RACING THE CLOCK

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 28, 3 February 1937, Page 13

RACING THE CLOCK

AUSTRALIA'S PLAY

SLIGHTLY WORN WICKET

ADELAIDE, February 2,

. Australia strengthened their position in the fourth' cricket Test against Eng-land-today by carrying their overnight score of 63 for one wicket to 341 for four wickets with Bradman still unbeaten at 174.

* Bradman is the greatest draw-card in the world of cricket. The morning crowd, for a holiday, was disappointing, but 25,000 people saw him start to play today. There was only one reason for the interest. The crowd did not attend to see Test cricket. They wanted to see Bradman bat. The afternoon 'attendance was 35,700, the best so far for the game, and the gate takings were "£3921. r The weather was fine and the wicket still playing well, but England had no spin bowlers to exploit its slightly worn surface. Bradman and Brown showed at the outset that they would not throw their wickets away, and were determined to amass as many runs as possible. Australia produced their best cricket so far for the match in the pre-lunch session. Appeals for leg-before were frequent early in the day, but none was successful. Taking no risks and availing themselves of every opportunity to score, Bradman and Brown reached 50 for the partnership in 79 minutes. Brown scored a patient 32. He went to an excellent low catch behind by Ames off Voce. Brown batted 127 .minutes and hit one 4. McCABE STARTS SHAKILY. Bradman was sound during the morning session and was in control from the start. He did not release his HrJp for. an instant McCabe started snakily, edging his shots, and, strangely enough for him, took half an hour to "reach double figures. Then he played many delightful shots, scoring boundaries from successive balls from Verity and Fames. Australia were fighting back well, and a big score appeared imminent with two down for 150 at lunch. The English bowlers never appeared menacing, except Voce, the fast lefthander, who bowled grandly. Fames, the hero of the first innings, had lost pace today. Allen restricted the morning attack to the pace men and Verity. The Englishmen seemed tired at lunch, and their fielding was not so dashing

as on the first day when they saved every possible run. During the morning session Bradman passed his previous best Test aggregate in Australia of 468 in the 1928-29 series. Then he took his season's aggregate to 1000. being the first Australian to accomplish this feat, although Barnett and Hammond both reached four figures in the game against South Australia. Bradman has now scored 1000 runs in each of seven playing seasons. BRADMAN SUPERB. Bright play was witnessed after lunch, when the batsmen dominated the game. Bradman reached his century after batting 196 minutes. He had hit four 4's. This is his eleventh century in Tests against England, only one behind the record of J. B. Hobbs. His century partnership with McCabe was his thirteenth in Tests, and the runs were scored in 85 minutes. The batsmen raced the clock throughout the session before tea, and* at one stage put on 100 runs in 90 minutes. Bradman was superb. He never gave anything like a chance until, at 123, he flicked Hammond just out of reach of Verity at second slip. The crowd cheered every shot from Bradman as he neared his century. He reached 150 in 274 minutes. Australia seemed set for a huge tally when the third century was hoisted with only four wiCkets down. Gregory batted like a veteran, making an ideal partner for Bradman. The wicket showed signs of wearing in the last hour, and Verity kept the batsmen quiet by bowling to a patch. Australia's spin bowlers will gain greater assistance from the wicket when England bats. Details:— AUSTRALIA. First Innings. Finglelon, run out •'. 10 Brown, c Allen, b Fames .-., .. 42 Rigg, c Ames, b Fames 20 Bradman, b Allen 26 McCabe, c. Allen, b Robins 88 Gregory, Ibw, b Hammond 23 Chipperfield, not out 57 Oldfield, run out 5 O'Reilly, c Leyland, b Allen 7 McCormick,- c Ames, b Hammond 4 Fleetwood-Smith, b Fames 1 Extras .■....>;., 5 Total.: ~.-.... 288 : ■ ■ Bowling Analysis. O. M. R. W. Fames ........... 20.6 1 71 3 Allen 16 0 60 2 Hammond 6 0 30 2 Robins 7 1 26 1 Voce : 12 0 49 0 Verity 1G 4 47 0 \ Second Innings. Fingleton, Ibw, b Hammond 12 Brown, c Ames, b Voce 32 Bradman, not out 174 McCabe, c Wyatt, b Robins 55 Rigg, c Hammond, b Fames 7 Gregory, not out 36 Extras ••- 25 Total for four wickets 341 Fall of wickets.—One for 21, two for 88, three for 197, four for 237. Bowling Analysis. O. M. R. W. Fames .. 18 1 69 1 Hammond 11' 0 37 1 Allen 11 1 44 0 Voce 16 2 59 1 Verity 32 12 54 0 Robins 6 0 38 1 Barnett 5 0 15 0 ENGLAND. First Innings. Verity, c Bradman, b O'Reilly .'. 19 Barnett, Ibw, b Fleetwood-Smith 129 Hammond, c McCormick, b O'Reilly 20 Leyland, c Chipperfield, b Fleet-wood-Smith 45 Wyatt, c Fingleton, b O'Reilly .. 3 Ames, b McCormick 52 Hardstaff, c and b McCormick .. 20 Allen, Ibw, b Fleetwood-Smith .. 11 Robins, c Oldfield, b O'Reilly .... 10 Voce, c Rigg, T> Fleetwood-Smith 8 Fames, not out ° Extras: Byes 6, leg-byes 2, noballs 4, wides 1 13 Total 330 Bowling Analysis. O. M. R. W. McCormick 21 2 81 2 McCabe i. 9 2 18 0 Fleetwood-Smith.. 41.4 10 129 4 O'Reilly 30 12 51 4 Chipperfield 9 1 24 0 Gregory 3 0 14 0