AT LORD'S

Evening Star, Issue 22686, 28 June 1937, Page 9

AT LORD'S

THE FIRST TEST ENGLAND BATTING CENTURIES T 9 HAMMOND AND HARDBTAFF ] NEW ZEALAND'S DETERMINED PLAY (From the special correspondent of the United Press Association with the ' New Zealand cricket .team.) i LONDON, June 26. ( Inspired by the importance of the momentous occasion, the New i Zealand cricketers bowled and , fielded with commendable determination in the first test against England at Lord’s, and well deserved success. Although the s wicket, outfield, and weather were perfect, the batsmen were kept , under restraint, even in the late ( afternoon. The teams were;— : New Zealand.—Page, Dunning, Vivian, Wallace, Roberts, Tindill, Donnelly, Kerr, Cowie, Moloney, Had- i lee. England.—Robins, Hammond, Bar- ■ nett, Verity, Hutton, Voce, Hardstaff, Ames, Paynter, Gover, J. H. Parks. COWIE BOWLS WELL. Before lunch the bowlers were predominant. Cowio opened impressively with fine, pace and an accurate length, , and bowled Hutton off his pads. The young opening batsman was in nearly half an hour without scoring. Parks had his off stump knocked back by a beautiful ball. Cowie bowled for over an hour without a rest. His figures when ho was relieved were 12 overs, two maidens, 27 mins, two wickets. With two wickets down for 31, elaborate erre was displayed by Hammond and Hardstaff to the menacing speed of Cowie, the steady accuracy of Roberts, and the tantalising length and flight of Vivian. Only 87 runs were scored in two hours before lunch, when the tourists were able to look back on a satisfactory morning of resolute work, A STUBBORN PARTNERSHIP. After lunch the batsmen gradually gained the mastery and the scoring quickened to 60 in the first hour and 90 in the second. Fortune deserted the fielders just when a little luck was required. Hardstaff was missed in tho slips at 50 off Vivian. Hammond snicked a ball just out of reach of TindiH at 71, also off Vivian, and at 80 snicked the left-hander almost into the stumps. The fielding was generally bright, and rounds of applause were raised at the fast, clean

ground work of Hadlee, Kerr, and Wallace. Page placed his field intelligently, cutting down to singles many of the strongest strokes by Hammond. When the batsmen were _ entrenched effective service in slowing down the scoring a was per-

formed by Dun-

ning. The Gloucester champion,, batting over two hours for 50, reached his century in three hours. Hardstaff’s 50 took 40 minutes, and his century 220 minutes. The pair added 245. Both were dismissed by good catches, Hammond from a snick to the slips and Hardstaff from a hard hook to midfield. FOUR WICKETS FALL QUICKLY. After breaking the big partnership the bowlers were supreme, four wickets falling for 36 runs in three-quarters of an hour after tea. Cowie “ yorked ” Barnett, and Ames played on Vivian. The Auckland man was wonderfully steady in one period, bowling 11 overs for eight run and two wickets. Robins and Paynter forced the pace till the captain was well caught behind the wickets. Paynter played the.brightest inning of the day, and even he scored less than a run a minute. A total of 18,900 paid admission, and counting members, the attendance was probably 20,000. Roberts and Wallace both played with injured fingers. New Zealand finished a strenuous day comforted by the knowledge that it had restricted a powerful batting side to almost even time scoring on a run-making pitch. Details:— ENGLAND. First Innings. Hutton b Cowie .;. 0 Parks b Cowie 22 Hardstaff c Moloney b Roberts ... 114 Hammond c Roberts b Vivian ... 140 Paynter not out ! ... ... 42 Barnett b Cowie 5 Ames b Vivian 5 Robins c Tindill b Roberts 18 Voce not out ... ... 12 Extras ... ... 12 Total for seven wickets ... : ... 370 BOWLING ANALYSIS.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY BOWLERS AND FIELDSMEN PRAISED (From the special correspondent of the United Press with the New Zealand team.) LONDON, June 27. (Received June 28, at 11 a.m.) Most of the critics agree that the New Zealanders performed outstandingly well to keep the score below 450. The bowlers and fieldsmen are warmly praised, especially for regaining control of the game after breaking such a long partnership. They concede that England’s innings was practically a two-man affair, five batsmen making only 50 runs. Mr E. W. Swanton, in the ‘ Evening Standard.’ says: “Almost everything the Mew Zealanders did was up to test

standard. Even although Hammond out-collared the bowlers, they still howled as they liked and not as he dictated.” . , ~ Mr J. B. Hobbs, in the * Star,’ says: “ The bowlers pegged the batsmen to a scoring rate that was too slow for a three-day game.” . , Mr Watchman, in the ‘Observer,’ declares that except for brief periods the batsmen were struggling almost desperately. The bowlers and fieldsmen were not slack for a moment. Mr Elton Ede, in the ‘Sunday Times,’ is enthusiastic over the New Zealanders’ ground fielding, which saved scores of runs. He says that Cowie, with a little luck, might have run through the batsmen. Lord Tennyson, in the ‘ News of the World,’ admires the effortless consistency of Vivian and the dogged persistency of Cowie and Roberts, and says: “ The New Zealanders may congratulate themselves on that very fine show.” The ‘ Sunday Despatch says: All the bowlers may plume themselves on the fact that Hammond took an hour to get 25 runs and two hours to get 50. ‘“Cover-point,” in the ‘ Sunday Express,’ says: “ The way Cowie moved the new ball must have made Barnett and Paynter thankful they were batting fifth and sixth instead of first and second.”HAMMOND'S RECORD LONDON, June 26, Hammond completed his 100 in 185 minutes. This is his 123rd century in first class cricket. He also passed Hobb’s total of 5,410 runs in tests. He hit 16 fours, all during the last 97 runs. Hardstaff was tedious. Paynter was 50 minutes in making 9. The critics emphasised the dullness of the cricket in view of the mildness of the bowling. Tho New Zealanders’ vigorous fielding saved many runs.

0. M. R. W. Coivio ... ... 33 7 97 3 Roberts ... 37 9 83 2 Dunning ... 20 3 64 0 Vivian ... ... 44 10 93 2 Moloney ... 2 1 9 0 Pago ... 3 0 12 0