TEST EQUALITY CONTINUES

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 21, 25 July 1934, Page 8

TEST EQUALITY CONTINUES

In the 1934 Test series Australia has lost the. toss on three occasions out of four, has lofet one match, has won one (the one in which the coin favoured her)' and has drawn twice; which results mean.that the fifth and final Test will be played without time-limit—that • is, played' to a finish. At the end of the' fourthTest, with honours eiyen, Australia can claim, that rain deprived her of a practically certain victory on this occasion, and ,that her formidable opponent, notwithstanding the-toss-winning advantage of being first-on-the-wicker in, three Tests, has only clinched one -win (the second Teat, Avhich was virtually "lost when Australia by< seven ruiis. failed 'to avert a follow-on against Verity). In average' - .circumstances, English cricket critics concede that first-on-the-wicket is worth many runs; it is a position comparable with service in lawn tennis. But it is ihe glory of both games,that one does not always win on his service, or on the toss. Illness or injury has levied a toll on cricketers of both sides, but Australia has had the especial bad luck of sickness while playing—of men going from hospital to wicket. Another feature of the Tests has been the partial eclipse of Bradman (who now shines again) and of Hammond. The total eclipse of Larwood is a British domestic question. Larwood's absence is not inevitable like the rain. Larwood may come again.