INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 7 March 1925, Page 9

INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK.

AUSTRALIA’S WINN.NO SEQUENCE BROKEN NOT , ..O -a/. -N.

Cricket iu Australia is in in- - mushing stages of a very rein a........© season. We have seen tin par anvil public interest in Clin great matches oi Ule English Leant, amazing .gate money taken at the Tests and other important mutches tu eveiy centre, batting tecords by liidiviuuuis anu teams that transcend in figures anything achieved in tiie intgfity past, anu gripping nghts tor The a sites, notwithstanding dominance by pusii-iuin met nous or batting tsars tne Kereree). e nave seen faith in their cricketers revive jn the*' minds ol English sportsmen, despite their having io.sl tiie arse tnree Test matches anu tnerefore the Ashes right. We have seen Australian crii-Ket, rich in strength and •n'uiitise at tne beginning u, tfie season, slowly vet surely uegan to deteriorate, first sadiv m fielding, next clearly m bowling, ‘and finally, to some degree, in batting; that is all relatively, .mu. to-day England is generally regarded as the stronger side, wnereas two months back she was just as surely slightly, vet undoubtedly, inferior. It is tne best, thing that, could have happened for cricket generally tnat England won the rourtn Test match. j.t. would have been a depressing thing to England if H. L. Collins had won the toss in Melbourne, and England had been trounced by an innings and many runs.. It might easily hate happened if, on that occasion, the toss haci been won bv Australia. England' had oeen suffering a depression m cricket, that is, a moral handicap through public inspiration being clouded by the many defeats since the war closed. Correspondingly Australia had begun to show signs of distinct deterioration through a, surfeit of victories. The change in fortune chronicled in the Melbourne match was timely. It will benefit the cricket in both countries, ancl lead to th© next series of Tests in England being fought out by teams toned up and fortified by a different mentality—outlook and feeling— than has been the characteristic of the game for some time. Australia has seriously to tackle the problem of team-building or go down co second place, and possibly a not too battering one at that. The men to build up this strength must get away from ideas that have apparently dominated the selection committee this season. They must set upon its proper pedestal brilliancy in the field. They must bring Australia back to the old strategic bowling methods, in which the medium-paced men were the pivot of the attack. They must cultivate players inspired by hearty appreciation oi high-class team-work; And, above all, they must not forget that most of the great things achieved by Australians fn cricket have lie on don© by young men, that is, men young in years and in physical activity. The veteran in International cricket lias his value, but not to the elimination of youth.