MATCH TO-DAY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23060, 10 June 1938, Page 13

MATCH TO-DAY

ENGLAND V. AUSTRALIA NOTTINGHAM CONTEST GREAT INTEREST AROUSED DESTINY OF THE "ASHES" The Trent Bridge ground at Nottingham will £>e the focal point of cricketers' interest throughout the British Empire to-day, when the first test match between the chosen of England and Australia will be commenced. In spite of the increasing popularity of other sports, the struggle for supremacy between the two leading, cricketing countries in the world continues to attract extraordinary attention, the wealth of tradition surrounds the game itself, allied with the strong competitive spirit always present, greatly enhancing the attraction of these contests.

The game commencing to-day will be regarded asi the Bparring round of a series which promises to be contested with remarkable dourness. Although the personnel of the two teams and the performances of the Australians during the early part of the tour give soma opportunity to judge the calibre ofrtha sides, it will be in this first test that a more definite line will be obtained as to the ultimate destiny of the mythical "ashes." The Australian team will be captained to-day by D. G. Bradman, who led the side to victory two seasons ago. England will be captained by W. It. Hammond, a former professional, who is now an amateur.

The Trent Bridge ground, where the 1938 series of test matches will be in-, augurated/ is one of the oldest county grounds in England and generally provides a first-class playing area. In fine weather tjje Nottingham marl wicket is fast and true and lends itself to heavy scoring, but in the event of rain it is capable of proving just as deceptive as the majority of English pitches. As the Nottingham County ground, Trent Bridge has been the scene of many bowling triumphs on the part of Larwood arid Voce. The wicket is inclined to favour speed bowling, but, after rain lias affected the pitch, it has been quite common for Voce to bowl slow-medium spinners round the wicket with devastating effect. ..Eke most English grounds, Trent Bridge is practically surrounded by stands. The pavilion, which houses the fhiest collection of cricket relics outside of Lord's, looks straight on to one end of the wicket and tho main

public stands are directly opposite, with the press stand, alongside them. It is at this end of the ground, probably adjacent to the press box, that the ; radio broadcasting equipment will probably bo located.

Visiting teams playing at Trent Bridge have frequently complained about the' lack of full-sized sight screens. Even the county batsmen have found this something of a handicap, and it used a common occurrence for George Gunn, the old Notts player who recently retired, to hold up play for several minutes while he motioned frith his bat for spectators to resume their seats.

AVERAGES OF PLAYERS

• T BRADMAN'S great figures MOST WICKETS TO O'REILLY The batting averages of the Australian team to date are headed by the captain, 1). G. Bradman, who, in 'nine innings, two not outs, lias tho remarkable figures of 150.85. His highest score is 278. Tho colt, A. L. > Hassett, is next on the list with an average of 88.6G for 10 innings, ono not out, and highest score 220. Other batsmen with figures over 50 are J. H. Fingleton, W. A. Brown and B. A. Barnett. ? L. O'B. Fleetwood-Smith leads tho boivlers with 42 wickets at a cost of 12.57 runs each. The most wickets (46) have been taken by O'Reilly, who is second in the averages with i 4.56. The slow bowler, Ward, has taken 40 wickets. Details of the averages are as follows: BATTING n _ Inn.N.O. H.S. Runs Av. I>. Vr. Bradman . 9 2 278 1050 150.85 A. L. .Hassett ..10 1 220 708 88.06 L. Badcock ..12 K Finjfleton,. 11 1 124 506 50.00 w. A. Brown .. 10 1 191* 504 50.00 B- A. Barnett .. 7 3 120* 221 55.25 }V. Walker .. 5 3 31* 87 43.50 J- Mi-Cabe ..10 1 110 301 33.44 M. 0. Waite .. 11 2 51 271 30.44 A- G. Chipperfield 10 1 101* 200 28.88 Kg. S.-White .. 5 2 26 50 18.60 {L A. Ward' .. 5 2 23 30 12.00 w. J. O'Reilly .. r> t Jf: McCormirk .4 1 12 26 8.66 - li. 08. Fleetwoodgr : Smith .6 2 10 30 7.50 r _ 'Signifies not out. £T BOWLING i® I '' Runs Wirkets Average Fleetwood-Smith . • 028 42 12.57 Qiy 9,«eilly .. 670 46 14.56 • • • • 010 40 15.40 ijhite .. 114 9 16.00 r'• Vr lPP f r(seld/' .. 31 2 17.00 * ™cC° r mivk .. 376 16 23.50 .. .. 303 14 25.92 ,'U McCabe .. ..162 8 27.00