AT THE WICKETS

NZ Truth, Issue 878, 23 September 1922, Page 7

AT THE WICKETS

WHY DO WE LAG BEHIND? SOME REASONS AND A BEQUEStTo OLD-TIMERS • i (BY L- T. COBCROFT.) "Truth" yields to none m its love fpr and admiration of our National Field Game — Football. Rugby, at which our sons rank with the world's best, claims most support, but its friendly rival, the "Soccer" code, is making steady headway and each year sees an increase m the number of its adherents. There is plenty of room for both codes. Summer is at hand, "Truth" is 1 anxious to encourage a fondness fo r all clean, healthy, outdoor sport. Tennis has its thousands of players. The proyvess of at least one of New Zealand's most brilliant exponents of the racquet and. ball game led to a Davis Cup tourney for world's championship honors being played on our courts. But why do we lag behind m cricket? Why should the supremacy jn cricket be almost confined to England and Australia? Why shoufd the great fight for the "ashes" be waged only between th^-.Old Country and our sister Dominion? Why? For the series of articles which we commence to-day we have enlisted the services of one of our most experienced and competent players, L. T. Cobcroft, whose name is almost a household word among followers of cricket m this corner of the world, and whose enthusiasm m the cause of this manly summer game is unbounded. The points he makes are worthy of serious consideration.

Why does cricket m New Zealand fail to approach the standard of the game m Australia? There are quite a number of reasons to account for our shortcomings. Firstly: The climatic influences have a tendency to make most pf our wickets on the slow side, which enables the bowlers to get plenty of turn and kick out of the ball. This is all against brilliant and .dashing forward play. Certainly, m a fairly dry season we have some really first-class wickets, such as the Basin Reserve (Wellington), Lancaster and Hagley i Parks (Christchurch), Recreation ! Ground (Napier), Eden Park (Auckland), and Carisbrook (Dunedin). In fact, some of the above^notably the. Basin Reserve and Napier — wickets compare favorably with the best on the other side. Although not so fast, they are wonderfully true and easy. The trouble is that only the senior players are able to play their games on wickets such as these. If we want j our batting to improve we must .enIdeavourto1 deavourto get the ' . VERY BEST WICKETS for pur juniors as nothing retards the progress of a young player so much as being knocked about on a bad wicket. Once you get a boy frightened he. is going to be hit with the ball rising; it is not to be expected that he is going to stand up and try and play the strokes the proper way.' It will quite naturally be said: If the majori ity of our wickets are slow, our opside play, such as pulling, hooking and | forcing to the on, should be good. Granted. But this is not sO. What is , accountable for our inferiority is some of the l.b.w. decisions of the umpires that scare the batsman from getting m front of his wicket (when the ball has not pitched straight from wicket to wicket), which makes it utterly impossible' to play the on-side cricket correctly. lam glad to, saythere are some umpires m New Zealand who are very capable gentlemen, but tho majority are apt to give - the bowler the benefit of the doubt always, instead Of the batsman. Umpires should remember that /it. is only on very rare occasions a batsman is out l.b.w. to -a bowler ' bowling round the wicketSecondly: There is NOT HALF ENOUGH ATTENTION paid ; by the senior players to the ypunger members of their club. What a great amount of good they can do (when at practice) if they/ will only impart some of their knowledge and hints to the boys. • Thirdly: Each association should inaugurate a colts' match, to be played before any of the interprovincial games take place. This innovation jyould, I feel sure, have a most beneficial effect on the improvement of New Zealand cricket, as it would not only bring the promising ones before the selector's eye, but also help to instil *he proper temperament and confidence that is so necessary to a player. How well do we know that some cricketers are great club men, but failures m representative cricket, simply because they lack the temperament and fighting spirit which 'is most essential m- first- class cricket. Fourthly: The very few visits of first-class teams. that tour our colony help to .keep • the' game back as the players seldom see any performers better than themselves. We., can be taught the theory. 'We can indulge m the; practice. But we also require the ocular demonstrations as to how Jt is to be done. , • An- English team is paying us a. .visit this season. Looking over the" names of our principal cricketers m the various centres I do not agree -with the Sydney "Sun's" opinion that. the team will be too strong for New : Zealand. This little colony can place A VERY GOOD TEAM m the fieloVand I am certain that our selector (whom I have the utmost" confidence m as a judge of a player's merits, etc.) will be able to select a team which will extend Mr McLaren's side to the limit. Before going further (iri a future article) into this subject, I do ask the old and more experienced players to keep an eye on their keen and promising younger fryas it is there our future cricket is to come from. Let me give you an instance. During the time I was playing cricket m Sydney the late Victor Trumper, wheri a school boy m knickers at Crown Street School, as soon j as school was out would hurry across Moore Park to the Sj'dney Cricket J Ground, where the senior players were practising, and: take his position up m the outfield. He would catch, field, and return the ball to the different nets. His keenness and ability appealed to all (but principally to the OI6Y international player, Charles Bannerman). Towards the close of practice Bannerman would call Victor m and, after teaching him how to stand at the wickets, would (together with a ground bowler) bowl to him" and coach him m the various strokes. We all know the result. Trumper , became one of the greatest batsmen of the world — if not the greatest. So what was done m his case can be done m a lesser degree to our boys, and by so doing you not only improve the player but are likewise adding an asset to your club, province and country.