MUM’S THE WORD

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18064, 15 April 1933, Page 4

MUM’S THE WORD

LARWOOD BAYS NOWT M.O.C. RADIO LONDON, April 3. Larwood is gagged and bound by his ; M.O.C. contract, which lias been rein- ;, forced by wireless messages from Lon- j don, and is not yet able to tell bis story ol dissension in the team, and of [ Australia’s attitude towards leg theory. l j says Mr. Manning, sporting editor of i the Daily Sketch. j Mr Manning, who was accompanied byi A. W. Carr, the Notts captain, on his dash to meet Larwood, motored 100 miles across the desert to interview the fast bowler while the Otranto was pass- 1 ing through the Suez Canal. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to,” Larwood added, grinning. lie gave the lie direct to the reported statement that lie would never again play in Australia. He lias a story to tell that will shock cricketing England, says Mr. Manning, but lie will not dare to tell it, even to , the skipper who made him the greatest fast bowler of 1 our time, until his colleagues reach home. That is his contract, to keep which lie has refused a small fortune. He says that a newspaper offered him £1 a word if lie would break his silence, but iie says it is not a question of money, and that he is also bound by personal pledges to Jardine and Warner. “AGENT OF POLICY” “I don’t suppose,” says Carr, “that Jardine thought of body-line bowling until lie reached Australia. The Australians would certainly liave bowled it if they had had a bowler of Larwood’s accuracy and pace. Ho was too fast for. them, and would have been equally successful bowling leg-theory.” The M.0.C., on hearing that the Daily Sketch was giving Larwood an oppor-1 tuuity to reply to the false statements in the Australian press which had inflamed test crowds, sent grave wireless warnings to Larwood. i Carr says that Larwood bowled legtheory in England against moderate sides and took only five wickets, being heavily punished. ■ Carr and Larwood agree -that there j would seldom be cricket sense in bowling to a packed leg field under English conditions. - Mr. Fred. Dartnell, of the NewsChronicle, cabling from Port Said, says: “Although Larwood, the stormy petrel of tho tests, was the strong, silent man of the Otranto and refused to comment on Australian newspapers’ drastic criticism, ho declared, ‘Others cannot tell what I got. I mustn’t say owt about j cricket.’ ” ! There is a keen feeling among Australian passengers that body-line bowling besmirched England’s reputation for fair play. i A Melbourne sportsman remarked: I “Larwood might be a more or less obedi- : ont agent of policy, but be is the most bated man in Australia.”