Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, AUGUST 11th., 1936. ENGLISH CRICKETERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 August 1936, Page 6

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, AUGUST 11th., 1936. ENGLISH CRICKETERS

r J'HE selectors of the English cricket team to tour Australia, appear to have been more impressed with the necessity to overcome Bradman than O’Reilly and Grimmett, special attention having been given to the visitors’ attack. Nearly all the selected can bowl more or less, and if England’s best bowler is not included, the side must be regarded as really representative. Much new blood has been introduced, notables of previous tours not being invited, Ibis time, Sutcliffe and Wyatt being among the shelved. It cannot be said of the English team what Australians often declare about their own representatives, that there is only one thing more difficult than to get into an Australian Eleven, namely, to get out, once in.

Predictions as to those who would be chosen as crusaders to regain “the Ashes,” have, as usual, been somewhat astray. Some players’ chances may have suffered through misguided Press advocacy. Gimblett, for instance, had the limelight thrust upon him, and was told he was a certainty for the tour. The selectors evidently thought he is not sufficiently experienced in big cricket; his chance may come later. There is more than a touch of “goodwill mission” about the team as a whole, and Holmes probably owes his selection to his good work in this connection during last season’s tour by an M.C.C. team in Australia and New Zealand. Certainly, none wants any repetition of the “leg-theory” unpleasantness, but unless Allen and his men are adequately aggressive, their record must suffer, and public interest will dwindle. I

If England is showing a desire

to placate Australia, the latter must reciprocate. Blame for any

unwelcome developments during the Jardine team’s tour had to be shared by the home authorities, who did not protect their guests' sufficiently, especially from “barracking.” Woodfull, in his recently published book, denounced the extent to which what should be confined to good matured badinage has become rudeness and vulgarity from Australian cricketground crowds. This protest would have had more weight had it been made earlier, but combined with what other leading Australians have declared, W oodfull’s statement should prompt the Australian authorities to keep the “barracking” within due bounds. There is a place for these humorists. Often they relieve the tedium of modern firstclass cricket, but they should not be permitted license, nor their remarks given encouraging publicity.

As to till' prospects, the Tests should be keenly fought. Australia is, at present, pre-eminent, having defeated England and

South Africa in successive seasons. There rarely is lack of confidence in national ability where Australians are concerned, and in cricket, many in the Commonwealth do not regal’d England’s newest challenge very seriously. Bradman comments that the Australian task may prove more difficult than expected. In England, the spirit of defeatism, following the weak displays in the Tests against Australia and S. Africa, has gradually dwindled, and more optimism prevails. On paper, the sides appear well matched, much depending on Bradman’s form. If sportsmanship is maintained by both sides, the series of matches should add interesting chapters to the history of international cricket.