AUSTRALIAN TEAM.

Grey River Argus, 16 January 1928, Page 7

AUSTRALIAN TEAM.

To Visit New Zealand. TRIAL FOB TESTS. Great interest has been aroused in the coming tour of the Australian cricketers since the personnel of the team was announced, and it is to be hoped that the prospects of seeing such a wonderfully fine collection of players will not be upset over the matter of allowances for the tour. It has been, reported that some of the selected players are considering whether they can afford to make the trip on th'- terms arranged—an allowance of 10s per day by the New Zealand Cricket Council with an additional payment of 5s a day frjm the Australian Board of Control. Ra- 1 tber than miss this great opportunity, all possible steps should be taken to make the way clear for the players to come to New Zealand, and since the Board of Control has stated that its terms are final it could quite easily bo done from this end. The team, as selected, will be a wonderful attraction, and the question of meeting those players who are in doubt about making the trip should not present any hardship so ’far as finance is concerned. Extra payments that might be necessary will be well worth while, for it is something rare indeed for New Zealand to have the chance of seeing Australia’s team in preparation for tests with England’s elect. LIKELY TEST TEAM. Comment on the selection is made by Mr D. Reese, chairman of the New Zealand Cricket Council, as follows:— “ Naturally we are very pleased with the calibre of the team. It is a side that should be a trmendous draw from the financial point of view, and, as players are young and keen, it should play bright cricket. In fact, it is a likely Test team for the tour of the English Eleven in Australia next year. Besides sending a strong team to the Dominion, the Australian Board of Control evidently has decided to try out the Test candidates against the New Zealand players. As such a team is likely to represent Australia, the players will have the advantage of playing together before the Tests with England. It is a very strong side, and the New Zealand players will have some great struggles. It will be interesting to sec Grimmett over here again. ’ ’ Grimmett, of course, will be a special attraction to all followers of the game in this the country in which he started his great career as a cricketer But there will be a particular interest in the.appearance of the other members of the team, notably in the case of W. IT. Ponsford, the record-breaking batsman who is going from success to success. Alan Kippax and \V. M. Woodfull are two other great batsmen whom New Zealanders are keen to see again, and then there are W. Alexander. G. Schnieder, A. Jackson, . L. Morton, and R. M’Namee, players on the rise to fame, whose visit will be most welcome. Indeed, all the others—V. Y. Richardsdn (captain), R. Oxenham, W. A. Oldfield, and D. 1). J. Blackic—

will have a very strong claim upon the attention of New Zealand enthusiasts. The side as a whole is a remarkably attractive one, and from next month its doings will arouse the greatest interest right through New Zealand, as well as in Australia. OLDFIELD’S COMMENTS. The following interesting article was written by W. A.-Oldfield in the “Sydney Morning Herald” prior to the selection of th? team for New Zealand:— At the close of the Sheffield Shield games this season an Australian team will be selected to tour New Zealand leaving Sydney some time in February. It will probably bo chosen on perform ances shown in the bigger matches, though, no doubt, a number of the more experienced players are almost certain to be invited. From such a tour, especially at the time it will take place, the Australian Eleven selectors will derive very valuable information, aqd many other useful purposes will more than likely be served, writes W. A. Oldfield in the “Sydney Morning Herald.” It will certainly open up an avenue of opportunities. It will help to discover the pQsible future captain of the next Australian Eleven, and it will likewise assist in forming a combination, some members of which will probably represent Australia against England next year.

By the time the tour ends the players who make the trip will find them selves accustomed to each other’s style of play, methods in the field, running between wickets, etc., knowledge that is most essential in big cricket. It may be the intention of the Board of Control to send the best available team, and, on the other -hand, it is to be hoped that as far as possible the side will include some of the most promising young players. Men like Alexander and Whitfield, of South Australia. Jackson, of New South Wales, Oxenham, of Queensland, Sea if e of Victoria, really only require a tour of this kind to develop what cricket is left in them undiscovered. With continual match practice, playing every day, it is remarkable how a player improves out of recognition, and if there is any latent ability it will most assuredly be brought out of a young player when on tour.

More so than in Australia, the wickets in New Zealand resemble the English pitches very much, though they are faster, but not quite so good. In 1923 a team from New South Wales under the captaincy of C. G. Macartney, visited New Zealand, and many of the wickets we played on were not very good. Doubtless they have improved considerably since then. The conditions generally, however, remind one of England very much, particularly in the South Island, and this experience alone would be of wonderful value to the new players, having in mind a tour through England with the Australian Eleven in 1930. NOTABLE LOSSES.

Apart from the many losses our cricket has suffered recently in the retirement of great men like Bardsley, Macartney, Kelleway, and others, we have not let realised our loss in H. L. Collins. It was a tremendous blow to Australian cricket when Armstrong retired from the game, but we were indeed fortunate in having a player of Collins’s calibre to take his place. To-day we ars in a similar situation, with not so

bright a future. We are still mindful of the great doings of Collins, not only as opening batsman with Bardsley, but also as captain. 11'* was always full of ideas, ami further he had the courage to attempt them. At all times he wascool, and inspired • confidence, ami above all, h? was capable of thinking much more quickly than his opponents. All these atributes mark him as a great captain, and we shall have much more difliiculty in filling his place. Both Armstrong and Collins have successfully led various Australian elevens on different occasions, and naturally they have had a wide experience of the game extending over many years, it is bad enough, from the point of view of the public, that we should lose such great players as those: but it is a distinct loss to the game itselt when the opportunity is not taken to obtain their advice on general matters connected with cricket. Their knowledge would b? of inestimable value to those in control. It will be readily agreed then that one of our undertakings in the near future will be to appoint a successor to Collins. With his .experience and the manner in which he has made use of it, I am. of opinion that W. M. Woodfull, /of Victoria, would make a good captain. He has a personality on the field, ami in addition he is a most capable and improved player. The standard of cricket in New Zealand has considerably improved since their players have returned from their tour through Great Britain, and this wlil be of material advantage in the development of our players when they travel through the Dominion in a few months’ time. If this tour serves its intended object—to develop new players—we shall be very fortunate, and New Zealand in the future will be no doubt be looked upon as a nursery for Australian cricketers by the interchange of visits.