THOUGHTS ON THE TESTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22398, 20 October 1934, Page 18

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTS

CRICKET ONLY A GAME PRESS COMMENTS UNFAIR AND DISCOURTEOUS. (From Oue Own Correspondent.) LONDON, August 23. The Times: The Australians have thoroughly deserved their victory. A great side, admirably captained, with every man in it keyed up to the highest point oh keenness and physical fitness, they, proved themselves the kett-er team in the series as a whole, and in the final match at the Oval they outclassed their opponents in every department o£ the game. No sportsman will begrudge them their recapture of the Ashes, though everyone will regret that, in the end, the English team were. not able to make a better showing against them. . . . The Australians will-be among the first to admit that the luck of the game was against their opponents. . . . It may be said also that the English players were handicapped throughout the tests, and especially in the final crucial game, by the attitude of a large section of the press, which, for its own purposes, set out to revive the unfortunate controversy of last year. Its comments were unfair to them, and unfair as well as discourteous’ to the visitors, who from start to finish showed themselves good sportsmen as well as fine cricketers, and certainly deserved better treatment.

The test matches, if they are to be worth continuing, must become again what they used to be —a series of keen but friendly games. Unfortunately the last matches played in Australia; were made the occasion of a bitter wrangle and were marked by incidents which have left unpleasant memories. At can do no good to attempt to apportion the responsibility, but a large share of it undoubtedly belongs to those newspapers, both English and Australian,, which made the most of every unfortunate episode, doing their best to'turn a trial of cricketing skill into, an unseemly squabble, and, with an absurd lack of any sense of proportion, making it appear that the national honour depended upon the fate of the Ashes. The ordinary level-headed citizen, who enjoys watching a good game of cricket, but who, even in his most enthusiastic moments, does not forget that it is only a game, was driven to feel that it would be better to have no test matches than to have them continued in this spirit. , . . It is easy to be wise after the event, . but the general conclusion is that it was a mistake to resume the matches until the controversy which had been made the cause of so much bitterness had been settled once for all; until, that is to say, the British and Australian cricket authorities had agreed what was cricket and what was not, and the public on both sides had been informed of the terms of their agreement.- The uncertainty which waS - * allowed to persist gave less responsible critics an opportunity which they exploited eagerly and with more success than -is pleasant to contemplate. This mistake -should not be repeated. Before the. English team leaves for the next test match in Australia’’ there should be an agreed authoritative pronouncement burying the controversy which has done so much to spoil the game. ’ INCREASING DOUBT AND DISTRUST. The Daily Telegraph: At every point of the -game, except one innings against Verity on a bad, wicket, Woodfull and his men have been too good for ours. If they have played" with the rigour of the game, they have always plkyed like sportsmen, and wo cheer their victory. It is not our habit in England to be bad losers. Why is it, then, that the very crowds which delight to honour the Australians have gone home saying they have had enough of test matches for a long time? The answer is that the whole series has been played, in an atmosphere of increasing doubt and distrust. Everyone who knew anything of cricket could see. that the English elevens did not represent England. The captain who led the team which won back the Ashes from Australia, the best captain whom England has had for a score of years and one of her classic batsmen, had reported himself not available this season. His most brilliant bowler declared that he would not play against the Australians. Finally, the bowler who took the other end efficiently in Australia, and who made an outstanding success against Wodfull’s team here, was not asked to play in a test." The M.C.C. have only themselves to blame if the general public suspect and condemn their management of affairs. . . . Before another Eng-

lish team is sent to Australia the M.C.C. must negotiate with the Australian Board of Control and reach a precise and public understanding as to what bowling is. legitimate and what is not. There must be no more mystery. “SENSATIONAL BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW.’' The Morning Post: The play In these test matches has been well enough, but not the .attendant seethe of publicity. The exploits of the Anzacs on Gallipoli scarce had as much room in certain newspapers as the performances of the Australians on the cricket pitch. Nothing worse than weariness would have ensued if the three and four commentators commissioned by some journals had merely described the game, but the cricketers not selected have been sneering at the Selection Committee, journalists have been making sensational bricks without straw, and personalities, politics and rancid speculation have nauseated that predominant part of the public which still remembers cricket as a game. Ordinary people would prefer to lose a hundred test matches by progressively record scores, or to abandon the fixtures, than risk ill-feeling with Australia, but many of our publicists—the captain of Nottinghamshire, for example —cannot comprehend this feeling, Mr Carr concluded one of his typical interventions by remarking: “The best thing for cricket might be for Larwood, Voce and myself to retire from the game in England, and teach the Chinese leg theory ”; and so far as the lastnamed of the trio we have not heard a solitary voice contradict him. In the tests to come, if the tests are to go on, heaven save us from this modern generation of interminable prattlers. VALUE OR LENGTH. A. E. R. Gilligan, in the NewsChronicle: “Australia had deservedly regained the Ashes and given England a real hiding. To my mind, there was only one side in it from the start, and Australia was fully a 50 per cent, better team in every way. Some of our cricket was deplorable, and the less said about it the better. . . . What England has got to learn is that good length bowling will win matches in the future. The sooner our young men realise the value of length, the better chance we shall have to regain the Ashes.” THE "LEG THEORY” MESS. The Daily Express: “The Australians deserve their triumph, and, next to themselves, may congratulate the M.C.C. Now that it’s over, will the M.C.C. please clean up the ‘leg theory’ mess? For they did not bury it by omitting to select Jardinc, Larwood and Voce, They left the body on the pitch at the Oval.” FINIS. The News-Chronicle: “ Tiie test match is over, and a service will be done to the interests of cricket and sportsmanship if recriminations are over, too. It has not been a very cheery encounter, and it is a consolation to know that it is finished.” . ..