WOMEN CRICKETERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 36, 12 February 1938, Page 14

WOMEN CRICKETERS

WELL SATISFIED ' COMMENT BY MANAGER > ; Australia's women cricketers are i ; very keen to visit New Zealand, ac- i • cording to Mrs. D. Simons, manager ' of the New Zealand women's cricket ! team which returned yesterday from 1 : Australia. It was found in Australia ' that in numbers' of players New Zea- 1 • land is well up with that country, and •in the matter of performance New i Zealand's showing exceeded expecta- ; ■ tions. ; '- "Our girls played splendidly," said : >' Mrs. Simons to a "Post" representative. \ ■"■■ "Their fielding, I think, was a little ■ '" better than Australia's, but their bat- ] ..;■ ting was totally different in style from ■ - that of the Australian girls, who are ..-. more of the hard-hitting type. New ' Zealand's batting is modelled more on -the English style. The standard in Australia was quite high, and we were ; told that we were' very fortunate to - dismiss their star batswoman, H. Pritchard, for scores of 12, 18 and 18." ■ New Zealand's best bat was Miss D. : Hatcher, and she had impressed great- ' ly, though in the main match she was handicapped through an injury. •: Much more use was made of slow '■ bowlers in Australia than was the case "■'in New Zealand, said Mrs. Simons. - Whereas it was usual here to choose : one fast, one slow, and four medium- : ii-pace bowlers, the policy in Australia : ""was to have two fast, one medium-pace, -.-and four slow bowlers. The Australian "-"girls could impart a lot of turn into ; 3 their bowling, and those of the slower • : type kept the New Zealand girls very : : quiet, though Miss Blackler (chosen ; ; as a bowler) batted very confidently ] • against the slow bowlers. In one ; - match, Misses Blackler and Taylor, for ; •the last wicket, put on 46 runs in 24 i - minutes. "; Five matches were played, and i . though rain interfered with. the pro- : ": gramme, there were some very fine < '-' days for play. Two matches were i :won, two lost (one by only 18 runs i ; and the other by only 7 runs), and one ■ 1 drawn (very much in New Zealand's : favour). Strong opposition was met, < ;. the New South Wales team including : -■ seven internationals. "We were a particularly happy ; family all the way," Mrs. Simons con- " eluded, "and, personally, I am more ; - than satisfied with the result of the ' tour." On account of the special cricket match' between the New Zealand women's touring team and a Wellington team, to be played at the Basm Reserve tomorrow, commencing at 11 ■ a.m. there will be no inter-club matches in women's cricket tomorrow. All members of the New Zealand team are stated to be remaining in Wellington for the match tomorrow.