“The Don” Is as Great As Ever

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26780, 25 May 1948, Page 8

“The Don” Is as Great As Ever

For the Daily Times by Jack Hobbs LONDON, May 2. Don’t let us, after his Worcester display, have any illusions about a declining Don Bradman. There are no new honours for him to pick up, and he is now, I am quite sure, captain of the side first and foremost. The attention to detail, such as allowing himself to be beaten in the race for the hundred, helps to make a team better. Worcester convinced me that the more mature Bradman will be a firstclass skipper in the all-round sense. His effort to give the newcomers to England batting practice did not come off, but the evidence of thought was there. There is nothing new to be said of Bradman as a batsman, and nothing can yet be subtracted from the things we know about him. The hook the powerful leg shot, the drive through the covers and the classic late cut are still there. Watching him once more confirms the view that the only real answer to the problem of Bradman is a good fast bowler. And I am not sure that he is the complete answer. Amazing Powers There is not the slightest doubt that Bradman could have added another double century to his previous Worcester ones had he not felt that the interests of his side would be better served if he did not stay to do it. Haven’t you seen him. after he had acknowledged the congratulations over reaching the century, put his cap on a little more firmly, take a new guard, and bring to bear again all his amazing powers of concentration? At Worcester his cap went further back, and he let go of himself. Nor should the failure of some of the other Australian batgmen.at Worcester delude us into thinking that this side won’t get a lot of runs. On good wickets they will, so let us hope that there will be at least some wickets on which bowlers can make the ball turn rather quickly, as Peter Jackson did. Bowling Strength The Australians did what was expected of them at Worcester. We should expect an England side to beat even the best county side, and Worcestershire, although possessing some good cricketers, are not the best county side. This Australian team is going to be good—of that I am convinced—and worthy of the very best we can put in the field against them. We did not see the fast bowlers throwing everything they had into it. but Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller will work up into shock men, although I am not prepared to prophesy, as yet, that they will be as good as the best Australia have ever sent us. That remains to be proved. There is enough bowling of other sorts at the command of the skipper to enable the fast ones to be used sparingly, and this other bowling looked to me reasonably good, Worcestershire had batsmen, such as Charles Palmer and Dick Howorth who showed how runs can be gpt from all of them, and who left us w’ith the impression that our fellows need not be frightened out before they go in. The leg-break bowler, McCool, who is very like our Warwickshire Hollies, did not keep an immaculate length, but I am not suggesting that he cannot do this. There is a real difference, for this type of bowler, between the length likely to be successful in Australia and here, and he has to find that new length, which is, roughly, further up to the batsman. lan Johnson is of a type similar to Robinson, of Yorkshire, and on the first showing is more accurate than McCool. New Left-hander Turning to the batting, there is the new-t'o-us left-hand opener, Arthur Morris, who is going to be a headache. He has been likened to Warren Bardsley, but to me the similarity begins and ends with the fact that they are both left-handed. Morris does not lift the bat so high or so straight back as Bardsley did, but he gets late power—quite a lot—into his shots. , . ~ . This means that his footwork is right and the timing good. There are no holes in his defence, and he may score even more runs than ever Bardsley got.