FITTING CLIMAX TO CRICKET SEASON

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21945, 13 February 1946, Page 4

FITTING CLIMAX TO CRICKET SEASON

TF there is any way in which the people of the British countries can afford to relax, it lies in the realm of sport. As an antidote to the depressing and hazardous drudgery of war, sport of all lands can lie acclaimed for its value. The tour of the New Zealand Army Rugby team in Great Britain has had a tonic effect on both the devotees of the game over there and on the people an New Zealand who have followed the activities of their Kiwi representatives. But with most of the heavy engagements over and the end of the fixture list within sight, interest in the tour must be on the wane. _ , Fortunately sport of another kind, the traditional summei pastime of cricket, will soon he more prominently in the news than for some time past. The visit to New Zealand by an Australian cricket team is a fitting climax to the first peacetime summer in the Southern Hemisphere for six years. The fortunes of the Australian visitors, whose numbers probably include several who will do duty in future test matches against All-England.. will be studied with some eagerness even by people in the Dominion who attach no more than a passing significance to their own club and interprovincial, matches. _ Judging by Australian comment on the selection, the side is a strong one, the aim of the authorities across the Tasman being to find men, particularly howlers, who will do full justice to what, may be regarded as the sterner tasks to he faced when England s post-war chosen take the field. A surprisingly large number of New Zealand’s veteran players now reside in the United Kingdom. If they were available, it might have been found that their maturing cricket years would he no bar to useful performance, but it is better that younger talent should he developed within the country. New Zealand also figures in the programme of exchanges of international visits and it is to he hoped that in the sides to. meet the formidable Australians the promising material essential to future success will lie found. The Australian tour will be. brief too brief to please the centres outside the cities—but it is an assured fact that much good to all parties concerned will accrue from the engagements.