FOURTH TEST MATCH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17844, 27 July 1921, Page 7

FOURTH TEST MATCH.

ENGLAND COMES TO LIGHT. 362 FOR FOUR WICKETS. AN ILLEGAL DECLARATION. By Telegraph— Press Association— CopyrightA. and N.Z. LONDON, July 25. The fourth Test match began at the Old Trafford ground, Manchester, to-day. The weather was ckSudy following rain overnight. The wicket was slow and dead. The teams are : — Australia.—W W. Armstrong (capt.), W Bardsley. E. A. McDonald, C. G Macartney, H. Carter. C. E. Pellew, T. J- Andrews, J M. Tavlor, J. M. Gregory, H. L. Collins, H. T. Hendry. England. —L. H. Tennyson (Hampshire 1 ! (capt.), J. W. H. T. Douglas (E*sex). P G Fender (Surrey). E. Tyldesley (Lancashire), C. Hallows (Lancashire), C- H. Parkin (Lancashire), A. C. Russell (Esses), C. P. Mead (Hampshire), C. N. ! Parker (Gloucestershire). F. E. Woo'ley | (Kent), and G. Brown (Hampshire). Tennyson won the toss, and decided to bat first. Russell and Brown opened to the bowling of Gregory and McDonald. WheD he had scored 6, Russell gave Armstrong a chance at second slip off Gregory, but it wat> not accepted. Gregory'? bowling. which contained many short pitched deliveries, bumped awkwardly, some deliveries rising over Russell's headr Brown, who opened aggressively, lifted rising balls over his shoulder and straightdrove Gregory tbroueh Russell's legs to the boundary McDonald maintained an excellent length, and the ball rarely rose above the height of the stumps. The wicket was not suited to Gregory, who gave way to Macartney. In his second over Brown had a narrow escape from being caught by Gregory at first slip. Both batsmen were hitting well in front of the wicket, and registered a run a minute, arriving in' the twenties together. Hendry replaced McDonald, but the wicket was lifeless, and the bowlers de" rived no assistance from it. The batting slackened, with the exception of an occasional drive, while the howling wind emphasised the depressing complexion of the game. Russell Scores a Century. The first hour's play produced 47 runs, but both batsmen were livened up ternporarily, Brown vigorously square-cut ting Macartney to the ropes and Russell straight driving and pulling Hendry to leg. Armstrong took the ball at 61, and Brown sent his first delivery to the deep leg boundary. In attempting a similar shot at the succeeding ball Brown misshit it, Gregory accepting an easy chance at fine leg. Woolley, who followed, refused to touch Armstrong's leg theory deliveries. He preferred Hendry, whom he drove in fine fashion. McDonald resumed bowling against the wind at 96, but he did not bowl above medium pace. Russell brought the century up in 105 minutes, and a few minutes later passed his 50 by pulling McDonald to the boundary. Woolley was singularly unenterprising, particularly when opposed to Armstrong, who changed ends at the luncheon adjournment, when the score was 143 runs for one wicket. McDonald and Armstrong resumed bowling after lunch. Woolley ignored several of Armstrong's deliveries, but he was caught at long-on off the fifth ball. He batted 90 minutes for his 41 r-ms. 2—145—41. Mead, who joined Russell, opened briskly. He watched Armstrong closely, and then decided to step down the crease and meet him. Play was without incident till Armstrong again dropped Russell in the slips off Gregory, the batsman being then 86. The second century was hoisted at the end of four hours' play. Armstrong patiently persisted in bis leg theory, but Russell refused to be tempted, and Mead continued stepping down the crease to smother the break. After 250 minutes Russell reached his century, and almost immediately Gregory shifted his off bail. Russell Is score included nine fours. Sparkling Play by Tyldesley. Tyldesley joined Mead, and lashed out at Hendry, who relieved Armstrong, but the ball was beating both bat and wicket. Play lacked life till the adjournment. The spectators expected a bright display after tea, but for some unaccountable reason the batsmen sorely disappointed them. As the bowling was without " devil," it is presumed that England desired to occupy the creases while the wicket was lifeless, in the hope of getting Australia in and out twice on a bowlers' wicket the next day. Mead changed his mind, and had a hit at Hendry, and was caught at deep point. He had batted 150 minutes for 47 runs. 4—260-^7. The light was dull when Fender joined Tyldesley. Both batsmen were apparently instructed to hit out, and opened their shoulders, runs coming quicker than at any previous period. Tyldesley drove and cut McDonald in sparkling style, 20 runs being added in 10 minutes. Tyldesley continued to score freely off McDonald, whom he drove vigorously. He scored eight runs in one over, and reached 50 with a lucky hit over the heads of the slips after 65 minutes' play. The crowd was wildly enthusiastic when he drove Hendry over the ropes. Tliree hundred appeared at the end of 330 minutes. Six runs later Gregory replaced McDonald, and Armstrong went on at the opposite end, but the scoring continued twice as fast as previously, inducing Armstrong to place three men on the boundary, where they were kept busy. Cricket sparkled m every department. Gregory bowled faster, the fielding was superb, and the batting dashing, all to the setting of an excited and exhilarated crowd. One over of Gregory's i produced 16 runs. Fender scoring 12, and the partnership added 80 in 35 minutes. Amazing Declaration Blunder. Tennyson at 5.50 p.m. declared the innings closed. Armstrong disputed his right to declare, however, and referred Tennyson to law 55 of the laws of cricket, which was passed in 1914, and which provides that when there is no play on the . first day of a three-day match, the captain of the batting side has power to declare his innings at a close at any time, ; but such declaration may not be made : later than one hour 40 minutes before the time agreed on for drawing stumps. Armstrong's objection was upheld by the umpires, after a quarter of an hour had been i lost in argument over the point. There was a sensation when the visitors took the field again. A section of the crowd hooted them and cheered the batsmen on reappearing. Armstrong received a mixed reception on going on to bowl. ! One section of the crowd hooted him, but , there was some cheering. Armstrong sat on the ground for two minutes, and when he rose again met with a hostile reception, t upon which Tennyson and the umpire crossed the ground and spoke to the crowd, play being held up a further ten minutes. i

It is remarkable that the English captain was so ignorant of the laws oi the game as to make such a remarkable declaration. After the interruption the batting relapsed to the ordinary. Hendry, at ( second slip, dropped a simple chance by Fender, who was then 54, off McDonald. Fender caused merriment by making a left-handed hit off Armstrong, scoring two When the stumps were drawn for the day England had scored 562 runs for the loss of four wickets. Following are the scores : — ENGLAND.—First Innings. Russell, b Gregory . . . . . 101 Brown, c Gregory, b Armstrong . . 51 Woolley, c Pellew, b Armstrong . . 41 Mead, c Andrews, b Hendry . . . . 4~ i Tyldesloy. not out . . . . ~ 73 Fender, not out . . . . , . . . 44 Extras 20 Total for four wicket 9. . . . 562 j The fourth test match must be concluded to-day The English captain will have the right to-day to declare the innings closed without resuming. DECLARATION DISPUTE. j I HOSTILITY TO ARMSTRONG. (Received 10.30 p.m.) i United Service. LONDON. Juiy Co When Tennyson declared the English ! innings closed Armstrong motioned to ; the fieldsmen to keep their places, and he j accompanied the batsmen to the pav ;, :on. j Furious arguments waged among the srec- ! tators regarding the declaration n le. After a brief delay Armstrong called in the fieldsmen. Meanwhile the groundsmen began to sweep the wicket, but were ordered to desist, and did not attempt to roll it. When the Australians returned to field, Armstrong was continuously jeered at when running to bowl, and he declined to deliver the ball. After this had happened several times, Armstrong sat on the grass while the umpires vainly appealed to demonstrators. Tennyson went across and quieted them, and then took Armstrong by the arm, apparently expressing his regret. A large section of the crowd applauded this incident. A regrettable feature of the demonstration was the fact that many members in the pavilion participated in the jeering when the Australians returned to field, though they did not share in the subsequent barracking. Later the crowd recovered its good humour and showed enjoyment of the game.