THE CRICKET TOUR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19660, 11 June 1927, Page 10

THE CRICKET TOUR.

The disappointment that has been expressed by one of the selectors of the New Zealand cricket team at the absence of several leading English bowlers from county elevens will be shared by all supporters of the game in the Dominion, and also by mem- , bers of the team itself. If the counties. actuated by a sporting spirit, are refraining from putting their best bowling talent in the field so that I the New Zealand team may make a better showing, they are helping to defeat the object of the tour, which is to improve cricket in this country. The absence of Boot, the test match bowler, from the Worcestershire side, of Tait and Bowley from the Sussex team, and A. E. Gilligan's elimination from the Sussex attack, can hardly represent a series of accidents. The standing down of Bowley might have been due to the fact that he was New Zealand's coach last season, but in the other cases the strong inference is that the motive has been to give the New Zealanders a reasonable chance of winning matches. But the purpose is not to win matches, it is to gain experience against England's best. New Zealand cricket does not want to establish false standards. It is well aware of its limitations. Its representatives, good material though they are, would prefer sound defeats at the hands of the best than draws or wins against elevens deliberately weakened by mistaken motives of kindness. A moderate score off the bowling of Root would have been a i far better achievement than a century off bowling little better than can be produced in the Dominion. And the same argument applies to English batting. What disappointment there would be if Hobbs, the world's greatest batsman, were not played in the Surrey match. The New Zealanders would rather hunt leather for Hobbs all day than miss the chance of studying his strokes. The time when New Zealand may hope to win a series of county matches is in the future; the present is for experience. Tt is to be hoped that the opportunity will not be restricted.