TEST MATCHES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20832, 26 September 1929, Page 13

TEST MATCHES.

ENGLAND’S LEADING BATSMEN. TIRED BOWLERS. SOUTH AFRICANS’ TOUR. I ' (From Our Owx CosEEsroxDEXT.) . LONDON, August 23, The fifth and last test match was left drawn at the Oval on August 20. England easily avoided defeat, but the honours of ■ the. contest were with the South Africans. .Colonel P. Trevor,, in the Daily Tele*, graph, says:—Their batting was ■ not merely record batting for them Their innings was the highest a South African side has made in a test match. That total might be just incidental.' What mattered was the way and the circumstances in which their runs were made. They lost three good baismen, for 20 runs, jet in The end,, by consistently reliable an ,d definitely ■ strong batting, they .made the splendid score of 492 for, eight wickets. Well up to a point as they did in nearly all of thq other test matches, they eclipsed themselyes in the course of this one. They batted a little better than England, they bowled- a little better, and they fielded very distinctly better. Short of actually winning the match they could not have done more. • * CRITICISM OP BOWLERS. The. less said .about the English bowlers the better. They had the encouragement of an excellent start, and'that is the best encouragement of all. Yet. after that excellent start not one of them promised to give an even ordinarily good performance, personally I, was not at all surprised. More than once have I committed myself to the statement in the Daily Telegraph that unless Freeman'has-a'day out there ■ ls n <> reasonable'hope -that any England boiler (nor any two or three of them either) will get really good batsmen cheaply • unless. those batsmen choose to suffer from weak nerves. Frankly, there is a dearth of dangerous bowling all over England and the dorainlonf- Batting gets .oven more cautious, and the howler has not’yet solved the problem of how to defeat the cautious | batsman on a good wicket, Freeman for or eg failed.. /When the wicket! was slow on the. second, day of the match he never looked like Being . effective, nor did he either’when it had got much faster. So my worst fears were realised, namely that it would be a case of “ Freeman or no one.". To keep up their wickets the South -Africans had.only to keep up their courage. They did more than that. .They-declined to get themselves out. But they attacked instead of being content_to defend, and- a huge score was the legitimate result of their rather bold and very wise batting policy: ; LION-HEARTED. CRICKET. , .In a leading article tlie Daily Telegraph remarked;— , The ■ South Africans did the biggest thing: when--they pulled .the, match rightfound after the disastrous start of. their innings r on I the'; • eco'nd- their middle' and later batsmen so ; gloriously emulated 'the example of Taylor, .and Deane that they , were able to declare at 492 for eight wickets, and send England in to bat a second time with 234 runs to get to escape an innings defeat.; -That was lioh-liearted cricket,'a plucky bid for, victory which will appeal t„ every lover of the great came, and thrill *ha whole Union'of South Africa.lt did not succeed because England’s star .batsmen were Loolved that it- should not, - I' first. Hobbs and Sutcliffe,' by means of yet another of their..historic first-picket partnerships, and'' then Sutcliffe, and /Hammond by superb cricket put the issue beyou'd- a doubt, t Sutcliffe scored his.second century in the match, and Hammond more thap kept pace witji-hiivi. . Two hundred and' sixty-four for'one wicket. The’y: are thrilling figures, and will look well'- on the score sheet for all time. But it is no derogation to these' well-laurelled-heroes who saved ■ England hot only from defeat, but even from the mortification of a sense of escape, to say that it'is not their performance that will be longest remembered, and that the prime honours go to those who played so boldly for'the grand coup. Mr Deane,, the South African captain, who promised the 'cricketing world- a sporting seines of matches, has been as good as hie- word. There has-never been a more ■ deservedly popular- visiting, jiide, and’ never- a more' brilliant team" in - the field.’ and England has only won the rubber after many anxious, moments, when it seemed that youth would'not be denied. So far as England’s cricket prospects are concerned, these’ tests would seem to demonstrate the immense strength of England’s leading batsmen—Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond,' Woolley, Leylarm—two .of them - recognised Veterans, and one ofthem, actually ‘'.recalled ” to the side. -But the quality-of‘ the bowling-is by bo means so assured. Not one of the-three •bowlers who! did best in- Australia—Larwood; Tate, and Mr J. C. White—Nvas playing at the Oval. ’ Larwood, indeed, ih the last !two '.months. has' ceased to' be a really " fast ” howler,' Tate; had ’.little success with the ball in tlie first three matches, and the South Africans were not' repressed by Mw White’s .accurate length -as the Australians bad been. A RECORD OF AFFLICTION. . i Freeman, omitted from the first-two matches,' helped. powerfully to -win .the game at Leeds, and bowled with gre.it. effect at. Manchester, but at the Oval'he had the heartbreaking experience of not taking a single wicket in revenge for the I(i9 runs which were hit off his bowling. The aggressive South Africans mocked hie wizardry, snatched and held the initiative, and "put him’’ where they liked.; It is well that slow bowlers are schooled .to bear punishment with a' patient shrug. But-.for a test match bowler of Freeman’s: calibre this Is surely a record- of affliction.’ The strain of an Australian, tour between two cricket seasons at home is very grcat,_ and the England bowlers are evidently tired. - But there'is also need of new talent. •