TENSE SCENES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21399, 25 January 1933, Page 6

TENSE SCENES

- TEIK3) TEST MATCH

LEG-TiHEORY BOWLING

; INCIDENTS AT ADELAIDE

DEMONSTRATION BY CROWD

[FROM OirE OWN correspondent] SYDNEY. Jan. 19

Not long ago an English writer expressed the opinion that test cricket matches between Australia and England Bhoulji be abandoned, because the only thing they were testing was the friendship between the two countries. That may have been an exaggeration, but at the same time it must be admitted that there was a certain amount of justification for the remark. Never before in Australia has the feeling over cricket run so high as it does to-day. The tense scenes at the Adelaide match are evidence of this. Around leg-theory method of attack there is a controversy raging in Australia the like of which has seldom been known. The country has ranged on two sides, and everywhere the dispute goes on uninterrupted. There are many supporters of England, but needless to say the majority of Australians are with their own team, aAd they applaud the action of the Australian captain, Woodfull, in refusing to retaliate. During the progress of the third test match the press has been flooded with correspondence. Old cricketers and young cricketers have made their contributions to the verbal and written battles that

have/been waged, and almost without exception the older men deplore the latest developments in cricket tactics. The climax came on Monday, when the Australian in his plucky fight against the express botflers, was knocked almost unconscious when he received a blow on the head from a ball bowled by Larwood. Oldfjeld's Serious Blow Other batsmen had been hit before this incident, and the crowd was in no fit humour to see/ Oldfield collapse at his crease. For a while it appeared as though an ugly scene would develop. The crowd became very restless, and Larwood was hooted roundly,. ; many of those in the stands joining in an extraordinary demonstration. At one time it seemed as though a section of the crowd would invade the oval, and there were some who had visions of the pitch being ploughed up, as was done by an angry cricket crowd in Sydney many years ago. /When the leg-sido bowling was first introduced •in Australia by the Englishmen many prominent cricketers held the view that it wai the duty of the batsman to adjust himself to the new conditions. He was armed with a bat, they said, and it was for him to protect himself or ; get out of the way of the delivery. Events have shown that it is by no means an easy thing to elude a ball bowled directly at the body, nor is it an easy matter to hit the extremely' fast balls sent down by Larwood and Voce. In this connection it 'is of interest to qote that Allen, who bowls "fairly and squarely" according to older notions, has been almost as successful as Larwood. In the circumstances it is not surprising that many of the most notable critics have changed their opinion and now roundly condemn the leg-theory attack.

Mr. M. A. Noble, a former Australian test captain,' says:—"l consider that Larwood's attack is against the spirit of cricket. These attacks should be abandoned as against the best interests of the game. . . . Woodfull protested with the desire of preserving the highest traditions of the game. He could foresee that public interest -would wane unless such tactics were abandoned. My words are not influenced by the position of this game. It was because of my representation that Armstrong ceased bowling legtheory. It would' appear that England's desire to win at all costs has deadened the senses to the appeal of cricket."" Board o! Control's Concern So far the Board of Control has not laken any official? action, but it is known that members take a serious view of the possibility of Australians being seriously injured. The blows received by Woodfull afid Oldfield have strengthened the opinion 'in official circles, that body line attack should be dropped for the good of the game generally. The board is concerned at the possibility of a repetition of the unprecedented scfenes in Adelaide after Oldfield was hit / and fear what might happen in Sydney. . Most of the writers, many of them with actual years of cricket playing behind them, express the opinion that the new bowling has, ruined test cricket as a spectacle. Jack 'Ryder, famous in his day as a steady Australian batsman able to hold his wicket against all forms of attack, is among those who have swung over. Before the Adelaide test he had much to say in favour of the leg-theory attack. He then said he believed that aggressive front of the wicket batting would do much to conquer it and that it would continue without /harming the game. The incidents in which Woodfull and Oldfield were concerned have made Ryder change his opinion to a belief that Australia must attack her opponents in the same way. Ryder says lie is sure that there are a great many English batsmen •who would not up to such a battering as that faced by the Australians with the field packed for leg bowling. The tactjfcs according to Ryder have reached a stage when they must either be abandoned or test matches go out of existence. Another former/ international cricketer said, "If England wants the ashes let Australia give them to her. Then we can get on with our cricket." -■ ' Statement by Bradman The English captain's tactics are perfectly legitimate and it is not surprising therefore that the protests should bo regarded in some quarters as the "squealing" of a defeated side. There are still many who. contend that it is for Australia to find a way out of her difficulties and Bradman and Ponsford have already shown that it is possible to score oS Larwood and Voce. Cert'ainly Bradman had not been over successful—he has made only one century against the Englishmen during the present tour, but his nervous condition may have a great deal to do with this. In a broadcast after he had been dismissed for eight Bradman said that against the English attack it was impossible even for the best batsmen to get runs without being battered about the hands and body. Ponsford, he said, bad a legacy of four bruises as an outcome "of his dogged stahd. For the first time in the long history of cricket the harmonious relations which has existed between the members of the Australian and English eleven are now seriously disturbed. One reason for this is the treatment meted out to Woodfull after he had been hit on the chest on

Saturday afternoon. When Woodfull re-

turned to the Crease still obviously in pain, it was thought that Lnrwood would bowl with an ordinary off-field until the Captain had recovered from the blow.

Instead of this, the field was again switched over to the leg side and balls buzzed around the Australian captain's " head until eventually he was dismissed. iWoodfull's team-mates resented this and X regarded it'as unsportsmanlike. Feeling .has been running high'ever since. Truly . /may it be said that these test matches have become battles rather than games..