Cricket Goodwill Restored

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23020, 23 April 1938, Page 11 (Supplement)

Cricket Goodwill Restored

THE crowd to meet ua at Southampton included several cricket notabilities, and from the day of ouy arrival in London pntil the tour ended we were accorded a wonderful welcome wherever we went, and every moment of our stay was made as happy as P NatSrally we were delighted with the warmth of the greeting. At the official reception at Australia House \ve were happy to meet, among _ other?, British Prime Minister, Mr. Karnsa? Mac Donald, and Lord Hailsliam, president of the Marylebono Cricket Club Our first practice at Lord s attracted ' Va great crowd, which showed keen m- ' tfirest in everything we did. 1 he attendance was larger than I. had seen on previous tours at an initial practice, and clearly gave indication of V"®" menrlous interest aroused bv the te It also answered the suggestion in Australia that we should not visit En giant • again until 1940, and showed what a f tactical blunder it would have been had such a course been adopted. In an endeavour to convey the sincerity of England's welcome, many . organisations went out of their way to issue invitations, but it was impossible, of course, to accept all of them. Uur / management had no alternative but to accept only those of an official nature. Famous Sporting Peer One such function .was that tendered ' 118 by the British Sportsmen s Club, at which all branches of sport in the country were represented. 'lhe chairman as Lord Lonsdale, the famous sporting peer, who proposed the toast of the team. Writing of Lord Lonsdale brings to mind the occasion when the members of Armstrong's side paid a visit to his seat, Lowther Castle, in Cumberland, at the invitation of the earl. Wo were personally conducted over the spacious grounds.'so full of grandeur, and then ".•fWe were shown over the magnificent castle. On entering the earl's writing-room he picked up a big box of cigars and handed them to Armstrong, remarking: "These were given. to me by the exKaiser just a short time before the tjj war' when Wilhelm was visiting me. J--.- Each of 'the' cigars—very long they were—bore the Hohenzollcrn crest. A few days after tlie' Welcome given us by the British Sportsmen's Club we began our tour with the match at Wor-

cester. On arrival in that picturesque and historic old town we were amazed by the crowd's welcome. One would have thought that royalty was arriving, judging by the size of the crowd that blocked the station platform. Only with difficulty could we make our way from the train to the cars which were to convev us to the Star Hotel. The main street was lined with many hundreds of excited people, who waved at us and cheered. Naturally, we were touched bv this spontaneous public demonstration, which once more showed us that the people of England desired to make us doubly welcome. Looking back, I can emphasise that the whole tour was an unqualified success, both from the playing point of view and because of the goodwill which it engendered. In many respects, it was very similar to that of •1930, and at Worcester history was repeated not only because of our easv victory, but by reason of Bradman's double century. An Anxious Test Our victories against the counties leading up to the first test match were convincing, and helped us considerably in canning the form before the selection of our"tejim for Trent Bridge, where, for some years, the first test match has been played. This test was the most exacting, exciting, and nerve-wracking in which 1 have ever played. We won it by ten minutes. The notable player in our first innings was Chipperfield, who, making his debut in test cricket, experienced the bitter disappointment of missing • the century by one run. As ho was 99, not out, at lunch time, old internationals during the adjournment recalled how very lew centuries had been made at 1 rent Bridge in test matches. But, said they, this will make another, so certain did it appear that Chipperfield's magnificent batting would bring him that great distinction. But it was not to be, and 1 feel sure that the English players, as well as ourselves, and the large crowd, were all genuinely sorry when he was caught behind in the first over after lunch. . . Another interesting incident was Woodfull's dismissal. He was cleverly caught by Verity, off Fames, for 26. This completed a novel hat trick in the way of dismissals, as 1 remember that Woodfull was dismissed in the same way in both innings of the test at Trent Bridge in 1930

Australian Tour of England After the Bodyli BERT OLDFIELD DESCRIBES 1934 TESTS

(Copyright)

IN view of the discord of 1932 there was speculation in certain quarters as to how the Australian test cricket team would be received in England two years later. The suggestion was even made that a team should not visit England in 1934. But on reaching our destination we were not left long in doubt.

teresting and delightful experience, as we were received by Their Majesties in their private apartments. Naturally, we all had our cameras, some of us carrying our Cine-Kodaks. Queen Mary noticed this, and drawing the attention of the King to the fact, they both graciously signified to us their consent for photographs to be taken of themselves in the historic quadrangle of the castle. It was by such thoughtful and kindly acts as these that Their Majesties endeared themselves to us to an even greater degree. As an example of their human personalities, the King remarked: "Well, let's make down to the quadrangle." Making a move in that direction ho was halted by Queen Mary. She said: "Oh, don't go that way, George. It's far too sunny." During the taking of the photographs Queen Mary noticed that Barnett and Grimmett were wishing to get photographs of the Royal couple. The King, at that time, had his attention elsewhere and so Queen Mary took hold of his arm gnd indicated that some of the players were waiting with their movie-cameras. The King immediately turned round in such a position that enabled our players to get perfect shots. (To be continued.)

On the slow and perfect wicket, thanks to Chipperfield, McCabe and Ponsford, we finished with a first innings total of 374. As Wyatt, who had an injured hand, had been omitted from England's side, C. F. Walters, of Worcester, led the Englishmen. When Walters walked out to open the innings in the company of Sutcliffe, I must sa f v I missed the familiar figure of Jack Hobbs. 'lo me, it seemed strange that he was not opening for England in a test match on an English ground. At the end of the second day, we had dismissed Walters. Sutcliffe, Hammond and Leyland for 128. It had been a very good day for Australia, and had it not been for a typically courageous innings by Hendren, who made 79 in partnership with Geary (who played particularly well in making 53), England's first innings total of 268 would have been considerably smaller. With this handy lead of 106. we were able to close our second innings on the last day of play at 12.30, leaving England 379 runs to make in approximately 245 minutes. Brad man had failed in both innings against England's accurate bowling, but McCabe gave two superb displays for 6b and 88. Brown, appearing in bis first test, played sterling cricket, correct, and enterprising in every way. His performance in this innings established him more or less as a permanent member of our test side. From the commencement of their second innings, it was evident that our opponents were content to play for a draw, and tliev would have achieved their objective but for the fact that our spin bowlers were able to take full advantage of the somewhat wearing wicket. In defeating England in this most exacting finish by 238 runs, with only ten minutes to spare, too much credit cannot be given to O'Beillv and Grimmett for their great bowling, and to Chipperfield for his three brilliant match-winning catches in the slips. At Lords Just before the second test at Lords Ave were invited for the late Sir James Barrie to dine with him at his residence in Adelphi Terrace, London. This, like all our meetings with him, was a very happy occasion. In the party were Mr. E. V. Lucas, Sir Douglas the noted Australian surgeon, General Freyberg, V.C., and leading English cricket officials. Sir James, during the evening told several of his best stories. He loved cricket and held a very high regard for Australians. At Lords there was alwdys a reserved seat for him, and from thero he watched every incident of the game. This seat, on the verandah of the Tavern on Lords Ground, was jealously guarded for him by "George," the waiter. Talking of reservations, Mr. Oscar Asche, the actor, who was a verv good cricketer in his day, was a regular attendant at all the test matches at Lords. He invariably showed a keen interest in the welfare of Australian test players during their English visits. The test at Lords, which is always an exciting game on account of its sport-, ing and vet somewhat uncertain wicket, began this time in fine weather, but on the third (and last) day we had to bat on a rain-affected pitch, on which Verity equalled the world's record bowling performance of taking fifteen wickets for the match, including fourteen in one day. We went down by an innings and 38 runs. The final and deciding test was at Kensington Oval. Each side had won one test, while the others hnd been drawn, so once again the Oval test was to decide the destiny of the "Ashes." Thus the history of 1930 was being repeated, and to our great joy it was still further repeated in a victory for Australia. During our stay in London we were invited by the late King George V. to visit Windsor Castle. It was a most in-