A HAPPY TOUR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23332, 26 October 1937, Page 5

A HAPPY TOUR

NEW ZEALAND CRICKETERS MR J. A. DUNNING RETURNS ENGLISH SEASON DESCRIBED The 1937 English cricket season was described to Mr J. A. Dunning by one of the umpires in the New Zealand team’s test series as “ the finest since 1911.” Mr Dunning, Otago’s only representative in the side, returned to the Dominion ahead of the other members of the side, and arrived in Dunedin on Saturday evening. He told a Daily Times representative yesterday that there seemed to be good reason to accept that statement. “We dodged most of what rain there was,” he said, “ and the continuous fine weather made a full itinerary a most strenuous one.” Players who had been on a previous English tour expected a certain measure of rest as the result of bad weather, but their expectations were not realised, and it was not surprising that the side was a tired one when the last match was played. The tour was a most happy one, Mr Dunning said, and the team was well received wherever it played. As a batting combination, it could not

settle down in the early matches, the only player to show any consistency at this stage being D. A. R Moloney, who found his best form early and maintained it throughout the tour, i The reason for the spasmodic form in the first few matches was, in Mr Dunning’s opinion, the fact that the ball was not coming along at an even height on most of the wickets, and the batsmen were playing back rather too much. The Notts match, a week before the first test, was the first in which the side showed any signs of welding its batting strength. After that, however, several" of the batsmen showed really first class form. M. P. Donnelly, M. W. Wallace and W. A. Hadlee, in particular, played some brilliant innings. “They were the three who turned on the fireworks when they got started,” Mr Dunning said. Mj L. Page captained the team very well indeed, but he suffered a severe strain in the final test and really should not have played again. Cowie’s Fine Form The fielding throughout the tour was satisfactory, although the absence of A, W. Roberts from the slips, first, when he was unable to play, and later when he was suffering from an injured finger, was a serious loss. Roberts bowled extremely- well once his shoulder was right, Mr Dunning added, and J. Cowie’s form was splendid. That was borne out by his figures for the test series—l 9. wickets at an average cost of 20. “ It is a long time since any fast bowler finished a test series with better figures than those,” Mr Dunning said. “Cowie was very consistent and at times he bowled really fast.” The weather did not help the left-handers, but Moloney reproduced something like the form he showed in Dunedin five or six years ago and was a valuable member of the attack. “ It is not correct to say that any of the bowlers were overworked,” he went on. “ There were always plenty on hand, and if anyone was bowled a lot it was simply because he happened to be in form. The reason for weariness was just that there was so little bad weather to give us a spell.” Mr Dunning commented on the great interest that was taken in the English county championship in the season just closed. The result was in doubt right until the final match, and Yorkshire’s success was due mainly to the fact that it worked together so well as a team. On paper Middlesex was the stronger combination. In its last match, for example, it fielded three fast bowlers —G. O. Allen, Smith and Gray—and three leg spinners—R. W. V. Robins, H. G. Owen-Smith and Sims, all internationals; but the side lacked Yorkshire’s cohesion. Of the English batsmen who played against the New Zealanders, Mr Dunning ranked Hammond, Hardstaff and R. E. S Wyatt in that order at the top. England’s batting in the next few seasons should be good enough, he thought. There were many very promising young players, the best of whom were probably Hutton (first easily), Edrich and Compton (both of Middlesex) and Washbrook, of Lancashire. Any one of them should get his chance in the next test series and probably more than one should be in the limelight before the series was finished. Dearth of Good Bowlers The tourists found plenty of good medium-fast bowlers in the county sides but nobody of outstanding promise. Larwood did not play in the last month of the season, having been suspended by his county committee, and his foot was still troubling him. Goddard and Clay were both successful with off-spinners bowled round the wicket, but Verity seemed to be the only left-hand bowler in the top flight. He was feeling the effect of his hard tour in Australia with the last English side, but it was expected that he would return to the test team next season. There were no outstanding leg spin bowlers, Sims probably being the best who played against the New Zealanders. “It is difficult and dangerous to make forecasts in cricket," Mr Dunning said " but unless it is a wet summer 1 don’t like England’s chances against Australia next time If the season is as fine as the one we experienced I am afraid there will be some tired bowling arms among the Englishmen.” He thought that English bowlers generally were suffering from too much first-class

cricket. Few of them had rests, most of them playing week after week throughout the season. The comparison with the conditions of 25 years ago was obvious and the effects of such continuous play were just as apparent. Numerous Invitations “Altogether the tour will be a most happy memory to everybody in the side,” Mr Dunning concluded. “Everything possible was done to make the trip enjoyable. In fact, invitations were so numerous that very many of them had to be refused. We were travelling two nights a week and playing most days, and it was necessary to cut entertainment down to a minimum.” Among those who went to a good deal of trouble to make the visitors welcome was Lord Bledisloe, who took a great interest in their doings and met them several times in addition to entertaining them on his estate. F. D. Prentice, captain of the 1930 British Rugby team in New Zealand, was another who could not do enough for them. The trip out from England seems to have'dispelled any tiredness that there might have been in Mr Dunning’s bowling arm at the end of the tour, and his keenness is illustrated by his enthusiasm to get back into Dunedin club cricket. He will be turning out with the Carisbrook side this week.