THE NEW ZEALAND ELEVEN

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 2313, 4 December 1925, Page 5

THE NEW ZEALAND ELEVEN

“Morituri te salutamus,” will be the greeting, expressed or unspoken, with which members of the New Zealand cricket team will meet their hosts in Sydney, says thc Auckland “Star.” So far as the more important matches of thc tour are concerned, the tour is indeed a forlorn hope. The only question is whether the defeats will be by innings or by something toss. The batting in New South Males and Victoria, to say nothing of South Australia,, is “terrible as an army with banners.” and it Is not verv probable that if our bowlers meet it on a fast wicket they will get rid of the batsmen at all cheaply. On the other hand, the State elevens have fast bowling, to which our men are not accustomed, and first-class slow bowling. With a tour of England on the horizon, Australian players will not give much quarter. Queensland offers better prospects, but the Queensland XI, will be stronger tnan it was last time, and it will burn to improve its State's record against New Zealand. The two countries have met only twice, and Now Zealand won both matches. Defeats, however, are all in the game, and if the heads of our players a’re bloody, they will be unbowed. Tho giants of cricket in Australia have always been genuinely interested in our development, and they will help the team as much ag they can. The crowds, one hopes, will be lenient. Cricket here should be better fox the rour. Nothing illustrates better the difference between the status of football and that of cricket in New Zealand than the fact that this is only the third time a cricket team has visited Australia.