CRICKET

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 1 May 1926, Page 10

CRICKET

ENGLAND’S BOWLERS. MEN THE “ AUSSIE S” WILL MEET. The most interesting aspect, perhaps, of the opposition to be encountered by the Australians is concerned with the problems of bowling (writes Dr L. O. S. Poidevin in the Sydney MorningHerald). There are many such awaiting solution for the visitors to English fields. Each match will produce something new and unfamiliar in this tospect. The Swerve. The problems of swerve and break, for . instance, are so accentuated in England by virtue of the prevailing conditions of play that they become quite a new experience. The heavier atmosphere there favours the production of swerve to a degree altogether foreign to experience in the clear light extent by the atmospheric conditions, there with the new ball, and it can be produced to an extent quite hostile long after the one or two opening overs that usually mark the limit of it 3 operation here. The shine on the ball, which is the essential causative factor in its production, lasts much longer, and moreover the development of the swerve id helped to a greater or less extent by the atmosphric conditions, even after the shine is on the wane. One mentions this matter of the shine on the ball specially because an important .error has crept into some recent discussions on swerve, in that it has been held that the seam is responsible for the swerve, and there has been much talk about the Australians “lifting the seam” on th eball in order to produce swerve. The legality of this alleged practice has been seriously questioned in England, but the point J want to emphasise is that it is sheer nonsense to assert that “lifting the seam” has anything to do with the production of swerve. It is not the seam but. the shine on the ball that enables its production. If the seam were the causative factor, then surely the old re-sewn cricket balls with the very prominent seam', instead of being useless in the production of swerve, would be the most efficient. Ag a matter of fact, the seam only determines the direction of the swerve. Delivered from the hand of a left-hand bowler with a slight seam inclination owing to the grip, the ball will swerve one wav. whilst the same ball from the hand of a right-hand bowler with the same grip will swerve in the exactly opposite direction. It is this grip in its relation to the seam—two fingers placed parallel to the seam and close to it over the ball, with the thumb on the seam opposite under the ball —that has led to the swerve being designated the seam swerve in contradistinction to the spin swerve. It would probably have been better to have named it the shine swerve.

The practical point, however, for our purposes is that every bowler to be met in England, no matter what his pace, will exploit the swerve, _ so that secondary positions in the batting order will not exempt our batsmen

from encountering it.. That is something quite new as compared with ex perience in Australia.

Tho Swerve and the Break

Then', again the prevailing characteristics of the pitches are that spin operates in the production of break to a far greater extent than in Australia, and that the general behaviour of the ball after pitching is far less unifrorn and altogether more uncertain than on our true Australian pitches. Batsmen, therefore, Ipiush, as 1a .general rule, eschew the forward,* (trust-th!e-piteh methods of play, and, learning to watch the ball off the pitch, develop back play methods for scoring as well as defensive strokes. It can easily be seed, therefore, that with these conditions the hotility of all types of bowling is increased to a greater or less extent, nnd, bearing these facts in mind, we may proceed to a consideration of the opposing personnel in this respect —again excluding those who have visited Australia. Macaulay. Foremost in this category must be reckoned G. G. Macaulay, whose omission from the last English team to Australia was reckoned a tragic error. Professional opinion in England then and now places him on an equality with Maurice Tate, whose success in the tests in Australia was remarkable for a bowler new to such cricket. Macaulay has yet to make good in test cricket; his opportunity is now to hand. He is a right-hand bowler of about the same general pace as Tate, but with more variety in his methods of attack. Tate, on his Australian showing, endeavoured to smash ms way through to success on all wickets. Macaulay, however, while possessing much of the same fiery energy at the bowling crease as the Sussex man, develops more strategy in subtle changes of pace, in the use of more, spin from the off. and in adapting his methods generally to suit the conditions. He is two years younger than the mercurial Tate, powerfully built, with surprising stamina, and his very antithesis in disposition—quiet,, methodical, confident in his ability, and sure in his knowledge of the game—attributes characteristic of players trained in the cricket atmosphere of the champion county. Yorkshire has row won the county championship for four successive seasons, during which period the team has played 124 matches, winning SI, drawing 37, and losing six. This remarkable run of team success is reckonerl to be primarily due to the excellence of the attack, and Macaulay is the most hostile 'and most successful bowler in the team. _ In the last two seasons’ first-class cricket m England he has secured HO wickets, at 13.34 runs per wicket, in 1924 season (head, of the averages), and 211 wickets. at 15.48, in 1925 season. With the bat he is an improving performer, showing dour and stolid methods or hitting out gaily as the occasion demands. In last season’s cricket he scored 624 runs, with 71 as Ins highest score, at an average of 23,86 per innings.

Fast Bowlers,

England certainly appears to hold a big advantage over us in the matter of medium-paced bowling, but she lags behinds as regards fast bowling.- A. F.

Wcnsley (Sussex) is one of the few luminaries in sight on the international cricket horizon. Wenslev is a young professional. 27 years of age, with a run and action reminiscent of Maurice Tate. He delivers high over in an easy free swinging style, develops a more than useful swerve, and. with the conditions at all favourable, indulges in finger -spin to an unusual degree for a bowler of his pace. Plucky and confident in demeanour, he stands up close in front of the wicket, and makes remarkable catches for tho other bowlers, and lie carries the same characteristics into his batting. Last season, his first regular season, he very nearly achieved the double (100 wicket and 1000 runs) in the capture of 109 wickets at 23.26 per wicket, and in the making of 592 runs, with a highest score of 6S not out. Though his bowling at present can hardly be reckoned in the express category, it is .still full of great promise, the fulfilment of which will find him knocking loudly at the door of international selection.

Another sueli candidate nearer to the really express in pace, and much younger in years, is H. Larwood, ox Notts, who, graduating from the seconds into the county eleven,, when last season was about half over, still captured 73 wickets at IS runs per wicket. He is only 21 years of age, medium in lieigth, sturdy in build, and physically capable of maintaining his pace for long periods. He takes a long run, and, as he already has very good control of his length and direction, it is expected that the coming season will see a further development in his pace. Quite a useful bat, he certainly has. prospects of rapidly advancing his reputation. Geary and Eoot. A much older player, in George Geary, the Leicestershire professional, has for the past two or three seasons disputed with Harry Howell the leading position among England’s fast bowlers. He only just missed selection in Gilligan’s team to Australia possibly because he has not quite the pace of Howell. He has been a very successful performer, and he was a member of the last English team tc South Africa. He has a nice command of swerve with the new ball, and when the shine is waning he develops plenty of spin, especially on a helping wicket. It is this adaptability to circumstances that makes him such a useful if not. a brilliant performer, and lie carries this quality of utility into Ms fielding and. b'atting. Despite the disabilities accruing from an arm strain, which also kept him out of the i game quite a lot last season, ho managed to secure 108 wickets at 17-75 runs each, and a. batting aggregate or 000 runs, with a highest score of 122 and an average of 21.42.

One of the most interesting bowlers our men will meet is C. F. Root (Worcester), if only because it will provide a test of methods. He, too, is a professional, 36 years of age, a disciple of George Hirst in his use of swerve and leg theory methods of attack, with a wealth of performance in 'county cricket. In the last three seasons for Worcestershire, for instance, he has taken no fewer than 508 wickets at a surprisingly low cost. Without support from his comrades he has gone on from success to success, so that last season his tally in first-class matches was 219 wickets at 17.21 per wicket. Remembering the mess Frank Foster made of our batsmanship a few seasons ago with his leg-theory attack, the. encounters this season of our men with Root will provide a fund of very special interest.