CRICKET "FEVER"

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 12, 15 January 1937, Page 11

CRICKET "FEVER"

TESTS IN AUSTRALIA

NOTHING ELSE MATTERS

MR. LUCKIE LOOKS ON

When ftlr. M*. F. Luckie, president of the Wellington Cricket Association and a player himself, decided to spend a holiday in Australia recently, the main attraction was the prospect of seeing the Australian and M.C.C. Test elevens in action. This he did in both Sydney and Melbourne, and he returned to Wellington this week, glad, especially, to have been one of the vast crowd which looked on at the historic and dramatic third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In an interview today Mr. Luckie dealt interestingly with some of the play and players and with the intense interest taken in the Tests in Australia. Such is that interest that he feels that if Australia wins the next Test at Adelaide it will be necessary to close the gates early each day at the fifth Test.

The two Tests he saw, said Mr. Luckie, were seriously affected by the rain, to the extent that the winning of the toss gave a very considerable advantage. The second Test in Sydney was not at all inspiring because the cricket was so slow and the failure of the Australians, owing largely to the difficulties of the wicket, was so marked. The match in Melbourne, however, provided the most dramatic cricket from start to finish he had ever seen. The attendance of the public was enormous and their interest was sustained throughout the four days' play he saw. The batting, bowling, and fielding were magnificent throughout the whole course of play. Darling's two catches which dismissed Leyland and Hammond in England's first innings, were two of the finest efforts he had ever seen. One was taken about six yards from the bat at short leg and the other at about two yards from the bat. Darling throwing himself full length on the ground to get both. The best display of fielding given in the match was that by Robins, who seemed to field nearly one-third of the balls that were hit and whose returns to the wicket were extraordinarily accurate and rapid. DEAD SILENCE. One of the extraordinary features of the match was that, even in spite of the large attendance on each day, averaging over 75,000 people, there was dead silence from the time the bowler commenced his run until the ball had been hit or had passed the batsman. "You could close your eyes," said Mr. Luckie, "and swear that there was not a soul on the ground for these few seconds, and that not occasionally but every ball. If the Spanish fleet had been bombarding Port Phillip on the Tuesday afternoon when Bradman got his two centuries there were nearly 80,000 people who would not have known anything about it or cared. As soon as you passed the turnstiles and the game started, the general atmosphere was that the rest of the world did not matter." Mr. Luckie said he had never seen a game previously in which the interest was so intense and so well maintained from start tb finish. Bradman's batting was magnificent. He never gave a vestige of a chance and was scarcely ever in trouble, while the doggedness, care, and persistence displayed by Fingleton, his partner, in their record stand of 346 for the j sixth wicket were scarcely less praiseworthy.

Verity was easily the best bowler on both sides. He scarcely ever bowled a bad ball. He bowled 38 overs for an average of about two runs, mainly singles, to the over, and he was the only bowler on the English side who caused either Bradman or Fingleton any trouble at all. Voce appeared to Mr. Luckie to bowl far too many short ones. Allen's bowling was a good deal better than Voce's.

Almost one-third of the attendance at Melbourne was comprised of women, said Mr. Luckie, and the women seemed to know as much about the game as the men. The crowds, including women, started assembling at the turnstiles hours before the gates opened at 9 o'clock. The orderliness and good humour of the crowd from beginning to end were most marked.

The rain which fell on the Friday night after the Australians had commenced their innings so seriously affected the wicket that by Saturday afternoon the wicket was so difficult as to be almost unplayable and it was evident after the dismissal of Leyland and Hammond that the English captain had given instructions to his side to hit and get out as quickly as possible in order that England might have the chance of getting the Australians in on the same wicket, but an appeal against the light shortly after the start of the Australian second innings, for which Bradman put his men in tail first, and a downpour of rain, which started about 5.30 p.m. and ended play for the day, robbed the English captain of the advantage he had hoped to gain.

ALLEN'S DECISION. To suggest that Allen should have closed England's innings earlier than

he had was merely to be wise after the event. Allen could not anticipate the appeal against the light and the downpour of rain which shortened play by nearly forty minutes. Old players said it was one of the worst wickets Melbourne could turn

The keenness and enthusiasm with which the enormous body of spectators followed every bit of the play from the beginning on Friday morning until the end of play on the Tuesday, which was the last Mr. Luckie saw of the game, and the keen criticism of the play, good or bad, would be .an eye-opener to New Zealanders. The Melbourne Cricket Club arrangements for handling the vast crowd of over 350,000 people who attended the match were beyond praise. An area outside the ground about as large as the Basin Reserve had thousands of cars parked on it like regiments of cavalry and the rapidity and the ease with which the public got away bore great testimony to the soundness of the organisation.

The fielding of the Englishmen was wonderful. He saw only one possible chance missed and that was by Hammond in the slips off Fingleton. The difficulty Bradman had in getting the ball through the field bore testimony to the accuracy of the bowling and the magnificence of the fielding. The attention of the crowd as Bradman was approaching, and reached, his first and second centuries had to be seen to be appreciated. On both occasions the game was suspended while the crowd roared itself hoarse.

One of the material factors which laid the foundation for Australia's success was the hour's stand made by Ward and Rigg on the Monday morning, when there were two wickets down for no runs and Ward unexpectedly stayed with Rigg for 65 minutes.

During the latter part of England's first innings, continued Mr. Luckie, it was obvious that Sievers and O'Reilly on the bad wicket were practically unplayable, but on the Monday and Tuesday the wicket improved all the time until it looked as if any number of runs might easily be made by the Englishmen in their second innings. THE TWO sinrs. "Both tenms. I thought, are very uuo.vealy, balanced/ concluded, JYLc,

Luckie. "There are three or four outstanding batsmen on both sides but there is too much tail as far as the batting is concerned. I think the English bowling, if not more dangerous, is at least more accurate than the Australian. It is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty the result of the Adelaide match, which probably will be played without interference by the weather. If Australia wins the fourth Tesl. I predict that the gates will have lo be closed at it" o'clock I every day when the fifth Test is^played