ENGLISH TEAM’S TOUR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18151, 24 January 1921, Page 3

ENGLISH TEAM’S TOUR

THE MATCHES IN AUSTRALIA. % DUNEDIN CRICKETER’S IMPRESSIONS. Mr Harry Siedeberg, who is a particularly keen observer and judge, of the great national summer pastime of cricket, has just returned from a holiday visit to Australia, where he went to watch the English team play against Australia. Mr Siedeberg saw the first test match in Sydney, the second in Melbourne, and she New South Wales-Victoria and New South WalesSouth Australia matches. In the course of an interview with one of our reporters on Friday Mr Siedeberg said he considered the chief weaknesses of the English team lay in their poor catching and the lack of variety in their bowling. The team felt the want of a brainy slow bowler of . the type of Briggs, Braund, or George Giffen. When he had read of the composition of the English team, and before he left for Sydney, hh bad formed the opinion that they would win every test match, but after he had seen the first test ho had realised what the Englishmen lacked. Parkin ,vas their best bowler on good wickets. He could send down a fast ball, a medium pace ball, a very slow ball, and a “bosie,” and he might send along one of each kind in one over. The variety of his bowling, however, was a weakness, to some extent, as it was irqpoasdble to set a field to meet all this variety in one over, and as a result catches off Parkin’s bowling often fell clear of the fieldsmen. _ Howell was the next best bowler on his side. He howled a f ast ball, which often swung in a little from the off Waddington (fast lefthand bowler) had a stylo something similar to that of Dick Torrance. Rhodes was a slow left-hander, and Woolley was a medium pace left-hander, who kept a perfect length. This trio would be almost unplayable on a bad wicket. When the Australians went Home they would have to meet these bowlers on wickets not so 1 -d as Australian wickets, and they might have a hard task to retain the “ashes.” Australia at the present time had not got a bowler who could take full advantage of a bad wicket, and, in fact, the old Australian trundler, C. B. Turner, had practically been commissioned to try to unearth a bowler of this type to go Home with the Australians. HOBBS THE ARTIST. Mr Siedeberg said that fie considered that Hobbs ’stood by himself as a batsman. Hobbs had his 29th birthday in Australia, lie stood about bit 9in, and would be about list in weight. There was no fireworks about Hobbs's batting, but there was something distinctive about it which u-t once caught and held the attention of the spectators. He exercised just the samo effort to score a 4 as he would to score a single—there was no seeming effort with eituer stroke. As the judge of a run, Mr Siedeberg said, Hobbs had no equal, and he never failed to seize the right shot from which to run, be it a 1, or a 2, or a 2. His judgment in this department of the game was wizard-nke. Hobbs was also a fine fieiO at cover point. Hearne was a batsman of the strictly orthodox type. His fielding, however, was pot of a very brilliant character. Hendren was an aggressive batsman, thickly set and strongly* built. He was a magnificent outfield, travelling round the boundary, whipping the ball up with one hand, and sending it into tho wicketkeeper with deadly accuracy ciid the speed of a cannon shot; Hendren is the best outfield Mr Siedeberg has ever seen. Strudwick, wicketkeeper, was smartness itself, and shaped better than Oldfield (Australia). Strudwick, however, badly missed M'Cartney in the first test, but he was to be excused, as he evidently thought that Rhodes had bowled the Australian lefthander. Strudwiok’s stumping of Armstrong, however, in the same match—the ball on the leg side—was a really brilliant piece of work. As regards Wilson, Mr Siedeberg said he was surprised that he bad not been made more use of. He was a good-length slow bowler, but had not been given many opportunities to show his ability. SOME OF THE AUSTRALIANS. One of the reasons of the success of the 'Australians was, the fact that they had two bowlers of such opposite types as Gregory and Mailey to lead their attack. Gregory sent down the fast ball, and Mailey bowled the “bosie” (breaking both ways with the one action of the arm). I In the first test Mailey had Douglas completely tied up, and at last the English captain fell on the ground with his bat held aloft. One Australian writer had thus described the incident:—“ . . . Mailey proceeded to make both the English captain and Rhodes look ridiculous. Douglas particularly was all at sea. In the match against New South Wales Mailey got him in both innings very cheaply, and yesterday afternoon 40,000 spectators watched him make Douglas look as if he had no fight to be in a village fifth eleven. At first it »> was laughable, then it became pathetic, and after a number of desperate attempts to score even Douglas himself had - to laugh at the exhibition he was putting up.” Gregory is full of life and energy—like a rubber ball. He was an undiscovered quantity as a bowler—he played in a country team—till he went to the war and became associated with the A.I.F. team. He takes a run of about 22 -yards, makes a hop in the air before he reaches the wickets, and then another big jump as he delivers the ball, which comes from a hand stretched high in the air, body and arm following through the delivery. He bowls mostly a straight one, turning at times with his arm from the off. . , Hobbs at times played an off ball from Gregory to leg, stepping right across his wicket to do so. In the first test Hobbs was standing right outside his off stick [when Gregory bowled down his leg stump. Collins is a slow left hand bowler, but of no great brilliance. • Kelleway is a medium pace bowler, who keeps a perfect length. As a batsman he is a heart-break to the bowlers—almost a second Alec Bannerman. He is, however, a valuable man to have on one’s side. Warwick Armstrong is just the same genial, optimistic individual as of old, and, if anything, is bigger than when he was last in New Zealand. He now weighs about 184 stqne, and stands over 6ft. Armstrong ’ is assistant secretary to the Melbourne C.C. He appears to have a bat twice the ordinary size when he takes his stance at the wicket He is still fairly fast between the wickets. He puts enormous force into his strokes, his favourite shot being between cover and mid-off: Mr Siedeberg considers that Collins is a very lucky batsman. In the first test he was badly missed in both innings. In Melbourne he was dropped off his fifth ball off Howell, and then went on and made 64. In this match also Taylor was missed at about 30, and scored 68; Pellew was dropped before he got into double figures, and scored 116, and Gregory was likewise missed early in his -innings, and finally scored 100. Had England taken their chances th y would have batted before rain affected the wicket, and Australia would have had to go in. As it was, Australia made 499, and England got the bad wicket. The running between the wickets of the Englishmen was superior to that of the Australians. The Englishmen also take no chances if they do not intend to make a stroke at an off ball, but come across and cover their wickets. Summing up what he saw in Sydney and Melbourne. Mr Siedeberg says that Australia outplayed England in the first test, bu was certainly lucky in winning the second. OLD-TIMERS. • Mr Siedeberg met J. C. Blackman, the famous wicket-keeper; Alec Bannerman, the great left-hand batsman; Harry Moses; Harry Donnan. Hugh Trumble. and Frank Iredalo. He also met Charles Wordsworth, the ex-Dunedin coach and fast bowler. Wordsworth is now a kind of ground bowler for the I Zingari, a gentleman’s club which plays at Rushcutters’ Bay. He still bowls, but naturally not so fast as of yore. Ho is troubled with a bad knee. Cyril Hopkins, the old Cambrook and Otago player, was also met in Sydney. Mr Siedeberg also ‘met' Len Monk and Jim Moore, old Carisbrook and Otago players. BARRACKING. The barracking in Melbourne was even worse than in Sydney. It was absolutely objectionable, and was very disconcerting to the batsmen, the bowlers, and the fielders, and particularly to the Englishmen, who were not accustomed to it. _ No distinction was made between the sides. On one occasion in Melbourne Rhodes appeared to lose his wicket as a result of,,the barracking. He was batting, and for two or three overs played on the defensive. Then the barrack commenced, and at last in desperation Rhodes hit out and was caught. There are bars on the ground in Sydney and in Melbourne, and most of the barrack came from irresponriblee and thoee who had been making frequent visits to the bars. UMPIRES’ DECISIONS, Mt Siedeberg had a close view of tho match in Sydney. He was quite satisfied that Waddington was not run out—that Mailey missed the wicket at his first attempt to knock off the bails and Waddington was then lionio. When Douglas yfufi given out to a hard stroke to the Jog

side the ball appeared to strike the ground, and then fly into Armstrong’s hands, and when Woolley was given out stumped there was a doubt whether Oldfield had not knocked off the bails just as his hands took the ball on the top of the wickets.