CRICKET Lessons Seen For England In N.Z. Tour

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 August 1949, Page 8

CRICKET Lessons Seen For England In N.Z. Tour

LONDON, August 21.—Vernon Morgan, Reuter’s sports editor, says that the four drawn cricket tests between England and New Zealand prove, among other things, that cricket in England is at as low an ebb as it has ever been. Morgan continues: “The New Zealanders are fast reaching the top flight and they may soon become rivals to the Australians, who remain unassailed as the No. 1 cricketing country. Both the England and New Zealand teams are weak in bowling and stronger in batting—a general symptom of contemporary cricket. “While it appears that the standard of bowling is low throughout the world, it cannot be lower than in England. The selectors gambled in the last test by playing eight bowlers, and among them, five spinners, yet when the time came to win the match on the last day they failed dismally. As a former England captain said, a man of Verity’s calibre would have won the match for England before tea—and that in three days. . “Cricket writers believe that now is the time for the M.C.C. to start a campaign to improve England’s bowling by an intense coaching scheme. One plan which seems to have much sense, if properly applied, is giving bowlers a bonus for maiden overs.”