SLOW CRICKET.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 112, 11 April 1929, Page 8

SLOW CRICKET.

SOMETHING WRONG. NO WILL TO WIN. A special correspondent of the London Observer expresses tho opinion that when the centenary review of Test cricket is written, the recent Australian tour will be shown to have raised fundam'ental issues. He goes uu to say: “There is something very wrong with Test match cricket, which shoula be a combat of art, entertainment and recreation. No one can pretend that it is a -recreation; as an entertainment it does not compare with the cricket of a generation ago, and the art is becoming moro and more submerged. “A Bulli pitch is more lasting than brass—-the only memorial of Ins skill which an Australian groundsman can raise. It discourages variety, pays a premium to the dull, effective technique of a Woodful], and subordinates batsmanship to not getting out. The combative element dominates all others, and cricket suffers. The modern tendency is to measure success by runs.” ~ , . Let us abolish, first innings points, and allot championship -points solely for a win. A definite result can be reached in most Test matches in four days, if the play is directed by the will to win instead of a desire not to lose.”