CRICKET

Northern Advocate, 17 September 1927, Page 11

CRICKET

THE NEW ZEALAND TEAM ——— CONCLUSION OF THE TOUR. • A BRIEF REVIEW. The first tour of England by a New Zealand cricket team is now an accomplished fact, the visit having been brought to a conclusion of Tuesday last at Scarborough with the match against Mr H. D. G. Leveson-Gower’s team, which like so many of its predecessors ended in a draw—though the weather was mainly responsible for this unsatisfactory conclusion in the great majority of instances. When the tour was originally mooted much speculation was engendered as to the advisability of such an undertaking, the thought being fairly general that the proposal was rather an ambitious one, doubts being expressed as to whether our representatives could reasonably be expected to hold their own against the teams they would be called upon to meet in the Old Land, and as' to whether they would be a sufficient “draw** to attract the crowds in order to make it a successful project financially. ’ However, from a pioneering standpoint it was felt that the trip would be well worth while, and the experience, gained by pur men would be of incalculable benefit to New Zealand cricket. Hence the scheme was put into effect, and it must be said that the results achieved have exceeded the most optimistic beliefs. True, the tour has proved a very heavy financial loss, and it is difficult to understand why 4 this; should be so, unless if be the weather, which has behafved most atrociously on very many occasions', interfering with play to such an extent that games, have had to be abandoned, sometimes after only a few hours! ’ play. The performances of the itfew Zealanders have certainly merited 'much better public patronage than was accorded; for the batting has received the plaudits both of press and critics, being of that free and forceful nature which delights the onlooker. The .bowling and fielding have alsp been, favourably commented upon, and only, on one or two occasions

have the bowlers fyeen properly “ collate d. , V That our players have proved capable of holding their own "With the majority of the first-class counties cannot be denied,, and it is a matter for congratulation that in all their 39 matches only five defeats were recorded and scores exceeding 400 in an innings made only twice against them —426 for 4 wickets (declared) by M.C.C. in their second innings and 405 by Kent. Generally our men have scored freely and some big totals stand to their credit, the highest being 58fi for 9 wickets (declared) in the first match of the tour. . • ■ * •' « The three men who possibly were subjected to the most adverse criticism after their selection—Dempster, James, and Merritt—have answered the critics in no uncertain manner, all .three having been huge successes throughout. Dempster tops the aggregate with 2221 runs and also the batting average, and incidentally secured the best bowling average, though he only captured a few wickets. The young Wellingtonian has been seen at his best and greatly impressed. Wicket-keeper James has done particularly well, the number of victims falling to his agility behind the stumps being really, wonderful; in addition his, <c keeping'' has been frequently commented upon most favourably. His batting has not been up to his usual standard, but in this department he -has done useful work. The youthful Merritt, whose selection was largely an experiment, has proved the undoubted success of the team. Right throughout the tour his slow bowling has been a marvellous feature and he has proved the mainstay of the attack. He has achieved wonderful success, especially for a bowler of his type, and the number of wickeds obtained by him in all matches (174) is eloquent testimony of nls prowess. In batting, too, he has proved a useful man, making respectable scores frequently and proving a difficult batsman to dislodge., These three players are young and it will be indeed a strange thing if the experience they have gained on this tour should npt prove of unbounded value to Hew Zealand cricket in the future.

* * » « As was generally anticipated Blunt has proved the all-rounder of the team, and his performances are such that he might be justly proud. He has topped 2000 runs and unfortunately just failed to reach his 300 wickets. He is indeed a. great player and worthy of any team. * * • • Mills is another young player who has amply fulfilled all expectations, his batting being of a high order and he greatly impressed the critics; he played some big innings and played them well. It is a coincidence that Mills and Blunt should have opened the tour with a century in their first match and repeated the performance ia the last match.

Lowry, as captain, appears to have controlled his team in an able manner, and evidently did not allow the worries of leadership to interfere with his batting ability. He scored in a prolific way, obtaining a splendid average, and proved a useful change bowler. • ¥ « • Daere, the vice-captain, played many of his characteristic innings—made many runs and made them in doublequick time. One is inclined to the belief tfiat Daere ytqu.ld do evw better if he -were to use more restraint —he often gets himself out in the effort to knock up the “sixers.” • • « • Page has batted well and is one of the young players who will .greatly benefit by the trip. He has undoubted ability and has proved it on many occasions. As a change bowler he has proved a distinct acquisition; he should return one of the most improved men in the team.

Alleott, the all-rounder, was kept out of the team in the early stages through an accident, but has done fairly well in both departments since taking his place. He is the seventh man in the team to make a century, six of whom exceeded the thousand runs total. •.* • v McGirr, another of the all-round type, has done very well, and at times has made runs when they were badly needed. In bowling he has only ‘ * come off ’ ’ occasionally, • but ■ has helped New Zealand to victory more than once. • * * . Henderson, is a better bowler than batsman, and although he has been successful at times has not done quite so well as one would expect of a lefthander on English wickets. * * V f '* Oliver, Cunningham and Bernau have not proved as successful as could have been wished, but all have on occasions displayed something approaching their true ability. • • • » jit Douglks Hay has proved an efficient and popular manager, and it is no doubt largely due to his fact and enthusiasm that the tour has proved so enjoyable. The team is sure of a great welcome home again, and in the meantime much interest centres round the match which is to be played next month in .Sydney against the N.S.W. state team.