"BODY-LINE DEAD"

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 92, 16 October 1934, Page 10

"BODY-LINE DEAD"

TESTS WILL COXTIXUE

N.S.W. OFFICIAL'S VIEWS

Body-line, until quite recently a very live topic, has died with the closing of the 1934 English cricket season. It will be talked of again, but it will never reappear as a disturbing influence on the field of play. That is the opinion of Mr. A. AY. Green, president of the New South AVales ducket Association, who is returning to Austraia by the Makura from a visit to England during which he accompanied the Australian cricketers on the greater part of their tour. "Body-line will simply drop out, and," he said, "it should do. It would slow the game up, and make matters unsatisfactory in many, many ways." Mr. Green is a man of sonic experience in the cricket world. At 76 years of ago his enthusisam for the game is as great as ever it was, but in keeping paco with the cricketers on their recent tour he found, he admitted, that the going was very strenuous. He has been associated with the control of cricket in New South AVales for fiftytwo years, and during the past ten years he has boon the New South AVales Cricket Association's president (acting president for a period). Returning with him to Australia is another ardent cricket enthusiast, Mr. T. H. I!a.v- S smith, who for forty years has been the president of the Newcastle Districts Cricket Association. TEST CBICKET NOT THE BEST. In what had happened in recent seasons to disturb the cricket atmosphere, Mr. Green felt that there was nothing to cause any concern regarding the continuance of visits between England and Australian cricket teams. "The Tests will go on," he said. "But, mind you, I do not think that Test cricket is the best cricket after all. I went to some of the matches with the county teams, and they were so different from the Tests. Then there was the match at Aldcrshot. It was delightful—a real treat to see the spirit in which the game was played. "This war that goes on in the Tost matches is not going to do the game any good. The feeling becomes too intense. There is no doubt whatever that all this Lanvood trouble has been brought about by the fact that they want to win the Tests. I think that it is the hist tiling in the world that this business of trying to win the Tests rightly or wrongly should be'the main consideration of one side or the other. So long as the spirit of cricket obtains then we are going to have real cricket. If the game is played in the wrong spirit then you arc going to have trouble. I am quite certain that the people of England want our matches. They not only want them, but I am sure they are going to have them and they are going to have them under proper conditions." "SILLY ATTITUDE." Questioned as to whether much feeling had been shown in England over the body-lino question, Mr. Green said that there had been evidence of it. "You have seen what Larwood, Carr, and others at Nottingham havo said? AA'ell," he said, "they have been quite silly over the- whole business." At Nottingham the situation had been quite acute, Mr. Green added. As to whether the issue had been confused in England, Mr. Green thought that the people there were now better acquainted with what was regarded in Australia as body-line bowling as distinct from leg-theory. "But," ho said, "I do think body-line bowling in Australia and body-lino bowling in England are quite two different things." The difference was made by the fact that the Australian wickets wore so much faster than those in England. Of Larwood as a bowler Air. Green had a high opinion. "To my mind he is a great bowler, and I think he could have done just as well if he had bowled at the wicket; ho is a great bowler —so accurate." BETTER TEAM WON. Speaking of the Tests, the New South Wales president regarded the final result as quite satisfactory in that the better team had won. The weather had had ail effect upon the results, but in this the luck had gone England's way. There was no doubt about it that the Australian team was a wonderful]}' well balanced side, and it played as a team to the last dot. Unfortunately, a good deal of sickness had been experienced, and some of the* members of tho team were playing when they really should have been in bed. The side had a wonderful captain in AVoodfull, and Mr. Green thought that Bradman would make just as great a skipper in the end. He was glad to learn that Bradman was now recovering from his serious illness. The English team, ho appreciated, was under some handicaps, but it had "got the wind up." The team in the last Test, in his opinion, was not a J team at all; it was just a collection of men picked on the chance that each of | them might do something, with a srnmble on Wyatt winning the toss. But AVoodfuil had won the toss in that last Test, with rpsults which had long since been detailed. It was when referring to the last Test that Mr. Eaysmith broke in with an expression of opinion. "The last Test was tho worst match of the whole series." ho said. "England did not pick a team. They bnscd their selection on Mfs'—if AVyatt won the toss, if this batsman and thnt batsman would make runs, and so on." Both officials were agreed that the time spent in England had been very enjoyable, though strenuous, in endeavouring to kopp paco with tho cricketers in their continuous run of matches.

Torlny Messrs. Green nml l?nysmith were taken fora motor drive by officials of the Wellington Cricket Association, the points of interest to them including some of the cricket areas, -with ■which they were favourably impressed.