CRICKET

Otago Witness, Issue 4039, 11 August 1931, Page 27

CRICKET

THE NEW ZEALAND TEAM. THE GLAMORGAN MATCH. NEW ZEALAND’S EASY WIN. • SWANSEA, August 4. . The start of the Glamorgan-New Zealand match was delayed for 50 minutes On account of rain. . Lavis was caught in attempting a big hit. Mercer was more successful. He opened with two sixes off successive balls from Vivian, and continued to hit in hurricane fashion till the end of the innings. The New Zealanders, however, gained a nine-wickets victory. After the dismissal of Clay Ryan offered little resistance. Mercer batted for 29 minutes. He hit six sixes and and the' slow bowlers’ averages suffered in consequence. Merritt shonred signs of a return to form. New Zealand required 33 for victory. Cromb was out lbw with the total at 6. Allcott and Talbot, however, obtained the necessary runs, the former hitting one six and two fours in one over off Turnbull. The following are the scores:— GLAMORGAN. First innings 13G Second Innings. Howard, b Cromb 14 Bates, lbw, b Matheson 4 Dai Davies, b Talbot 32 Dyson, b Talbot .. 25 Jenkins, st Lowry, b Merritt .. .. 40 Turnbull, b Talbot 23 Duckworth, b Cromb 1 Lavis, e Merritt, b Allcott .. .. 22 Mercer, not out 62 Clay, b Merritt .' 24 Ryan, c Cromb, b Merritt .. ~ 4 Extras 8 Total 259 Bowling Analysis:—Cromb, two for 38; Matheson, one for 15; Talbot, three for 33; Merritt, three for 68; Vivian, none for 59; Allcott, one for 38. NEW ZEALAND. First Innings. Mills, c Jenkins, b Clay 137 Merritt, st Jenkins, b Ryan 19 Kerr, b Clay 11 Talbot, lbw, b Clay 1 Weir, lbw, b Clay 4 Blunt, b Lavis 60 Lowry, c Dai Davies, b Ryan .... 5 Cromb, b Dai Davies 14 Vivian, not out 54 Allcott, lbw, b Bates 2 Matheson, b Bates 34 Extras 22 Total 363 Bowling Analysis.—Mercer, none for 57; Dai Davies, one for 58; Ryan, two for 80; Clay, four for 90; Lavis, one for 34; Bates, two for 22. Second Innings. Cromb, lbw, b Clay 3 Allcott, not out 22 Talbot, not out 11 Total for one wicket .. 36 Bowling Analysis.—Mercer, none for 8; Lavis, none for 2; Clay, one for 9; Turnbull, none for 17. WARWICKSHIRE MATCH. HOME SIDE THREE FOR 65. BIRMINGHAM, August 5. The New Zealand team started well against Warwickshire. The wicket was easy and the weather is dull. Cromb, Allcott, and Dempster are standing down. The Warwickshire team is as follows: —Wyatt, Kemp-Welch, Croom, Bates, Parsons, Kilner, Partridge, Smart, Foster, Mayer, and Paine. Lowry lost the toss, and Warwickshire made a disastrous start. Kemp-Welch -was caught in the slips in the third over, Croom played one on, and Wyatt was dismissed by a brilliant catch by James on the leg side. Three wickets were down for 15. Parsons and Bates stopped the collapse. A GOOD RECOVERY. BIRMINGHAM, August 5. The batting of Parsons, Bates, and Kilner retrieved the position for Warwickshire. The New Zealand bowlers were hampered after the first half-hour by a greasy ball. Play was resumed at 2.35, the light causing a delay of 50 minutes. Parsons and Bates added 125 runs for the fourth wicket. Both batsmen were lucky occasionally when facing Matheson. Bates was eventually caught at midon in attempting to force Vivian. The fifth wicket partnership of Parsons and Kilner also added 125 runs before Kilner snicked Blunt and was caught off a well-pitched leg spinner. Merritt dismissed Partridge, and the day closed half an hour early owing to the bad light.

Parsons gave an excellent display of clean driving, and he used his height to advantage. He was dropped by James off Matheson when 21. Despite the greasy ball Matheson was frequently dangerous. He has developed considerable pace, and occasionally made the ball rise to awkward heights.

HOME SIDE’S TOTAL 401. BIRMINGHAM, August 6. Warwickshire put up the fine first innings score of 401, and New Zealand had lost eight wickets for 143 when stumps were drawn. Merritt dismissed Smart after a spell in the morning, the batsman being caught by Vivian at long-off. After lunch Vivian quickly disposed of the tail. Parsons fought hard to reach 200, but was run out in attempting a risky second run in order to keep the bowling. Despite the chances which he gave, his was a fine innings, dominated by forceful driving and lasting 320 minutes. He hit 13 fours. The New Zealand batsmen made their most disappointing showing of the tour. The weather had cleared when they batted, and the light had improved. Mills was caught behind the wickets, and Weir and Page were snapped up in the slips. Kerr was caught at cover from an off drive, while Vivian skied Paine in attempting a big hit. The weakness of the early batting was revealed by the confident manner in which James and Matheson faced the attack, the pair adding 43 and being still in for the ninth wicket partnership. NEW ZEALAND FOLLOWS ON. LONDON, August 7. At Birmingham the New Zealand cricketers continued the match against Warwickshire in fine weather, and the innings closed for 159. THE MATCH DRAWN. BIRMINGHAM, August 7. Good batting by Blunt, Weir, and Vivian resulted in New Zealand wiping of Warwickshire’s first innings lead be" fore stumps were drawn. The wicket was showing signs of wear, and patches at both ends assisted the medium bowlers, Partridge and Meyer. Mills and Kerr were dismissed early, and then steady batting by Blunt and Weir improved the situation, and the pair added 89 to the total before Weir was bowled in attempting a leg shot. Vivian and Blunt added 101 for the fourth wicket. Blunt was subdued, and Vivian played a sound, chanceless innings, neglecting no scoring opportunities. Both lost their wickets shortly after tea. Vivian returned a catch "from a kicking delivery to Partridge. He batted for 76 minutes, and hit nine fours. Blunt was bowled with an off break of unusual proportions. His innings lasted 209 minutes, and included three fours. Lowry then placed his side ahead. He was eventually caught in the slips, and Page and Talbot played out time. The match was drawn. Following are the scores:— WARWICKSHIRE. First Innings. Kemp-Welch, c Page, b Matheson 2 Croom, b Talbot 2 Bates, c. Matheson, b Vivian .... 76 Wyatt, c" James, b Talbot .... 3 Rev. J. H. Parsons, run out .. .. 190 Kilner, c James, b Blunt 48 Partridge, b Merritt 1 Smart, c Vivian, b Merritt .... 30 Foster, c Talbot, b Vivian 17 Mayer, e James, b Vivian 8 Paine, not out 2 Extras 22 Total 401 Bowling Analysis.—Matheson, 1 for 84; Talbot, 2 for 79; Blunt, 1 for 23; Merritt, 2 for 103; Vivian, three for 23; Weir, 0 for 20; Lowry, 0 for 47. NEW ZEALAND. First Innings. Mills, c Smart, b Partridge .. .. 11 Kerr, c Bates, b Partridge 18 Blunt, b Paine 23 Weir, c Foster, b Wyatt 11 Vivian, c Bates, b Paine 6 Page, c Partridge, b Paine .... 4 Lowry, b Wyatt 13 Talbot, run out 4 James, lbw, b Mayer 30 Matheson, b Partridge 29 Merritt, not out ~ - 8 Extras g Total 159 Bowling Analysis.—Partridge, three for 59; Mayer, one for 23; Foster, none for 7; Paine, three for 35; Wyatt, two for 27. . Second Innings. Mills, c Kemp-Welch, b Partridge .. 2 Kerr, c Paine, b Partridge .. .. 9 Blunt, b Partridge 87 Weir, b Paine. ’’ 33 Vivian, c and b Partridge .. ~ 57 Lowry, c Partridge, b Foster .. .. 21 Page, not out 20 Talbot, not out ~ 4 Extras Total for six wickets .. 252 Bowling Analysis.—Partridge, four for 64; Mayer, none for 47; Foster, one for 44; Wyatt, none for 29; Paine, one for 34; Croom, none for 20. AGAINST GLOUCESTER. BRISTOL, August 8. Steady bowling, well handled by Lowry, allowed the New Zealanders to dismiss Gloucestershire cheaply. The weather was dull and the wicket slow. Talbot, Kerr, and Merritt are standing out of the New Zealand team, and Hammond and - Dacre are absent from Gloucester owing to injuries. Lowry lost the toss.

The Gloucestershire batsmen generally made a poor showing against the

accurate spin bowling of Allcott, who was the first change after Matheson and Cromb. He spun the ball back appreciably, and bowled Seabrook with a beautiful ball. At the adjournment for lunch the score read three wickets for 5. After lunch Vivian and Page quickly gained the upper hand, and were assisted by excellent work by James, behind the wicket. Ford and Benson added 42 for the ninth wicket, both showing appreciation of the fact that the ball was turning slowly. Matheson captured the last two wickets in one over. Fine stumping dismissed Parker, who lifted his back foot after playing forward, and James whipped off the bails. Tlftj attendance in the afternoon was 4000. ' 1 Rain._at the tea adjournment caused an abandonment of play for the day. Following are the scores:— GLOUCESTER. First Innings. Seabrook, b Allcott 27 Sinfield, b Page 15 Smith, b Allcott .. 1 Neale, lbw, b Vivian 7 Barnett, c Blunt, b Page .. .. 20 Stephens, c Weir, b Vivian .. .. 2 Rogers, st James, b Page 0 Parker, st James, b Vivian .. .. 0 Ford, not out 37 Benson, lbw, b Matheson .. .. 10 Goddard, c Page, b Matheson .. .. 0 Extras 4 Total 123 Bowling Analysis:—Matheson, two for 12; Cromb, none for 11; Blunt, none for 9; Page, three for 3G; Allcott, two for 24; Lowry, none for 1; Vivian, three for 26. REMARKABLE BOWLING FEAT. LONDON, August 3. Leading Aircraftsman Monks, playing for the Air Force against the Army, equalled Albert Trott’s feat in a benefit match at Lord’s in 1907, first accomplishing the hat trick and-then taking the last four wickets with successive deliveries. He clean bowled six out of seven. ENGLAND’S SUCCESS IN TEST. SPORTING LIFE COMMENT. LONDON, August 5. Sporting Life expresses the opinion that England’s victory over New Zea land in the test match seems to have gone to the heads of certain people. The paper would like to see the victori ous team in serious antagonism with Woodfull’s combination, including Bradman, Ponsford, Kippax, and Grimmett. TAKINGS AT SECOND TEST. NEW ZEALAND’S SHARE. CHRISTCHURCH, August 6. Information has been received by the New Zealand Cricket Council from Mr A. T. Donnelly, chairman of the Management Committee, who is now in England, that New Zealand’s share of the gate receipts of the second test match amounted to £1229, bringing the receipts for the tour to the end of that match to £5861. Mr Donnelly adds that the New Zealand team’s performance in this match was splendid; equal, in the opinion of good judges, to that at Lord’s. “ The luck was right against us,” he concluded. INDIAN CRICKET TEAM. PROPOSED TOUR ABANDONED. DELHI, August 7. The Bengal-Assam Cricket Association has decided not to recommend a visit of an Indian team to England next year in view’ of the present disturbed political situation. THE COUNTY MATCHES LONDON, August 4. The county matches resulted as follow:— SURREY v. NOTTS. Surrey, first innings 362 (Squires 90) : second 82 (Voce, six for 43). Notts, first innings, 298; second, one for 147. Notts won by nine wickets. MIDDLESEX v. SUSSEX. Middlesex, first innings, 205 (Tate, four for 29) ; second, 204 (Langridge, seven for 76). Sussex, first innings, 375 (Duleepsinhji 103); second, one for 36. Sussex won by nine wickets. YORKSHIRE v. LANCASHIRE. Yorkshire, first innings, seven for 484 declared (Sutcliffe 195, Holmes 125). Lancashire, first innings 221. Followed on with two for 165. Yorkshire won on the first innings. SOMERSET v. KENT. Somerset, first innings, 122 (Freeman, seven for 59); second, 67 (Freeman, eight for 35). Kent, first innings, 145 (Andrews, five for 52); second, two for 48. Kent w’on by eight w’ickets. LEICESTER v. NORTHANTS. Leicester, first innings, 153; second. 307 (Berry 156). Northants, first innings, 296 (Astill, five for 36; second, six for 108). Northants won on the first innings. GLOUCESTER v. HAMPSHIRE. Gloucester, first innings, 253 (Bailey, five for 51); second, nine for 280 de-

clared (Dacre 101). Hampshire, first innings, 272; second, 105 (Goddard, five for 58). Gloucester won by 156 Tuns. WORCESTER v. ESSEX. Worcester, first innings, 389 (Green 108) ; second, one for 61. Essex, first innings, 193. Followed on for 256. Worcester won by nine wickets. DERBY v. WARWICK. Derby, first innings, 93 (Partridge, five for 43) ; second, 191. Warwick, first innings, 160; second, one for 130. Warwick won by nine wickets. LONDON, August 7. Rain curtailed most of the county games. ESSEX v. MIDDLESEX. Essex, first innings, eight for 352 declared (Eastman 78). Middlesex, first innings, 155. They followed on and lost one wicket for 126. Essex won on the first innings. LANCASHIRE v. WORCESTER. Lancashire, first innings, three for 158 declared. Worcester, first innings, 70 (Tyldesley, five for 40). Lancashire won on the first innings. GLOUCESTER v. SOMERSET. Gloucester, first innings, seven for 128 declared. Somerset, first innings, seven for 129. Somerset won on the first innings. SURREY v. GLAMORGAN. Surrey, first innings, none for none declared; second, three for 214 (Sandham, not out, 100). Glamorgan, first innings, none for none declared; second, seven for 216. Glamorgan won by three wickets. NORTHANTS v. NOTTS. Northants, first innings, 168 (Staples seven for 75) ; second, 131 (Voce, six for 40). Notts, first innings, 169 (Jupp five for 46) ; second, eight for 111 (Matthews, five for 39). Notts won on the first innings. SUSSEX v. HAMPSHIRE. Sussex, first innings, 327 (Duleepsinhji 127, Kennedy, five for 67). Hampshire, first innings, 140 (Tate, five for 36). They followed on, and lost four wickets for 132. Sussex won on the (first innings. YORKSHIRE v. LEICESTER. Yorkshire, first innings, four for 447 (Sutcliffe 187, Leyland 90). Leicester, first innings, 241 (Bowes, five for 95). They followed on, and scored 181 (Macauley, six for 52). Yorkshire won by an innings and 25 runs. KENT v. DERBY. Kent, first innings, 299 (Crawley 90. Townsend, five for 78). Derby, first innings, 125 (Freeman, five for 77, Marriott, five for 42). They followed on, and lost seven wickets for 209. Kent won on the first innings. FARCICAL DECLARATIONS. LONDON, August 7. The latest cricket comedy occurred in the Surrey-Glamorgan match. There was no play on the first two days, and the captains agreed on a double declaration in the first innings after the first ball had been bowled. The wicket was then rolled for 12 minutes between each innings to comply scrupulously with the rule.

THE TEST MATCH AT LORD’S. DAY TO DAY IMPRESSIONS. By Dr A. J. Harrop. (Photographs in This Issue.) I. As I write (June 27) great crowds of people are leaving the headquarters of cricket after a thrilling day’s play in weather that could not have been more perfect. Lord’s on such a day as this is a wonderful spectacle. From earliest morning the certainty of a fine day had caused everybody to discard the unseasonable clothing which has too often been the lot of cricket crowds this season. There is a touch of Ascot in the feminine section of the 25,000 who comfortably fill the ground. Flags are flying, small boys are running round with autograph books, and there is a great cheer when the first bell is rung. Dempster, Kerr, and Lowry hurry from the nets, meeting Duleepsinhji and Peebles, who have also been having a preliminary knock, on the way. Jardine leads his men out from the pavilion gate, Dempster and Mills soon following them. To the hundreds of New Zealanders present it was a thrilling moment. A quick wicket or two and anything might happen in a game where there was every excuse for “ nerves.” But there was nothing nervous about the play of either Dempster or Mills. The latter scored a boundary in the first over, and was so obviously in form-that Dempster was content to let him make the pace, though he collected a couple of twos off Alien’s first over. Mills got a second four off Voce, the Notts bowler, with a brilliant stroke, and a noball from Allen met the same fate. A double change of bowling with the score at 48 quietened things down.

Hammond came on for Allen and Peebles for Voce. The latter bowled Mills W’hen he had scored 34 out of 58. The Auckland man’s innings was characteristic. So good was it that.many compared it with an effort by Woolley. In this country there are few higher compliments that a left-handed batsman can hope to gain.

Dempster showed he was not downhearted at his partner’s 'departure by hitting two fours off Peebles in one over and another in his next. This led to Peebles being replaced by Robins, who has the reputation of bowling unplayably for brief spells. This was not one of them, and Dempster brought the 100 up with a four off the Middlesex man. Weir, after playing himself in, had batted with skill and determination, though at 20 he gave a very awkward chance to Jardine at fine leg. Five minutes before lunch Dempster was out lbw to Peebles. His 53 included six boundaries, and its value, in view of what was to come, can hardly be overestimated.

Lunch seemed to stimulate England’s spin bowlers. They began to get°a grip of the game when Weir met the same fate as Dempster, and Kerr, tempted down the pitch by Robins, was easily stumped. Neither Blunt nor Lowry could stem the tide, and it was left to I age and Cromb to put a healthier complexion on the score board. Merritt and Allcott saw the 200 up, and the former was last out after a typical innings for 17.

A total of 224, though moderately respectable, did not give New Zealanders a great deal to be enthusiastic over during the interval parade on the ground. We had visions of England passing this score for the loss of three or four wickets. But there is no game more uncertain than cricket, and after 20 minutes of England’s innings, the score, almost incredibly, read: 30 3 7. Cromb had got rid of the opening pair, Arnold and Bakewell, and the famous W'alter Hammond himself for the be<rgai ly total of 30. Whatever happened during the rest of the day, we could sit back in our seats contented. A good many things did happen. Duleepsinhji, always inclined to be optimistic, tried to hit a six off his fii st over from Merritt. Kerr was waiting near the boundary and made the catch look easy. Jardine and Woollev set about, the task of retrieving the "a me. The England captain had scored 38°when he was caught by Blunt at square le" off Merritt. As Jardine has been ing brilliantly all the season, with an average over the century, New Zealand could consider itself lucky to be rid of him comparatively cheaply. Woolley hit brilliantly, but even he found Merritt troublesome, and he was out for SO shortly before the close. Peebles, sent in to play out time, took some of his own medicine from Merritt and was stumped by James. Thus seven wickets were down for 190, and England were by no means certain of a (list innings lead. The changing fortunes of the game are causing consternation in newspaper oflices. Placards and headlines readin" New Zealand Collapse in Test” are being hastily replaced by “ England’s Disastrous Opening.” If the rest of the match is as eventful, the authorities will have cause to regret the decision to give New Zealand only one test.

To-day (June 29) has been a period of ups and downs from the New Zealand point of view. With only three wickets in hand, England were 34 runs behind when play commenced. We knew that Ames, Allen and Robins were good batsmen, but Ames had been verv uncomfortable on Saturday, and we told ourselves that it was improbable that England would gain much of a lead on the first innings. Our hopes were doomed to disappointment. In half an hour Ames and Allen had collected 45 runs between them, without looking like getting out. They were together at lunch time, when Ames had reached the century and Allen was 98. Lowry made 17 bowling changes without effect. None of the bowlers could get any great response from tho turf, and they seemed to lack much of the fire which their bowling had shown on Saturday. a The fielding, under heavy pressure, was very steady, and the batsmen were presented with very few runs. Ames, who was nearly stumped before he scored on Saturday, was severe on Merritt, who found it difficult to keep a length. It was one of his off days, and as a result a great deal of work fell upon Blunt, who was bowling well but without luck. After lunch Lowry gave Weir a turn with the ball—his first since Saturday. Soon afterwards he had Ames caught at the wicket and thus ended the record eighth wicket stand of 246, which seemed to spell victory for England. Weir continued the good work by getting both Allen and Robins to give Lowry redhot catches, which he accepted gratefully, though the second caused his hand to bleed profusely. Thus the innings came to an end at last for 454—a total which would have seemed incredible yesterday.

We still hoped for the best, however, when Dempster and Mills went to the wicket. If they could put on a hundred or so for the first wicket, the match would at least be kept alive till tomorrow. Dempster scored a single, and then Mills was bowled in trying to hit a full toss from Allen to the boundary. One for one. This was a dreadful start, and we did not envy Weir as he made his way to the wicket. He did not seem at all worried. At such a time we did not expect fireworks. What was-wanted was grim determination—and this is just what we got. Without being stonewallers, Dempster and Weir simply declined to take unnecessary risks. Jardine began to bring his whole battery of bowlers into action, but still the score crept on. Soon it was 50 for one, and we began to breathe more freely. Dempster was playing better than on Saturday. There was less of the pad play,

which was the only blot on his performance then. Weir was perhaps a little less confident, but there was not much in it. The score had been taken to exactly 100 when Allen bowled Weir with a ball which kept rather low. Lowry wisely changed his batting order at this stage. It would have been a severe ordeal for Kerr, who was out for 2 in the first innings, to come in at this point. Page, with more experience and a better first-innings tally, ■was emphatically the man for the gap. He filled it so well that we are now able to go home with the comforting reflection that New Zealand is but 69 runs behind with eight, wickets to fall. A score of 161 for two will keep the third day interest in the match very much alive, with Dempster wanting only 14 for his century.

We were all up bright and early this morning (June 30) determined that nothing in the nature of traffic blocks should keep us from getting to Lord’s by 11 o’clock, when play began. As we got near the ground, we found crowds converging upon it with the same object of being there when Dempster readied the century. We nourished the secret hope that Page might also perform the feat, for he lead batted with splendid confidence on Monday. Punctually at 11 the English team came out on this day which was to be the most momentous in our cricket history. Dempster and Page were only a few yards behind them, and there was a breathless hush as they started to •wipe out the arrears of 69. Neither looked at all troubled by the ordeal. The bowling of Voce and Hammond did not lack sting, but it was all played with absolute correctness. Soon Dempster had reached the hundred, amid prolonged cheers. Page ran to 50, but then lost his partner, who played, hut did not quite stop, a ball from Hammond. His 120 will go down as one of the best innings played in test cricket at Lord’s. Years hence those of us who saw every ball bowled to-day will he telling the story of this sunny June morning. Blunt came in next. We had seen him make 82 in somewhat similar circumstances against Middlesex, and we knew that he had the necessary skill and courage to save the situation. Voce at. this stage was bowling well, probably more dangerously than at any other time in the match. From a position almost behind the wicket, we could see two or three balls of his first over beat Blunt's bat. But the batsman survived the early onslaught of bowlers who knew that the time of crisis had arrived. With that very short lift of the bat which has become sqf marked a characteristic, Blunt pushed the ball away for occasional singles, but never neglected to punish anything that was loose. He began to score faster than Page, who, however, scored several boundaries by good hard smacks to leg, which gave the fieldsmen no chance. Lunch was approaching and England's position was getting rather . desperate. The score board took on an Australian appearance. Page was in the 90’s, Blunt in the 60's, the total about 340 for three, and the last player's score 120! We badly wanted to see Page with 100 before lunch, but it came with his score 99 and the total 349 for three. New Zealand’s magnificent rally brought thousands to the ground in the interval, and the attendance mounted to about 14,000. There was some very exciting play immediately after the resumption. Page got his century easily enough—and the ovation he received was a fitting

appreciation of a fighting innings played * at so critical a time. But soon afterwards Peebles got him caught and bowled, a favourite form of dismissal • with the Middlesex man who follows Iris deliveries about half-way down the side of the pitch. Kerr was out lbw next ball, and England’s hopes of victory began to revive. Cromb scored 14 before he was caught off a long-hop from Robins, which he hit hard and which Voce gathered magnificently with his left hand. Blunt had run from 88 to 96 with two boundary strokes, and we were looking forward to his century when Robins produced a couple of those balls which get him his place in representative sides, and which atone for much of the loose stuff he sends down. The second ball took Blunt’s wicket—to everybody’s regret. But his innings of 96 will have its honoured place in every account of the match. Merritt, for once, did not last long; and when Lowry, with a damaged finger, joined Allcott, New Zealand were onlv 176 on, and there was plenty of time for England to get the runs. The stand which followed was, therefore, to determine whether the great stands which had preceded it were to be in vain. As in the first innings, Lowry opened uncomfortably. He took 20 minutes before he scored, but time was just as valuable as runs at this point. We had our watches in our hands, calculating as nearly as we could how many runs New Zealand must put on to be safe The score crept up, Allcott, whose, steady _ bowling had already helped the side enormously, making some very good strokes. Lowry, too, began to get going, and soon was scoring at a good pace. He was bowled when 34 after a ninth wicket stand of 63, which enabled, him to have the honour of declaring against England; 469 for nine was a total to be proud of, and newsboys were soon spreading the news all over London. England had 240 runs to make in 140 minutes. The task was almost impossible if the bowling was reasonably

steady, but one rather expected Woolley to be sent in to see what he could do to reduce the gap. But Jardine stuck to his early order, doubtless -with the idea of testing young Arnold and Bakewell out thoroughly. They were revealed as good batsmen, but they could not score at anything like the pace required. Both went at 62, Blunt catching one off Cromb, and the other off his own bowling. The wicket was some reward for the excellence of his bowling in both innings. Allcott, too. had the satisfaction of getting Dtileepsinhji well taken at the wieket by James. When Cromb bowled Woolley with a splendid ball New Zealand’s cup of contentment was full, and a smart piece of work in the field saw Hammond rather unluckily run out after making 46. Jardine came in to play out the last few minutes, the score at the close reading 146 for five. Coming off tlu? field at the end of this eventful match, the New Zealand team received the applause it deserved from a crowd which all through had been appreciative of the stirring changes of fortunes which have marked the game. The fact that more than 54.000 people have paid 2s for admission (quite apart from stand receipts) is sufficient indication of the public interest in the game. The New Zealand fielding was every bit as good as the England team’s, and even during the great stand by Ames and Allen it did not wilt. The bowling of Cromb. who was on for two hours without change in the second innings was better than that of anybody else

in the match. The batting, at times of crisis, was resourceful and courageous. We can go home feeling that tomiorrow’s newspapers will express the congratulations of England on a splendid performance.