TEST MATCH CRICKET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20372, 28 September 1929, Page 13

TEST MATCH CRICKET.

SOUTH AFRICANS POPULAR* < .. HONOURS IN FIFTH CONTEST* ENGLISH BOWLERS CRITICISED-. , [from our own correspondent.] LONDON, .-Me. 23. ;l The fifth and last test cricket matcli was left drawn at the Oval on August 20. England easily avoided' defeat, biiti • the honours of the contest were with th® South Africans. % . ' Colonel P. Trevor, in the ; Daily Telex 3 graph, says:—"Their batting was noti*. merely record batting for them. Theifl' innings was the highest a South Africans ■» side has made in a test match.' Thatf' total might be just incidental. Whati ' mattered was the way and the circunn * stances in which their runs were made* They lost three good batsmen for 20 * runs, yet in the end, by consistently reliable and definitely strong battitig,t theyj' made the splendid score of 492 for eight ' wickets. Well up to a point as they, did in nearly all of the other test ijnatches,; they eclipsed themselves in the cflurse of ' this one. They hatted a little better than England, they bowled a little better, and - they fielded very distinctly better. . Short' of.actually winning the match they could'' not have done more. , < > Criticism of Bowlers. j "The less said about the English v bowlers tho better. They had the en -, couragement of an excellent start, and / that is the best encouragement of aIL c

Yet after that excellent start not one .of • them promised to give an even ordinarily good performance. Personally, I was. n'oti at all surprised. More than once have *I I committed myself to the statement in the Daily Telegraph that unless Freeman has ' a day out there is no reasonable hops'' that any England bowler (nor any two* or three of tliem either) will get really good batsmen cheaply unless those .. men choose to suffer from weak nerves. >

" Frankly, there is a dearth of danger* ous howling all over England tljs Dominions. Batting gets even more,captious, and the bowler has not yet solved the problem of how to defeat the cautious.' batsman on a good wicket. Freeman for once failed. When the wicket was slow on the second day of the match he never looked like being effective, 'nor did h®; either when it had got much faster.; So' my worst fears were realised, namely, that it would be a case of 'Freeman or; no one.' "To keep up their wickets the South Africans had only to keep up their courage. 'They did more than that. They declined to get themselves out. But they; attacked instead of being content to defend, and a huge score was the legitimate result of their rather bold and -very wise, batting policy." Lion-Hearted Cricket. ] In a leading article, the Daily Telegraph remarked :—The South Africans did the biggest thing when they pulled the match right round after the disastrous start of their innings on the second day, and their middle and later batsmeit gloriously emulated the example of Taylor and Deane that they were able to declare at 492 for eight yrickets, and eerrri England in to bat a second timp with 234 runs to get to escape an innings defeat.: That was lion-hearted cricket, a pluckyi bid for victory, which will appeal to eveiy lover of the great game and thrill the whole Union of South Africa. If did not succeed because England's star .bailsmen were resolved that it should noti ajid first Hobbs and Sutcliffe, by meians pf yet another of their historic first-wicket partnerships, and then Sutcliffe and Hammond by superb cricket put the issue beyond a doubt. Sutcliffe scored his second century in the match, afid Hammond mdra than kept paco with him. 264 for one wicket. They are thrilling figures, and will look well on the score-sheet for all time. 'j. a.

But it is no derogation to these; -welllaurelled heroes who saved England Bob only from defeat, but even from the mortification of a sense of escape, to say that it is not their performance that wjU .-b» longest remembered, and that 'the prilno honours go to those who played so boldly, for the grand coup. , v ,v- : *-J< Sporting Hatches. j v

Mr. Dcane, the South African captain, who promised the cricketing world a. sporting series of matches, has been as good as his word. There has never been a mora deservedly popular visiting side, anil never a more brilliant team in the field, and England has only won the rubber after many anxious moments, when -ifc seemed that youth would not bo denied:. So far as England's cricket prospect! are concerned these tests would seem to demonstrate the immense strength ot England's leading batsmen-r-Hobbs, ' Satcliffe, Hammond, Woolley, Leyland—two of them recognised veterans and one of them actually "recalled" to the side. But the quality of the bowling is liy no means so assured. Not one of the three bowlers who did best in Australia, Larwood, Tate and Mr. J. C. White, was playing at tlie Oval. Larwood, indeed, in the last tyro months, has ceased to bo a really "fast"' bowler, Tate had little success with the ball in the first three matches, and the South Africans were not repressed by Mr. White's accurate length as the Australians had been. > A Record of Affliction. Freeman, omitted from the first two matches, helped powerfully to win the game at Leeds, and bowled with great, effect at Manchester, hut at the Oval he had the heartbreaking experience of not taking a single wicket in revenge for the 169 riins which were hit off his bowling. The aggressive South Africans mocked his wizardry, snatched and hold the initiative, and "put him" where they liked. i } It is well that slow bowlers are ischpoled to bear punishment with a patient shrug. But for a test, match bowler of Freeman's calibre this is surely a record of affliction. Tho strain of an Australian tour between two cricket seasons at Home is very great, and tho England bowler# are evidently tired. But then* is als» need of new talent. •