THE ENGLISH CRICKET TEAM.

Otago Witness, Issue 3005, 18 October 1911, Page 60

THE ENGLISH CRICKET TEAM.

By C. B. Fby.

In an article in his own magazine, C. B. Fry chats interestingly concerning the English cricketers who are now on their way to Australia.. Of Barnes he writes: —"Barnes is the finest fafol-mediumrpaco bowler we have, and a very fine one, indeed. At his best—and there is no reason he .should not be at his best—he is,. I believe, the best all-round bowler living, for Australian conditions or for any other." "Iremoriger is, I believe, the best me-dium-pace right-hand bowler we have for a perfect wicket, and is very good on a wet wicket. He is a clever bowler, who varies his pace. He is also a first-rate bat. "Fester is a fast-medium or fast lefthand bowler, of brilliant quality—distinctly the bast available. He is a tinilliant bat, likely to improve in every match. "Douglas is an accurate and. hard-work-ing, f ast. right-hand bowler. The beat bat by far of all bowlers who may be fairly classed as fast, and about as likely as any fast bowler we have, except Walter Brearley. to get wickets in Australia "Rhodes is probablj as useful as any, slow Left-hand bowler we have for Australian wickets, and lie is worth his place Otherwise for his batting. "For a set of stock bowlers the batting strength of these five is quite exceptional. Even Barnes is a good bat, and any of the other four might make a century in a test match. ' As Hobbs is quite a good fast bowler with a new ball, at any rate, as a change bowler, the bowling is almost adequate, even without Douglas. "As regards tha batting, Hobbs is the best batsman, who combines soundness with quiie brilliant "scoring strokes all round the wicket—except R. H. Spooner, ■who is at least his equal, but who cannot go to Australia. The. two would have made an ideal pair c* batsmen of one kind, and of a kind required. Spooner is a gieat loss to the side. "P. F. Warner, of all class batsmen now playing, has his scoring strokes so ordered as to give the widest margin of error—his scoring strokes ought never to cost him his wicket,—and this is precisely what is wanted in Australia; he ought to succeed in making many long scores, as he does in England. I suppose the Australians will get him out, but I cannot see how, in my mind : s eye. "Kirmeir is a left-handed Arthur Shrewsbury, and a batsman who may prove_ a great stumbling block to the Australian bowlers. General opinion in first-class cricket circles favours him as the best lefthanded bat we have for Australia. His defence is exceptionally sound, and his scoring strokes are exceptionally safe. "J. W. Hearne is a most promising bat, and has come prominently to the front this year, and he is the only possible legbreak bowler. " Woolley is the most powerful and (brilliant left-hand batsman we have, and Mead, also a iLbflfc-liand batsman, is one of the soundest batsmen playing. Woolley ia a

good fielder anywhere, and can. field in tie slips. This applies also to Mead. .. Fry's views as to the conditions obtaining in Australia are .also set out at length. "In picking a team," he states, the. difference of the conditions id England and Australia has to be very distinctly taken into account. The main differences are these:—(l) The duration of matches; matches are played out .to.a fimdh, and. are not limited to.three days. (2) The hours ol play; these are shorter and more split up. (3) The genera! character of the wickets and weather; the wickets are very perfect. The quality of the first two bowlers is of vital importance, since they can be so well and extensively used. Playing the matches out means that the bowling must never, if possible, be below high pressure, for every over is as important as another. Determined, persevering bowlers, who will work as hard and hopefully at a man who, has made 100 as at the newcomer, are required. Bowlers who will bowl well against heavy scoring and who will stick to it are required'. . , " Bowlers for true, fast wickets are required, those who shine only when the wickets help them, or on slow wickets, are at a discount. As everywhere, spin that makes the bowling quick from the pitch is most desirable. The bowlers who spin for break only are not much good. What is wanted is clevei- bowling, with skill m the deceptive variety of pace undisclosed by any change of delivery. Australian bowlers over here have been notable for this, and they have achieved it because Australian conditions necessitate it. A mechanical, purely uniform bowler has not the same value in Australia as here, no matter what his merit as such, and the bowler who relies upon mere finger-break from the off is at a discount, for his "break will not act. "Life from the pitch, combined with accuracy, steadiness, and cleverness in. deceptively changing the pace of the bowling, (make the best bowler for Australia; and the bowler with the power of swerving, if he combines- it with accuracy, is valuable; and a bowler with a naturally deceptive flight in the air is invaluable. In general, a bowler needs to do more ' in the air ' and less 'off the r>itdh' in Australia; and the "bowler who bowls the batsman out before the ball has pitched is the one who succeeds. But it is vital that cleverness should be combined with steadiness and extreme accuracy of length,'the.mere random, experimentalist costs too much for his occasional wicket. It must be noted that it is more difficult to make; the ball swerve in the Australian air than in England, and that the mere swerver who has no other merits is useless. •...-,. .. .•••./'-, -

"Then, again, though the shortness of the spells does away with the necessity for -many bowlers on a side, the perfection of the 'wickets demands that what bowlers you have should be not only of high quality but of distintet variety. They need to be a 'set' of bowlers, differing the one from the other in style. "The pace of the wickets makes a fast bowler very valuable, if he is accurate and is really and not nominally fast. Mere pace, unless it is abnormal, will not get •tvickets in Australia, and is sure to be expensive. A windmill bowler, not as fast as he looks, and liable to inaccuracy, is litSe use, and is a. snare, though such a bowler is often very useful here in county cricket. But either a very fast bowler, really very .fast, or a fast bowler with a swing away in the air or off the pitch—; if accurate and steady, and capable of more than one or two spells of bowling a dayis valuable.. -.-..„-.

."What I call fast-medium bowling under perfect control, with ability to make the ball run away from the bat after pitching, and to va.ry its pace deceptively, is the best in Australia: The whole _ history _of Australian bowling and of English bowling' ini Australia proves this. ..This, in! combination with genuine medium-pace bowling, makes the best stock bowling there. It must ha. remembered that the pace of the Australian -wickets makes a fast-medium bowler practically a fast bowler, and a medium-pace bowler practically a fastmedium—(at the same time I would avoid exaggerating the pace of Australian wickets). "Slow left-hand bowling is invaluable here, far less so in Australia. In Australia, if accurate, it is a useful variety for a chantge. But it is effective for getting wickets as a rule only on the rare occasions when the pitch is spoilt by rain, and when it is a. little worn in the later stages of a match. -

"Slow leg-break bowling is invaluable, if accurate —but chancy leg-break bowlirrg is too expensive. A bowler like Braund, who would, keep a length for hours, was most valuable. Bowling of the googlie type is invaluable, but it may, if inaccurate, lose matches as often, as it wins them. "It should be noted that a very great difference as to slow left-hand and legbreak bowling occurs in. the selection of a team if you can include this bowling without weakening your batting.. To carry a doubtful leg-break bowler or a slow left-hander, neither of whom is worth his place for batting, as well as a couple of non-batsmen standard bowlers and a non-batsman wicketkeeper, absolutely, spoils a team for Australia."