CRICKET.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 30 December 1927, Page 3

CRICKET.

AUSTRALIAN TEAM TO TOUR NEW ZEALAND. SY 0 A BI.F. —PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT. MELBOURNE. Deo. 2d. The Australian cricket team ic tour New Zealand in February next has been selected as follows: Ponsford, Woodfull, B'.ackie, Morton, V. Richardson, Schneider, Alexander. Grimmett, Kippax, Jackson, MeN.amee, Oldfield, R. Oxenham. Reserves: Hornibrook, Shaife, Bradman. THE HAWKE' GUP. The first Challenge to be sustained by Wanganui, the present holders of the Hawke Gup, will be from Poverty Bay, who will play in. Wanganui next Monday and Tuesday. The challengers will bring practically the best team available and are confident of making a keen and interesting struggle for the enp. ' ,

ATTCKLAND v. TARANAKI

NOTES ON THE PLAY

A noteworthy feature of the Auckland-!’ aranalci match was the all-round soundness of the Auckland battingAll the batsmen .showed, nice ©ty.lc and were ready to hit when they picked the right bn 1 !. There were liouei of them of the “blocking'’’ ty|>o, and in consequence play was interesting throughout their innings. It is quite aj. parent they have all been given the grounding in style that is essential for success in the cricket world.

Then their fielding and their returns to the wicket, which, on the. first- clay were not just so good as could have been wished—this was probably due. to the weakness of the opposing batting—were a treat to ©ee on the second day, when the local batsmen ©et them task and kept them moving in the field. Their display was one of tho best seen here for many years. The outstanding feature of the Taranaki second innings wa© undoubtedly the batting of Oheevers. Going .in fret with Eggleton, lie remained •Unbeaten tilL the scare reached 113, and scoring no ’’ess than 62 of that number. Showing a fine straight bat to all the bowling, he defended excellently, but he always did more than let the ball hit the bat, and anything; loose he punished very severely, driving _ cleanly and .swinging round very effectively to anything short on the teg side. Messrs Beale and Langridge were very pleased with his display, and agreed that with experience and if possible ©ome coaching, lie would do well in bigger cricket. One thing the latter .suggested to Ghee vers was to he much more careful in playing halls on the off, where there wa© always risk of being caught. Barker showed much enterprise in his hatting and gave a bright nc-piay. tho partnership with Cheevers being one of the brightest spots *n the inning©. His drive for six over the boundary wn« a lovely shot. No less than .seven of the Taranaki batsmen were caught, one 1.b.w., and one run out. and in addition a few chances given by them were mi.ved.

DACRE FOR ENGLAND

IMPORTATION OF CRICKETERS

GLOUCESTER’S REPLY TO MATLEY

LONDON, Nov. 11. Arthur Mailer did not know much about the' facts‘when he likened Glou-

eesters.liire’s action in taking C. C. Dacre from New Zealand to “taking a biscuit from the. baby,” comments tlie ‘ ‘ Weekly Dispatch. ’ ’ A member of the Gloucestershire County Committee remarked: “Dacre’s father had associations with the county, and when playing at Cheltenham last summer Dacre stated that as he thought of settling in England l he would like to play for Gloucestershire. All the committee of the county club have done is to say that if he settles within their borders they are willing to assist him to qualify. That is. a very different thing from offering him an engagement sufficiently tempting to forsake his own country, as lias been done in the case of other players from the overseas Dominions.” ATTE ACTIVE CRICKET. “Our cricket people always .seem to | be. in trouble, and the qualifying of C. j C. Dacre, of New Zealand, as a player for Gloucestershire, i® raising quite a little storm, writes ‘IT.A.H.C.’ in the ‘Evening News.’ Arthur Mailey declares that almost every member of an Australian team has been asked to play for English counties. “I think,” continues the British commentator, “most of us will he glad to hear this last bit of news; it does suggest that the secretaries of our county clubs are able to recognise cricketers when they see them in the field, and that they are alive to the. fact that attractive cricket means • big gates. It is not difficult to imagine that the popularity of Hammond’s type of cricket is largely responsible for the offer to Dacre. REGRET, BUT—“We are none of us very firm in our minds about this importation of talented cricketers. Theoretically, we all regret it. We feel that every refidymade colonial player who comes over here does an Englishman out of a job, and we do not lilac it; but, although we arc convinced that Lancashire would he nearer fifth than first in the championship table without Macdonald's assistance, we still tram up on every possible occasion to isee him bowl. “This qualification of imported players may be quite wrong, and quite indefensible, hut if Dacre is going to play for Gloucestershire, I for one shall want to see Gloucestershire bat; and Charles -Macartney should choose to play for Rutlandshire. I am sure a rood many of us would visit the county ground at Oakham (if there ns one). “T know that there are many parochail enthusiasts who consider that first-class cricketers born outside some dozen English counties should be shut out of the game as far and as long. as possible, but at the risk of offending them I must .say that my belief is that first-class cricket is dependent on the money it earns, and the way to earn

that money is to attract that large section of the public who ■appreciate the more obvious features of the game. THE WINTER BAZAAR. “Cricket can just exist at the present moment through the subscriptions of the people who understand the game, and the pecuniary assistance afforded by an in flue nti ally-attended winter bazaar. If it is to flourish it needs a wider appeal. “The truth, of this cricket business 'a very evident, and this statement of Arthur Ma.iley goes -far to prove it. Wei in Engand have more money for cricket than the rest of the world put together, and yet we are being starved of cricket. There is no .reason why we should not see more of colonial cricketers during our summer, and no reason why Englishmen should not- play through an Australian season. We should not be very heavy losers if all this qualification business was swept away and some system of seasonal engagements subtituted for it. PhAYERS HAVE THE REMEDY. “To sum up the whole situation, England pays the best money and wants the best cricket. We are all anxious and eager-- to see it provided bv Englishmen. but it is up to English players to provide cricket that will leave no loophole for the stranger to creep into our games, because he is so much more worth watching-”