearhead of tho attack" —been on hand to send down his fliers, body-line bowling troubled jS'cw Zcalandcrs very little. The writer watched the (second Test at Auckland, and, in the course of that game, the legtrap was laid several times, but tho batsmen, Dempster in particular, met it confidently and effectively. One of tho principal causes of tho disappointment in the washing-out of the last day's play arose from the fact that J. E.. Mills, tho stylish left-hander, was imablo to have more time to. redeem'himself. Both on the Saturday afternoon, when the light was bad, and on the ■Monday, when tho turf was tricky, he faced' the English fast bowlers, including Allen and Voec, the former operating with a leg field, and flashed balls on the leg sido to the boundary with the artistry that marked his display at the Basin Ecservc against Arthur Gilligan's team. Then, again, fow teams will bo in tho position of possessing a battery of fast bowlers sufficient to make the bodylino attack a success. Notts will have available Larwood (if his injured foot does not, trouble him) and .Voce,' the "king pins" of the body-lino attack in Australia, and "Bumper" Bowes will probably play a prominent part in Yorkshire's attack,'while .G. O. Allen, tho Middlesex amateur, is'another who can muster up a fair "amount of pace. M. S. X^liols . (Essex), •'. the fastmedium bowler whose snort-pitched deliveries sorely bruised some of Wellington's batsmen in 1930, gavo his county good service with both bat and ball last season, and may do so again, but there- appear'to be few others who will be capable of intimidating batsmen into strokes on the leg side which will prove tlioir downfall. FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS. Furthermore, the Test atmosphere, which has shown a growing tendency towards tenseness carried past the point of legitimate rivalry, will "be missing, and, although A. "W. Carr,1 Nottingham's leader, has 'declared it to bo tho duty of a captain to win matches even if compelled to adopt tactics of which lie does not apprpve, it is not likely that the body-lino attack will-be persisted with if "it becomes apparent that it is having a detrimental ■ effect on tho attondances,at county matches. This point is touched upon in the spring annual of "The Cricketer," Ihe well-known English publication edited by Mr. P. F. Warner, manager of the team which won back "The Ashes." Referring to the leg-theory as exploited by fast bowlers, "Second Slip" writes: "We certainly do not want it employed ad nauseam hero; there are, already, empty benches enough as it is No one will go to see cricket1 with, the cut, the on and off drive, tho strokes past cover, and the endless variety of all' these swept out of the game by the tactics of which we have heard so much. It appears, then, that should the leg-theory be adopted by the first-class counties in this country cricket will bo reduced to a farce unless something can be done'to get the game back to what is was thirty-five years ago, when there were great batsmen and great bowlers.?' The proceeds to state that boys should be taught to hit, to log, and, "already it is reported that cricket outfitters are manufacturing pads for all parts of the batsman's body. They should be taboo; the bat should be the armour." A. W. OARR DOUBTFUL. In statins? in an interview in England that he intended to use the leg-theory if necessary,' even though it might make him unpopular, A. \V. Carr said: "But do not run away with the belief tnat Larwood's leg-theory is going to be as great'a success here as it has been apparently in Australia. As a matter of fact, its success over there astonished me. "The Nottingham team went into committee' last year over this legtheory, and hatched the plot, as it wore. We conceived it especially for use in these Tests. Two players in tho present team, I may nay, knew of it. and said it would not work, Last summer we tried it out at Leyton. Man* Chester, and Cardiff. Frankly, it. was not a sucocsh ... as it has succeeded in.Australia T shrill use it. "To mo. it will .bo an'alternative. If the atmosphere is such that Larwood c;i.in swing tho ball, then I shall set the normal Klip field. If he 'cannot swing it, then 1 shall sot exactly the sumo leg trap that D. R. Jardiue has been setting, ii'ml Lnrwood will make the ball break back off tho pitch. Evidently fast wickets are required for letr theory. Equally important, good fieldsmen are wanted. We have them." THE OPENING MATCHES. ■:! Last week, the Seniors' Match was to have been'played at Oxford University ou Wednesday, and the Freshmen's Match on Saturday, when the Seniors' Match at Cambridge1 was to bo.played. The West Indians have been engaged continuously in two : day and one-day practice matches, and tomorrow they are to commence a two-day match against the Club Cricket Conferen.ee on the Private Banks' Ground at Catford Bridge. They aro'to commence, the first of their county matches on Saturday, when ,they. will meet North-

amptonshire at the county's headquarters. The following matches are to start today:—M.C.C. v. Surrey, at Lord's; Nottinghamshire -v. Worcestershire, at Nottingham; Oxford University v. Yorkshire, at Oxford; and Cambridge University y. Sussex, at Cambridge.