CRICKET

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 7 August 1926, Page 12

CRICKET

AUSTRAL!AX TEAMS COMPARED

DARLING’S SIDE THE STRONGEST

When Australian cricket teams are talked of, none is referred to with greater admiration than that of 190 L. A tendency existed at the conclusion of our last tour to exalt Warwick Armstrong’s side at the expense of the line band of 19 vears earlier, but, though Syd. Smith referred to the side which he managed, and the burly \ ictorian led, as the most successful team that ever left Australia’s shores, the contention was an idle one. The records are strikingly similar in cold figures, hut even these give a little advantage to Darling's side.

When, however, it is recollected that 1902 was one of the wettest of English seasons-, and 1921 practically an Australian summer, and that the team; of 24 years back met giants of the game like' Ranjit-sinliu, MacLaren, Fry, Havward, .Jackson, Lilley, L. C. Braund, Hirst, J. T. Ty Ides ley, Je.ssop, W. H. Lockwood, Sid Barnes, and Wilfred Rhodes (last in the batting list), comparisons become more than ordinarily odious. Some rate the present team (1926) as the best, but here the contrast is greater. Victor Trump er astounded the whole cricketing world with his sensational performances on bad wickets in 1902, and, good as Macartney undoubtedly is, he does not equal' Victor. Lord Forster said of the present-day champion that “he seemed always on the verge of getting out, whilst he paid a great tribute to the charm and wizardry of his batting, but this could n-ot be said of Trumper. Jt is a difference between a great player, and a greater one. Macartney, of course, has his good bowling ability to his credit. Trumper and Duff, under English conditions, especially where matches have to be won in three days, were a better opening pair than Collins and Bards ley.

Collectively, the 1902 pair were stronger Noble, Clem Hill, Armstrong, Syc.l. Gregory, and. Darling'were a quintet of batsmen that Taylor, Ponsford, Woodfull, Andrews, and Jack Gregory do not equal in the aggregate. Ryder has probably a slight advantage over Hugh Trumble, unless runs were badly wanted, when the Victorian of other days was a man to be reckoned with with the bat. As batsmen, Arthur Richardson and Hopkins, though diverse in style, would be about equal in value on a‘side. Still, keeping to the battino- onlv Oldfield would be superior to Jim Kelly, but Carter would outshine Ellis. In Jones. Howell, find Saunders there was certainly a batting tail that is not. in evidence, but the tail of 1902 was not generally required for the earlier batsmen did so well. Coming to the bowling, Jones, though not quite at his best in 1902, was superior to Gregory, sustaining, his pace better. . The present side has two men ot pace, but, even so, batsmen would rather face this pair and Richardson, Hendry and Ryder, than Jones, Trumble, Noble Howell, and' Hopkins. Macartney is very accurate, but hardly as dangerous as Jack Saunders. Either of the slow bowlers —Grimmett or Mailey —has more sting than Armstrong, but the latter showed remarkable judgment, which, though not covering the margin, lessened it. Great as Hugh Trumble was in the slips, he> was not a Jack Gregory, and Oldfield is superior to Jim Kelly. At cover, Andrews and Syd. will rank with the best of all time, but there is no one like Jones at mid-off, nor has Noble been equalled at point. Wisdom paid a great tribute to ‘‘the superb outfielding of Trumpet*, Hill, Duff, and Hopkins,” and it can only be vStiicl tli ci t Taylor and AVoodfull really reach the standard of these four in any position. Taking the three phases of cricket, and the~captaincy, one would sum up in favour of the side which Joe Darling captained. !\rACARTNEY ’ S AMBITION. » TO BE A TENNIS PLAYER, “Yes, but I would rather be a. Norman Brookes than a Victor Trumper, any day.” This remark was made not. by » country sportsman with a, vain urge for the limelight; nor by an air-castie builder among the barrackers around the ring. No; it was .made to me by one of the greatest cricketers, in the world: one who has been acclaimed in some quarters as actually the equal of “the incomparable Victor,” and who at the present moment certainly is the greatest, all-round cricketer playing. I refer to C. G. Macartney. It was on a Sunday in February, 192-4, during the visit of the New South Wales team to Dunedin,, and the visitors were the guests of the Otago Cricket Association on a trip down the harbour. I remember that we were grouped on the lawn at the week-end home of Mr A. C. Hanlon (the eminent barrister), and Charlie “Mac” was chatting about his experiences in 1909-10, when he put in a season as coach in Dunedin. Or, rather, we chatted about it, and Charlie contributed a few comment 5 , for the “governor-general” is not. a voluble chap. I had made .some trite remark concerning “the glorious feeling, etc., when you’ve made '.a big score,” and “C.G.’s” comment was: “Yes, but I’d rather be a Norman Brookes than a Victor Trumper, any day.”

And lie meant it. For instace: ’Way back in that 1909-10 season when lie came here from England, and Gillie Wilson and other Otago enthusiasts were already preparing speeches for delivery when the Plunket Shield had been wrested from Auckland, keen interest was taken in the raiding adventure. It didn’t matter very much, we thought, whether so-and-so or such-and-such was selected' for the 10th, 11th, or 12th place. Macartney would he there. Otago, by the way, was beaten by an innings and an odd hundred or two runs. But what I mean is this. Just hefore flie team, was finally fixed, came to me one day, and said: “Do you think there’s, any chance of my getting out of going to Auckland ? A tennis tournament is coming off here, and I’m dead keen to play in it.” I looked at him, dazed. I peered around to see if anvone had heard what I had heard. “Look, Charlie,” 1

whispered, “for the love of Mike, don’t say 1 that to anyone else. V by, that s wliat wo got you here for to w m the shield for us.” , . , , Charlie shrugged his shoulders, and, in an unmistakably uneuth usiastic tone, replied: “I suppose ' so • H> c-an be helped.” All this came back to me as 1 looked at a nictnfe -on the wall in the Otago Cricket Association’s rooms recently. It was one' showing Ivelleway and l Macartney going out to open the innings for Australia- against South Africa in 1911. How many years, then. I wondered, is l it since “C.G.” first played ii> l>ig cricket-! I turned up mv* AVisden, 'and found that the first reference to him was in the .season- of 1905-6. just 20 years ago. when, for Now South AVales, in .Sheffield Shield matches, he scored SO rinvst (/ 0 not out in one innings) in five hands. and took seven wickets for 229. AVhnt he has done since would fill a fair-sized hook! But. he still loves tennis, and longs to ho. a second Norman Brookes! G.A.AV., in Christchurch Sun.

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