ENGLISH CRICKET TEAM

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 205, 13 August 1932, Page 2 (Supplement)

ENGLISH CRICKET TEAM

VARYING OPINIONS THE BOWLINC PROBLEM. AUSTRALIAN VIEWS. That the English team will be wonderfully strong in batting is agreed by old-time cricketers and others who are in a position to judge of the capabilities of the players, although most of them agree that a good left-hand batsman would be an element of strength. There are, however, some differences of opinion regarding the bowling. Some think it is likely to prove a well-balanced aide, with great potentialities in attack. Others regard it as imperative that the team should be strengthened by the inclusion of a couple of trundlers of the steady type, preferably medium-pace men. •‘1 think is it a wonderfully wellbalanced team,’’ says M. A. Noble, former Australian eleven captain. “They have right-hand and left-hand bowlers, and right and left-hand batsmen—that is, if they pick Leyland. There are all-rounders, and not a weak fieldsman in the side. If they choose Woolley they will improve the batting, he being a left-hander and a match winner, but they will weaken the fielding. The question is, can they carry him ?

“Voce might do well with round the wicket swingers, swerving across as F. R. Foster did. I have an idea that Robins will be good. On his day he bowls well, but he has a number of off days. I won’t be surprised if Tate comes as a stock bowler, which they will want.” More Bowlers. Hugh Trumble, former Australian ( test bowler, agrees that it is a very strong batting side, but thinks the bowling needs strengthening. He would fill the remaining places with two medium-pace bowlers and a left-hand batsman. The Englishman should make some big scores, and the Australian batsmen will need to be in their best form to defeat them. “Some of the players I don’t know.” said Warren Bardsley, .the famous lefthand batsman. “I have not seen Voce bowl, but from what I heard in England he is likely to do well in Australia. Pataudi must be good, for ‘Ranji’ has a high opinion of him, and ‘Ranji’ is a good judge. “Hobbs, Woolley and Hendren should be in the team. They can’t replace them yet. They will have to put Tate in.

“I think it is a good side. They have gone in for all-rounders. They all can bat. It looks as 1 if Australia will have to get every one of them out. Even George Duckworth can stick there. I think Jardine will make an excellent captain.” “It is a good side,” says O. G. Macartney, “but it is difficult to comment fully till it is completed. I think the other three should be Tate, Woolley and Verity. I am glad both Indians have been selected. Pataudi is very good. AH seem capable of getting runs. I hope the team does not adopt a purely defensive policy.” I > Well Balanced. 1

Bert Oldfield, the Australian wicketkeeper, refers to the splendid balance of the side. “They are much stronger in bowling than was at first expected,” he says. “There are two slow boilers, two fast, and a fast left-hander, backed up by medium-paced men, forming an ideal combination. There should always be a lasting variation in attack. The batsmen are solid, without being brilliant, which means the Tests will be long-drawn-out games. Being a young side, they are sure to mould into a strong team on tour. The wicketkeepers were an obvious choice.” Percy Hornibrook, one of the Queensland members of the last Australian team to England, said: “Voce, in my opinion, will still be able to turn the ball on the harder wickets out here, and might constitute a danger to Bradman, the one flaw in whose batting seems to be a tendency to snick the going-away ball early in his innings. The team is a solid combination—more solid than brilliant in the field, but very strong m batting. Apparently in the absence of any match-winning bowler the English selectors have decided to concentrate on the team’s batting strength.’* J. S. Hutcheon, president of the Queensland Cricket Association, said that a strong team could be drawn from those who would tour. A great deal of the bowling success would depend on the slow men, Robins and Brown.

O. V. Grimmett says; “The team is stronger than the 1930 English Test teams so far as bowling ia concerned. I have played agaiqst all except Brown, and they are great cricketers, and undoubtedly deserve their places in the team. The inclusion of two fast bowlers and two slow bowlers should result in Jardine having at his command an amolo ZM*ety e$ bowling.