The New Zealand Times FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1926. MAKING SURE OF THE ASHES

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12357, 29 January 1926, Page 6

The New Zealand Times FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1926. MAKING SURE OF THE ASHES

With the exception of a suggested fast bowler to relieve Gregory, the selectors have completed the Australian team to visit England. It is a formidable array of cricket talent. On paper, it is one of the finest all-round sides which ever went away. Man for man, it is superior to any English Eleven which can be chosen. If form is a criterion, England will require considerable good fortune to recapture the Ashes. The batting is both solid and dashing. There are men for good wickets and for wickets less good or absolutely wicked; and the English wicket at its worst can be a nightmare. There is, too, a splendid variety of bowling: fast bowling, medium-pace length' bowling, and “googlies.” The fielding promises to be equally powerful. Outside the second “keeper,” few will cavil at {he selectors’ choice of the newcomers—Ponsford, Grimmett, Woodfull, arid A. Richardson. Thi first-named is one of those run-getting phenomena which happen periodically in Australia. He is a star of the first magnitude. Woodfull. another Victorian, is a veritable brick wall to the bowlers. Not so dashing as Ponsford; he is solidity personified. Richardson is a sound batsman and a useful bowler. Grimmett, who passed through New Zealand, New South Wales, and Victoria to South Australia before his worth was appreciated, has come to international fame late in life. His performances in the last two Tests, if nothing else, earned him his place. That he should have had to wait until approaching middle-age to secure the honour is a reflection on the discernment of some selectors. The omission of Kelleway has divided the cricket world across the Tasman. On averages, bowling and batting, Kelleway was entitled to inclusion. - But with Richardson knocking at the door, the proper thing was to give him a chance to go Home. Similarly, veterans like Bardsley and Andrews might well have been passed over in favour of younger blood. It is naught against that argument that both are still high-class exponents of the game. The winning of the Ashes is one object; the building-up of Test teams of the future is another, and quite as important. The time has arrived when Australia could have afforded to risk the Ashes by excluding several of the old war-horses in order that undeniably sterling colts might have their opportunity. Such a policy would be all to the benefit of Australian cricket in the long run. If match-winning is not everything—and ,we are convinced it is far from that—selectors everywhere must be instructed to change their methods. Here, in Wellington, the majority of bright colts have to wait toe long for preferment. This is due largely to the misguided notion that the sole purpose to be kept in view is to beat the other fellow. This tendency to make representative cricket a pot-hunting business is becoming much too pronounced. It is a tendency which calls for a sharp reproof. ,