N.Z. CRICKETERS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19365, 1 July 1937, Page 7

N.Z. CRICKETERS

TOUR OF BRITAIN DECEPTIVE WICKETS EFFECT ON THE PLAYERS ALL ENJOYING THEMSELVES (From a Special Correspondent with the Team) (By Air Mail) LONDON, June 14. Since London turned on the rain in the first week the New Zealand cricket team has enjoyed goon weather and hard wickets. This makes the batting failures the more unaccountable, but makes the bowling successes the more praiseworthy. A point to be remembered is that ihe wicket is not always what it looks in England. At Derby, lor instance, they nave what they call the “torpedo ball," a real old fashioned shooter. L comes only occasionally and no can account tor it. The local players Know that it is likely to come ana are prepared for it, wiiereas a visitor is liKely to be taken by surprise ano bowled before he knows what has happened. At Worcester, too, a wicket which looked perfect on the second da> proved to be just lively enough to make good bowling dangerous, the pace of the ball off the pitch beatthe bat so surprisingly that four batsmen were clean bowled and five were caught in the slips or behind the wicket. It may be true that wickets art slower in England than in Australia or New Zealand. Nevertheless, forward play is the right game in a dry summer. Little Time For Jollification Playing cricket six days a week, the players nave little time lor jollification or sight-seeing. Nevertheless, they are all enjoying the tour and fortunately all are in excellent health now that the first epidemic of colds has been shaken off. At Derby the week-end was made memorable by an enjoyable dance at which the guest of honour was L. F. Townsend, former professional coach in Auckland, and by a visit to Chatsworth, the magnificent home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, one of the show places of England. This was a great day for Hadlee, Donnelly and Gallichan, nicknamed “The Three Tourists," because of the enthusiasm with which they have been using their ( cameras all over England. Derby is also the centre of the pottery and motor car industries, being the home of the Rolls Royce. The town even has one as a taxi and some of the players rode in one when the team was taken for a drive on the Sunday. Shopping in the Provinces Worcester, a delightful old city with pretty gardens, a river running righi through it and a wonder old cathedral, was festooned with coloured lights installed for the Coronation, and not taken down when the team was there. Novelties which appealed to the players were the scores of white swans on the river, as well as the many house boats.

The provincial centres are the team’s snopping places. Clothes and footwear are much cheaper in England than in New Zealand, and cheaper in the provinces than in London. Most of the players will be well outfitted by the time they return to New Zealand in October.