“SLOW MOTION" PLAYERS

Evening Star, Issue 19270, 8 June 1926, Page 6

“SLOW MOTION" PLAYERS

GROTESQUE CAUTION SHOWN ENGLAND’S PAINFUL DISPLAY. LONDON, June 7. After two days of the Lord’s- tryout, responsible critics are unanimous in deploring the grotesque excess of safety-play among the _ potential test batsmen, who are described as “ England’s slow motion players.” Clem Hill, in a striking newspaper article, asks: “What ails English batting?” and says the players are dull and slow, quite foreign to the brand ho knew on previous visits. Others support Hill’s view that if the Lord’s display indicates the spirit that is going to animate the tests, it will take n week instead of throe days to secure a result. All are unanimous in insisting upon the necessity of discovering and encouraging forcing batsmen of tin type of Chapman, Fender, and Dulee;. sinhji, who are able to forget averages. Even Hobbs was over-leisurely, and took three hours to score 85.

(Received June 8, at 12.4 p.m.) Sandhanv oven refused to take risks when Kilner tempted him with full pitches to leg, and he took 2J hours to score 34. Tyldesley and Hallows were both more than an hour scoring 17. Jupp bowled for long periods without a man in the long field, yet Hobbs and Hendren did not attempt to exploit the opportunity. Though Hendren at present heads the British averages, his form-at Lord’s suggests that he is not fit for anything higher than county cricket owing to grotesque caution. Kilner alone displayed clean, confident hitting. The crowd was genuinely disappointed when Duleep Sinhji’s brillfanlr catch sent him back. Hill says that for two days he has been watching the cream of England’s batsmanshin, but with the exception of Duleep Sinnji, Hobbs, and perhaps Kil« ner there was not a single innings thaf sparkled. At no time had the batsmen taken command. Although the bowling was accurate, there was not so much devil in it that the batsmen could not have taken the risk of jtimping out and hitting it to the outfield. Rerhaps the shadow of Trent Bridge affected all. Hobbs was not the attacking player he was in Australia, but he has a tremendous responsibility to carry. Chapman was not far from lieing the best batsman in England. Kelleway, in the ‘ Daily Express,’ adds a trenchant attack to the general chorus of disapproval. Ho points out that as an Australian he wants Australia to win, but the interests of the game would be better served if England were successful. He describes Hobbs’s display as simply unworthy of England’s greatest batsman.