INTERNATIONAL CRICKET.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19374, 9 January 1925, Page 4

INTERNATIONAL CRICKET.

Aptki; :•. protracted contort, marked by some exceptional features, the Auh-ti-:'!i;;iT- have won flic second test match by 81 runs. They started by making tlio record score or 000, and on Saturday la-t the jicnoral ccnckision was tiiat tli<> i:';".ii>' "iv.'i. \ irtaally over. But very intcrc-tirc.! <levc]opmcnts worn in store. Certainly it would have been

a record of records if the Englishmen, confronted with that colossal total, had registered a victory. The marvel is that they eamo so near to such an unparalleled achievement. They set out with magnificent resolution; Hobbs and Sutcliffe did wonders, —and then the disastrous “tail” which left them 121 in tlie rearl The two batsmen just named contributed 330 of the 479 runs. The Australians fared none too well in their second innings. A score of 250 makes rather a sorry show in comparison with 600. Tlie batsmen who bad been conspicuously successful in the first stage did little of note; Tate and Hearne were in good form with the ball; and it would be with a feeling of reasonable hope that the visitors tackled the not impossible task of making 372 to win. It was a brave struggle, but the “tail” went wrong again, and a match in the course of which. 1619 runs were scored was decided by the rather narrow margin cf 81. Sutcliffe made a second century,—l27 of 290. Indeed, without derogation to Ponsford and Richardson and Hobbs, the engagement is likely to live in cricket history as “Sutcliffe’s match.” Leaving further details to expert observers, wo may at least remark that the Englishmen, though defeated, are not disgraced: far from it. Considering that terrible initial handicap of 600, the astonishing thing is that they did so well, —and the pity is that they did not do a little better. For we think that even among cricket enthusiasts whose inclinations tend to the Australian side there would not have been much disappointment if the result had been different. Apart from the mere sporting instinct, it cannot be denied tuat an English win would have enhanced the interest of the situation. Still, the great business is not over. There are three more test matches to be played to a perhaps desperate finish; and though the Australians, with two out of five to their credit, occupy a commanding vantage ground, the possibilities of the game are infinite and there is no saying what may happen.